A single page of artwork from a 1984 Spider-Man comic book has sold at a US auction for a record 3.36 million dollars (£2.44 million).

Mike Zeck’s artwork for page 25 of Marvel Comics’ Secret Wars No 8 brings the first appearance of Spidey’s black suit.

The symbiote suit would eventually lead to the emergence of the character Venom.

The record bidding, which started at 330,000 dollars (£240,000) and soared past three million dollars (£2.1 million), came on the first day of Heritage Auctions’ four-day comic event in Dallas, Texas.

The previous record for an interior page of a US comic book was 657,250 dollars (£479,000) for art from a 1974 issue of The Incredible Hulk that featured a tease for the first appearance of Wolverine.

Also on Thursday, one of the few surviving copies of Superman’s debut, Action Comics No 1, sold for 3.18 million dollars (£2.31 million), putting it among the priciest books ever auctioned.

None of the sellers or buyers were identified.