A rare, near-mint condition copy of the first Marvel Comics comic book has sold at auction for $1.26 million. Dallas-based Heritage Auctions said earlier this week a sale over $1 million would set a record for the most expensive Marvel comic book ever sold at a public auction.
Ed Jaster, senior vice president at Heritage, calls the 1939 Marvel Comics No.1 issue “a historic copy of a historic comic book.” Known as the "Big Bang" of the Marvel Superhero Universe, the issue features the first appearances of characters such as the Human Torch, Ka-Zar, Angel and the Sub-Mariner.
Heritage said the buyer from today's auction wishes to remain anonymous. They said the comic book was originally purchased in 1939 at a Pennsylvania newsstand by a mail carrier who made a practice of buying the first issue of comic books and magazines. Jaster says that since then, the issue has only changed owners a handful of times.