Comic Books

3,000 Superman #1 Comics Newly Discovered… As NFTs

DC Comics has produced some of the world’s top comic books and some of the world’s top comic book characters for generations now. That also means its comics have some of the world’s highest all-time sales within collectibles. And we all know that the first appearance comics of Superman and Batman can easily fetch into the six-digit sales figures at auction. That makes many of the top comics unattainable. Or does it?

DC Comics has announced its new DC Collectible Comics. According to its tweet, these are the first digital DC comics you can buy, collect, and sell. The company noted that it will have weekly drops with randomly inserted chase variants. The first release will start on October 27, 2022 and take a guess which comic book it’s starting with –Superman #1.

According to the DC Blog post:

On Oct 27th, DC Collectible Comics (DC3) are coming to nft.dcuiniverse.com. The new weekly drops will feature variant covers and gradings that physical comic book collectors have enjoyed over the years, now on a digital platform.

DC Collectible Comics will be released from two categories, Legacy and Modern. Legacy comics include releases of classic comic issues that may have been out of print for years while Modern comics will highlight a selection of recent releases from DC’s extensive lineup of comics.

Each DC Collectible Comic will have one of five levels of rarity that are randomly assigned at the time of purchase: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic or Legendary. And every collectible comic in your collection will unlock the corresponding full issue in the DC NFT online comic reader. You can read your comics any time, and build your own DC collectible comic library.

The post also breaks down additional information on how many NFTs will be released. Superman #1 will be the first DC Collectible Comic to be sold on the blockchain. That starts on October 27th at 9:00 am Pacific Time and the sale price will be $9.99. The iconic 1939 issue will be limited to 3,000 minted editions.

Batman fans will get a new chase as well, and starting even before the Superman release. The DC Blog said:

Batman: The Legacy Cowl #1, one of the newest DC comics created with the help of the DC Bat Cowl community, will be released today, Oct 25th, exclusively to Batman: The Legacy Cowl NFT holders. Batman: The Legacy Cowl #1 is the STORY OF THE COWLS! Over the years, Batman has designed various ‘specialist’ cowls (and other Bat-kit) for specific tasks. He keeps them all secure in the Batcave but one went missing. For the last several months, Bat Cowl holders helped shape the hows, whats, and whys of the comic through a series of votes, to develop the story of Batman’s newest mystery.

While a Superman #1 NFT may seem rare with 3,000 minted editions, keep in mind that GoCollect.com shows a CGC graded population of only 168 examples in all grades. Of those, there are 71 universal graded examples and 91 examples are classified as restored. The highest graded universal classification is graded as CGC 8.5 and the highest grade for a restored example is 9.6.

As for the real Superman and Batman rarities from the Golden Age, here are top published realized prices just from Heritage Auctions (after buyer’s premium) in the recent past:

  • Action Comics #1 Rocket Copy (DC, 1938) CGC FN 6.0 White pages (Superman) sold on January 13, 2022 for $3,180,000.00
  • Detective Comics #27 (DC, 1939) CGC FN/VF 7.0 Off-white pages (Batman) sold on November 19, 2020 for $1,500,000.00
  • Batman #1 (DC, 1940) CGC NM 9.4 White pages sold on January 14, 2021 for $2,220,000.00
  • Superman #1 (DC, 1939) CGC VG/FN 5.0 Cream to off-white pages sold on May 12, 2022 for $720,000.00

The digital versions of Superman #1 are not from 1939. They are brand new and DC’s NFT Marketplace is already up and running before this announcement. They are in perfect condition and they will always be in perfect condition. NFT collectors know this. Some care, and some do not. The opinion of how to view and value each one of these releases is entirely up to you (or the buyers and sellers) to decide.