Up, Up And Away: Rare Superman Comic Nets $3.25 Million In Private Sale

A very rare, quality copy of Action Comics #1 has been sold at a record $3.25 million in a private sale.

The comic book issue is famous because it introduces Superman to the world.

Online auction and consignment company ComicConnect.com announced the sale Wednesday. The sale beat the previous record for the comic. Another copy of Action Comics #1 - graded 9.0 - was sold on eBay for $3.21 in 2014. It was the first comic book to sell for more than $3 million.

ComicConnect's chief operation officer, Vincent Zurzolo, said demand for the comic is high as it was the "beginning of the superhero genre." The issue laid out the foundation for the Superman character and showed readers how he came to earth and lived as Clark Kent.

Zurzolo said that the seller originally purchased it for $2 million at an auction in 2018.

ComicConnect.com said while hundreds of thousands of copies sold on its release in 1938 only about 100 exist now. Most of those are in bad condition. Mint condition ones are very rare.

"There's no comic book that you could value higher in terms of a comic book than Action Comics #1," Zurzolo said.

When it was originally sold, Action Comics #1 was priced at just 10 cents - or roughly $2 in today's money. The issue is widely considered to be the beginning of the superhero era. Actions Comics released 904 issues and introduced several superheroes.