Posted in: Comics, Marvel Comics | Tagged: albert uderzo, asterix, heritage, moebius

Cover Art to Asterix And The Laurel Wreath Sells For Half A Million

The original cover art to Asterix And The Laurel Wreath by Albert Uderzo sells for almost half a million dollars at auction

Published Sat, 02 May 2026 05:57:10 -0500

by Rich Johnston

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Article Summary

Albert Uderzo’s Asterix And The Laurel Wreath cover art sold for $450,000 at Heritage Auctions, a major Asterix result.
An Asterix In Switzerland interior page realized $212,500, setting an auction record for an Asterix story page.
The sale showed Asterix’s global collector appeal, with rare Uderzo originals drawing strong bids and record prices.
Moebius, Robert Crumb, Jack Kirby and manga works also scored standout results in Heritage’s international art auction.

The original cover art from Les Lauriers de César, or Asterix And The Laurel Wreath, by Albert Uderzo, has just sold for $450,000 at the April 18–19 International Comic Art Signature Auction. It was a rare opportunity for collectors to obtain an Uderzo painting and Heritage Auctions' first time to offer one. It was accompanied in that sale by another Albert Uderzo Asterix original artworks and two by Jean Giraud, aka Moebius, that both surpassed the six-digit mark. Asterix remains one of the best-selling comic books of all time, and this result reflects the wide international appeal of the character, as well as Heritage Auctions, to paraphrase the old Heineken ads, finding the buyers other auction houses cannot reach.

$450,000 Sale of Albert Uderzo Astérix and Obélix Cover — Asterix And The Laurel Wreath, by Albert Uderzo

The original art to a story page from Astérix Chez Les Helvètes or Asterix In Switzerland, sold for $212,500, an auction record for an Astérix interior page. "The price achieved for the page is significantly above what has been seen on the market for at least the past two years," says Olivier Delflas, Heritage's Director of International Comic Art and Anime.

Moebius works also performed strongly, with splash page from Major Fatal, The Airtight Garage of Jerry Cornelius selling for $137,500 and a standalone canvas The Old Major and Jerry Cornelius, featuring Major Fatal seated at a table with a large painted image of Michael Moorcock's character Jerry Cornelius hanging on the wall behind him, sold for $100,000.

Other highlights of the Platinum group included cover art from Robert Crumb's The Complete Crumb Comics Vol. 10, which sold for $75,000; a late-Silver Age Jack Kirby Silver Surfer page from Fantastic Four #76, which went for $68,750; a page by Enrico Marini from Batman: The Dark Prince Charming #2 reached $57,500; and the Bronze Age John Romita Sr. cover for Captain America # 140 showing Cap and the Falcon struggling against the Gargoyle, fetched $51,250.

: Robert Crumb's The Complete Crumb Comics Vol. 10

: John Romita Sr. cover for Captain America # 140

: Jack Kirby Silver Surfer page from Fantastic Four #76

The results for original Manga art confirmed Delflas' confidence in the genre's increasing prominence in the market. Masanobu Asai's Adventure King Astroganger opening splash page, introducing characters Kantaro Hoshi and Rie Hayakawa, sold for $15,000. Other Manga highlights included Buichi Terasawa's page 67 from Space Adventure Cobra: Secret Of The Ultimate Weapon Vol. 3 Chapter 3 selling for $11,875 and a colour page by Jiro Kuwata from Moonlight Mask sold for $10,625. "The results achieved are exceptional," Delflas says. "Buichi Terasawa, Jiro Kuwata and Masanobu Asai show very promising momentum for the future of this category."