10,000 “Garfield” strips by Jim Davis head for Heritage Auctions sale

By John Freeman on August 28, 2019

A trove of more than 10,000 pieces of the original art for Jim Davis’ iconic Garfield comic strip, with daily strips valued upwards of $500 (£400+) each, and Sunday strips considerably more, will be offered exclusively through Heritage Auctions over the coming years in a series of Signature, monthly and weekly Sunday Internet Comics, Animation and Art Auctions.

This Jim Davis “Garfield” Daily Comic Strip Original Art dated 1-4-00 (PAWS/Universal Feature Syndicate, 2000) sold for just over $1000 in a recent Heritage Auction. From the Jim Davis Collection.

The collection features individual daily and Sunday strips by Jim Davis, the artist behind the most widely syndicated feature in the world created in 1978, which reaches two million readers daily.

“Garfield is one of the most popular comic strips of all time, and has been for decades,” said Jim Halperin, Co-Chairman of Heritage Auctions. “It has matured into a wildly successful franchise, evolving from the strip that has appeared in newspapers around the world to a television show, multiple movies and an empire of licensed products. Collectors who pursue these strips by Jim Davis see the opportunity to acquire an important part of comic art history.”

In November 2011, the iconic strip switched to digital production, so the ink on Bristol board Garfield originals offered by Heritage represent all that will ever be created.

Heritage Auctions’ next comics Signature auction is 21st – 23rd November in Dallas, Texas, and on HA.com.

This Garfield Sunday Comic Strip Original Art dated 26th march 1995 (United Feature Syndicate, 1995) goes under the Heritage Auctions hammer in November. An in-flight misunderstanding courtesy of John’s boys, on this Garfield Sunday. Created in ink over graphite and blue pencil and is Plexiglass framed and matted area of 20″ x 14″ and an overall size of 29″ x 23″. Includes a Certificate of Authenticity, signed by Jim Davis. In Excellent condition.

“I’m very excited about my exclusive relationship with Heritage Auctions,” Davis said. “I’ve always taken my responsibility to the strip seriously (go figure), so it’s gratifying to know that I’m reaching the ‘serious’ comic collectors with the help of the fine folks at Heritage.”

Heritage Auctions is the largest fine art and collectibles auction house founded in the United States, and the world’s largest collectibles auctioneer. Heritage maintains offices in New York, Dallas, Beverly Hills, San Francisco, Chicago, Palm Beach, London, Paris, Geneva, Amsterdam and Hong Kong.

• Check out Garfield strips by Jim Davis on offer in the November Dallas auction here

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John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.