Back in April, we reported that a very valuable comic that was owned, then stolen, from Nicolas Cage had been recovered, but not returned to the comic-loving actor. His near-perfect issue of Action Comics #1 was taken from him back in 2000 and was found in an abandoned storage space purchased by someone who has remained anonymous. However, rather than returning the comic to its devastated owner (who may have received an insurance payout for his loss), it was handed over to collectibles expert Mark Balelo, who then passed it on to Stephen Fishler, who had, ironically, sold the comic to Cage in the first place. Now, the comic is going to auction, where it is expected to break records. But probably not with Nicolas Cage’s money.
The comic went up for bid on Friday at Comic Connect, an online auction site, where the current bid (as of this writing) is over $1.3 million. Keep in mind, this is less than two days into the auction, which doesn’t end until Wednesday, November 30. Also consider the current record: $1.5 million for another Action Comics #1, which wasn’t in as good condition. This comic book could sell for over $2 million, making it the most expensive comic book ever sold.
Indeed, this is a very special copy of Action Comics #1, which was the very first appearance of Superman. There are only 100 left in existence today, and this particular copy was given an unprecedented grade of 9.0, making it one of five known copies that are in this kind of excellent condition. First sold in 1992 at Sotheby’s for $82,500 — which was the record at the time — Cage bought it for $150,000 in 1997. In addition to Action Comics #1, Cage was also in possession of Detective Comics #27 — Batman’s first appearance — and Marvel Mystery #71. The latter was returned, but the Detective Comics issue remains missing. They were all stolen at the same time.
But who really owns this Action Comics issue? When the comic was recovered in April, Cage’s publicist expressed the actor’s desire to have the comic returned to his family. However, he had received an insurance payout upon losing the collectible, but was “hoping to reach a settlement” and regain possession.
Nicolas Cage almost played Superman in a movie and named his own son Kal-El. We hope he can get something out of this.
(via The Hollywood Reporter)
