{"id":352,"date":"2021-12-21T19:18:59","date_gmt":"2021-12-21T23:18:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alternativeapproaches.com\/wp\/?p=352"},"modified":"2021-12-21T19:22:02","modified_gmt":"2021-12-21T23:22:02","slug":"original-spider-man-art-from-a-1984-comic-book-on-the-auction-block","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/alternativeapproaches.com\/wp\/original-spider-man-art-from-a-1984-comic-book-on-the-auction-block\/","title":{"rendered":"Original Spider-Man Art From a 1984 Comic Book on the Auction Block"},"content":{"rendered":"

Original artwork from 1984\u2019s \u2018Secret Wars\u2019 No. 8 from Marvel Comics makes public debut at Heritage Auctions in January.<\/h4>\n
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SOURCE: Heritage Auctions, HA.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

DALLAS, Texas (Dec. 21, 2021) \u2013 In glorious black-and-white, here comes the Spider-Man.<\/p>\n

Marvel Comics’ Secret Wars was a comic book created to sell toys. It also forever altered the fate of Marvel Comics, the future of the entire comics industry and most of all, the swing of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, who traded his beloved red-and-blues for an alien black costume later infused with a touch of venom.<\/p>\n

The two pages that tell the backstory of this living outfit \u2013 this symbiote, in the parlance of True Believers \u2013 are among the centerpiece offerings in Heritage Auctions’ Comics & Comic Art Signature Auction to be held January 13-16. For the first time, the original art for Page 24 and Page 25 from Secret Wars No. 8 will be available to the public, each illustrated by Mike Zeck from writer Jim Shooter\u2019s script.<\/p>\n

Spider-Man does whatever a spider can, such as spinning a web any size. But it’s these two pages sure to catch collectors just like flies.<\/p>\n

“These are easily among the most desirable 1980s interior pages we have ever offered,” says Joe Mannarino, Heritage Auctions’ New York Director of Comics & Comic Art, in a statement. “Anyone buying comics back then remembers being kept in suspense about the black costume\u2019s origin. That alone makes it memorable, and the Venom connection that developed later only adds to the appeal.”<\/p>\n

And to think, it all began because Mattel had a hit with He-Man.<\/p>\n

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Marvel Super-Heroes, “Secret Wars” #8, page 24. SOURCE: Heritage Auctions, HA.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tom DeFalco, who edited Secret Wars, recapped its oft-forgotten origin story in the introduction to a trade paperback: “Boys’ action figures were making a resurgence in the early 1980s,” he wrote, “and it was only a matter of time before some marketing genius made the connection between action figures and superheroes.”<\/p>\n

Competitor DC Comics got there first, with The Super Powers Collection manufactured by Kenner and accompanied by the 1984 mini-series that brought Jack Kirby back to the spinner racks. Kenner and DC struck gold in their plastic Super Friends, and made hits of even such footnotes as Golden Pharaoh and Samurai.<\/p>

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