Heritage has pulled out all the stops for their Comic Book Signature Auction and Comic Art Auction with an early Superman cover by co-creator Joe Shuster and the three biggest keys in comics. The auctions will be held on February 26 through March 1, 2026.

The Action Comics #21 cover by Shuster is just Superman’s ninth full cover appearance. It is a quintessential World War II cover that sees Superman capturing a missile before it hits a military vessel. This is the earliest published cover or story page by Shuster that Heritage has offered.

“Joe Shuster didn’t actually draw Superman all that long,” Heritage Vice President Aaron White said. “After just a few years, he had various assistants take over a lot of the drawing, so there was never too much original art by him. And then on top of that, a lot of comic art from the old days just got tossed. So to have an original like this, a World War II cover, is crazy. We had no idea this had even survived. It’s so early that Superman didn’t even fly at that point — he took flying leaps. This piece is a sensational find.”

The Comic Art Auction on February 27 to March 1 features more highlights by Shuster. The Action Comics #24 story page 11 penciled by Shuster with inks by Paul Cassidy shows the Man of Steel in nearly every panel and in full costume. Another is a Shuster profile illustration of a smiling Superman on the artist’s own letterhead.

The Comic Books Signature Auction on February 26-28, contains 11 of the top 20 most valuable Golden Age books listed in The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, including the top three. It starts with Action Comics #1 CGC 2.0 Qualified with the iconic first appearance of Superman. Next up is Superman #1 CGC 6.5, the Man of Steel’s first self-titled book with his origin story and the first mention of Krypton in comics. The trifecta is rounded out by Batman’s introduction in Detective Comics #27 CGC 7.0.

The major Golden Age keys continue with Batman #1 CGC 0.5 Restored, Captain America Comics #1 CGC 7.0, Action Comics #7 CGC 9.6 Restored, Detective Comics #29 CGC 7.0, #31 CGC 3.0, and #33 CGC 1.0 Restored, All Star Comics #8 CGC 9.4, More Fun Comics #52 CGC 0.5, and Sensation Comics #1 CGC 3.0.

There are several Punisher examples in the comics and art auctions with his debut in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 CGC 9.8, CGC 9.6, and a CGC 9.6 signed by writers Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas. Original art page 18 from his debut by Ross Andru, Frank Giacola, and Dave Hunt shows Spider-Man kicking the vigilante followed by the pair discovering the Jackal’s duplicity.

Highlights continue with George Tuska and Billy Graham’s Hero for Hire #1 splash page 1 from Luke Cage’s first appearance. There are six pieces from the Richard Pujol EC Art Collection, Frank Frazetta’s cover painting for Vampirella #1, and one of Frazetta’s promotional paintings for the Battlestar Galactica TV series.