86 Years After Its Release, a Rare Superman Comic Just Became the Most Expensive Ever (By a Huge Margin)

Valuable comic books have been a rising commodity for fans and collectors in the past fifteen years. It’s no coincidence that high-graded, pristine, key issues of the best from Marvel, DC, and Image continue to fetch high prices as the likes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the DCEU (and now the DCU), and other major adaptations become cornerstones of pop culture. Even comics that aren’t that old, like Edge of the Spider-Verse #2 (the first appearance of Spider-Gwen) have managed to sell for over $1000 due to the popularity of the character in the Spider-Verse films. There also seems to be no end in sight for the trend either, especially after this week’s news.

Superman is no stranger to being among the most expensive comics, as his first appearance, 1938’s Action Comics #1, has long been the top title at auction multiple times over. In fact, the comic has set the record for the most expensive comic more than once. Last year, a copy of Action Comics #1 that was graded an 8.5 by CGC sold for $6 million by Heritage Auctions, marking just the second time a comic had been sold for more than $5 million, a feat originally set by, what else, Action Comics #1 in 2022. Now, Superman has taken the record from himself once again, but with a different comic.

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Superman #1 Becomes the Most Valuable Comic Book of All-Time

Back in October, Heritage Auctions announced a new lot of rare comic books that would be going up for sale, including a pristine copy of 1939’s Superman #1 graded VF/NM 9.0 out of 10 by CGC. According to a press release, CGC noted that the comic had “bright colors, sharp corners and tight spine” and was a first print run of the highly sought-after comic. To make its condition even more impressive, the book had been tucked away in an attic in Northern California, hidden alongside other key Superman issues that went up for auction, including issues 9, 12, 15, 18 and 21.

This week, the highly graded Superman #1 finally went up for auction and officially sold for the highest price ever for a comic book: $9,120,000. It’s noteworthy that this issue has become the most expensive in part because it’s technically not even the first appearance of the character; in fact, he’d already starred in the first 12 issues of Action Comics at the time that Superman #1 made its debut. The near-mint condition of the comic may very well make its price a tough one to match going forward, especially as copies of Action Comics #1 or Detective Comics #27 have never been graded that high. It’s also no coincidence that this Superman #1 was able to fetch the price it did right after the success of the 2025 feature film from James Gunn.

The $9 million copy of Superman #1 wasn’t the only comic from this auction that fetched a high price, either, though none of the other titles were able to crack seven figures. The most expensive ones were a copy of Action Comics #15 (graded 9.4), which sold for $264,000; Captain America Comics #1 (graded 5.0), which sold for $204,000; Amazing Fantasy #15 (the first appearance of Spider-Man, graded 7.5), which sold for $144,000, and Tales of Suspense #39 (first appearance of Iron Man, graded 9.2), which sold for $108,000.