We love to see collecting records fall. It means that buyers are out there and the sector is thriving.
And this record comes with a story that's as world-beating as the $15 million price tag in the headline.
The subject?
Superman. In his most famous form perhaps, debuting in Action Comics #1 in 1938.
This comic book is legendary.
It sold by the bucket-load.
And confirmed that Superhero stories had a big future.
Not long after, the costumed-crime fighter created by writer Jerry Siegel with artist Joe Shuster had his own comic book home, the first single character title in comic history.
A copy of the first edition of that comic set a new high for comic book sales as recently as November 2025 when it sold for $9.25 million.
The record didn't last long.
And this copy of Action #1 is famous in its own right.
It's the Nic Cage copy.
The film actor set a record for comics when he bought the item in 1996 for $150,000 - yes, look at that growth.
Unfortunately for Nic, someone lifted it from his home in 2000, reportedly during a party.
He got an insurance payout and that was that.
Until 2011 when it was discovered again, in a storage locker.
Who put it there we don't know.
Cage sold it for a very nice $2.16 million almost immediately.
Action #1 is extremely rare and valuable in almost any form.
Like a lot of first-generation collectibles it was not designed to last.
It cost just 10 cents to buy (more than $2 today). Most of its readers were probably kids.
The publishers didn't know they had a potential hit, so the initial 200,000-copy print run of the first issue proved to be inadequate for demand.
There's no secret supply in a warehouse. They were snapped up off newstands.
These items are now coming up to 90 years old. That's a long time for flimsy pamphelts printed with brightly coloured inks to last.
It's usually reckoned that there are maybe as many as 100 copies still around.
Those in good condition?
A tiny number. Six with third-party grading above Very Good.
Action Comics was the seed for DC (Detective Comics), which is now a globe-spanning multimedia empire.
The first ever million-dollar comic was one. Graded 8.0 and sold in February 2010, its record lasted only a month, when another copy was sold for $1.5 million.
The Cage copy was at that point lurking in a California lock-up.
As Stephen Fishler, CEO of Metropolis Comics and Collectibles told the BBC: "During that 11-year period, it skyrocketed in value. The thief made Nicolas Cage a lot of money by stealing it.
“The recovery of the painting [after its 1911 theft from the Louvre] made the Mona Lisa go from being just a great Da Vinci painting to a world icon – and that’s what Action No 1 is. An icon of American pop culture.”
So, the comic now has a new, and undisclosed home.
One of the exciting things about this story is it's not a closed door for collectors.
That Superman #1 that was toppled from the top spot by this sale was one of those proverbial attic finds we all dream of.
The existing population of Action Comics #1 is a "known" measure.
There could very easily be more out there - though it's extremely unlikely that there are enough to seriously affect the value of the best-condition copies.
So, all you garage-sale, second-hand-store, house-clearing hopefuls out there should definitely keep your eyes open.
