Superman was born in 1933 under the pen of Jerry Siegel and the pencil of Joe Shuster, two high school students from Cleveland, before making his printed debut inAction Comics #1in June 1938 (print run of 200,000 copies, sold for 10 cents). This founding number, of which only a hundred copies remain, reached 6 million dollars in 2024, beforeSuperman #1(1939) does not exceed it at 9.12 million dollars in November 2025, then only a CGC 9.0 copy ofAction Comics #1does not regain the crown at 15 million dollars in January 2026. Between these peaks and current print runs, Superman's rating depends above all on the condition, the rarity of the issue and its role in the editorial history of the character.
Few fictional characters can claim as long and well-documented an editorial history as Superman. Since appearing on the cover ofAction Comics #1, the Man of Steel has gone through nearly nine decades of publications, reboots, spectacular deaths and resurrections, while becoming the absolute reference point in the collectible comics market. Its complete sheet, with its runs and variations, is available on the pageSupermanof the site.
This article traces the thread of this story: the birth of the character in Cleveland in the 1930s, the legal battle of its creators to be recognized, the editorial milestones that shaped its mythology (Brainiac, Supergirl, Death of Superman), and the spectacular evolution of the rating of its founding issues until the record sales of 2025 and 2026. The objective is not to draw up a list of "best runs" to read today - this work is already done in our article onbest modern Superman runs— but to understand how we went from a 10-cent booklet sold on newsstands to the most expensive collector's item ever traded.
Whether you're looking to place an issue in the timeline, to understand why some copies are worth millions while others trade for a few euros, or simply to better understand the origins of the character before investing in a copy, this retrospective covers the essential verifiable facts about the history of Superman.
Birth of a Myth: Siegel, Shuster and Action Comics #1 (1938)
The story begins long before the publication of the first issue. Superman was imagined in 1933 by Jerry Siegel, screenwriter, and Joe Shuster, cartoonist, two classmates from Glenville High School in Cleveland, Ohio. For five years, the two young men tried in vain to sell their character to press unions and comic strip publishers, receiving rejection after refusal. It was not until 1938 that National Allied Publications — the direct ancestor of DC Comics — agreed to publish their creation on the cover of a new anthological title,Action Comics.
Action Comics #1hit newsstands on April 18, 1938 (with a cover date of June 1938), at a price of 10 cents, for an estimated circulation of 200,000 copies. The issue sold in its entirety, but it took several months for the publisher to understand that it was indeed the presence of Superman on the cover - and not the other characters in the summary - which explained the success of the magazine, whose sales ended up approaching a million monthly copies a few years later. For this seminal work, Siegel and Shuster were paid $10 per page, or $130 in total for the entire issue: a paltry sum compared to what the character would generate, and which would become the symbol of decades of litigation between the creators and the publisher.
What few readers in 1938 could have suspected was that they held in their hands the birth certificate of an entire genre.Action Comics #1is today considered the first superhero comic book in history, the one which defined the codes – costume, double identity, superhuman powers in the service of good – that hundreds of characters would take up in the following decades, from Batman to Captain America.
Action Comics #1: rarity, CGC census and sales records
The rarity ofAction Comics #1follows directly from the nature of the medium: in the 1930s, comic books were everyday consumer items, printed on cheap paper and intended to be read and then thrown away. Of the 200,000 copies printed in 1938, specialists estimate that only between 50 and 100 remain today, all states combined. The CGC (Certified Guaranty Company) certification service, which grades and encapsulates comics since the early 2000s, currently lists approximately 78 distinct copies ofAction Comics #1in its census, the vast majority in very degraded conditions (missing sheets, rounded corners, browned paper). Examples classified as “Universal” grade without restoration represent a little more than half of this total, and only a handful exceed grade 8.0 on the CGC scale which goes up to 10.
This extreme rarity explains the issue’s extraordinary price trajectory on the auction and private sales market. In 1996, actor Nicolas Cage, a notorious comic book collector, purchased a CGC 9.0 graded copy for $150,000 — already a considerable sum for the time. This same copy disappeared from its home during a reception around the year 2000, before resurfacing in 2011 in a storage unit in California; the authorities recovered it and returned it to Cage, who then entrusted it to the ComicConnect house for a sale which reached 2.16 million dollars. Another example, also graded CGC 9.0, was sold on eBay in 2014 for $3.2 million, a record that has stood for almost seven years. Then, on April 4, 2024, a copy with a so-called “Kansas City” provenance, graded CGC 8.5, realized $6 million at Heritage Auctions — then establishing the new public record for the number.
However, this record only held for a year and a half: in January 2026, the CGC 9.0 copy formerly owned by Nicolas Cage changed hands again, this time for $15 million, in a private transaction negotiated by Metropolis Collectibles and ComicConnect. This amount makes it, to date, the highest comic book sale ever recorded forAction Comics #1, and one of the highest in all categories combined.
