A comic book sale at Heritage Auctions on Saturday resulted in a new record for a copy of Superman #1.

It sold for $358,500.

Superman was the franchise that kicked off the superhero craze

The unrestored copy is graded CGC 4.5, making it one of the best on the market.

As Heritage explained in the run-up to the sale: "Unrestored copies of this major key are very difficult to come by.

"We have never offered an unrestored copy graded better than 5.0, and the last time we saw one even in that grade was way back in 2007."

The previous record was $299,000, set for a CGC 4.0-graded unrestored copy earlier this year.

The comic book was rushed into print after the enormous success of Superman's 1938 debut in Action Comics #1.

That first copy of Action Comics is the world's most valuable comic book, with a 9.0-graded specimen selling for a world record $3.2m on eBay in 2014.

A 9.6 graded copy of The Amazing Spiderman #1 (1963) achieved $262,900.

It was described by the auction house as "without a doubt one of the top five Silver Age comics we have offered in our 15 years of auctions, and very possibly number one."

Much like Superman, Spiderman debuted in an anthology (Amazing Fantasy #15) a year before he got his own comic book.

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