A pristine copy of Superman No. 1 from June 1939 has set a new auction record after selling for $9.12million (£7million), becoming the most expensive comic book ever sold.
The sale was conducted on Thursday through Heritage Auctions in Texas.
The comic achieved the record-breaking figure despite spending decades hidden in an attic in California.
Superman No. 1 was the character’s first standalone title, marking the first time a comic book superhero received a solo publication.
Heritage Auctions vice-president Lon Allen described the sale as “a momentous day”.
He said: “Superman No. 1 is a milestone in pop culture history, and this copy is not only in unprecedented condition, but it has a movie-worthy story behind it.”
The comic was discovered by three brothers while they were sorting through their late mother’s belongings during the 2024 Christmas holidays.
They found the edition beneath layers of old newspapers in a cardboard box in the attic of the family home.
The comic had remained untouched for decades.
The family found the comic in the attic
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Their mother purchased the issue when she was nine years old while living in San Francisco.
She had kept it alongside five other comics bought between the Great Depression and the Second World War.
Mr Allen said: “Their mom had always told them she had an expensive comics collection but never showed them,” adding that the story was “a twist on the old ‘Mom threw away my comics’ story.”
The brothers waited three months before contacting Heritage Auctions.
The comic was later assessed by CGC, the world’s largest third-party grading service.
It received a 9.0 rating on the ten-point industry scale.
This represents the highest grade ever awarded to a surviving copy of Superman No. 1.
It surpasses the previous top-rated copy
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It surpasses the previous top-rated copy, which held an 8.5 grade.
Only seven known copies of the issue are graded 6.0 or higher.
Experts attributed the comic’s condition in part to the climate in California.
Mr Allen said: “If it had been in an attic here in Texas, it would have been ruined.”
Superman No. 1 was originally printed in 1939 with a first run of 500,000 copies.
Further runs of 250,000 and 150,000 followed.
Intact copies are rare because the comic encouraged readers to remove the cover for use as a poster.
The $9.12million sale exceeds the previous record by $3million.
The prior benchmark was set in 2024 when an 8.5-graded Action Comics No. 1 sold for $6million, also through Heritage Auctions.
Superman No. 1 is considered one of the three most significant titles in comic collecting.
It sits alongside Action Comics No. 1 from 1938, which introduced Superman, and Detective Comics No. 27, which featured Batman’s debut.
Superman was created in 1933 by teenagers Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster from Cleveland.
They later sold the rights to DC Comics for $130 and earned $10 per illustrated page.
The comic was published after National Allied Publications rebranded as Detective Comics, Inc., known today as DC.
The comic was published after National Allied Publications rebranded as Detective Comics, Inc., known today as DC
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PAOne of the three brothers said the family had been unaware of the collection’s value for many years.
He said: “This isn’t simply a story about old paper and ink. This was never just about a collectible. This is a testament to memory, family and the unexpected ways the past finds its way back to us.”
The collection had been carefully placed in storage but forgotten as family circumstances changed over time.
“As the years unfolded, life brought about a series of losses and changes.
“The demands of everyday survival took centre stage, and the box of comics, once set aside with care and intention, was forgotten. Until last Christmas.”
The sale has now provided the family with a significant financial windfall, turning their mother’s childhood purchase into a substantial inheritance.