Last week, as the pop-cultural world at large watched "The Avengers" rake in $1 billion in a mere 19 days in theaters, a more specialized group of comic-book fans had its eye on a related magic number: $155,350. That was the winning bid for a single page of "Fantastic Four" comic-book art drawn in 1966 by original "Avengers" artist Jack Kirby (and scripted by "Fantastic Four" and "Avengers" co-creator Stan Lee) on the website of Heritage Auctions.

"We are officially in a new place as far as comic artwork goes," said the novelist...