Flame on!
The highest-graded copy of “Fantastic Four #1” ever offered by Heritage Auctions is expected to fetch seven figures when it goes under the gavel next month.
The “near perfect copy” of the rare 1961 comic book will be up for bids Sept. 12-15, says the auction house.
A rare, 9.6-graded “Fantastic Four #1” goes under the hammer next month. Heritage Auctions
“If you called this the most desirable Silver Age comic ever to be auctioned, you would get no argument from us,” the auction house gushes about the issue that “launched the Marvel age.”
The auction house has never sold a higher-graded comic than a “9.2” Fantastic Four, which cost a cool $1.5 million in 2022.
Until now.
“This 9.6 gem is being offered for the very first time,” the auction house says about the upcoming sale.
“This first ‘Fantastic Four’ is more than a comic book franchise awaiting its latest big-screen iteration.
It redefined the superhero whole cloth,” the auction house trumpets.
Michael Chiklis starred as the Thing in the “Fantastic Four” movie. Twentieth Century Fox/Splash
Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, Jessica Alba and Ioan Gruffudd brought the Fantastic Four to the silver screen.
Marvel originally launched the book — featuring Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, andthe Thing — to compete with DC Comics’ The Justice League, which premiered a year earlier.
The four superheroes “utilize their scientific backgrounds to band together and defend the world against perilous threats.”