Family finds rare comic in time to prevent foreclosure
A struggling Southern family, about to lose its house, was rooting around in the basement for moving boxes when they stumbled on nine old comic books. Most are worth between $10 and $30 dollars, but one—Action Comics No. 1, dated June 1938 and depicting the Superman lifting a car above his head—is worth rather more. The very first appearance of the Man of Steel is, according to Vincent Zurzolo, co-owner of ComicConnect.com and Metropolis Comics and Collectibles in New York, “a tremendous piece of American pop culture history.” In February, ComicConnect.com brokered the record-breaking sale of an Action No. 1 copy for $1 million; the next month, another went for $1.5 million. After the couple texted a cell phone picture to Zurzolo’s partner, Stephen Fishler, Fishler got on the phone to their bank and convinced them to back off until an auction could be arranged. “You couldn’t have asked for a happier ending,” Zurzolo said. “Superman saved the day.”