Superman comic soars to new $2.16 million record

A pristine first edition of the inaugural Superman comic book, originally costing just 10 cents, has sold at auction for a record-breaking $2.16 million.

The 1938 copy of Action Comics #1, in which Superman debuted, sold Wednesday, smashing a $1.5 million record set for a slightly less well-preserved copy of the first edition auctioned last year.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the rare item had belonged to actor Nicolas Cage, who lost it in a 2000 robbery, only for it to be recovered a decade later.

Auctioneers ComicConnect.com said it was "the most importantcomic book in the history of comics" and the "introduction of the archetype of all other heroes to come."

The comic's cover features the red-caped superhero lifting a green car, while bystanders run in panic.

One reason for the unusually good condition of the book is that for 50 years it lay unnoticed tucked inside an old movie magazine.

Comic.Connect.com would not confirm Cage's ownership, only saying that the pop culture treasure had belonged to a "West Coast comic collector."

Photo: Flickr user Geoffrey Bonnefoy.