Detective Comics #1. Amazing Fantasy #15. Captain America #1. All iconic issues that most true comic fans would give their left leg for. In some cases, maybe even the whole left side of their body. But as rare as these books are, only one stands above the pack as the ultimate issue for a collector to lay their hands on. Action Comics #1. While you can’t trade the left half of your body for it, you can apparently pick it up for a cool $1,000,000.
So how did this first appearance of Superman break comic sales records? Monday morning, comic auction website ComicConnect.com posted the a 8.0 graded, non-restored copy of the issue at 10:30 eastern time. Minutes later, the book was reported to a “well known individual” who has chosen to remain private.
John Dolmayan, drummer of System of a Down and owner of Torpedo Comics, once paid $317,000 for a lesser grade issue of Action Comics #1 for a customer of his. Talking about the book, Dolmayan said, “It’s considered by most people as the most important book… It kind of ushered in the age of the superheroes.” Take a second and think about what Dolmayan has said and imagine a world without Superman or any other superheroes at all.
With only an estimated 100 total original print issues still in existence, the rarity of a book in such high condition more than doubled the previous record setting Action Comics #1’s which had sold slightly over the $400,000 range. With the chances of another issue of Action Comics #1 coming to the marketplace any time soon in such high condition, it is without a doubt that this book really is one in a million.
My thoughts on cultural implications of the recent sale of Action Comics No. 1, posted on my blog:
http://stevenduque.com/2010/02/zeitgeist-supermans-first-comic-sells-online-for-1m/
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