No matter who ends up owning Warner Bros Discovery, Superman will remain a jewel in the crown of the 102-year-old studio. With bids for the company now in from Paramount, Comcast and Netflix, another auction of sorts in Texas that put a winning price tag on Man from Krypton IP could prove a sign of what’s to come for WBD shareholders.
A near-pristine copy of Superman #1 from 1939 sold for $9.12 million this week, an all-time record price for a comic book, besting last year’s mark when a pristine Action Comics #1 went for $6 million. And on Friday, a Neil Adam-illustrated Superman cover from 1971 sold for $1.2 million, a record for the comic artist, auction house Heritage Auctions told Deadline.
A series of other Superman items, like classic Action Comics from the 1930s and other years, are on the block this weekend too, with big bids anticipated.
To put some perspective on this amid the tens of billions being offered for WBD assets, Superman #1 originally sold for a dime back when FDR was in the White House. Also, spotlighting the cultural significance of the character and the comic, another copy of the 64-page Superman #1 has been in the Library of Congress for several years.
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) holds a copy of Superman #1 for his 2023 swearing-in.
Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
As for the bottom line, Warner Bros has fought long, hard and successfully over the decades against various copyright lawsuits to hold on to Superman and its profits through various iterations — both onscreen, at the newsstands and in the C-suites. As recently as April, a move by the estate of Superman co-creator Joel Shuster to put a halt on international release of the James Gunn-directed Superman movie was shut down by the courts, to WB’s relief.
Meanwhile, the tale of the Superman #1 sale Thursday is itself a tale almost out of a superhero story.
The self-declared “64-pages of action” were discovered last Christmas by three middle-aged brothers amidst a pile of Action Comics and other Great Depression-era comics in their deceased mother’s San Francisco attic. If that part of the origin story wasn’t Clark Kent-meets-Norman Rockwell enough for you, the comic was in such good shape it received a nearly unprecedented 9.0 rating from the Certified Guaranty Company.
Going on for another day, Heritage Auctions’ sale of a swath of iconic comics includes “well-kept” editions of Action Comics #9, #12, #15, #18 and #21 from the brothers’ attic collection.
As for who paid that $9.12 million this week, Heritage told Deadline today that it “can’t share information about the buyer unless they go public.” However, Heritage VP Lon Allen said Thursday that “Superman #1 is a milestone in pop culture history, and this copy is not only in unprecedented condition, but it has a movie-worthy story behind it.” The exec went on to say: “I was glad to see the price reflect that and am honored Heritage was entrusted with this iconic book.”
While $9.12 million is probably just a tad more than the craft services and transportation budget for Gunn’s $225 million Superman flick that grossed more than $616 million at the global box office this year, it is the anti-Kryptonite to anyone looking to cash in on WBD’s DC properties down the line.
Current WBD CEO David Zaslav has said that Gunn has another “Super-family” script on the go. Plus Batman 2 is happening, Lanterns is coming to HBO Max from the Gunn and Peter Safran-led DC Studios among others, as is the Milly Alcock-fronted movie Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. Regardless of who among Netflix, Comcast or Paramount make it the next stage of acquiring WBD, Superman and other DC heroes and villains are among the hardest-punching parts of the conglomerate.
“A strong DC that captures audiences attention is a winning lottery ticket for anyone interested in Warner Bros,” an industry insider close to the WBD sale says. He added: “There’s near limitless potential if handled right. — whether its still Gunn or not. It’s that simple.”
Like, “faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Look up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane!” simple.
Having said that, a self-portrait painting by Frida Kahlo, who was played by Salma Hayek in the 2002 Julie Taymor-direct biopic, just sold today for $54 million, the most ever paid for a work by a female artist. So, how much could Wonder Woman #1 go for? Asking for a bidder…