A single panel from a classic Marvel comic book event has just sold for an incredible $3.36 million (a little under £2.5m) at an auction in Texas.
The page, with original artwork from Mike Zeck, is taken from1984's The Amazing Spider-Man #252 (thanks, Sky News). It's notable for being the first appearance of Spider-Man in his iconic black costume, an organic alien suit that would ultimately go on to become one half of the fan-favourite supervillain known as Venom.
Joe Maddalena, vice president of Heritage Auctions, who sold the comic, said: "Collectors are buying their nostalgia so instead of buying their, you know, piece of contemporary art, this is it. They'd rather have this because this speaks to them more than a piece of contemporary art would."
Maddalena described the piece as "one of a kind", adding: "It just was one of those moments in the lore of Spider-Man's fame that told this important part of this story that subsequently this character would turn into Venom. It's pretty amazing."
Incredibly, this one Spidey panel also managed to outsell another incredibly important piece of comic book history. According to Maddalena, Action Comics #1, the first appearance of Superman, sold for $3.18 million moments after Spidey. Not that that's to be sniffed at in any way, of course.
It's perhaps not surprising to see Spidey bring in such big numbers. Just recently we were reminded that the webhead is the most profitable superhero in the world, and it's not even close. Meanwhile, Spider-Man: No Way Home is continuing to dominate at the box office, despite surging COVID cases.
With great power must also come a really quite ridiculous amount of money, apparently.
Featured Image Credit: MarvelTopics: Spider Man, Marvel