The original cover art for "The Amazing Spider-Man" No. 194, featuring Black Cat’s first appearance, has surfaced at auction for the first time at Heritage.
It currently sits at $240,000, with buyer’s premium, and more than 20 days remaining in the auction.
Illustrated by Al Milgrom, a comic book editor, penciller and inker known for his work for Marvel series such as “The Amazing Spider-Man,” “Uncanny X-Men” and “Captain America,” the cover art was the world’s first introduction to Felicia Hardy, aka Black Cat.
The original color process was darker to depict the character blending into the shadows, in turn diminishing the visibility of many details, like the costume. According to Heritage, “on the original art, these previously hidden elements shine.”
Black Cat’s rumored Hollywood debut in an upcoming Spider-Man film has fueled interest in the character, including series which she headlined.
Comic book art has had a massive year at auction, most recently with the $960,000 result for “The New Mutants" No. 98 first Deadpool story page 14 art in November and June sale of the cover art for “Black Cat Comics" No. 50 for $840,000.
“As we saw with Rob Liefeld’s Deadpool debut in our last auction, where it sold for nearly $1 million, first appearances of major characters are hugely sought after by collectors and represent many of our strongest prices in every auction,” Heritage executive vice president Todd Hignite said in a statement.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.