What a gorgeous painting! Congrats.

Fantastic cover! One of the great ones.

An amazing and historical page that checks all the boxes. Congratulations!

Amir, I assure you that's on my (rather long) to-do list! 

Thanks, Amir. Pun intended on "hands down"? Rumor has it that underneath the paste-up artwork that comprises almost the entire image is the initial version art, including a slightly higher-held and fuller version of the head showing the truncated neck with a little blood dripping -- perhaps the basis of Bill Gaines' Senate Hearings testimony about this cover. I've never looked, though.

One of my grails, too! This one checks so many boxes. Fantastic in every way.

Amazing and so rare. Possibly the best value buy in the entire auction, too. So glad you won it. Congratulations, my friend!

Felix, DC licensed this statue, apparently: https://www.sideshow.com/collectibles/dc-comics-batman-the-dark-knight-returns-sideshow-collectibles-300805

Seems closer to my version with left arm outstretched, but I have no idea whether they consulted with Frank Miller. I'll ask him next time I get the chance (unless you beat me to it!).

Peter, Would you mind emailing me (jim@ha.com) using your Heritage email address (or include your customer number) and I'll check it out? I didn't even know we had a process like that. :o  Thanks!

To me, it's his left arm outstretched pointing downward, and I'm looking at the right side of his head.

To each imagination, its own interpretation :)

Hey Felix, great seeing you at Comic-Con! It had been way too long.

Filling the blanks of the silhouette in my head, I imagine Batman looking straight down. Curious what you think?

It was my pleasure, and I enthusiastically anticipate Part 3. :)

Absolute killer. One of Kurtzman's very best and most iconic EC cover images.

Perfection. One of the most beautiful covers I've ever seen on CAF, and that is saying something.

Crazy! Just a magnificent pen and ink pinup. Was anyone ever better at that than Dave Stevens? I doubt it.

An amazing group of fantastic gems... and the backstory makes it even more wondrous!

One of my absolute favorite EC war covers. Congratulations on a GREAT pick-up.

Historic and adorable! 

Gorgeous painting -- a gem. Looks even better in person! :)

Gorgeous, poignant cover. What a gem!

No kidding! :)

What a killer image! I think it's my #1 top-favorite ASM cover... so great.

Yes, I forgot to mention that, Sean! Thanks for reminding me.

Yes, Al was wonderful on so many levels, a brilliant, multi-talented creator, a dear friend and a truly great man. It's almost impossible to overstate the influence he had on my entire generation (Baby Boomers) as the Editor of MAD Magazine. Quite a life.

Yes, either the barcode (for newsstand copies) or the Spidey headshot. I'm not sure whether the image of Professor Xavier was ever published elsewhere. Maybe someone reading this will know and tell us. :)

Fantastic. One of the very best original Golden Age good-girl covers that still exists. Congratulations on snagging this absolute masterpiece!

Absolutely amazing. What a grail! Congratulations on owning this one.

Thanks, Eric. What a beautiful comment and story. I wish you had kept that poster, too!

I'll get a high res scan made as soon as I can, and post it here.

What a fantastic page, Soren. Hard to imagine a better Kingpin-Spider-Man fight sequence.  REALLY hard to choose, but on most days, I think Andru is probably my favorite Spidey artist, too!

This cover is way beyond great! It should make you happy every time you look at it.

What a fantastic cover. Utterly gorgeous!

What a killer splash -- everything you could ever want from a Bermejo Batman page.

What a great DeCarlo pin-up page! 

What a gorgeous, iconic cover... Utterly fantastic!

What a killer cover! 

Magnificent page!

What a great page!

Sadly, I was outbid on the interiors. 

Absolutely fantastic, a classic Kurtzman horror splash.

SUCH a GREAT double-pager!

Right back at you, my friend!

It's already posted. :)

Hi Jason, I believe it was originally discovered by Mike Burkey 15-20 years ago in a stack of Golden Age art. Eventually it was consigned to Heritage in 2005 and sold for $86,250, which I believe was, at the time, the highest price ever realized at auction for any piece of original comic book art. Some eight years later, Joe and Nadia Mannarino, who had purchased the page at the 2005 auction, were kind enough to give me first shot on a magnificent group of art they were ready to sell, of which this page was one of the highlights. They asked me to make a fair offer, which I happily did, and they accepted immediately without negotiation. This was a few years before they joined our team at Heritage, but was fairly typical of my very-low-stress and happy dealings with Joe and Nadia over the course of several decades. Indeed they were the first dealers I ever bought from, back in the 1980s. And for the record they are even more wonderful as colleagues than as suppliers/candymen. :-) 

Amazing artistry in every panel.

Fantastic. Love this one!

A beauty!

A beauty!

Wow. Just wow.

Fantastic! Love it!

Thanks, Matt, that's VERY flattering, but to be honest, I have extremely smart colleagues and generally heed their advice (which is readily available to any Heritage bidder). :)