Days after Superman’s first appearance in a comic book smashed the record price for comic book purchases by bringing in $1 million at auction (see this article), the record has been broken again, but by a far smaller percentage. DC’s other iconic superhero, Batman (who first appeared less than a year after Superman) took away the record, as Heritage Auction Galleries sold an issue of Detective Comics #27 for $1,075,500 (including buyer’s premium).
The auction, which took place in Texas, involved an anonymous buyer and an anonymous seller. However, the Associated Press reports that Barry Sandoval, director of operations of Heritage’s comics division, said the seller originally bought the comic in the late 1960s for $100. Like the recently sold Superman debut, this comic also had a cover price of 10 cents.
Heritage has full details on the issue and its place in comics history on this page.
Like the Superman issue, this one is also graded Very Fine 8.0 by Certified Guaranty Company. CGC claims to have graded six copies at 8.0 or better, and a total of 45 in all grades (see this page).
Batman’s first story, in this issue, was called “The Case of the Chemical Syndicate,” and was a pulp story in feel and style. The character received his own eponymous comic book title in 1940, while still continuing to appear in Detective Comics.