About Heritage Auctions - Comics & Comic Art

Born in Boston in 1952, Jim formed a part-time rare stamp and coin business at age 16, the same year he received early acceptance to Harvard College. But by his third semester Jim was enjoying the coin business more than his studies, so he took a permanent leave of absence to pursue a full-time numismatic career. In 1975, Jim supervised the protocols for the first mainframe computer system in the numismatic business, which would help catapult his firm to the top of the industry within four years. In 1982, Jim's business merged with that of his friend and former archrival Steve Ivy to form Heritage. In 1984, Jim wrote a book later re-titled "How to Grade U.S. Coins", which outlined the grading standards upon which NGC and PCGS would later be based. Jim is also a well-known futurist, an active collector of rare comic books, comic art and early 20th-century American art (view parts of his collection www.jhalpe.com), venture capital investor, philanthropist (he endows a multimillion-dollar health/education foundation), and part-time novelist. His first fiction book, The Truth Machine, was published in 1996, became an international science fiction bestseller optioned as a feature film by Warner Brothers, then Lionsgate. Jim's second novel, The First Immortal, was published in early 1998 and optioned as a Hallmark Hall of Fame television miniseries. Both are now under development as feature films by Morgan Freeman at Revelations Entertainment. Jim donates all of his book royalties, and his entire annual salary from Heritage, to health and education charities.

Jim Lentz is the former president and owner of the Midwest animation art gallery chain, Stay Tooned Galleries. In the past he has also served as the National Sales Manager for Disney Fine Art and ben a consultant to Walt Disney Art Classics. Jim sat on the Disney Advisory Board of Dealers while he was running his chain of galleries. Jim was a Corporate Sponsor for the Midwest Chapter of ASIFA (Chicago Chapter of the International Animated Film Association) as well as the creator and curator for the 1989 – 1999 Midwest Animation Lecture Series in Illinois and Minnesota. This lecture series was a virtual who’s-who of animation both young and old. Animators, animation historians, directors ,writers, animation “Legends”, voice talent,  studio heads and family members of deceased animation pioneers were all included in this impressive roster of speakers. Jim had an early career with such companies as Chrysler Corporation and Tenneco Automotive before opening his first gallery in Barrington, Illinois. Jim is a graduate of CW Post University in New York.

Barry Sandoval, a Vice President of Heritage Auctions, joined the company in 2004. He has been part of the team effort that expanded the Comics department grow from some $10 million in annual sales to a $79 million year in 2019.

Barry is an advisor to the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. He often writes and researches catalog descriptions for high profile lots, and he is proud of having won the CGC grading contest held at Wizard World Chicago some years ago.

Multimillion dollar collections Barry has helped bring to market include the Kerby Confer Collection, the Estate of Garth Williams, and A Collection of Great Cartoonists and Illustrators.

Barry frequently serves as auctioneer of Heritage’s comics, animation, and video game auctions, and occasionally other categories as well. 

Weldon Adams has over 35 years of accumulated experience in the comic book industry. He has managed three different comic stores and worked for publishers such as Acclaim Entertainment and Ape Entertainment. He is a regular at industry trade show events, where he has often moderated panel discussions with comics creators. Adams is an advisor to the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide.

Olivier’s love for U.S. comics and European “bandes-dessinees” began in the mid-Seventies. A passionate collector of original comic art since the early Nineties, Olivier has accumulated deep knowledge of the hobby and has made contacts with many artists and other high-end collectors over the years.

After gaining his degree in Marketing & Management, Olivier held management positions in the corporate world before joining Heritage Auctions as a Consignment Director. He will be responsible for meeting with clients and evaluate collections for Heritage’s upcoming auctions.

A native of Belgium who still resides there, Olivier is fluent in English, French, and Dutch/Flemish with a very good understanding of German.

Before joining Heritage, Bill King was the former Director of Stay Tooned Galleries, a Midwest animation art gallery chain, and was a team member for the long-running 1990s Midwest Animation Lecture Series.  

