Pristine Superman comic sold for over P140 million on eBay

Sold, for a super $3.2 million!

 

Thus ended the intense bidding for an immaculate copy of Action Comics No. 1—where iconic superhero Superman made his debut in 1938—on Monday morning (PHL time).

 

Online bidding site eBay said the winner outbid 47 others by staking $3,207,852 (P140,696,388.72) on the rare comic.

 

In keeping with its own privacy policies, eBay identified the winning bidder only as "s***p," who bid for the comic book twice—with the first bid at $2.300,119.38.

 

ComicBookResources.com said that with the $3.2-million bid, Action Comics No. 1 became the first comic to command a price of more than $3 million at an auction.

 

It said the previous record was $2.16 million, in 2011 for a copy of the same comic previously owned by actor Nicolas Cage.

 

"There are thought to be only about 30 unrestored copies of Action Comics #1 in existence. The issue, which also included the first appearance of Zatara (overshadowed by the introduction of the Man of Steel by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster), sold on newsstands in 1938 for 10 cents," it added.

 

Retailer Darren Adams, owner of Pristine Comics in Washington, earlier put the June 1938 issue on eBay.

 

"This is THE comic book that started it all. This comic features not only the first appearance of Superman, Clark Kent and Lois Lane, but this comic began the entire superhero genre that has followed during the 76 years since. It is referred to as the Holy Grail of comics and this is the finest graded copy to exist with perfect white pages. This is .... the Mona Lisa of comics and stands alone as the most valuable comic book ever printed," Adams said.

 

He added this copy got an "astonishing" grade of CGC 9.0, noting no copies to date have been graded higher.

 

The comic was described by eBay as "The finest known copy of the most sought after comic book in the world." 

 

Part of the proceeds will benefit the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, which seeks to cure spinal cord injury.

 

A comic book-themed eBay page noted the now-rare comic cost just 10 cents at the time of its debut in 1938 - yet the comic has sold for more than $2 million for a single copy.

 

In a video, Adams said the comic book appeared to have been bought by a person who lived in a high-altitude area in West Virginia, then stored the book in a cedar chest.

 

He said the item benefited from the four conditions needed to keep it pristine: cool, dry, dark, and as little air as possible.

 

A separate report on ComicBookResources.com said Adams acquired the comic in a private sale some years back, and stored it in a temperature-controlled vault. — Joel Locsin/TJD, GMA News