Superman’s first appearance is now the most valuable comic ever at $6M

The latest Heritage Auction event saw a copy of Action Comics #1 blow away expectations, selling for a record $6 million.

For the second time in a row, Superman is the star of the most valuable comic book in the world. 

The first appearance of the Man of Steel, 1938’s Action Comics #1, sold for a record-breaking $6 million at Thursday’s Comics & Comic Art Signature Auction, held by Heritage Auctions. 

The copy is graded by Certified Guaranty Company (CGC) comics. CGC offers a service where owners can submit comics to be officially graded on a scale of 1 to 10 and then sealed in a container to preserve their condition.

This particular copy of Action Comics #1 was graded at 8.6, which is an exceptional condition for a comic of its age and rarity. 8.6 is considered “Very Fine+,” which CGC defines as “an attractive collectible with a moderate defect or a number of small defects.” According to the official auction listing, this copy has off-white to white pages with a single color break at mid-spine and “relatively sharp” corners. 

According to Heritage, even a low-grade copy of Action Comics #1 is a high-value collector’s item. A copy graded just 0.5 (a grading so low it can account for major defects or even just parts completely missing) sold for $408,000 in September 2023.

The previous most valuable comic was another Superman title, 1939’s Superman #1, which sold for $5.3 million in 2022. It outclassed a copy of Amazing Fantasy #15 (the first appearance of Spider-Man), which sold for $3.6 million in 2021. 

Why are Action Comics #1 and other Superman comics so rare?

The copy of Action Comics #1 is one of only 78 graded by CGC Comics and is believed to be one of less than 100 still in collector’s hands today. 

Most comics of this era are exceptionally rare today due to a number of factors, chiefly just that the material they were printed on was not meant to last. Many have deteriorated over the years or were not kept well at all (which isn’t that surprising, considering the target demographic was children.)

However, another circumstance was World War II. Paper salvage was a necessity on the homefront, with paper being salvaged to make ammunition, training manuals, and more. Comics, which were considered disposable entertainment, were some of the first things to be scrapped. As a result, many of these early comics were destroyed before collecting them could even cross anyone’s mind.