Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes comic strips are some of the best things you will ever read. For a collector original strips are hard to come by, but over the Thanksgiving weekend, the final Sunday strip sold on the auction block for $10,157.50.
Though this was an incredible steal for the lucky winner, the real winner was the Thanks & Giving Auction that raised $53,384 for hurricane relief.
“The auction was completely sold out,” said Jim Halperin, Co-founder of Heritage Auctions. “It was inspiring to see so many talented artists create and then donate collectible original comic strips or personal keepsakes from their personal collection.”
Among the artists whose work was featured in the auction: Patrick McDonnell (Mutts), Lynn Johnston (For Better or For Worse), Mort Walker (Beetle Bailey), Cathy Guisewite (Cathy), Jeff Keane (The Family Circus), Al Jaffee (MAD Magazine), Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman (Zits), Rick Kirkman (Baby Blues) and many other well-known creators.
“The results of this auction reflect the spirit of cartoonists and what they do,” Halperin said. “They create work designed to entertain people, and make them laugh and smile. So it’s no surprise that so many great artists were willing to come together to help raise money for people who have been through so much hardship because of natural disasters.”
Highlights include:
· Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes “The Last Sunday” Print signed and dated 12-31-95 (Universal Press Syndicate, 1995): $10,157.50
· Carlos Castellanos and Hector Cantu Baldo Daily Comic Strip Original Art dated 11-23-17 (Andrews McMeel Syndicate, 2017): $896.50
· Patrick McDonnell Mutts Daily Comic Strip Original Art dated 11-23-2017 (King Features Syndicate, 2017): $3,585
· Garry Trudeau Doonesbury Daily Comic Strip Original Art dated 6-13-89 (Universal Press Syndicate, 1989): $2,629
· Brian Diskin – Christmas Duck Illustration Original Art (2009): $1,314.50
· George Booth “An Old Old Story” Unpublished Single Panel Cartoon Original Art Illustration dated 9-2015 (2015): $1,135.25
· Mo Willems – Elephant and Piggy Poster Illustration Original Art (2015): $1,045.63
· Mike Peters – Editorial Comic Strip (2017): $956
· Al Jaffee MAD Magazine #548 Mad Fold-In Inside Back Cover Painting Original Art, Prints, and Magazines Group of 5 (EC, 2017): $896.25
· Carlos Castellanos and Hector Cantu Baldo Daily Comic Strip Original Art dated 11-23-17 (Andrews McMeel Syndicate, 2017): $896.25
· Dan Piraro Bizarro Single Panel Comic Strip dated 3-28-2004 Original Art (King Features, 2004): $776.75
If you aren’t following Heritage Auctions, you probably should as there were some really great items on the auction block that could have been picked up very easily.
