More than $10M in comics hit Chicago auction block

CHICAGO (WLS) -- More than $10 million changed hands Thursday in Chicago in a hot commodity you may not even realize.

Vintage comic books brought home the bids and the bucks at Heritage Auction House in River North.

"Superman was the first character developed specifically for comic books," said Heritage Auctions Senior Vice President Ed Jaster. And he knows his stuff.

"I am a comics guy," Jaster said.

On display were millions of dollars worth of vintage comics, graphic art paintings and more, including a Superman #1 and Batman #1. Jaster said combined, those two are worth about $600,000 to $700,000.

So what's behind the bidding blitz? ABC 7 asked Graham Crackers Comics shop manager Earl Geier.

"It's three things," Geier said. "There are people who do it just for the money. There are people who do it for nostalgia, then there are people who do it just for the art of comics."

And it's that connection to the past - and rising prices - that keep those bidders coming back.

"And of course then you get to be a geek like me and if it's something I like, I buy two copies," Geier said.