Super once more... Restored copy of Superman's introduction leaps to $149,000

The auction also offered beautiful examples of Carl Barks art and Spiderman's first appearance

Heritage's comic book auction has concluded, with well-preserved issues and original art with the work of artists from Joe Shuster to Carl Barks going under the hammer.

The pre-sale talk had mostly been about what a great range of Spiderman collectibles were on offer, and indeed there were some excellent results for the wallcrawler.

A splendid copy of the Amazing Spider-Man #1 (Marvel, 1963), graded a near-mint 9.0, which drafts in a crossover with the Fantastic Four to boost the new comic's launch and throws in The Chameleon for good measure brought $38,837.

Amazing Fantasy 15 Spiderman comic

A very fine example of Spidey's actual first appearance in Amazing Fantasy #15 (Marvel, 1962) got bidders' senses tingling that little bit more and the 8.0 graded comic made $83,650.

Neither of these took the top lot slot however. A near miss for that was a rich, funny and wonderful Carl Barks work Spoiling the Concert featuring Scrooge McDuck playing his cash till like a piano.

From the unequalled Kerby Confer collection it made a thoroughly deserved $131,450.

Spoiling the concert painting (Scrooge McDuck and Donald Duck) by Carl Barks

Managing to heroically leap one level higher than the ducks however was the restored copy of Action Comics #1 - the comic which introduced Superman, (by most people's reckoning the first superhero) and started the Golden Age of comics.

The comic achieved $149,375. Of course, this is a long way shy of the world record for priciest comic at $1.5m set by an Action Comics #1 in 2010, reflecting not only the difference in quality, but the relative desirability of unrestored and restored comics.