To date, the most expensive comic ever auctioned was a copy of ‘Action Comics’ #1. The 1938 first appearance of Superman was CGC graded at 8.5 and sold for $1.5 million.
The reason for the unbelievable price is that there are believed to be only six copies of this issue in existence with a CGC grade of 4.0 or higher. The highest graded copy ever (CGC 9.0) was owned by actor Nicolas Cage. This copy was stolen from Cage back in 2000. However, in April 2011, the Los Angeles Police Department found a copy of ‘Action Comics’ #1 in a storage locker in the San Fernando Valley. After it was confirmed that the found copy was indeed Cage’s copy and some insurance issues worked out, since Cage had already been reimbursed for the theft, the comic was returned to Cage.
However, after his eccentric buying habits drove him to bankruptcy, Cage is auctioning off the rare comic. The reserve has been met with a current bid of a little over $1.3 million and, with a few days remaining on the auction, it is on track to break that past record sale of $1.5 million. There are some analysts predicting that this near pristine edition of ‘Action Comics’ #1 will break the $2 million mark before all is said and done.
If you’re a comic fan with a couple million dollars on hand, you can bid on it at Comic Connection auctions. If you don’t want it, do you have $2 million that I can borrow?