Bernie Wrightson Comic Book Cover Estimated To Command Up To A Million Dollars At Auction

A December auction of original comic book art has the potential to draw up to $1 million for an original piece of Frankenstein art from Swamp Thing creator Bernie Wrightson. Profiles in History characterizes the auction as "an important and private collection of comic and illustration art that has been locked away for decades." The auction will be next month in Los Angeles. There are also Jack Kirby The Mighty Thor pages and original art from John Byrne, Frank Frazetta, Steve Ditko, and more. There will apparently be a John Buscema splash page from a key Avengers issue as well as many more big names and complete stories, including one from R. Crumb and one from Brian Bolland.

Per a statement from Profiles in History, the auction's highlights include "Wrightson's original wraparound cover art for the 1983 Marvel illustrated edition of Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, widely considered to be the finest illustrated book of the 20th Century. Artist Bernie Wrightson turned his hand to illustrating the classic horror novel as a labor of love, and working over the course of a decade, produced some of the most staggeringly intricate and evocative work of his career."

Profiles in History recently sold a Wrightson Frankenstein interior plate from director Frank Darabont's collection for a record price of $156,000. The Frankenstein wraparound cover is likely to exceed that and become the highest price ever paid for original Wrightson artwork. This piece is pictured at top and estimated to sell for $750,000 - $1,000,000.

Jack Kirby and Vince Colletta original artwork for The Mighty Thor #139 complete 16-page story "To Die Like a God" (Marvel, 1966). That one is a rare example of a complete Silver-Age, twice- up Jack Kirby-drawn "Thor" story, and it's projected to sell for $60,000 - $80,000.

You can see the rest of the listings, per the auction house, below:

• Al Williamson, Frank Frazetta, and Roy Krenkel original artwork for Weird Fantasy #20 complete 7-page story "I, Rocket" (EC, 1953). Two of EC's finest artists of the era and legendary fantasy artist Frank Frazetta team up to illustrate this classic tale adapted from a story by sci-fi author Ray Bradbury. Estimated to sell for $60,000 - $80,000.
• John Byrne's original artwork for Fantastic Four #256, the complete 22-page story "The Annihilation Gambit" (Marvel, 1983). From the prime period of John Byrne's highly acclaimed run on Fantastic Four, this story includes beautiful images of the Avengers as well as cosmic villain Galactus. It's pictured right and estimated to sell for $40,000 - $60,000.
• Jack Kirby and John Verpoorten original artwork for The Eternals #2 complete 17-page story "The Celestials" (Marvel, 1976). The Eternals is slated to become the next blockbuster franchise in the Marvel Cinematic Universe! It's pictured below and estimated to sell for $40,000 - $60,000.
• Steve Ditko original artwork from The Amazing Spider-Man series, including pages from multiple key issues. Ditko created Marvel's most innovative and popular character with writer Stan Lee. His artwork is hard to obtain and highly coveted among collectors. A total of six pages, each estimated to sell for $20,00 - $60,000
• Other highlights include sought-after works from many legendary artists such as Robert Crumb (2 complete stories), John Buscema (splash from one of the most important stories in the history of The Avengers!), Brian Bolland (a complete DC hero story), Michael WM. Kaluta (paintings, multiple covers/pages and a complete horror story), just to name a few.
• The bonanza of original artwork also contains multiple complete stories from EC Comics, Marvel, DC, MAD, and Warren, and pieces from artists Neal Adams, Gene Colan, Will Eisner, Jack Davis, Harvey Kurtzman, Gil Kane, Johnny Craig, Graham Ingels, Russ Heath, Joe Kubert, John Romita, Jim Steranko, Bernard Krigstein, David Lloyd, Mike Ploog, Mort Drucker, Jeff Jones, Jim Lee, Adam Hughes, Sanjulian, Mike Zeck, Ken Kelly, Barry Windsor Smith, and many more.

The auction will take place on December 12.