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Original Superman comic becomes the highest-priced comic book ever sold

bbc.com

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Re: Original Superman comic becomes the highest-priced comic book ever sold

#161

Post by zkmon »

Thorrez wrote: post #141
zkmon wrote: post #86

>> This is a testament to memory, family and the unexpected ways the past finds its way back to us If that was a true feeling, then they wouldn't sell it away as soon as they find it, as if it is something they must dispose off immediately. Sales culture is turning all men into drama queens.

It doesn't sound right away to me: >The brothers found six comic books, including Superman #1, in the loft underneath a stack of newspapers inside a cardboard box and surrounded by cobwebs in 2024, Heritage said. > They waited a few months before contacting the auction house, but once they did, Heritage Auctions vice-president Lon Allen visited them in San Francisco within days, according to the auction house. >The b…

Yep, it's not right away. They hesitated a few months to get rid of the 80-year old family piece, which their mother didn't bother selling. Family possessions should be treated as reserves to help off-springs down the family hierarchy in the needy times. Not to cash out because they are in 50s and 60s. 50s and 60s are just middle age when some people do a fresh start of their lives.

Re: Original Superman comic becomes the highest-priced comic book ever sold

#162

Post by teaearlgraycold »

BubbleRings wrote: post #120
evanelias wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It really doesn't make sense to read a 9.0 condition key comic like this. If you really wanted to read it, you would be better off buying a second reading copy in terrible condition. The cost of the reading copy would end up being less than the negative impact to the condition (and therefore value) of your mint copy from reading it a single time.

What a wild concept in this case: With a little effort and research someone could come up with a reasonable estimate that read something like, “a typical 15-year-old reading through this comic once in a typical way would have cost the family X dollars”, and X might literally be $100k. Certainly well over $10k.

A careless 15 year old would take off millions from the value.

Re: Original Superman comic becomes the highest-priced comic book ever sold

#163

Post by muzani »

Zenbit_UX wrote: post #36
muzani wrote: post #31

Does anyone know why this particular issue is so valuable? I'm assuming it's some mix of investment, timing, sentimental value, and rarity. But which ones particularly?

Your question is why is issue #1 of a very old and popular thing valuable?

I get that it's more valuable than Superman #200, but why 9 million dollars valuable. There's a poorer quality one at 5 million, but that also means that there's other copies in existence.

It's also not the first Superman comic, what about Action Comics #1?

Why is the Call of Cthulhu (Weird Tales, Feb 1928) about $50k?

Or in terms of characters, what makes Superman worth 3x more than MARVEL #1 or Batman?

Re: Original Superman comic becomes the highest-priced comic book ever sold

#164

Post by aeonik »

zetanor wrote: post #139
Xss3 wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Em dashes are still appropriate for articles, journals, scientific papers, and other academic or professional writing. In social media comments they came across as pompous even before LLMs and werent particularly appropriate for casual comments. Though to be fair some people enjoy coming across as pompous and embrace the 'better than the peasants and their lowly minus sign use' attitude. Makes them feel special or as…

I would love to know what sequence of characters you normally use in place of an em-dash to express the same nuance of relationship and timing.

Not the GP, but I often just use commas and parenthetical asides (like this).

It's a different stylistic choice (em dashes are nice and all), but it's not how I think, and my writing reflects how I think.

I also will often use the fabled semicolon. It's easy to use with contrasting statements, but that's not its only use; I can use them in some situations to elaborate where em dashes are used.

I'm not saying they are a perfect replacement for em dashes (again, em dashes are cool), but it's just always been my personal style.

Re: Original Superman comic becomes the highest-priced comic book ever sold

#165

Post by Galanwe »

Podrod wrote: post #80
Galanwe wrote: post #50

I know nothing of this world of comics, I guess because it is essentially part of the US culture and did not penetrate much of Europe. There has been a number of investigative shows arguing the valuation of collectibles in general (comics included) is largely driven by money laundering. Is it some kind of conspiracy theory of is this legit ?