Superman #1 (1939): the first solo title and the new market peak
SiAction Comics #1remains the character's birth certificate,Superman #1, published in the summer of 1939, marks an equally decisive milestone: it is the first comic book entirely devoted to a single superhero, one of the very first eponymous titles in the history of the medium. The success ofAction Comicshad convinced the publisher that Superman could carry a publication alone, a bet which was immediately confirmed: the initial print run, estimated at around 500,000 copies, sold out in full on newsstands. As forAction Comics #1, the perishable nature of the medium and the absence of a conservation culture at the time reduced the number of surviving examples to a handful of high-grade units. It was precisely the unexpected discovery of one of these copies that shook the market in 2025: two brothers found, in a cardboard box forgotten under piles of yellowed newspapers in the house of their deceased mother in San Francisco, a copy ofSuperman #1remained out of circulation for decades. Authenticated and graded CGC 9.0 — the highest grade ever assigned to the issue — this copy was put up for sale at Heritage Auctions and realized $9.12 million on November 20, 2025, becoming, in the space of a few weeks, the most expensive comic book ever sold, ahead of $6 million fromAction Comics #1.
This sequence of sales (6 million in April 2024, 9.12 million in November 2025, 15 million in January 2026) illustrates the extent to which the top of the comics market remains concentrated on a handful of seminal issues from the late 1930s, and the extent to which their value continues to increase from year to year as new wealthy collectors — often from other collectibles markets — enter this ultra-high segment of range. For a more detailed analysis of the investment logic and criteria that vary the rating from one number to another, our guideinvest in Superman comicsdetails the factors to monitor; the angle retained here remains deliberately historical and narrative.
The Silver Age expansion: Brainiac, Supergirl and Kryptonian mythology
After the more discreet parenthesis of the 1940s-1950s for the comic book industry - marked by censorship from the Comics Code Authority established in 1954 - Superman experienced a second editorial golden age at the turn of the years 1958-1959, a period that historians of the medium call the Silver Age. Two issues published in the anthology seriesAction Comics, under the leadership of screenwriter Otto Binder, play a pivotal role.
Action Comics #242 (1958): the arrival of Brainiac
Action Comics #242, drawn by Al Plastino, introduces Brainiac, the extraterrestrial artificial intelligence collector of miniaturized cities, who will become over the decades one of Superman's most recurring and feared adversaries. That same issue also introduced the concept of Kandor, the Kryptonian city shrunk and bottled by Brainiac before the destruction of the planet Krypton—an element of the character's mythology that would be picked up and reinterpreted in virtually every subsequent incarnation of the Superman universe, up to and including recent television and film adaptations.
Action Comics #252 (1959): Supergirl's first appearance
A few months later,Action Comics #252(May 1959) features, in the story "The Supergirl from Krypton", the first appearance of Kara Zor-El, also created by Otto Binder and drawn by Al Plastino. Supergirl is revealed as the cousin of Clark Kent, daughter of Zor-El and Alura, herself from Krypton and having survived the destruction of the planet in circumstances distinct from those of Kal-El. This issue paved the way for the introduction of many more Kryptonian survivors in the following decades, including some of Superman's most iconic adversaries, making it a major editorial milestone beyond just the creation of the Supergirl character.
These two issues illustrate a characteristic dynamic of the Silver Age: the methodical expansion of the Superman universe through the addition of secondary characters, locations and concepts which, although appearing in relatively discrete issues at the time, became enduring pillars of the character's mythology - and therefore issues sought after by collectors specializing in the Silver Age.
Siegel and Shuster's fight for recognition
The editorial history of Superman cannot be told without mentioning the fate reserved for its creators. By selling their rights for 130 dollars in 1938, Siegel and Shuster also signed a contract binding them to the publisher for ten years, at a rate of 35 dollars per page and a profit-sharing on net profits. When this contract expired in 1948, the two men sued to recover the rights to the character they had created. They lost their lawsuit, won a $100,000 settlement, but lost their jobs and any future involvement with Superman publications.
It was not until December 1975 - almost forty years after the creation of the character - that a more favorable agreement was found, under public pressure from the National Cartoonists Society and the Cartoonists Guild, while the upcoming release of the filmSupermanby Richard Donner shines the spotlight on the character. Warner Communications, owner of the publisher, then agreed to pay Siegel and Shuster an annual pension of $20,000 each for their lifetime, as well as mandatory mention of their names as creators on any future production featuring Superman – a principle that remains applied today to comics, films and television series about the character.
This battle for the recognition of copyright, long remaining in the blind spot of the character's history, is today documented as one of the founding cases of debates on intellectual property in the comic book industry, and it directly inspired the creator protection clauses later adopted by other publishers.
