Iron Man and Superman were the biggest heroes in Heritage’s Comic & Comic Art Events, leading the auctions to a $21.1 million total. Held on July 9-12, 2026, the comic art auction closed at $14.4 million, and the comic book auction ended with $6.6 million.

Iron Man constructed a new auction record for original art when the first page of the Marvel hero’s introduction in Tales of Suspense #39 sold for $3,875,000. The original splash illustrated by Don Heck shows Iron Man in his impressive metal suit, busting his way through a barrier while looking out at the reader. Not only is it one of the earliest renderings of Tony Stark/Iron Man, it is a striking image of the hero who would become one of the most popular Marvel heroes.

This sale tops the previous record for comic art, which was held by Mike Zeck’s Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars #8 story page 25. That page revealing Peter Parker’s new black costume sold for $3,360,000 in January 2022 at Heritage.

“A fantastic image and a historic book combine for a record price,” Heritage Director of Comics & Comic Art Joe Mannarino said. “Very few of the early Marvel splash pages are known to exist. When one shows up, the market is ready to react.”

The original art auction produced multiple six-figure sales in comics and related artforms. The climactic father-son lightsaber battle from the comic adaptation of Return of the Jedi in Marvel Super Special #27 hammered for $275,000. Rendered by Al Williamson, Carlos Garzon, Tom Palmer, and Ron Frenz, the page features Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, and Emperor Palpatine in a tense scene pulled from the film.

John Byrne and Terry Austin’s Secret Wars II #1 cover packed with Marvel heroes achieved $250,000. The cover gathers Captain America, Iron Man, the X-Men, and New Mutants to confront a new enemy shown only in shadow, accompanied by the text “Who is the Beyonder?”

The Carl Barks oil painting “Vacation Panel” featuring Donald Duck, Huey, Dewey, and Louie reached $237,500. The painting is based on one of Barks’ classic Disney comics, with the ducks in a vehicle bouncing across dangerous terrain while predatory animals leap at them.

The auction had a special section of art by Superman co-creator Joe Shuster that collectively sold for $506,875. Highlights included cover recreations that he crafted many years after the originals, like the Action Comics #1 that went for $137,500 and the Superman #1 that ended at $81,250.

The comic book auction soared with Superman’s debut when Action Comics #1 CGC 4.5 cleared $1.5 million and a CGC Restored 6.5 realized $427,000. It is believed that only 100 copies or fewer of the book remain, and as such, they produced huge prices in auctions and private sales. The CGC 4.5 sale marks the fifth sale of Superman’s debut that has gone for over $1 million in 2026.

The debut of one of Marvel’s top heroes took the comic auction’s third highest spot when Spider-Man’s debut in Amazing Fantasy #15 CGC 8.0 rose to $237,900. Hot on his heels was Fantastic Four #1, the introduction of Marvel’s First Family, which went for $231,800. The Dark Knight rounded out the top five comic sales when Batman #1 PSA Restored 9.8, featuring the debuts of the Joker and Catwoman, hammered for $122,000.

Comic sales in the six-figure range continued with Fantastic Four #5 CGC 9.4 (origin and first appearance of Doctor Doom) reaching $122,000, Tales of Suspense #39 CGC 9.4 (Iron Man’s debut) selling for $118,950, Marvel Comics #1 CBCS Restored 2.5 (origin and first appearance of Human Torch, debuts of Angel and Ka-Zar) realizing $112,850, and Suspense Comics #3 CGC 2.0 (Alex Schomburg cover) achieving $109,800.