1st appearance of Superman
1st appearance of Lois Lane
1st appearance of Zatara, Zatanna's father
1st appearance of Tex Thompson, later becomes Mr. America
💰 In June 2024, an 8.5 Kansas City Pedigree sold for $6,000,000
💰 In January 2026, a 9.0 from the collection of Nicolas Cage sold for $15,000,000
The big news of the week is Action Comics #1, the first appearance of Superman, graded 9.0 by CGC, which sold for $15 million, making it the most expensive pop-culture collectible ever sold
In just a couple of months, the previous world record for a comic - Superman #1, graded 9.0, which sold for $9.12 million - has already been surpassed
This copy of Action Comics #1 is one of only two copies graded 9.0, the highest grade known for this issue (unrestored)
This particular copy has an origin story befitting a comic book, having once belonged to Nicolas Cage
Cage purchased the comic in 1996 for $150,000, an astounding price for a comic at the time
In 2000, Cage’s copy was stolen during a party at his home, only to resurface a decade later in a California storage unit
After recovering it, Cage sold his copy of Action Comics #1 six months later for $2.2 million
The only other 9.0 copy in existence has not appeared on the public market since 2014, when it sold for $3.2 million
If that copy remains with the same owner, it could represent a nearly $12 million return on investment, though it’s unclear how much additional cachet (and cash) comes from a copy having once belonged to a famous person
Assigning a value to a 9.0 Action Comics #1 is both simple and impossible - simple because the most recent sale sets the benchmark
And impossible because each surviving high-grade copy of a top-tier Key Issue carries its own unique survival story, enduring through decades unlike the hundreds of thousands of copies from the same print run that no longer exist
These extremely scarce, cultural zeitgeists possibly survive by the power of perseverance rather than the fragile materials that they are made up of
Comic fans love a great story both on and off the page and sometimes that history translates directly into dollars, as demonstrated this past week
Of course, the value of Action Comics #1 could restructure if another 9.0, or higher, were to surface
That scenario may sound far-fetched, but again let us reference the discovery of that Superman #1 in the attic of a California home last year that went on to be graded 9.0
The recent headlines of comics selling for well over seven figures may be enough to shake a few more legendary books from their hiding places
