Los Angeles:
A single page of original artwork from an acclaimed 1984 Spider-Man comic sold for a record $3.36 million in the United States on Thursday, making the web slinger the most powerful auction superhero in the world.
The page features the first appearance of Spidey’s black symbiote suit that would later lead to the creation of anti-hero Venom in artwork by Mike Zeck from Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars No. 8.
“This page was the big reveal teased on the cover! This is where Peter Parker got his brand new black suit,” Heritage Auctions said in the artwork description on page 25 of the issue.
“But… it’s a costume with a secret! Because it soon turns out to be alive and has its own agenda. This is the origin of the character Venom!”
Bidding for the artwork started at $330,000.
The previous record for a single page of artwork from the interior of an American comic book was a frame with the first image of Wolverine in a 1974 issue of “The Incredible Hulk.” The page sold for $657,250.
A copy of Action Comics No. 1, Superman’s first appearance, sold for $3.18 million on the first day of Heritage Auctions’ four-day comics event in Dallas, Texas, the auction house said on Twitter.
The copy was rated a 6.0 by comic book rating authority CGC. Two other copies of the world’s most famous higher-rated comic book release have previously sold at auction for more, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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