This Rare Copy Of 1939 Superman #1 Comic Book Just Got Sold For $2.6 Million In Auction

The seller was Mark Michaelson, who had bought the comic book from its original owner in 1979 and kept it in a temperature-controlled safe. 

The very first Superman comic book from 1939 is displayed at the Warner Bros Studio in Burbank, California in May 2016 | File Photo: AFP

New Delhi: A rare copy of an original ‘Superman’ #1 comic was just auctioned for a huge amount.

The comic book that could be bought from newsstands for a dime in 1939 got sold for $2.6 million in an auction last week, news agency AP reported.

The book showing Superman leaping over tall buildings on the cover was purchased by a buyer who did not want his identity to be revealed, the report said, quoting ComicConnect.com, an online auction and consignment firm.

The seller was one Mark Michaelson, who had bought the comic book from its original owner in 1979, according to the report. He had reportedly kept the book in a temperature-controlled safe. 

Michaelson, who now lives in Houston, managed his expenses during college life by buying and selling comics, the report said.

Considered a pioneer in the superhero genre, the ‘Superman’ character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster.

The comics were a craze among fans before filmmakers started making movies out of the superhero stories. 

This is not the first time that Superman comics have fetched high rates in auction. ComicConnect had said in April that a copy of Action Comics #1, which introduced Superman in 1938, sold for $3.25 million, the report said.

“Now you look at the comic books and you go ‘superheroes everywhere.’ You look back in the ’30s, there was no such thing. So this was literally the first superhero,” ComicConnect CEO Stephen Fishler was quoted as saying.

Fishler said it is very difficult to find high-quality copies of Superman #1 and that’s what makes the copy that was auctioned last week notable.