The Original Superman Comic Book Sells For Millions
July 24th, 2012
Little did Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joel Schuster ever imagine that the first issue of a comic book featuring their superhero would one day fetch more than $2 million at auction. But when the first issue of Action Comics was put up for bid in December of 2011, the final selling price of $2.16 million when the gavel came down broke all previous records, setting the mark for the most money paid for any comic book ever. Not only was this issue rare, it was also graded at 9.0 for quality, meaning it was in pristine condition. When it was first sold in 1938, the purchaser only needed one thin dime to claim ownership!
Action Comics No. 1 first made headlines among collectors in 1992 when it was first sold for $86,000, then resold again in 1997 for $150,000. This particular issue was stolen around 2000 and thought to have been lost forever before it turned up miraculously in a storage unit in California in the spring of 2011. Rumors have circulated among comic book fans that the owner of this pristine Action Comics No. 1 issue was actor Nicholas Cage, but auction officials would neither confirm or deny the identity of either the seller or buyer of this wonderful piece of comic book memorabilia.