Story at a glance
- ComicConnect announced the auction for Superman #1 comic book had closed after an anonymous buyer had offered $2.6 million for it.
- The comic has only traded hands twice, once in 1939 when it was bought off a newsstand and a second time in 1979.
- The previous owner of the comic kept the rare Superman #1 in a temperature-controlled safe.
A rare Superman #1 comic book from 1939 was sold at an auction this week for a whopping $2.6 million.
The buyer, who chose to remain anonymous, bought the comic on Thursday and paid $2,604,750 million for it, according to ComicConnect. The comic book has only exchanged hands twice before, once when it was purchased off a newsstand in 1939 and a second time in 1979 when Mark Michaelson bought it.
Sara Michaelson/Mark Michaelson via AP
Michaelson told The Associated Press that he bought the comic book from its original owner and kept it in a temperature-controlled safe. As an avid comic book collector, Michaelson said he paid his way through college by buying and selling comics.
The comic book features Superman flying over a series of skyscrapers and bears the title, “the complete story of the daring exploits of the one and only Superman.”
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ComicConnect founder Vincent Zurzolo said of the sale, “this is by far the nicest copy of Superman #1 I’ve ever brought to market and is the second highest-graded copy on the census. The cover inks are rich and the interior pages supple. What a thrill that there are still undiscovered comics like this lying dormant.”
According to MarketWatch, Michaelson paid somewhere between $1,000 and $2,000 when he initially bought it 42 years ago.
Earlier in April, ComicConnect sold a copy of Action Comics #1, the comic that first introduced Superman, selling for $3.25 million. Then in September, Amazing Fantasy #1, the Marvel comic book that first introduced Spiderman, sold for $3.6 million
Matt Nelson, president of the CGC, a company that grades the condition of comic books, trading cards and other collectibles, told MarketWatch that comics books are, “now being recognized as a legitimate alternative investment.”
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