What's the most expensive comic book ever sold?

The answer is: Action Comics #1

Ever since Action Comics #1 sold for a mind-boggling $6 million in 2024, it's hard not to kick yourself for not having a time machine and a spare dime. That's right - a dime. Back in 1938, Detective Comics Inc. launched this historic issue for just 10 cents, not knowing they were about to change pop culture forever with their new character, Superman.

That cape-wearing strongman on the cover wasn't just another comic book hero - he was the first real superhero as we know them today. Before Spider-Man was swinging, before Batman was brooding, before Captain America was even a glimmer in Marvel's eye, Superman was showing the world what a superhero could be. And some lucky collector just turned that piece of history into a fortune through Heritage Auctions.

Here's the kicker though - Superman only took up 13 pages of this anthology series. The rest was filled with forgotten characters like Chuck Dawson, Zatara Master Magician, and Sticky-Mitt Stimson. Talk about backing the right horse - out of all 11 stories in that issue, only the Man of Steel is still flying high nearly a century later.

The real gut punch of this story isn't about the millions changing hands today - it's about the creators who got stiffed back then. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, two kids who'd been dreaming up Superman since their teenage years, sold their rights for a measly $130. Comic strips weren't working out for Superman, but that iconic cover image of him hoisting a car over his head sold every copy on the shelves. The bitter irony? When Siegel and Shuster later sued DC over getting ripped off, they got fired for their trouble.

Though Action Comics would keep flying until issue #904 in 2011 (before doing that comic book thing where they rebooted and then un-rebooted back to #957 in 2016), nothing would ever match the impact of that first issue. Six million bucks might seem crazy for some old paper and staples, but then again, how much would you pay to own the birth certificate of the superhero genre?