The Keif Fromm Collection delivered multiple artist records, pairing modern-key cover art with rare Golden Age superhero originals.
By Intelligent Collector Staff | October 21, 2025
A single-day, single-owner auction is only as strong as its concentration of “can’t-miss” material, and Heritage’s Oct. 17 Keif Fromm Collection Comic Art Signature® Auction had plenty. The sale totaled $3,678,064 and was led by a record-setting modern landmark: Todd McFarlane’s Batman #423 cover original art (DC, 1988), which realized $781,250, described by Heritage as an auction record for a McFarlane cover.
McFarlane produced just one Batman cover, but the piece has long been treated as a milestone from a transitional era—when superstar artists began to reshape the visual language (and market gravity) of late-1980s superhero comics. In a results-driven market, the sale price matters, but so does what it signals: when a definitive “only-one” career moment appears with clean provenance and a deep bidder pool, it can behave like a trophy illustration rather than niche production art.
Fromm, however, was equally known for Golden Age comic art—work that rarely surfaces in comparable quality. Among the strongest results were several covers and pages that Heritage characterized as auction-record outcomes for their respective artists. Mac Raboy’s Master Comics #27 Captain Marvel Jr. cover original art (Fawcett, 1942) (“V for Victory”) sold for $337,500, while Lou Fine’s Hit Comics #5 Red Bee cover original art (Quality, 1940) realized $275,000.
Additional Golden Age highlights included C. C. Beck’s Whiz Comics #19 Captain Marvel cover original art (Fawcett, 1941) at $118,750 and Jack Cole’s Silver Streak Comics #10 Story Page 1 original art (Lev Gleason, 1941) at $112,500, both cited by Heritage as record results for those artists.
The sale’s era-spanning appetite showed up again in Frank Frazetta’s The Ghost Rider #5 (A-1 #37) cover original art (Magazine Enterprises, 1951), which realized $437,500.
For collectors, the throughline across these results is straightforward: scarcity is doing two different jobs at once. In modern material, scarcity can mean a singular career milestone (McFarlane’s only Batman cover). In Golden Age originals, scarcity is often literal survival—covers and pages that were never meant to be preserved. When both kinds of rarity clear at record levels in the same event, it’s a strong read on depth at the top end of the comic-art market. For owners deciding the best place to sell comic art, this sale is a reminder that the right venue can turn a “one-of-one” moment into true price discovery.
Source: Heritage Auctions press release (October 21, 2025).