From bedroom wall to auction hall: rare Thor comic art goes on sale

A rare early image of the superhero incarnation of the Norse god Thor, which has hung on a bedroom wall for decades, is set to be auctioned later this week.

The illustration, the original artwork for the cover of the December 1968 issue of The Mighty Thor, was designed by Jack Kirby, the creator known as the “King” of comics for helping to invent characters from Captain America to the Fantastic Four, as well as Thor. It shows the Norse god and son of Odin in his winged helmet battling a giant, and will go up for auction on 24 June for an estimated price of £5,000 to £8,000.

Thesaleroom.com, which is hosting the auction online, said the work had been inherited by the vendor from her father, and had hung on her wall since the mid-1970s. She had originally believed Thor to be the monster, rather than the hero.

A spokesperson from Charterhouse Auctioneers said: “Sometimes when you own a piece of art and hang it in your house, no matter how much it is worth, you don’t automatically put a value on it. You get used to it being a piece of art in your house. Marvel has grown increasingly popular in recent years. Out of curiosity, the owner got in touch … and we were able to assess the art and make the owner aware of the value.”

There are pencil-and-ink inscriptions on the borders of the drawing, said thesaleroom.com, and parts of the image have been pasted on with Sellotape, as this was the way covers would have been created at the time. “Rare and early Marvel comics can command six-figure sums in mint condition – they have always been sought after, and with a recent string of blockbuster films there is even more interest for favourite superheroes.”