Batman Beating Superman, Huge Auction Record Being Set
February 10. 2010

(Dallas, Texas) — Batman beats Superman. The Caped Crusader is pounding the Man of Steel – and the recession – in an auction.

A rare copy of the first Batman comic book has far surpassed the previous comic books record price, $317,000, paid for a first Superman comic, and the bidding is still underway with Batman already at $418,250. Super heroes and pop culture fans will learn the final, new record price when the auction ends in two weeks.

“One of the finest known surviving copies of the 1939 issue of Detective Comics #27, the first appearance of Batman, is being offered without reserve by Heritage Auctions in a public auction in Dallas, Texas and online on February 25. Online bidding already is at $418,250, and that’s broken the world’s record auction price for any comic book, $317,000, set last year for a 1938 issue of Action Comics #1, the first appearance of Superman,” said Lon Allen, Director of Sales for the Comics Division of Heritage Auctions (www.HA.com).”Who knows how high Batman can soar by the time bidding ends?”

Heritage is selling the Batman comic on behalf of an anonymous consignor.

“It was owned for decades and kept in excellent condition by a savvy comic book collector who purchased it for $100 more than 40 years ago. In the 1960s and 1970s many people considered that an outrageous amount of money to spend for a 1930s era comic book,” said Allen.

“The Bat-Man,” as he was originally called, appeared for the first time in a six-page story in Detective Comics #27 with a cover date of May 1939. Superman appeared a year earlier in Action Comics #1 with a cover date of June 1938.

“Today, due to the popularity of the movies, cartoon and toys, Batman would seem to be the more popular pop culture character, and now he’ll dethrone Superman as the most valuable comic book,” said Allen.

For additional information, contact Heritage Auctions at (800) 872-6467 or visit online at www.HA.com.

NOTE: We first reported on a copy of Detective Comics #27 which sold in a private sale back in 2007 for an undisclosed amount, but was valued at $250,000 then.

UPDATE: It’s now official – this copy (graded CGC VF 8.0 Off-white to white pages) has become the most expensive comic ever sold at auction. Including the buyer’s premium, it sold on February 24th, 2010 for an astounding $1,075,500.00! The copy came from a private collector, described by Heritage Auctions: “The Pinnacle Hill Collection, from which this copy hails, is not an original-owner collection, but was assembled in the 1960s and 1970s by a discriminating collector who purchased from the major dealers of the day.”

“This is easily the highest-graded unrestored copy Heritage has auctioned, the next highest being VG 4.0!”