Somewhere in the great beyond, a 9-year-old girl from Depression-era San Francisco is laughing her cape off.
A copy of Superman No. 1 (1939), the Man of Steel’s very first solo comic, has officially become the most valuable comic book of all time, selling for a staggering $9.12 million at a Heritage auction. That doesn’t just beat the previous record, it obliterates it! Action Comics No. 1 held the record at $6 million last year, but Superman just punched right through that number like it was made of paper.
Part of the magic comes from its condition. For an 86-year-old comic to score a 9.0 from CGC is basically unheard of. It’s the kind of grade that makes collectors immediately check their attic and their grandparents’ attic just in case.
But the best part is the backstory. Three California brothers found the comic in their late mother’s attic while clearing out her home. They expected dust, old papers, and sadness. What they found instead was a literal legend: a perfectly preserved Superman No. 1 their mom had bought as a kid with her teenage brother back in Depression-era San Francisco. She’d told them for years that she had “rare comics somewhere,” but could never remember where. They assumed it was just family myth… until they opened that one box of yellowed newspaper clippings.
Suddenly, the legend was real, and worth over nine million dollars!
Not bad for something that once cost a dime.