José Delbo, an artist who illustrated the comedian ebook collection Surprise Lady through the late 1970s, has made $1.85 million in an public sale
José Delbo, an artist who illustrated the comedian ebook collection Surprise Lady through the late 1970s, has made $1.85 million in an public sale promoting non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, depicting the favored heroine.
The 87-year-old Argentian, who additionally labored on Batman, Transformers, and The Beatles‘ Yellow Submarine comedian ebook, collaborated with Milan-based crypto artwork duo Hackatao to provide the NFT drop, dubbed “Heroines.”
In complete, 914 particular person NFTs had been auctioned, with the tokens every that includes considered one of seven illustrations or animated gifs depicting Surprise Lady in scenes invoking themes regarding the empowerment of ladies.
The tokens auctioned included two one-of-a-kind editions, 4 “open restricted editions” — the place an infinite quantity of NFTs might be minted solely whereas the public sale is ongoing, and one version for which not more than 10 copies may very well be bought.
The most costly piece bought was “Heroines – Weight of the World,” an animated gif that illustrates Surprise Lady holding the world towards a backdrop invoking themes of empowerment. The bidder “888” obtained their palms on the piece for a complete of 88.888 Ether, value roughly $136,000.

The open version, “Heroines – Stand Out” , spanned 10 copies in complete, with two being reserved for the artists, seven given away to raffle winners. The final remaining copy was auctioned for 15 Ether, or roughly $23,000. All proceeds from the sale had been donated to Ladies Who Code, a corporation that works to closi the gender hole within the tech business.
“Heroines – Shine Vibrant” was the best performing open restricted version, with a complete of 151 copies promoting for a mixed complete of $450,000.
José Delbo illustrated the Surprise Lady comics between 1976-1981 and isn’t any stranger to the crypto world, holding a week-long exhibition of his comedian ebook artwork within the Ethereum-based digital actuality world Decentraland throughout July 2020.
Comedian ebook characters are rising in recognition within the crypto artwork markets, with Marvel formally launching a Spiderman NFT that bought for $25,000 in February of this 12 months.