For comics fans, the greatest joy is owning a copy of a popular character’s debut. picture incredible hulk Chapter 181detective comics #27wonderful fantasy #15, and action comics #1 immediately comes to mind. The debuts of Wolverine, Batman, Spider-Man, and Superman respectively are collectors’ holy grails, but there’s one step beyond that. This is a step most collectors would never dream of taking. This is what it means to own the original cover art from one of the issues.
and Deadpool and Wolverine Breaking box office records daily, Deadpool and his debut in Deadpool New Mutants #98 Not quite to the heights of most books yet, but already on the way. Now, the owner of the original cover art has put it up for sale for an eye-popping $7.5 million. If it sold for that price, it would become “the most valuable piece of original comic book art ever sold.”
The owner of the piece has owned it for twenty years and has apparently turned down multiple bids over the years. However, with the release of the new film, the piece has been consigned to Heritage Auctions, which you can view here . “The time has come,” said the anonymous owner of the artwork.
“I have long admired and coveted this work, which I consider to be the most important work of comic book art from the 1990s,” Heritage co-chairman Jim Halperin said in a press release. “I’m delighted that we can now make it available to people like me. People who admire the same Rob liefield And adores his Deadpool, one of the most beloved characters in the comics and now one of the most beloved characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
As Halperin said, the art was of course done by Rob Liefeld, one of the character’s co-creators. He told io9 back in 2016 where the design concept came from. “The visuals of ‘Deadpool’ are very inspired by Spider-Man,” Liefeld said. “Recently, I asked [some friends at Marvel]”, “Do you remember when Deadpool and I walked into the studio together? They said, “You take it out of your bag and say ‘Spider-Man with a gun and a sword.'” That’s how I marketed it to them. A smart mercenary. You can read more about his origins at this link.
Now, the smart-aleck mercenary has the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time (and counting), and quite possibly the most expensive piece of original comic book art ever produced. Of course if anyone buys it.
Oh, and if you’re wondering what the most expensive piece of comic book art is right now, The New York Times awarded that honor to a $5.4 million piece by Frank Frazetta in 2022. meaning is new mutants Even with an asking price below $7.5 million, #98 could set a record.
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