At 5pm (ET) on the final day of its 12-day auction period the finest known copy of Action Comics #1 had a high bid of $2.6 million, a new record for a single issue comic, but less than the $3 million that many (including ICv2) thought the "white pages" copy would receive. But by the time the eBay auction closed at 8pm (ET), the bidding had reached $3,207,852, far eclipsing the previous high of $2,161,000 that was paid in 2011 for a copy of Action Comics #1 owned by Nicholas Cage (see "Down in the Valley--Nic Cage's 'Action' # 1 Found").
According to eBay, 48 bids were received on the pristine copy of Action Comics #1, which was originally published in April of 1938 and which featured the first appearance of Superman. The auctioned copy was rated 9.0, as was the copy originally owned by Nic Cage, though the copy that just sold for $3.2 million had "white pages" that were not discolored by time (see "The First $3 Million Comic?"). The "white pages" certainly figured in the 50% jump in price over the Nic Cage copy, though the new sale also makes clear that values for the top books from the Golden Age comics continue to grow.
A portion of the proceeds from today’s sales are going to benefit the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation for Spinal Chord research.
'Action Comics' #1 Goes for $3,207,852.00
Posted by ICv2 on August 24, 2014 @ 8:47 pm CT
MORE NEWS
Longtime ICv2 Columnist
January 22, 2025
Longtime ICv2 columnist Steve Bennett, who wrote Confessions of a Comic Book Guy for this site for almost two decades, passed away.
Takeaways from the Interim DIP Financing Order
January 22, 2025
Deadlines for the completion of an auction for Alliance, Diamond, and other assets in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy are coming up soon, one of several takeaways from the DIP financing order.
MORE COMICS
From Dynamite Entertainment
January 21, 2025
Here's a preview of Captain Planet #1, coming from Dynamite Entertainment.
Sharp-Eyed Chronicler of Modern Mores
January 21, 2025
Feiffer's cartoons captured the absurdities of 20th and 21st century life.