A graduate of the University of Mississippi with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, he also has 25 years of experience in the graphic design and illustration field both as a Sr. Art Director for Omnicom’s Adpac Corp. and as a freelance artist/consultant to many of Chicago’s top ad agencies. In 2004, Bill and his cousin, Las Vegas Comedy Magician Mac King, created the syndicated Sunday comic feature “Mac King’s Magic in a Minute.” The strip continues to this day, distributed through Andrews McMeel Syndication and appearing online and in newspapers all over the world. He is also a member of the exclusive National Cartoonist Society, a club dedicated to the advancement of cartooning arts. Bill and his lovely wife Joetta live on Chicago’s north side.

Joe’s resume in the field of Comic character collectibles includes but is not limited to: Principal owner along with his wife and partner Nadia of All Star Auctions and Comics and Stories, premier dealers of rare Comic Collectibles for over 30 years. Co-owners of Comic Art Appraisal LLC where they have prepared formal appraisals for well over 1 million items, including the most significant institutions, collectors and professionals in the field. Exclusive Comic Collectibles Consultants for Christie's from 1992 to 1997, where they inaugurated and conducted seven record setting Comic Collectibles sales; representatives for some of the most prestigious artists to have ever worked in the medium, including the Estate of Winsor McCay, Frank Frazetta, Carmine Infantino, Jerry Robinson, Joe Simon, Angelo Torres and Mort Drucker to name a few.  They have worked directly with professionals and collectors alike whose careers and interests have spanned the history of the medium to the present day.

Publishers and authors of The Christie's East Comic Collectibles catalogues; perennial special advisors and contributors to The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, the universally acknowledged reference work in the field; charter and founding members of the American Association of Comic Book Collectors Committee for Authenticity Certification and Grading; members of the American Institute Of Conservation for more than 20 years; author of the CAAR rating system as published in The Overstreet Guide To Collecting Comic And Animation Art, Gemstone Publishing, Oct. 2013 and authors of the definitive feature on high-end transactions in the Comic Collectibles field, Collecting At The Top, which appeared monthly in Gemstone Publishing Overstreet's FAN Magazine.

Nadia has an extensive background in both marketing and sales promotions. With a Bachelor of Science degree from New York University, Ms. Mannarino was co-owner of Comics and Stories, dealers of rare Comic Collectibles. She was co-owner of All Star Auctions, a firm specializing in auctioning Comic Character related items and was the Comic Collectibles Consultant for Christie’s East from 1992-1997.

In addition, she has been a member of the prestigious American Appraisers Association for over 10 years and is fully certified in the accepted appraisal practices as required by the Association. As such she is the only licensed member of the AAA in the field of Comic Character Collectibles. As agent for some of the most prestigious artists to have ever worked in the medium, including Frank Frazetta, Mort Drucker, Carmine Infantino, Joe Simon, Angelo Torres and Jim Steranko, she has been instrumental in bringing the medium forward focusing also on up-and-coming artists and storytellers.

What began as a summer job in the early 90s evolved into a lifelong passion that has built a foundation of knowledge, making Matthew an unquestioned expert in the hobby.

Matthew started by setting up and manning the table of 50-cent comics outside a shop in Queens, N.Y. McGee later clerked at and eventually managed the world-renowned St. Mark’s Comics in New York City, and later managed the back issue operation for Midtown Comics.

The breadth of his knowledge and the depth of his passion for comics and the comic book industry have taken him from coast to coast, from New York to the Pacific Northwest.

Lifelong animation fan David Tosh has been with Heritage going on fourteen years, working first in the Comics and Entertainment divisions as a cataloger and consignment director. In 2016, David was named Senior Animation Art Cataloger, working directly with Jim Lentz in our Animation Art Division. David has written a number of published Pop Culture articles, and in 2015, a book on collectible comics, Picker’s Guide: Comic Books, published by Krause. He has also edited and digitally restored art for two reprint books, Henry Speaks for Himself (Fantagraphics, 2014), and Walt Kelly’s Fables and Funnies (Dark Horse, 2016). David has been a comics fan since the early 1960s, and a serious collector since 1972. He owned and operated a small collectibles shop, “Mr. Nostalgia,” in Batesville Arkansas, and has a business background in Advertising Art and Client Services. He is also one of the Heritage Bloggers, and for a number of years has self-published Mumbo, a digest-sized magazine about comics, music, and other Pop Culture subjects.