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Record price for comic book

August 25, 2014

A nearly flawless 1938 copy of "Action Comics No 1," containing the first Superman adventure, has become the most expensive comic book ever. It fetched $3.2 million dollars in an online auction.

https://p.dw.com/p/1D11K
USA Superman Comic wurde für 3,2 Millionen US-Dollar versteigert
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

One of the first copies containing the first adventure of original superhero Superman, which cost 10 cents in 1938, sold for $3.2 million (2.4 million euros) in an auction on eBay.

The copy, which is in mint condition, fetched the highest ever price for a comic book. It received a very rare 9.0 rating on a 10-point scale used to measure vintage comic books' condition.

It was kept for decades in a cedar chest in the West Virginia mountains by a man who had bought it off a newsstand, seller Darren Adams recently told The Washington Post. After the original owner died, a collector bought it from his estate and built a similar cedar chest to store it, Adams told the newspaper.

In 2011, another "Action Comics No 1" copy sold for $2.1 million (1.6 million euros). The comic book marks the dawn of the cartoon superhero. Between 100 to 150 copies are still believed to exist.

Exit: Seeing the World Through Superman’s Eyes

New York comics dealers Stephen Fishler and Vincent Zurzolo submitted Sunday's record-setting bid in the eBay auction. The buyer has not been revealed yet.

Some of the proceeds will go to the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, in recognition of the late actor who personified Superman on the silver screen.

ng/jr (dpa, AP)