Up, up and away: Copy of Superman No. 1 comic sells for record $9.12 million

The Man of Steel still resonates with collectors.

A copy of Superman No. 1, the 1939 comic book that featured the superhero in his first solo title, sold for a record $9.12 million on Thursday in an auction.

Heritage Auctions announced the record sale, which had a gavel price of nearly $7.6 million and reached the final price after a buyer’s premium was added. The sale price tops the record of $6 million for a comic book -- Action Comics No. 1, the 1938 work that first introduced Superman.

“This copy represents the pinnacle of comic collecting,” the Dallas-based auction house wrote in the comic’s listing.

The comic book was discovered during last year’s holiday season by three brothers in Northern California, who were going through their late mother’s effects in the woman’s attic.

In the attic, inside a box of yellowed newspaper clippings, the brothers found their mother’s comic book collection -- something they had heard about for years but could never verify -- that included the Superman No. 1 comic in nearly pristine condition.

Superman was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster.

The Superman No. 1 comic book earned a 9 grade out of 10 from Certified Guaranty Company (CGC), a service based in Sarasota, Florida, that specializes in authenticating and grading pop culture items and trading cards.

According to CGC, the Action Comics No. 1 that previously held the record had an 8.5 grade when it sold in April 2024. Another Superman No. 1, graded 8 by CGC, sold for $5.3 million in 2022 in a private sale.

“It was riveting to see this Superman #1 — the highest-graded example ever certified by CGC — shatter the previous auction record for any comic book," CGC President Matt Nelson said in a statement. “This result is a testament not only to this comic’s rarity and preservation, and the strength of the comic book market overall, but also to the expertise and trust that define CGC’s role in the collectibles market.”

The comic book tends to be in low grade when collectors encounter it, since DC Comics designed a back cover that children could cut out and put on their walls.

“We presume that most every kid wanted to have a Superman pinup, and cut up the back cover along the dotted line as they were encouraged to, resulting in a lot of copies that are low-grade today if they survived at all,” Heritage Auctions said in a statement.

The brothers were stunned by the discovery. They said their mother had spoken about having original copies of comic books from the 1930s, but had forgotten where they were. The brothers, who are not revealing their names, dismissed it as a family legend.

“It wasn’t like we said, ‘Let’s go find that comic book,’ ” said the youngest son, who is 57. “It was more, ‘Let’s get that dumpster and just fill it up.’“

Their minds changed faster than a speeding bullet when they uncovered the cache of comics.

“This isn’t simply a story about old paper and ink,” the youngest son said last month. “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.”

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