Back in 1993, comics artist Jim Lee–now co-publisher of DC Entertainment–bought a couple obscure illustrations by legendary artist Jack Kirby in a Sotheby's auction. They were billed as concept art for an unmade film adaptation of Roger Zelazny's sci-fi novel Lord of Light, but what Lee didn't know–because the CIA had yet to declassify the information–was that the art also had connections to a covert CIA operation. During the Iran hostage crisis in 1979-1981, the agency extracted six U.S diplomats from Iran by convincing authorities that they were actually part of a Canadian film crew scouting locations for a Lord of Light film, which CIA agent Tony Mendez renamed Argo.

That's right. The incident inspired the real-life film Argo, which recently won an Academy Award for Best Picture, and the illustrations Lee bought were concept art for the film they used as a cover story. Lee originally wanted them simply because they were unique examples of Kirby's work, and it wasn't until he heard about the then-upcoming film Argo and read WIRED's story on the covert op that he realized exactly what he had.

"I was pretty familiar with most of Jack's work from his days at Marvel [Comics]–and at DC–but this jumped out at me because it was something I'd never seen before," Lee told WIRED. "It didn't even matter to me where it came from or its origins. I just thought it was a great example of his work."

Now that the story has become an Oscar-winning film directed by and starring Ben Affleck, Lee is putting his rare finds up for auction.

While the Lord of Light film adaptation ended up as nothing more than a cover story, it began as a sincere attempt by producer Barry Geller to adapt Zelazny's book to the big screen. Geller hired Kirby to create the concept art and also brought on a makeup artist named John Chambers. (The saga of the Lord of Light production is actually the subject of its own documentary called Science Fiction Land.) The project eventually fell apart, but when Mendez called on Chambers to help him exfiltrate six American diplomats hiding out in Tehran, the makeup artist still had copies of the script and concept designs.

The two men, along with effects artist Bob Sidell, set up a fake production company for the movie to use as a cover in Iran, where Mendez planned to get the six Americans out by claiming they were part of a Canadian film crew.

The gambit worked and the six were brought back to the U.S., though the CIA operation that rescued them remained classified for another 17 years. In the meantime, Lee bought his Kirby works at the Sotheby's auction with no idea of their historical significance. Similarly, Geller didn't know the true cultural and monetary value of the illustrations when he sold them to help pay for his son's college tuition (with Kirby's permission). He wouldn't find out that they had a relationship to a CIA operation for another seven years, when he saw Mendez on an episode of Errol Morris' First Person describing the CIA plot and how they "stole the script from the Lord of Light."

So, would Geller have sold he art if he'd known the truth?

"Absolutely not – or we would've gotten ten times as much," he told Wired. Still, he says, "I'm very, very happy, in fact, to see it in auction because anything that further brings notice and credit to Jack Kirby and his life is important to have. I'd love to have them now, but this is great."

Image: Courtesy Heritage Auctions

The original ink-on-paper works—a 36.5-inch x 22.75-inch piece named "Planetary Control Room (Interior)" and a 22.25-inch x 17-inch piece named "Pavilions of Joy" (see above)—for sale through Heritage Auctions weren't physically used in the CIA operation because, according to Geller, Chambers only had copies of the art. Still, they're incredible pieces of American history.

Lee said he couldn't recall how much he paid for the Kirby illustrations back in 1993 but that it was "definitely less than what it's estimated to be [worth] today." (Geller recalled that he got $8,000-$10,000 for the pair at the time.) Now that the real story of the "Canadian Caper" known, and has an Oscar-winning movie to prove it, Heritage estimates each piece will bring at least $10,000 — an amount close to twice what they would be worth without their historical cache.

Interested parties can bid on the Kirby illustrations online now here and here. The final sale will take place in a live auction in Dallas on Aug. 2.