An extraordinary amount — especially when you consider the artist never liked it!
Superman #233 turned 55 this month, around the same time Neal Adams’ famous original cover art went up for auction.
Now we have the result of the sale: The art on Friday went for an astonishing $1,500,000, including buyer’s premium, through Heritage Auctions:
The art far outpaced other huge hauls for Adams cover art, including Batman #251, which went for $600,000, with buyer’s premium, in 2019, and Green Lantern #76, which went for $442,150, with buyer’s premium, in 2015, both through Heritage. If you notice, the Superman cover snagged more than both of those masterpieces combined.
And to think the late artist didn’t care for it.
(Nice time to be Superman, by the way. In case you missed it this week, a 9.0-graded copy of Superman #1 was sold by Heritage for $9,120,000, including BP — smashing the previous record of $6 million for an 8.5 copy of Action Comics #1 in 2024.
—
MORE
— BATMAN BY NEAL ADAMS: ABSOLUTE EDITION Coming Summer 2026. Click here.
— Why NEAL ADAMS Hated His Famous SUPERMAN #233 Cover. Click here.
November 22, 2025
I wish these works hung in a museum somewhere. And considering how horrible creators have mostly been treated by the industry over the decades, it pains me to think the creator isn’t seeing anything from the sale of their work. When you hear how Jack Kirby had to fight Marvel to get returned to him a percentage of his artwork and then to see classic and iconic pages selling for huge sums it’s just wrong.
November 22, 2025
Exactamente
November 22, 2025
I have to agree with Neal on this one. Yes, it’s iconic, but it’s a poor example of his artwork. Superman’s torso is too long, unless this is Ralph Dibny pretending to be Superman.
November 23, 2025
Doesn’t matter if the artist was self-critical of the work, the fact is, that certain comic book cover artworks of arguably the greatest superhero of all time are simply ICONIC…
Action Comics #1
Action Comics #484
Superman #1
Superman #233
Crisis on Infinite Earths#7
Those would be my top 5 picks of them
November 23, 2025
Thanks for posting Dan! I was following it and when it sold, it wouldn’t let me see without an account. It jumped up there at the end!