Three brothers searching through their late mother’s attic last year found stacks of old keepsakes. Surrounded by newspapers were six comic books, which their mother had purchased with her brother prior to World War II.
One of them might turn out to be the most expensive comic book ever sold.
The comics included five copies of early Action Comics as well as Superman No. 1.
The brothers called Heritage Auctions, which had set the record for the world’s most expensive comic book when it sold a copy of Action Comics No. 1 (featuring the first appearance of Superman) for $6 million in 2024.
After submitting Superman No. 1 for grading, it returned a CGC 9.0 — the highest graded copy ever assessed by the leading authenticator.
Its condition is owed, in part, to the Northern California climate.
“If it had been in an attic here in Texas, it would have been ruined,” Heritage Auctions vice president Lon Allen said in a statement.
“They’re in their 50s and 60s, and their mom had always told them she had an expensive comics collection but never showed them. It’s a twist on the old 'Mom threw away my comics' story.”
The brothers' mother and uncle planned to pass along the comics to their sons, tucking away the boxes in the attic, but eventually forgot the treasures sat there, untouched for decades.
A lower-graded copy of Superman No. 1 sold for $5.3 million in a private sale in 2022. At the time, it was graded CGC 8.0, but later raised to CGC 8.5. Still, the newly found copy eclipses all of the 94 unrestored copies ever graded by CGC.
“This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime story, and one that will go down permanently in popular culture lore,” Jim Halperin, Heritage co-chairman, said in a statement. “A newly discovered, highest-graded copy of one of the greatest comic books in the history of the medium is the stuff dreams are made of. This auction may set a new milestone for the hobby."
The auction runs from Nov. 20-22, and the lot will be offered without a reserve.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture.