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Superman’s Big Sale

Futuras Fotos/Alamy Stock Photo (Action Comics No. 1); Shutterstock.com (background)

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s the world’s most expensive comic book! In January, a copy of Action Comics No. 1 sold for $15 million. That’s the most anyone has ever paid for a comic book.

What makes Action Comics No. 1 so special? Published in 1938, it introduced Superman to the world. Collectors say it also helped launch the superhero genre.

“I think without that comic book being published, there’s a very good chance there’s no Batman, there’s no Wonder Woman,” Vincent Zurzolo told reporters. He’s the president of Metropolis Collectibles and ComicConnect, the company that helped make the sale.

Plus, copies of Action Comics No. 1 are hard to find. Experts believe fewer than 100 still exist. Serious collectors will pay big bucks for a copy in near-perfect condition, like the record-breaking comic.

Making Millions

The $15 million comic book has a history fit for a superhero rescue. Bought by actor Nicolas Cage in 1996, the comic was stolen four years later. It was found in a storage unit in 2011 and returned to Cage, who later sold it at an auction. Experts believe the comic’s strange history increased its value.

So far, at least eight copies of Action Comics No. 1 have sold for more than $1 million. Not bad for a comic book that cost 10 cents when it first hit the shelves nearly 90 years ago!

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