Starting in June 2021, Heritage Auctions will begin selling over 5,000 high grade Golden Age comics that haven’t been seen since the 1940s.

Named The Promise Collection, it was assembled by a boy who would grow up, go to war, and never return. Before he left, his brother vowed to keep the comics safe, hence its name and the proof that he kept his promise.

The Promise Collection has been recognized by CGC as a pedigree and it’s “the highest-quality pedigree collection, book for book, to debut in our hobby in the last 25 years,” says Heritage Senior Vice President Ed Jaster.

“The collection’s depth and scope is almost unparalleled,” Jaster said. “I expect nearly two-thirds of the books will stand as the finest-known copies for any particular comic represented in the collection. I am honored and thrilled Heritage was selected to represent the collection.”

“The Promise Collection will go down in history as one of the greatest comic book finds of all time,” Heritage Vice President Lon Allen said.

About 300 books will debut in Heritage’s Comics & Comic Art Signature Auction on June 17-19, 2021 with sales continuing through 2022. The first group will contain Detective Comics #140 CGC 9.6 (first appearance of the Riddler), Phantom Lady #17 CGC 9.6 (featuring a top Golden Age cover), and Captain America Comics #74 CGC 9.2 (with Red Skull in a scarce book in any condition). All three are the best known issue for each title, like most issues in the Promise Collection.

Other highlights are Startling Comics #49 CGC 9.6 (with a famous, highly sought cover by Alex Schomburg), All-American Comics #61 CGC 9.6 (debut of Solomon Grundy), All Star Comics #33 CGC 9.6 (with Justice Society of America and Grundy), More Fun Comics #101 CGC 9.4 (first appearance of Superboy), and Captain America Comics #59 CGC 9.8 (Cap and Bucky’s origin stories retold).

Some of the highest graded copies are Detective Comics #114 CGC 9.8 (with the Joker and a double cover), Contact Comics #12 CGC 9.6 (L.B. Cole cover), and Mask Comics #1 CGC 8.5 (fairies to a flame cover).

The story of the Promise Collection began in the early ‘50s, when a young man named Robert was drafted into the Army to fight in Korea and his younger brother Junie enlisted to serve with him. Junie asked his older brother to take care of his collection of comics if he died in the war and Robert agreed. Junie was killed in action, so when Robert came home he boxed his brother’s comics and put them in the attic where they sat for 50 years. As time went on, Robert and his family bagged and boarded the comics to further protect them.

“When Ed and I first saw the collection, it didn’t take us long to realize that it had all the earmarks of a top tier pedigree: great colors, off-white or better pages and consistent high grades,” Allen said. “It’s hard to overstate how unbelievable this collection truly is. Each box we open contains more and more treasures from the Golden Age of comic books, comics that I only previously dreamed I would come across in Near Mint to Mint condition.”