Single page of Spider-Man comic sells for over $3.3m

A single comic book page from a 1984 issue of Spider-Man - which debuted the now-iconic black costume - has been sold at auction for $3.36m (£2.5m).

The work was drawn by Mike Zeck and featured on page 25 of Marvel Comics' Secret Wars no 8.

The artwork was sold at auction in Dallas, Texas, for more than ten times its original opening bid.

Last year, a 1962 Spider-Man comic sold at auction for $3.6m, beating Superman as the most expensive comic ever sold.

The black suit seen in the issue shows the "symbiote" suit, which eventually led to the character Venom.

The previous record for a single page of a comic was $657,250, according to AP News. The interior page showed the first appearance of the X-Men character Wolverine, and appeared in a 1974 issue of The Incredible Hulk.

The sale was handled by Heritage Auctions and happened on Thursday on the first day of their four-day event.

"When it hit its final price, shattering all previous comic art records, the auction gallery erupted with cheers," Heritage Auctions said in a press release.

No information about the buyer or seller was included in the statement.

Spider-Man was created by Stan Lee and first appeared in the Marvel comic book Amazing Fantasy, no 15 in 1962.

Lee was a writer and the former president of Marvel Comics. Alongside Spider-Man, he created some of the most iconic global superheroes including The Incredible Hulk , Iron-Man and The Fantastic Four.

He was also known for giving his superheroes individual, everyday problems like acne and dandruff. He broke ground with characters like Daredevil, who was was blind and Black Panther, the first black Marvel superhero.

The series has gone to spawn several films, including most recently Spider-Man: No Way Home starring Tom Holland.