'Antiques Roadshow' guest says 'holy money' after expert revealed the value of his Batman painting

When Batman is mentioned, one would instantly think of a comic book collection, action figures, or movie merch. But on “Antiques Roadshow,” a guest turned up with a painting depicting a scene from a 1966 movie about the 'Caped Crusader.' The guest said that he had paid a thousand dollars to purchase the painting, and upon hearing its new value, he said, “Holy money,” in disbelief. 

The painting depicted a scene from the movie, but the artist took creative liberty and made it into a rather scandalous piece of art. “I don’t really remember there being such a debaucherous scene in the movie,” the expert Laura Wooley said. “I think he’s kind of used artistic license to depict the scene, and we see a lot of drinking and lots of fun going on.” Despite the nature of the painting, Wooley absolutely loved the artist's take on it.

There was no signature on the painting, but the expert revealed that the artist who worked on all of the Batman series at the time, and the film, was Leslie Thomas. When Wooley learned that the guest had paid $1,000, she said that it was a good deal, as a lot of Thomas’s work had not made it to the market, and that production art was an emerging area of interest for collectors.

When the time came to place a value on the painting, Wooley said that a conservative value would be around $6,000 to $8,000. “I would not be shocked at all if it went well beyond that,” she added. That’s when the guest had a stunned reaction. “I mean, the market for Batman continues to grow. He’s one of the beloved comic book figures, and Adam West Batman, I think, is everyone’s favorite Batman,” she added.

Batman may be the most popular DC Comics character today, but the age of superheroes would never have come about without the original superhero, Superman. One guest, on an earlier episode of “Antiques Roadshow,” brought one of the first ever Superman figures ever made, and she was left emotional after hearing its appraisal value. Even the expert could not believe what he was seeing.

Three such figures were found in the guest’s great-grandfather’s boarding house. “There are a lot of Superman figures. This is the Superman figure,” the expert said. “This is not something you could buy. This would have been a retailer incentive to promote DC Comics.” The expert tried to remain as professional as possible, but he was clearly a superhero geek and couldn’t help but “freak out.”

When the time came for its appraisal, the guest said that the figure at auction could conservatively sell for $3,000 to $5,000. The guest wasn’t expecting this at all and got a little emotional. “Mom and Dad are gonna be really happy. That’s awesome. Have to tell the uncles too,” she said, trying to keep her bearings about her.