Posted in: Comics, Marvel Comics | Tagged: auction, Gerry Conway, marvel, punisher

First Punisher Original Artwork Goes to Auction, Estimated $2 Million

Published Wed, 14 Oct 2020 06:00:51 -0500

Last updated Wed, 14 Oct 2020 06:04:25 -0500

The original artwork for Amazing Spider-Man #129 featuring the first appearance of The Punisher, is going to auction, and the owners are estimating it may sell for $2,000,0000. The comic book, by Gerry Conway and Ross Andru published in 1974 is a collector's item in its own right, but the cover artwork by Gil Kane and John Romita Sr has never been made available for public sale.

First Punisher Original Artwork Goes to Auction, Estimated $2 Million

TMZ states that Gil Kane sold the piece to a private collector years ago. Now ComicConnect is making it available for auction on the 23rd of November, available until December 14th.

In comparison, Tintin original cover artwork has sold for three million dollars, with a montage piece for another three-and-a-half million dollars for a montage piece. Bernie Wrightson's Frankenstein piece sold for a million, an Asterix cover for over one-and-a-half million, while Frank Frazetta's Eerie #23 cover sold for a whopping $5.4 million.

The Amazing Spider-Man #129, with its subtitle "The Punisher Strikes Twice!" is a 19-page-long single issue with the first appearance of the character called the Punisher, portrayed as an antagonist of Spider-Man, but later become one of Marvel's most popular and successful protagonists. The issue also features the first appearance of the Jackal, a supervillain who would go on to become one of Spider-Man's main adversaries and an integral part of the infamous mid-90s Spider-Man storyline the Clone Saga. The cover has also been parodied many times for homages and variants across the comic book industry.

Recently, the Punisher has hit the headlines again, for being seen as a negative inspiration for police officers and armed soldiers, despite his status as a mass-murdering, serial-killing vigilante. His co-creator, Gerry Conway has spoken out repeatedly about the adoption of the Punisher by people who should know better.

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