Collectors and investors alike are going to get to duke it out for who wants to own the infamous “Superman #1” comic book from the Golden Age. This is the Action Comics #1 from DC issued in 1938, and it has been graded CGC Conserved FN 5.5 with cream to off-white pages.

Heritage Auctions has listed the Action Comics #1 as the placeholder for its June 2021 Comic and Comic Art auction. Collectors Dashboard is evaluating this iconic auction as one that will appeal to both comic book collectors and investors who are now treating collectibles as an alternative asset class.

This auction could fetch more than $1 million if past and recent sale prices come into play. While a prior sample of the same grade sold for $956,000 in 2016 through Heritage, this sample is listed as part of the Jon Berk Collection. Another sample sale through Heritage in 2003 was also an FN- 5.5 grade, but that was for just $120,750 at that time.

The Action Comics #1 has a total of 74 graded examples, but of those there are 32 examples which are restored. That leaves 41 examples in the Universal grade and just 1 example with a Qualified grade. Of those graded 5.5 by CGC, there are just 3 Universal examples and 2 restored examples.

The bids as of June 2, 2021 showed a price of $320,000 (or $384,000 after the buyer’s premium) with 22 bids and registered phone bidders. Heritage noted that the conservation of the issue’s grade includes replacing the staples in the spine, cleaning of the cover, and reinforcing of the cover itself.

Heritage Auctions states that they last sold a Universal graded copy three years earlier, but they called this specific example out even in more detail and commanding premium prices. Heritage’s listing said:

The stature of this iconic issue just grows larger every year. Far and away the most valuable comic book ever published, Overstreet’s listed value increased from 2019 to 2020 by an amount that exceeded the total value of all but the top eight books on its Top 100 Golden Age Comics list! And it invariably fetches way more than Guide prices. We last sold a Universal copy three years ago, and our current offering is the most attractive copy we’ve offered in nearly five years.

As for the driving force behind the value for the Action Comics #1, this is not just the first appearance of Superman. The comic book includes the first appearance of Lois Lane, and the first appearances of Martha Kent and Johnathan Kent along with the origin of Superman. The iconic first issue featuring the first appearance of Superman. The heroin is seen lifting a stylized green 1930s streamlined car above his head in a scene as legendary as the comic itself.

This comic book single-handedly set the stage for multiple movies, television series and comic books for the decades since its release. Again, collectors should know that they will be competing with investors in this auction.

An article from the Journal of Antiques & Collectibles in 2017 previously listed that the Jon Berk Collection set a prior record on another venue.