A copy of Action Comics No. 1, the famous 1938 comic book that marks the first appearance of Superman and the beginning of the superhero genre, has been sold in a private deal for $15 million. The deal sets a new all-time high in the comic book market, but more importantly in the entire field of pop culture-related collectibles. The specimen, certified CGC (Certified Collectibles Group) with grade 9.0, thus surpasses the previous record of $9.12 million, set in November 2025 by a copy of Superman No. 1, also CGC certified. According to the CGC Population Report, there are fewer than 100 census copies of the comic book, but the distribution of conditions is extremely skewed. Only two copies are reported to be CGC 9.0 rated, and each transaction of these copies has resulted in significant increases in market values. The copy sold in 2026 was already the star of a record sale in 2011, when it sold for $2.16 million, while the other CGC 9.0 had reached $3.2 million in 2014.
Copies in inferior condition have also helped redefine the economic parameters of the industry. In 2024 a CGC 8.5 copy of Action Comics No. 1 had fetched $6 million at public auction, making it the most expensive copy ever sold up to that time. An achievement that many observers considered destined to last for a long time, before being surpassed in 2025 by the discovery of a copy of Superman No. 1 found in an attic, graded CGC 9.0 and sold for $9.12 million. The $15 million transaction thus marks another leap in scale. Action Comics No. 1 not only returns as the most expensive comic book ever sold, but also surpasses records achieved by other areas of collectibles, including the most valuable sports cards. The sale was negotiated by Metropolis Collectibles and ComicConnect; the identity of buyer and seller has not been made public.
The copy in question also possesses a particularly well-articulated collecting history, which has helped solidify its known status. It first appeared publicly in 1992, when it was sold at Sotheby’s for more than $82,000, a figure that at the time represented an all-time record for a comic book. In 1996 Metropolis Collectibles sold it to actor Nicolas Cage for $150,000, setting a new record. In 2000, the comic disappeared during a party held at the actor’s residence, and for years a trace of it was lost. The volume then resurfaced in 2011 inside a warehouse in California, was recovered by law enforcement and returned to Cage, who entrusted it to ComicConnect for an auction six months later. The deal ended with a $2.16 million adjudication, marking the first time a comic book crossed the $2 million mark. According to Vincent Zurzolo, president of Metropolis Collectibles, the value of the work lies in its rarity and the narrative that has been layered around the object over the decades. Zurzolo likened the theft and subsequent discovery of the album to the famous theft of the Mona Lisa in 1911, an episode that helped turn Leonardo’s painting into a global symbol.
Alongside the economic and collecting dimensions, Action Comics No. 1 has also been the subject of critical analysis on the iconographic level. In 2007, U.S. cartoonist and writer Christopher Knowles, author of Our Gods Wear Spandex: The Secret History of Comic Book Heroes, related the 1938 cover drawn by Joe Shuster to works from the Renaissance figurative tradition. Specifically, within the article THE “ACTION COMICS” #1 COVER DEBATE - PART 1 Knowles pointed out compositional similarities with Hercules and the Hydra by Antonio del Pollaiolo (Florence, c. 1431 - 1498), pointing to similarities in the setting of the running figure, the arrangement of elements, and the use of key lines and angles. According to the cartoonist, such correspondences would be too precise to be accidental and would suggest the use of visual references, perhaps mediated by opaque projectors, tools already widespread in the early decades of the twentieth century and commonly employed in commercial graphic design studios. The hypothesis is inserted into an established practice in illustration and advertising, where the use of pre-existing iconographic models is a widespread mode of operation. The cover of Action Comics No. 1 is thus configured as a synthesis of mythological and contemporary elements, reinterpreted to construct the image of Superman as a modern hero, likened to a new incarnation of Hercules.
Nearly ninety years after its publication, the album continues to occupy a central position both in the history of twentieth-century imagery and in the global collectibles market. The $15 million sale confirms its role as an absolute benchmark in an increasingly international and financially structured field.
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| Action Comics No. 1 sold for 15 million: comic book cover recalls Pollaiolo's Hercules |
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