A comic holy grail surfaced in a Northern California family home, discovered by three brothers sorting through their late mother’s possessions. Last holiday season, the family unearthed a trove: their mother had safeguarded vintage comic books for decades, “tucked away in the attic beneath layers of brittle, faded newspapers and cobwebs.”
“They’re in their 50s and 60s, and their mom had always told them she had an expensive comics collection but never showed them,” Heritage Auctions Vice President Lon Allen said. He smiled and added, “It’s a twist on the old ‘Mom threw away my comics’ story.”
Among those old comic books was a pristine copy of Superman # 1 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The 1939 DC Comics release marked the first time a character introduced in a comic book got their very own series, creating one of the most influential titles in comic book history. Superman launched an industry with his first appearance in Action Comics #1 in 1938.
The family also discovered five early issues of Action Comics — #9 (CGC 6.5), #12 (CGC 9.0), #15 (CGC 9.4), #18 (CGC 9.0), and #21 (CGC 8.0).
“Until then, she carefully tucked the box away, deep into the recess of the attic, hidden but safe,” Allen said. “But as the years unfolded, life brought about a series of losses and changes. The demands of everyday survival took center stage, and the box of comics, once set aside with care and intention, was forgotten. Until last Christmas.”
According to Jesse Hughey over at the Intelligent Collector:
Their mother, father, and uncle were all avid readers, and the boys similarly grew up with a love of books. Intentionally or not, the youngest brother says, that included comics, which all three brothers collected. The older two counted Superman, Batman, and X-Men as their favorite heroes, while the youngest brother was a fan of the New Teen Titans. They collected DC, Marvel, and early Image titles up into their early 20s. Their parents never discouraged them from buying and reading comics: “They were just happy we were reading,” the youngest brother says.
If this fairytale wasn’t incredible enough, the family was in for another surprise after sending the book in for grading to CGC. The grade? A CGC 9.0, Off-white to white pages. An incredible grade that makes it “the highest-graded Universal copy ever,” according to CGC’s announcement. The book will be auctioned during Heritage’s Comic Books Signature Auction in November.
“It’s almost unbelievable that, out of nearly a million copies of Superman #1 printed in 1939, only 200 have made it to CGC for grading over 25 years,” Matt Nelson, President of CGC, said. “In addition to the considerable rarity of Superman #1 today, the fact that this copy is the most well-preserved CGC has ever seen is extraordinary. We are thrilled to certify it as the highest-graded copy in existence.”
And I am not exaggerating when I say that this find is a holy grail: the top three books on Overstreet’s Top 100 Golden Age Comics list are Action Comics #1 (DC, 1938) which featured the very first appearance of Superman; Detective Comics #27 (DC, 1939), which had the first appearance of Batman; and Superman #1. This newly-discovered copy of Superman #1 is the highest entry in the CGC census. The only one near is an 8.5 that sold for $5.3 million in a 2022 private sale. CGC graded that issue at 8.0, but the following year Heritage Auctions raised it to 8.5, making it even more valuable.
“This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime story, and one that will go down permanently in popular culture lore,” says Jim Halperin, Heritage Co-Chairman. “A newly discovered, highest-graded copy of one of the greatest comic books in the history of the medium is the stuff dreams are made of. This auction may set a new milestone for the hobby, and we’re honored we were entrusted with this grail of grails.”
Golden Age comics rarely survive in good condition, but Superman #1 posed an extra challenge: a pinup inside tempted children to cut it out with scissors.
We presume that most every kid wanted a Superman pinup and cut up the back cover along the dotted line as they were encouraged to, resulting in many copies that are low-grade today, if they survived at all.
If you’re interested in bidding, be sure to view the copy of Superman #1 and the other Action Comics issues, which will be available for auction from November 20 to 22 during Heritage’s Comic Books Signature Auction.
It’s a fantastic story! Very happy for the family and the collecting community!
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