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CAGE WILL SELL PRIZED POSSESSIONS

Nicolas Cage plans to sell his multi-million dollar comic book collection, which includes Action Comics No. 1 -- the first appearance of Superman -- and copies of the first comic book appearances of Captain America, Batman, the Green Lantern and other superheroes. The sale, scheduled for Oct. 11-13 in Dallas, will be conducted by Heritage Auctions of Dallas and Jay Parrino's The Mint of Kansas City, Mo. Heritage Auctions sold "Spider-Man" creator Stan Lee's comics collection earlier this summer as part of a record-setting $5 million auction. John Petty, Director of Heritage Comics Auctions, said Cage's collection shows the Oscar-winning actor to be a true connoisseur of the art form. "We're estimating the collection will easily realize a value well into seven figures," said Petty. "This is a real treasure-trove of high quality material from the Golden Age of comics." Bill Hughes, a comics expert who consults for The Mint, concurred. "The Nicolas Cage collection is legendary among comics collectors," said Hughes. "Every major collector and dealer will be vying for these gems." The sale will be held in conjunction with the Dallas Comicon, a comics collectors convention.

REMEMBERING 'GORDON'

Matt Robinson, a writer for "The Cosby Show," "Eight Is Enough," and "Sanford and Son" -- and the first actor to play Gordon on "Sesame Street" -- died Monday after a 20-year struggle with Parkinson's disease. He was 65. Robinson started in local TV in Philadelphia in 1963. From 1969-71, he played Gordon, the friendly neighbor on "Sesame Street." When he left the show, the role was taken over for two seasons by Hal Miller. Roscoe Orman has played Gordon since 1973. In 1973, Robinson wrote and directed "Save The Children," an all-star concert for Jesse Jackson's Operation Push featuring The Temptations, Sammy Davis Jr., Roberta Flack, Marvin Gaye, Isaac Hayes, The Jacksons, Gladys Knight, Nancy Wilson and Bill Withers. In 1974, he wrote and produced "Amazing Grace," starring comedian Moms Mabley as a busybody who gets all over some corrupt local politicians. He joined fellow Philadelphian Cosby in 1983 as a writer and producer on "The Cosby Show," working on the project for seven seasons despite his struggle with Parkinson's disease. Robinson's daughter, actress Holly Robinson Peete, starred in the TV series "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper" (1992) and "21 Jump Street" (1987).

STARS COME OUT AGAINST AIDS

Screen legend Lauren Bacall, Dame Shirley Bassey and actress Milla Jovovich will headline a fund-raiser for the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) during the 59th International Film Festival in Venice, Italy on Sept. 4. Bacall will chair the event, called Cinema Against AIDS, Jovovich ("Zoolander," "The Fifth Element") will be the emcee, and Bassey will perform. The black-tie gala is being sponsored by the Italian jeweler Bulgari and co-sponsored by Hotel Bauer Venezia. Last year's event raised $700,000 for AIDS research.

TURNING UP THE HEAT IN MARTHA'S KITCHEN

U.S. congressional investigators are threatening to subpoena Martha Stewart's stock transaction records, after new questions arose about the timing of her sale of ImClone Systems shares last year. The House Energy and Commerce Committee has ordered the good-living guru to turn over her records and think again about her refusal to sit for an interview with congressional investigators who want to know if insider trading was involved when she sold almost 4,000 shares of ImClone -- just before the company's stock plunged on news that the Food and Drug Administration had decided not to review its cancer drug, Erbitux. Stewart has said that the stock sale was triggered by a pre-existing arrangement she had with her broker at Merrill Lynch & Co., but the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that a Merrill Lynch assistant has told investigators that he called Stewart -- before the FDA news was made public -- to warn her that ImClone boss Samuel Waksal was selling his shares.

UPI DAILY SURVEY QUESTION NO. 388

Today's question was suggested by SDC: "Have you ever had an embarrassing moment because you sent the wrong letter to the wrong person or put the wrong thing in the wrong envelope?" Put LETTER in the subject line and send to [email protected] via the Internet.

RESULTS OF QUESTION NO. 383 (TIME)

Last week, as we noted how quickly the year has passed by, we asked what you would have like to have accomplished by this time of year but haven't. A quick sampling of e-mail yields the following: Angie is among about 20 percent of respondents who said they had big plans of being smaller by this time of year, but haven't lost a single pound. BrendaBrew says that she had wanted to find a new house and move in; it hasn't happened. DDP is among several who wanted to not only move to a new place but to a new city, and haven't been able to. Stuart wanted to get married by this time in 2002. Nope. Lidia notes that she and her husband had hoped to "be in a family way." That, sadly, hasn't happened either. Armada2 reports that she had hoped to find a new job and was one of some 20 percent who wanted new employment and have not had that dream come true. TOMORROW: How cool do you like it? GBA.