Heritage opened their four-day Comics & Comic Art Signature Auction on January 9, 2025, with a new record for Robin, the Boy Wonder. Detective Comics #38 CGC 8.0, featuring Robin’s debut as Bruce Wayne’s ward and Batman’s sidekick, realized $132,000 in the auction’s first session.

This is the best copy Heritage has seen in 15 years and came from The Lester Schilke Collection, which Heritage Vice President Barry Sandoval called “an incredibly fresh-looking, original-owner Golden Age and even pre-Golden Age collection.” It opened live bidding at $85,000, quickly rising to its final price, which set a record for the issue in any grade.

Just a few moments later, Detective Comics #39 CGC 8.5 with Clayface’s cameo debut before his first full appearance in the following issue, sold for $33,600 – setting another record. Suspense Comics #3 CGC 4.0 with a striking cover by Alex Schomburg hammered for $156,000, becoming the most valuable copy of the book in that grade.

Superman’s debut in Action Comics #1 CGC Apparent 6.5 went for $384,000, and Supergirl’s introduction in Action Conics #252 CGC 9.0 brought $48,000.

“On Thursday, the bidders were most excited about fresh-to-market material, particularly new material from the Golden Age,” Sandoval exclusively told Scoop. “These comics are now more than 80 years old, and collectors often wonder if there are any discoveries yet to be made – and for now, at least, that answer is a resounding yes, thanks in part to the Schilke Collection. It didn’t surprise us that previously unknown copies of key issues – Detective Comics #38 and Suspense Comics #3 – made for the two most aggressive bidding wars on day one. We can’t wait to see what happens throughout the rest of this auction.” 

The first 19 lots of the auction, the Platinum session, realized $1,380,000. Heritage’s Comics & Comic Art Signature Auction continues closing on January 10-12, 2025.