Records were set in auctions over the weekend for original art by Frank Frazetta and Osamu Tezuka. The Frazetta painting, Death Dealer 6, sold for $1,792,500 at a Chicago auction by Heritage Auctions, according to the Chicago Tribune. That was a record price for a Frazetta painting, which have been escalating rapidly in recent years. Just six years ago in 2012, a Frazetta painting sold for $262,900 (see "Frazetta PB Cover Tops $262K"). The top comic in the auction, a CGC 4.0 Action Comics #1, sold for $573,600.
Meanwhile halfway around the planet at an auction in Paris, an Astro Boy manga page by the "godfather of manga" Osamu Tezuka sold for €269,400, according to the Japan Times. That’s over $320,000 at today’s exchange rate, and a record for the artist, whose works rarely come to market.
These are both reflections of the rapidly escalating prices on original art by key geek culture figures around the world, including American and European comic artists.

For Frazetta and Tezuka Pieces
Posted by Milton Griepp on May 14, 2018 @ 3:51 am CT

MORE COMICS
Marvel Art Books from Three Publishers
July 30, 2025
Three different publishers are offering Marvel-themed art books in coming months.
'Time Before Time' Co-Writers Reunite for New Series
July 30, 2025
McConville and Shalvey, who co-wrote the time-travel mystery Time Before Time, join forces for the next arc of The Terminator.
MORE NEWS
Adventure Set, Miniatures for ‘Evolved Edition’
July 30, 2025
Free League Publishing announced the Rapture Protocol Cinematic Adventure Set and Rapture Protocol Miniatures Set for the ALIEN RPG: Evolved Edition.
Eisner-Winning Manga Inspired Two Films
July 30, 2025
The manga, which won a 2007 Eisner Award, inspired both the 2003 film by Park Chan-wook and the 2013 remake by Spike Lee.