This photo provided by Metropolis Collectibles on Tuesday, April 6, 2021 shows Vincent Zurzolo, co-owner of ComicConnect, holding the first issue of the 1938 Action Comics comic marking the first appearance of Superman, which sold for an all-time high of $ 3,250,000. (Courtesy of Metropolis Collectibles via AP)
This photo provided by Metropolis Collectibles on Tuesday, April 6, 2021 shows Vincent Zurzolo, co-owner of ComicConnect, holding the first issue of the 1938 Action Comics comic marking the first appearance of Superman, which sold for an all-time high of $ 3,250,000. (Courtesy of Metropolis Collectibles via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) – One of the few copies of the comic that introduced Superman to the world sold at a record price.
Issue of Action Comics # 1 sold for $ 3.25 million in a private sale, ComicConnect.com, an online auction and consignment company, announced Tuesday.
It narrowly beat the comic book’s previous record, set at the auction of another copy in 2014 for just over $ 3.2 million.
The comic, published in 1938, “really is the beginning of the superhero genre,” said Vincent Zurzolo, COO of ComicConnect.com, who negotiated the sale.
He told readers about Superman’s origins, how he came to Earth from another planet, and passed through Clark Kent.
The seller of this particular issue bought the comic in 2018 for just over $ 2 million.
Zurzolo said that while hundreds of thousands of copies were initially published, an estimated only 100 exist today and in varying conditions. He said this copy is among the best preserved.
“There is no comic you can rate more in comic terms than Action Comics # 1,” he said.