Within the first 105 minutes of Heritage’s four-day Comics & Comic Art event the Platinum Session of historic titles and significant original art had tallied almost $3.3 million. By the time Session 2 was completed, featuring more comics and rare Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering items, the auction’s first day had eclipsed the $5 million mark.

Brian Bolland’s page 2 from Batman: The Killing Joke, his 1988 collaboration with Alan Moore, hammered for $156,000. This nine-panel piece features Batman and Commissioner Gordon walking by the cells of famous villains in Arkham Asylum. This book, highly regarded as one of the greatest Joker stories, was the highest price Heritage has realized for art from the book.

Two beautiful pieces of art by Jack Kirby also surpassed the six-figure mark. His X-Men #4 splash page showing the team’s original lineup and with Kirby’s handwritten brainstorming notes for Scarlet Witch’s name on the back cleared $132,000. Kirby’s team-up with longtime collaborator Joe Sinnott on the cover of Fantastic Four #95 sold for $114,000. Additionally, two pages from his work with Dick Ayers from Strange Tales #101 showing the Fantastic Four realized $96,000.

Among the newer books that nabbed lots of attention was Joshua Middleton’s cover to Marvel’s NYX #3, the first comic appearance of X-23, that sold alongside the character’s concept art for $78,000.

“That is now the highest price ever paid at auction for a piece of 21st century U.S. comic art,” Heritage Vice President Barry Sandoval said.

Heritage also saw one of the highest prices realized for MAD when the Harvey Kurtzman-Bill Elder work “Shermlock Shomes” achieved $72,000. The 8-page, 8,000-gag tale ended at over three times its preauction estimate.

Dave McKean’s original art to the cover of Sandman #6 for Neil Gaiman’s highly regarded fantasy series from the late 1980s totaled $50,000. This piece saw competition between comics and fine art collectors, pushing it to twice the preauction estimate.  

Original art highlights from the Platinum Session also included Neal Adams’ Batman #226 original cover art for $52,800, Robert Crumb’s Zap Comix #0 complete single-page story “Kosmik Kapers” for $43,200, Sal Buscema’s The Defenders #6 cover for $43,200, Frank Miller and Klaus Janson’s Daredevil #184 page 19 for $33,600, Ross Andru, Neal Adams, and Dick Giordano’s Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man treasury back cover for $33,600, and a Bill Watterson-signed lithograph of Calvin and Hobbes “The Last Sunday,” from December 31, 1995, sold for $28,000.

Comic book sales were led by DC’s trinity, beginning with Superman #1 CGC 5.0 that soared to $360,000. Wonder Woman #1 CGC 8.0 lassoed $120,000. Batman #4 CGC 9.2, the finest known copy, nabbed $40,800.

On Marvel’s side of the comics, Fantastic Four #1 CGC 8.5 Qualified realized $72,000. Journey Into Mystery #83 CGC 8.0, featuring the introduction of Thor, hammered for $31,200.

Outside of comics, an exceptionally rare Pokémon Super Secret Battle “No. 1 Trainer” trainer promo hologram trading card sold for a record breaking $90,000. That card is one of only seven known to exist and was given during a secret game tournament in Tokyo in 1999.

The Comics & Comic Art Signature Auction continues with a floor session Friday at 11 AM CT, followed by four more Friday-Sunday sessions. A complete list of results from the entire auction is available at HA.com, upon free registration.