Nic Cage’s Copy of “Action Comics” #1 Sells For More Than $2 Million

Nicolas Coppola has been a life long comic book fan.  When he first broken into the acting world, to avoid looking like he was riding the coat tails of his uncle Francis Ford Coppola, Nic adopted the name Nicolas Cage after Marvel comic book character Luke Cage.  Cage was actually cast as Superman in the 90s when Tim Burton was attached to direct, and even named his son Kal-El (Superman's Kryptonian name).  But it was his purchase in 1997 of Superman's first comic book that would make history.

"Action Comics" #1 is the most iconic and saught after comic book in existence.  Three of the 5 highest valued comics ever sold were "Action Comics" #1.  Cage's issue was rated at 9.0 condition, the highest  known condition for this particular issue to be sold at.  The auction closed on Nov. 30th with the winning bid at $2,161,000, making it the first comic book to break the $2 million mark.  The previous record was $1.5 million set in March 2010 by another copy of "Action Comics" #1, but rated at 8.5.  Before that, an 8.0 condition issue sold for $1 million.

Originally sold in 1992 by Sotheby's for $82,500, Cage purchased the issue five years later for $150,000.  In 2000, this comic as well as Cage's copy of "Dective Comics" #27 (Batman's debut) were stolen from his home.  Disheartened by the theft, Cage auctioned off his entire collection through Heritige Auctions. 

11 years later in April of this year, LAPD recovered what they believed to be Cage's copy of "Action Comics" #1 in a San Fernando Valley storage locker.  Cage expressed his desire to have the issue returned, however there was concern that he not be able to have it returned as he already received an insurance settlement on the original theft.  Comic Connect, the site that housed the auction, has not revealed the true identity of the owner of the issue, though the known history of the issue matches that of Cage's issue.

via Bleeding Cool and The Hollywood Reporter