Superman edition found in mum’s attic is most valuable comic ever at $9.12m
While cleaning out their late mother’s California attic last Christmas, three brothers made a life-changing discovery under a pile of faded newspapers: one of the first Superman comic books ever made.
Original copy of the first edition of June 1939 on the adventures of the Man of Steel, it was in remarkably impeccable condition.
Today it became the most expensive comic book ever sold, fetching $9.12 million (£7 million) at auction.
Texas-based Heritage Auctions, which organized Thursday’s sale, called it “the pinnacle of comic book collecting.”
The brothers found six comic books, including Superman #1, in the attic under a stack of newspapers in a cardboard box and surrounded by cobwebs in the year 2024, Heritage said in a news release.
They waited a few months before contacting the auction house, but once they did, Heritage Auctions Vice President Lon Allen visited them in San Francisco a few days later, according to the auction house.
The brothers, who chose to remain anonymous, are “between 50 and 60 years old, and their mother always told them she had an expensive comic book collection but never showed it to them,” Mr. Allen said in the Heritage press release.
“It’s a twist on the old ‘Mom threw away my comics’ story.”
Their mother had kept the comics since she and her brother bought them between the Great Depression and the start of World War II, Heritage said.
Mr. Allen added that Northern California’s cool climate was perfect for preserving waste paper.
“If it had been in an attic here in Texas, it would have been destroyed,” he said.
This helped CGC, a major third-party comic rating service, give this copy of Superman #1 a rating of 9.0 on a 10-point scale, surpassing the previous record of 8.5.
And at its sale price of more than $9 million, including purchase fees, Superman #1 easily beat the previous most expensive comic book ever sold by $3 million.
Action Comics No. 1, the 1938 work that first introduced Superman, sold for $6 million last year.
The youngest brother said in the Heritage statement that the box was left forgotten in the back of the attic.
“Over the years, life has brought a series of losses and changes,” he said. “The demands of daily survival took center stage, and the box of comic books, once set aside with care and intention, was forgotten. Until last Christmas.”
He added: “It’s not just about old paper and ink. It’s never just about a collectible.
“It’s a testament to memory, family and the unexpected ways the past comes back to us.”
