Christie's will launch its first auction dedicated to comics on April 5, 2014, with the auction house encouraged by the buoyancy of the market.
 Jean-Pierre Gibrat's Le vol de corbeau. Like Sotheby's and Artcurial, Christie's opted for European comic art, moving away from the specialist US market |
Comic book auctions have seen strong results in recent times, and have been embraced by fine art auction houses such as Sotheby's and Artcurial, with the Parisian auction house setting a record for any original comic book art at $1.6m in June 2012.
Paris will also be the location for Christie's first sale, partnering with collector and gallery owner, Daniel Maghen, a specialist in original comic art. The sale features 370 comic lots expected to see around $4.1m.
"This sale has international scope which reinforces the fact that comics are an important artistic craft," commented Maghen.
The offerings focus on the emerging market for European comic books, with demand and prices for the US' Marvel and DC Comics already firmly established.
Christie's will offer historical names such as Peyo, Herge and Tibet, alongside new classics from the likes of Moebius, and emerging talent such as Ralph Meyer.
Among the top consignments is Jean-Pierre Gibrat's Le vol de corbeau, a 2012 piece valued at $48,500-55,500.
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