1938 Superman Comic Sells For $1M

slasher999 writes in to note a new world record sale for a comic: an instance of Action Comics #1, 1938, sold for $1 million at auction. Both the buyer and the seller remain anonymous. This comic marked the first time a superhero went to work in a city, and the first time a man flew without mechanical aid.

Comments

Re:Value, Price, and Worth

[Jojoba86]

Things are worth what people are willing to pay for them. Some was willing to pay a million dollars, therefore that's what it's worth.

Re:Value, Price, and Worth

[AuMatar]

Why is gold? I can't eat it. Can't drink it. Can't hunt with it. Can't heal with it. Can't fuck it. It has some use in electronics, but there's better materials. The only reason to think it has value is because it did historically. If we actually entered a post-apocalyptic world where the dollar was useless, you'd quickly find gold to be equally useless- people would want food, ammo, medicine, sex, they'd have no use for gold. The comic book is just as likely to stand up as gold is.

Re:Value, Price, and Worth

[Hognoxious]

it doesn't corrode,

A small fraction of it is used for that reason - electrical contacts, jewelry.

Though there are other substances that don't corrode either.

and it's rare.

So are John Lennon autographs and George Washington's teeth.

modern civilisation wouldn't exist without gold.

Fascinating. Would you care to explain why? I'd say iron's a lot more important. It's even got an age named after it.

Re:Terrible Hero

[Remus Shepherd]

The point of Superman stories -- if they are well written -- is not to make you worry about whether Superman will survive. The point is to make you worry about whether everyone else will survive.

He's the archetypical protector. The dramatic tension comes from wondering whether he can do his job as a protector. His survival is not important to the narrative.