DALLAS — Heritage Auctions announced that the Belgium-based Boon Foundation for Narrative Graphic Arts cast the $600,000 winning bid to add the original art for the eight-page story Master Race (EC 1955) to its collection of artworks from comic strips and graphic novels. Heritage Auctions offered the original art for the first time since its publication in 1955 at its November 15 vintage comic books and comic art auction.: “These eight pages date from 1955 and were the first major representation of the Holocaust in the history of graphic narrative,” said Daniel Spindler, a representative of the Boon Foundation. “Master Race is one of the world masterworks of graphic narrative.”

The eight-page comic was the cover feature for Impact #1, one of EC’s “New Direction” wave of books, which was released in 1955. It is a powerful look at the effects of Nazi concentration camp atrocities upon those who survived them, while retaining EC Comics’ signature “twisted” ending. EC Comics co-editor Bill Gaines and writer Al Feldstein developed the important Holocaust story, but critics point to Bernie Krigstein’s storytelling artwork that perfected the piece and influenced the comic genre for more than 60 years.

A full review of the auction will appear in a future issue.