The Death of Superman (1992): the event that changed the modern market
After several decades of regular publications — including the major editorial overhaul led by writer-cartoonist John Byrne in 1986 with the mini-seriesThe Man of Steel, which modernizes the origin of the character for readers of the time - Superman experienced one of the most resounding editorial events in the history of American comic books in 1992: his own death.
InSuperman #75, written and drawn by Dan Jurgens with inking by Brett Breeding, the Man of Steel faces Doomsday, a Kryptonian creature of unprecedented destructive force, in a fight which ends with the death of the two protagonists in the heart of Metropolis. The event, skillfully orchestrated by a communications campaign that maintains secrecy until publication, causes a media shock wave well beyond the circle of usual comic book readers, with coverage by major American newspapers and television news.
Editorially,Superman #75is distributed in several forms, the most sought after today by collectors being the "Memorial Edition" — an issue sealed in a black bag adorned with the bloodied Superman logo, accompanied by a slate gray variant cover as a tombstone, a commemorative poster, commemorative stamps, the fictional obituary of theDaily Planet, a black mourning armband and a Skybox trading card. Unlike the founding issues of the 1930s, this print run is massive - several million copies - which explains why its value remains much more accessible today than that of issues from the Golden Age era, while retaining the status of an essential cultural milestone for anyone interested in the editorial history of the character.
The impact of adaptations on the rating
Superman is the first superhero to have benefited from major cinematographic adaptations, and each of these adaptations has, to varying degrees, reactivated the general public's interest in the comics from which they are inspired. The movieSupermanby Richard Donner, released in 1978 with Christopher Reeve in the title role, is often cited as the first superhero blockbuster in the modern sense and directly contributed to the public pressure that preceded the 1975 agreement between Siegel, Shuster and the publisher. The following decades saw several cycles of adaptations, from the initial saga with Christopher Reeve toSuperman Returns(2006) with Brandon Routh, then the DC Extended Universe carried by Henry Cavill fromMan of Steel(2013).
The most recent cycle is that initiated by writer-director James Gunn, whose filmSuperman, starring David Corenswet, hits theaters on July 11, 2025 as the first feature film in the new DC Universe. The film immediately established itself at the box office with $125 million in revenue in its first North American weekend — the third best start of the year in the United States — before crossing the $600 million mark in worldwide revenue. Notable fact for the comic book industry: unlike other superhero adaptations which only result in a one-off surge in sales, this film has been identified by several industry observers as having lastingly brought new readers back to Superman comics in stores, with the publisher DC Comics seeing its quarterly market share increase significantly compared to the previous year over the corresponding period.
For old issues and exceptional pieces likeAction Comics #1ouSuperman #1, the effect of the adaptations remains more indirect: these copies evolve in a market segment largely disconnected from current cinematographic events, driven more by absolute rarity and the interest of wealthy collectors outside the world of comic books. In contrast, for more common print runs and key issues of the modern era, a high-profile cinematic release historically tends to support short-term demand, a phenomenon to keep in mind when assessing the right time to buy or resell an issue.
Buying guide
Approaching the history of Superman as a collector requires clearly distinguishing the objectives: seeking to understand and own a fragment of this editorial history does not necessarily imply aiming for the most expensive issues on the market. Here are some concrete points of reference to guide your research.
- Distinguish between facsimiles and originals before any purchase. Action Comics #1etSuperman #1have been the subject of numerous reissues and legal facsimiles over the decades; an original number from 1938 or 1939 must systematically be graded by a recognized service (CGC, CBCS) and accompanied by a certificate before any significant transaction.
- Favor Silver Age numbers to enter the mythology at a lower cost.Numbers likeAction Comics #242ouAction Comics #252remain significantly more accessible than the very first Golden Age issues while still marking real narrative milestones in Superman's history.
- Don’t overlook modern, high-draw events.The Memorial Edition ofSuperman #75, produced in large quantities, remains an affordable entry point to own an object linked to one of the most significant events in the character's history.
- Always check the condition before relying on the displayed price.On old issues, the difference in value between two neighboring CGC grades can represent several multiples; never compare two ads without knowing the exact grade of each copy.
- Use an estimating tool before committing.For a specific number in a given state, thefree estimateof the site is based on actual sales observed on eBay to give a low, median and high range.
- Track your collection over time.Whether you're starting on a modest budget or aiming for exceptional pieces, thecollection appallows you to centralize your numbers and track their estimated value over time.
Si votre objectif dépasse la simple compréhension historique et vise la constitution d'un portefeuille de comics Superman à visée patrimoniale, notre article dédié à l'investment in Superman comicsdetails the financial criteria, market trends and the numbers to favor according to your budget.