This rare Superman comic was once stolen from Nicolas Cage. It recently sold for $15 million

A rare copy of the comic book that introduced the world to Superman that was stolen from actor Nicolas Cage’s home has sold for a record $15 million US.

A private agreement of Action Comedy No. 1co-created by Toronto-born cartoonist Joe Shuster and American comics writer Jerry Siegel, it was announced on Friday. It surpasses the previous comic book record set last November when a copy of the Superman No. 1 sold at auction for $9.12 million.

I Action Comedy the sale was negotiated by Manhattan-based Metropolis Collectibles/Comic Connect, which said the owner of the comic book and the buyer wished to remain anonymous.

The company’s president, Vincent Zurzolo, said the comic – which sold for 10 cents when it came out in 1938 – marks the beginning of the superhero game and is among the most important comic books in the world, estimating that about 100 copies of it still exist.

Shuster, who moved to Cleveland when he was nine, and his school friend Siegel came up with the idea for Superman in 1933, five years earlier. Actions Comic No. 1.

In that issue, Superman’s mild-mannered alter-ego worked as a reporter for the Daily Star (later renamed the Daily Planet) which was inspired by Shuster’s hometown daily. – the Toronto Daily Star (now known as the Toronto Star). who gave birth at a young age.

“This is among the Holy Grail of comic books. Without Superman and his likes, there would be no Batman or other comic book legends,” Zurzolo said.

“Its importance in comic books is evident in his deal, as it breaks the previous record,” he said.

The comic book was stolen from Cage’s west Los Angeles home in 2000 but recovered in 2011 when it was found by a man who bought the contents of an old storage cabinet in southern California. It was eventually returned to Cage, who had bought it in 1996 for $150,000.

Six months after it was returned to him, he sold it at auction for $2.2 million.

Stephen Fishler, CEO of Metropolis Collectibles/Comic Connect, said that theft has ultimately played a major role in increasing the value of comics.

“In that 11-year period (it was lost), it increased in value,” said Fishler. “The thief made Nicolas Cage a lot of money by stealing it.”

Fishler compared it to the theft of the Mona Lisa, which was stolen from the Louvre museum in Paris in 1911.

“It was kept under the thief’s bed for two years,” Fishler noted. “The discovery of the painting took the Mona Lisa from being just a beautiful da Vinci painting to a world icon – and that’s Action No. 1 is an icon of American pop culture.”

WATCH | See how Superman came to be in this video from the CBC Archives:

Co-created by Canadian artist Joe Shuster, the iconic Man of Steel is making its first appearance on comic racks across the country.