Three brothers from Northern California who were checking the family home on Christmas 2024, after the death of their mother, came across an unusual surprise when going up to the attic of what had been his home for years: a valuable collection of old comics in perfect condition among which there was a first edition of the Superman #1 what could become the most expensive in history.
The comic, originally published in 1939, will be auctioned between November 20 and 22 through the auction site Heritage Auctions but already received an offer of $4,150,000. And that number could rise in the coming days.
Superman comics as an independent character emerged after the Kryptonian’s first appearance in Action Comics #1, an anthology that also included comics with other protagonists. After the success of the Man of Steel stories, DC Comics decided to give the character his own publication.
Superman #1 It went on sale in the summer of 1939 and the first printing, of just over half a million copies, quickly sold out. The company then released two other batches, one of 250 thousand and another of 150 thousand copies.
As reported by Heritage Auctions, the box that the California brothers found in the attic of the family home contained six comics that his mother and uncle had purchased between the Great Depression and the start of World War II.
Lon Allen, the auction house’s vice president, said the brothers’ mother He had always told them that he had a valuable collection of comicsbut he never showed them to them. “It’s a twist on the old story of ‘Mom threw away my comics,’” he funny explained during an interview.
Among the collection they found were five of the first issues of Action Comicsthe National Allied Publications anthology that introduced Superman in its first issue. Although that valuable first edition was not among them, the brothers did have numbers 9, 12, 15, 18 and 21. Something that surprised the evaluators was the state of conservation of all the comics, which ranged from excellent to almost perfect.
The copy of Superman #1 that could become the most expensive comic in the world. Photo Heritage AuctionsAllen maintained that the climate of Northern California was decisive for the conservation of the comic strip. “If it had been in an attic here in Texas, it would have been ruined,” said the head of the auction houses.
Meanwhile, the youngest of the brothers maintained that “it is not just a story on paper and ink,” and that “it was never just a collector’s item” but “a testimony of memory, family and the unexpected ways in which the past returns to us.”
The man, who is now over 50 years old, says that comics had become a precious refuge for his mother and uncle. And, since his uncle never had children, together with his mother They decided to leave the collection to him and his brothers..
Why is it worth so much?
Man of Steel was among the most valuable comics for years. A copy of Action Comics No. 1, the comic that introduced Superman to the world, It sold for $6 million. in the year 2024.
On that occasion, it was a specimen whose conservation had been rated with a score of 8.5 out of 10 by the Certified Guaranty Company (CGC), the largest independent comics grading service in the world.
The second most valuable copy currently is a Superman #1 that It sold for $5.3 million. at a private auction in 2022. CGC had given it a rating of 8.0, but the following year raised it to 8.5, making it even more valuable.
The copy of Action Comics No. 1, the comic that introduced Superman to the world in 1938 and in 2024, sold for $6 million.The comic the brothers found retains its bright colors, perfect corners and impeccable spine, so the CGC graders determined that deserved a rating of 9.0.
In addition to its excellent condition, it was confirmed that it belonged to the first printing of the initial half million that DC printed.
“It is almost incredible that, of nearly a million copies of Superman #1 that were printed in 1939, only 200 have arrived at CGC to be evaluated in the last 25 years,” said Matt Nelson, president of the evaluation company, who also considered that the copy that is being auctioned is “the best preserved that the CGC has seen”.
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