The Amazing Spider-Man No. 194 Cover Art Sold for $1m

The debut of Black Cat on the cover of 1979’s The Amazing Spider-Man No. 194 has sold for $1,020,000 at Heritage Auctions to become the most valuable Spider-Man cover ever sold at auction. 

Black Cat was created by Marv Wolfman, who initially intended to use her during his run on Spider-Woman, and Dave Cockrum who designed her black, white-fur-accented outfit. However, it was Al Milgrom who brought her to life on the cover. Milgrom co-created DC Comics’ Firestorm, and as penciler and inker he was responsible for more than 1,000 covers during his tenures at DC and Marvel Comics where he worked on The Avengers, Defenders, Captain America and dozens more titles.  At the consignor’s direction, a portion of the proceeds from its sale will go to the artist.

“Little did I know that my artistic effort on this cover would go on to become one of the most iconic covers of the 1970s,” Milgrom says. “I’ve signed hundreds, perhaps thousands, of autographs on this comic for legions of fans.”

Other highlights included:

• Batman's sidekick Robin’s debut in Detective Comics No. 38 realized $132,000 to set a new recored for the issue
• a restored copy of Action Comics No. 1 featuring Superman’s 1938 debut sold for $384,000
• Jack Kirby and Mike Royer’s cover of 1978’s graphic novel The Silver Surfer made $312,000
• Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott’s splash page for 1969’s Fantastic Four No. 83 sold for $117,000
• Carl Barks’ original 1971 painting Money Lake, based on Uncle Scrooge McDuck’s first solo comic from 1952 realized $264,000