As usual, generalising all of Europe based on your individual country is a mistake as there are some Euro counties where comics are quite popular. France, Belgium, Italy and the UK all have thriving native comic book industries, and I have Swedish friends who tell me Donald Duck comics are very popular there. I imagine a pristine 1st edition Tintin or Asterix would be quite valuable.

I wouldn't say comics are really popular in France. But we may have different interpretations of what comics are, as I don't consider "bandes dessinées" (e.g. Tintin) as comics.

Re: Original Superman comic becomes the highest-priced comic book ever sold

#166

Post by staticman2 »

clort wrote: post #65
charcircuit wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not everyone wants to break the law to read things from their collection. Also the physical experience of reading is much different than digital. While you could store your collectable in a vault, many people enjoy displaying their collectables.

I'm not sure the reader would be breaking the law. Copyright law is about distribution, so the site would be violating the copyright by making it available. However, reading it is not distribution so simply reading it would not be an issue.

When you click the link you co-distribute a copy to your own computer.

If you were just passing by when a friend did it and read their computer screen I think you'd have a stronger argument.

Re: Original Superman comic becomes the highest-priced comic book ever sold

#167

Post by shbooms »

WalterBright wrote: post #56

I remember a painting was discovered, and there was speculation that it was a da Vinci. It was appraised at $30,000. If it could be proven to be a da Vinci, it would be worth a million. For the same item. Crazy.

this is true a lot in the world of paintings. there are regularly auctions where you can buy items "attributed" to (meaning it's speculated but not confirmed) very famous Modern Art painters like Van Gogh, Monet, etc for under $5,000 which, if confirmed, would send the valuation many multiples higher

Re: Original Superman comic becomes the highest-priced comic book ever sold

#168

Post by dahart »

WalterBright wrote: post #56

I remember a painting was discovered, and there was speculation that it was a da Vinci. It was appraised at $30,000. If it could be proven to be a da Vinci, it would be worth a million. For the same item. Crazy.

Is it crazy? Clearly the value is the proof itself, not the item, right? Certainly a genuine da Vinci is an investment you can very likely recoup and make a profit on. If I could buy one that’s proven, for a million, and I had a million sitting around, I would. That would be a smart move. The $30k non da Vinci, who knows, could be everything from love of art and total loss to perhaps a small profit. It depends on how good the remainder of the story is. Even for today’s working artists, the narrative is most often the important & valuable part, and the item is just a pretty artifact that backs up the story. For expensive collectible investment art, the importance of the narrative goes way up.

It’s interesting if you were thinking of the Salvator Mundi since the discrepancy between the initial appraisal and the restored sale price is two thousand times larger than your example. And it still goes to show the seemingly insane sale price was a good investment, first being sold for $80M by someone who knew he’d make a profit, then after that $120M, then $450M.

Re: Original Superman comic becomes the highest-priced comic book ever sold

#169

Post by AtNightWeCode »

bazoom42 wrote: post #112
AtNightWeCode wrote: post #96

Sounds like some sort of scam to me. The item is probably correct but the price seems way too high.

Why? Similar comics have been sold for upwards of 6 mill, and this one is better graded.

Maybe I am too cynical but the story sounds fake. And I would not be surprised if this is some way of manipulating the market.

Re: Original Superman comic becomes the highest-priced comic book ever sold

#170

Post by rvba »

javier123454321 wrote: post #137
jebarker wrote: post #106

Not sure why I find this surprising, but this comic is worth twice as much as Napoleon's diamond encrusted brooch recently sold for [1] [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/14/world/europe/napoleon-dia...

It's not worth twice as much. There was a buyer willing to pay twice as much. For something like this, the fact that value is completely subjective really sticks out. Trying to sell it again tomorrow might go for half or double.

If the buyer paid 9M, doesnt this means that someone else wanted to pay 8M?

What I am trying yo say: at least two collectors (?) or speculators (?) with deep pockets.

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