A few months back, Heritage Auction Galleries set a world's record for the sale of an original Charles Schulz Peanuts Sunday comic strip: The Dallas-based auctioneer got $77,675 when it unloaded a March 1, 1959, page featuring Charlie Brown flying a kite. Next month, during its Comic Book and Original Comic Art Signature Auction to be held at Heritage's Maple Avenue HQ, it's offering an even more famous page dated April 10, 1955, featuring Charlie Brown, Pig-Pen and Schroeder playing baseball in a downpour. Says Heritage's Ed Jaster in a media release sent today, "The strip offered in this auction could very well be in the running to beat that impressive record." Seems likely, what with David Michaelis' biography of Schulz racking up raves such as this one in the Los Angeles Times over the weekend.
Also being offered in the sale: original art work from such well-known and beloved comics artists as Alex Ross, Alex Schomburg and Brian Bolland (from his legendary Batman: The Killing Joke collaboration with Alan Moore). Then again, if comics ain't your bag, keep in mind that tomorrow the Che Guevara archive goes on sale at Heritage -- including, yes, that infamous lock of hair. Notes Heritage's Doug Norwine, extra security will be added tomorrow during the sale -- hairy situation, heh. --Robert Wilonsky