To answer my own question, I'm almost certain this original art from Tales of Suspense #39 will. The real question is how high will it go?
Before we start speculating how much it might sell for, let's take a closer look at this truly one-of-a-kind item that is currently being auctioned by Heritage Auctions. Tales of Suspense #39 is, of course, important because it includes the first appearance of Iron Man. This Silver Age grail is relatively rare with less than 3,000 copies on the CGC Census. Still, there is only ONE original page (pg. 7) from Tales of Suspense #39 where artist Don Heck drew the very first in-story appearance of Iron Man:
On this page, Professor Yinsen sacrifices himself to provide Tony with additional time to charge his armor. In response, Tony declares:
"You will not have died in vain my friend! The Iron Man swears it!"
A similar scene kicks off the first Iron Man film in 2008. And the rest is history. Tony Stark would go on to become one of the most recognizable and popular superheroes of all-time. Except for the original artwork for the cover of Tales of Suspense #39, this is likely the second most valuable comic book item related to Iron Man. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that we may never see this item for sale again during our lifetimes.
Because there are few comparables, it's difficult to predict the final price of this one-of-one item. There are very few comic book-related collectibles that have exceeded $1M. The most expensive comic-related item that ever sold was a CGC 8.5 Pedigree copy of Action Comics #1 that sold for $6M on Heritage a year ago on April 4, 2024. While this isn't original artwork, this may be the grail of all grails. There are only two copies graded higher than this one, and this one is part of a Pedigree collection. I don't think the original artwork from Tales of Suspense #39 will go nearly as high.
According to my research, the most expensive original artwork that ever sold was pg. 25 from Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars #8 (the first time we see Spider-Man in the black alien costume) which sold for an unbelievable $3.36M on Heritage over three years ago. Also during the tail end of the "comic boom," the original cover art for the Dark Knight Returns #1 sold for $2.4M. Both of these sales occurred towards the end of the comic boom and the sales were likely inflated for that reason. I highly doubt they would sell for anywhere near those amounts today.
As more recent examples, the original artwork for the cover for Amazing Spider-Man #194 sold for $1.02M in January 2025 and the original artwork for the first Deadpool story page from New Mutants #98 sold for a solid $960,000 back in late 2024.
So what will the first in-story appearance of Iron Man in Tales of Suspense #39 sell for? There's no doubt in my mind that this item is more inherently valuable than the original artwork for Secret Wars #8, the Dark Knight Returns #1, Amazing Spider-Man #194, and New Mutants #98. At the same time, the sales for Secret Wars #8 and the Dark Knight Returns #1 were likely excessive because they occurred during the comic boom.
Accordingly, I'm anticipating this original artwork for Tales of Suspense #39 will sell in the $2.5M to $3M range.
