Did u know this fact that, sale of perhaps the most important comic book in the history of comic books- Action Comics 1 has been sold for almost $3.2 million! No true comic book fan is unaware of the existence of this comic.
1938 was the year when the world of comic books changed forever! Till then, comics were mostly limited to funny stories catering to children, and comic strips of characters like Mandrake and The Phantom used to appear in newspapers on a daily basis. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, under the Detective Comics imprint, now famously known as DC, created Superman and changed the course of comic book history. This comic contained 11 stories with Superman gracing the front cover, which has now become perhaps the most iconic comic book cover.
The introduction of Superman kick started the Golden Age of comic books and this was followed by the creation of another iconic superhero, The Batman, which was followed years later by Spiderman over at Marvel Comics, formerly known as Atlas Comics.
During those times, comics were more popular among children and teens than any other hobby, and compared to today’s meagre sales, comics used to sell by the millions in the 40’s. But they were also considered by a majority as disposable items, which were meant to be read and throw away. Back then, people didn’t think of comics as collector items. This mindset led to the scarcity of the earliest editions of the most important comic books, headed by the ever legendary Action Comics #1.
Today, around 100 copies of this comic book are believed to exist, and very few of those are said to be in mint condition! Ultimately, the value of this comic book rose by leaps and bounds and several copies were sold for huge amount of money over the course of the past decade.
The comic in case here, fetched a whopping $956,000. It was sold as a part of a collection by a fan who had purchased it in 1990s for $26,000! The 90s was the time of the comic industry boom, and people had started understanding that those super dusty comic pamphlets stuck in their shelves are worth way more than they could ever imagine, and this led to people bagging and boarding comic books with hopes of selling them in the distant future for thousands of dollars. But they soon realized that the comic book they were preserving with such care was being preserved by thousands of other people, thus losing its rarity factor. But comics such as Action Comics #1 will always be sought after, no matter what.
When Action Comics #1 was published back in 1938, it cost 10 cents!