The modern superhero wasbornin 1938 , when Cleveland admirer and collaborators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster debutedSupermaninAction Comics#1 . So few copy of the comic are known to exist in good condition that it ’s become one of the most sought - after collectibles of all time . Last hebdomad , it founder new ground : At $ 6 million , it ’s now the most worthful comic ever trade .
The copy , which wasofferedby Heritage Auctions , wasgraded8.5 out of 10 by the Certified Guaranty Company ( CGC ) , a third - party range overhaul that assess the term of books and maintains a database of known and graded transcript . According to CGC , only two copies ofAction Comics#1 have received a higher numerical score . Both are graded 9.0 and arebelievedto be in the possession of billionaire collector Ayman Hariri .
While high grades are always desired , the amusing is scarce enough that even less version can get big money . A written matter graded 6.0 sold for $ 3.56 million in 2023 ; one piteous relic mark .05 sold for $ 408,000 that same year . In 2020 , someonepaid$410 for a few isolated flecks of newspaper ( and one raw material ) from the playscript .
While you might expectAction Comics#1 to be systematically in first place when it comes tocomic book value , that has n’t always been the event . In 2022 , a nearly perfect written matter ofAmazing Fantasy#15 ( CGC 9.6 ) , the first appearance of Spider - Man , sell for $ 3.6 million , becoming the most valuable comedian at that time . In 2023 , a copy ofSuperman#1 ( CGC 8.0 ) sold for $ 5.3 million , establishing a newfangled record .
bolster the sale price was the fact that the transcript was part of a “ pedigreed ” ingathering , or one that is known to accumulator for having a provenance . This is the “ Kansas City ” transcript , so named for being part of a collection draw to a accumulator in that metropolis who compiled hundreds of first issues from the earliest days of comics publication .
Another pedigreed transcript , this one from the collection of Edgar Church , is rumour to be the easily - preserve of them all : Church was acollectorin Denver , Colorado , whose dry cellar kept his books in exceptional condition . But what that might stand for at auction sale is unknown : The copy is in secret hands and there ’s no way of knowing when or if it will total up for sale .
CGC estimation there are few than 100 copies ofAction Comics#1 still in beingness out of the 200,000 or so that were impress back in 1938 . The hazard you have one in your cellar are downhearted , but you might need to check your walls . In 2013 , a contractor in Minnesota was working on renovating an honest-to-goodness theater when hefounda copy being used as insulation . Graded 1.5 , it sell for $ 175,000 .
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[ h / tThe Hollywood Reporter ]
