First edition ‘Superman’ comic found in attic sells for $9 million, breaking record

An original copy of the first edition of the first “Superman” comic from 1939 — which had been lying undiscovered in an attic for decades — was sold at auction on Thursday for more than $9 million, thought to be highest price paid for a comic book.

“Superman #1” was described as “the pinnacle of comic collecting” by auction house Heritage Auctions and the finest known copy ever sold, breaking the previous record of $6 million.

The hallowed comic was found in a box in an attic by three brothers in northern California, as they cleared out the house of their mother after her death. The trio have said their mom spoke of having original copies of comic books from the 1930s but couldn’t remember where — it was dismissed as a family legend.

The item sold on Thursday for $9.12 million thanks to its near-pristine condition — CGC, a company that verifies and appraises comics and trading cards, gave it an unparalleled score of 9, with 10 being the highest.

“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. I was glad to see the price reflect that and am honored Heritage was entrusted with this iconic book,” Heritage vice-president Lon Allen said in a statement.

The item is steeped in pop culture history: it is the first time a superhero appeared in a comic entirely devoted to them, as DC Comics capitalized on the popularity of Clark Kent / Superman’s exploits in the ensemble cast of “Action Comics #1” in 1938.

The cover promises to tell “the complete story of the daring exploits of the one and only Superman,” featuring the Man Of Steel in his famous red and blue costume.

The comic book was described as one of the hardest out of the most-sought-after titles early titles to find in good condition. DC Comics may have inadvertently caused this rarity by designing the back cover so it could be cut out and framed.

“We presume that most every kid wanted to have a Superman pinup, and cut up the back cover along the dotted line as they were encouraged to, resulting in a lot of copies that are low-grade today if they survived at all,” the auction house said.

Before these early comic books emerged, the medium was largely used as a way to reprint popular newspaper comic strips in the 1930s.

Superman was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, both sons of Jewish immigrants from Europe, who met in Cleveland and went on to create a character that still features in blockbuster movies and books almost 90 years on.

The latest installment from Hollywood, “Man of Tomorrow,” is due for release in 2027.

Siegel and Shuster, however, sold rights to their character for $130, a payment that was later unsuccessfully challenged in multiple lawsuits.

Such is the fervor for early Superman memorabilia, the $412 check received by the authors in 1938 — including the $130 for Superman — was itself sold for $160,000 at auction in 2012.