A pristine first edition of Superman #1 has shattered records, selling for an astonishing $9.12 million (£7 million) at auction, making it the highest-priced comic book ever sold.
Texas-based Heritage Auctions, which conducted Thursday’s sale, hailed the comic as the “pinnacle of comic collecting.”
The life-changing find traces back to last Christmas, when three brothers, cleaning out their late mother’s California attic, stumbled upon one of the earliest Superman comics hidden beneath a pile of faded newspapers.
The June 1939 edition, featuring the Man of Steel’s adventures, was in remarkably pristine condition.
Heritage revealed in a press release that the brothers had discovered six comic books, including Superman #1, tucked inside a cardboard box surrounded by cobwebs.
They waited several months before reaching out to Heritage, prompting vice-president Lon Allen to visit them in San Francisco within days.
The brothers, who are in their 50s and 60s, have chosen to remain anonymous. “Their mom had always told them she had an expensive comics collection but never showed them,” Mr. Allen said. “It’s a twist on the old ‘Mom threw away my comics’ story.”
Heritage noted that the comics had been preserved by the cool northern California climate, which kept the papers in exceptional condition.
“If it had been in an attic here in Texas, it would have been ruined,” Allen said. This preservation helped CGC, a leading third-party comics grading service, award Superman #1 a remarkable 9.0 rating on a 10-point scale, surpassing the previous record of 8.5.
The sale price of over $9 million, including buyer’s premium, eclipsed the previous record by $3 million. Action Comics No. 1, which first introduced Superman in 1938, sold for $6 million last year.
Reflecting on the discovery, the youngest brother said, “As the years unfolded, life brought about a series of losses and changes. The demands of everyday survival took centre stage, and the box of comics, once set aside with care and intention, was forgotten. Until last Christmas.”
He added, “This isn’t simply a story about old paper and ink. This was never just about a collectible. This is a testament to memory, family and the unexpected ways the past finds its way back to us.”
