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A near-perfect copy of Action Comics No. 1 — the comic that introduced Superman to the world back in 1938 — is currently being auctioned for sale on eBay. If you’re hoping to score a bargain with some last-minute bidding, think again: After just 24 hours on the site, bidding has already topped a million dollars.
The issue, one of less than 50 unrestored copies believed to remain today, is being sold by the appropriately named Pristine Comics in Federal Way, Washington, with proceeds from the sale going toward the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation.
In a video released to promote the auction, Pristine Comics owner Darren Adams explained how the auction copy remained in such good edition. “There was a gentleman in 1938, buys a copy … off the newsstand. And he lived in a fairly high altitude area of West Virginia and kept the book in a cedar chest,” Adams said. The quality of the issue — the pages of which, thanks to being kept in a dark, dry space for decades, haven’t yellowed with time — makes the copy “not just a copy of Action Comics No. 1 [but] the copy of Action Comics No. 1,” according to the dealer.
Back in 2011, another edition of the issue raised $2.1 million in auction, becoming the most expensive comic ever sold in the process. With nine days remaining on the current Action Comics auction and bidding currently at $1.6 million, it’s very possible that record is about to be broken.
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