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Comics artist Frank Miller has consigned two pieces of original Batman artwork — both valued at more than $50,000 — to be put up for auction.
The first (above) is the book cover art for Absolute Dark Knight, the single-volume edition combining The Dark Knight Returns and The Dark Knight Strikes Again, which the comics creator says is one of his favorite pieces.
"It took me years to define, in my own mind, Batman as less a creature of vengeance than of vigor," Miller said, describing the drawing in a press release about the auction. "To me, it sums the man up."
The second piece of Miller's work up for auction is a splash page from Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (10th Anniversary Edition) featuring Batman with Carrie Kelly, the first female Robin. Miller's artwork is being offered by Heritage Auctions as part of its Vintage Comics and Comic Art Signature Auction, which will be held Feb. 22-24. Miller will be making an appearance at the New York preview of the auction before his pieces go under the gavel.
Miller worked with artists Klaus Janson and Lynn Varley on the artwork for his Dark Knight graphic novels, but the two pieces up for auction were created entirely by Miller. Original Miller artwork from Dark Knight comics has been fetching a pretty penny lately. A splash page from The Dark Knight Returns brought in a mind-boggling $448,125 last year at a Heritage auction. It's a piece the auction house's Senior Vice President Ed Jaster likened to the Batman and Robin image currently open for bidding.
"This piece is a direct reflection and front-on view of Miller's famous original splash page of the Dynamic Duo, which shattered all existing records for a piece," Jaster said in a statement. "Needless to say, we expect great demand in the market for this visionary piece."
Hundreds of other comics and pieces of original artwork will be on the block in Heritage's upcoming auction. Check out a few more of the rare comics artifacts — from Action Comics No. 1 (with a current bid of $140,000) to an original Bill Watterson Calvin and Hobbes watercolor — in the gallery above.
Images courtesy Heritage Auctions
