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Superman No. 1 becomes most expensive comic book ever at $9.12 million

Graded CGC 9.0, the comic was found well-preserved in an attic in Northern California

Cover Image for Superman No. 1 becomes most expensive comic book ever at $9.12 million
Three brothers found the well-preserved copy of Superman No. 1 after the death of their mother. (Credit: Heritage Auctions)

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's the most expensive comic book of all time!

Discovered in an attic and preserved in excellent condition, a copy of Superman No. 1 sold for $9.12 million, including buyer's premium, at Heritage Auctions on Thursday, setting a new record for the highest price ever paid for a comic.

The record-setting book was graded CGC 9.0 — the highest ever assessed by the leading authenticator.

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.

The comics included five copies of early Action Comics as well as the record-breaking Superman No. 1.

The brothers called Heritage, which had previously 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.

The book's 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.

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Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture.