Posted in: Comics, Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: auction, heritage, jack kirby, marvel, radiaoctive man, stan lee

Stan Lee & Jack Kirby's First Radio-Active Man Page, $100,000 So Far

Published Tue, 16 Nov 2021 08:57:13 -0600

by Rich Johnston

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No, Radio-Active Man was not just a Simpsons superhero character version of Homer Simpson. When he was created decades before by Stan Lee, R Berns, Jack Kirby, and Dick Eyers for Journey Into Mystery #93 back in 1963. And the original artwork to the opening splash page of that issue, is up for auction from Heritage Auctions right now, with bids that have taken it up to $100,000. It goes under the hammer from November 18th to the 21st and it has the potential to go even higher. It seems that there's a lot of money around right now.

Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers Journey Into Mystery #93 Splash Page — Stan Lee & Jack Kirby's Radioactive Man Journey Into Mystery #93 Splash up for auction

Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers Journey Into Mystery #93 Splash Page 1 Original Art (Marvel, 1963). This "twice-up" opening title page is the first appearance of Radio-Active Man! It's also an early outing for Thor, who made his first appearance just one year and 10 issues earlier. Of course, the God of Thunder would eventually assume blockbuster status, thanks to Chris Hemsworth and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Radio-Active Man would later be recruited by Baron Heinrich Zemo as a founding member of the supervillain team known as the Masters of Evil, the primary opponents of the Avengers. Chen Lu would go on to serve the Mandarin and battle Jim Rhodes (aka Iron Patriot, Iron Man 2.0), and eventually have clashes with Spider-Man, She-Hulk, Thunderbolts, and more! These two characters truly are marvelous stepping stones into the now dominating world of Marvel comics, and this page would make a fine addition to any serious comic art collection. Ink over graphite on Bristol board with a twice- up scale image area of 12.5" x 18.5". Light marginal toning and/or smudging, soft corner and edge wear, marginal production notes, and the reverse has production tape and the Marvel comics stamp. The art is in Excellent condition.