Older comic books are known to hold a ton of value for some of the more milestone issues, and recently, a copy of the first-ever Batman comic sold for a staggering amount.
How much did the copy of Batman #1 sell for?
In a recent transaction from auction house Goldin, a copy of Batman #1 — which features the first appearances of the Joker and “the Cat” (Catwoman) — from 1940 sold for a whopping $470,000. According to Goldin, though, with buyer’s premiums accounted for, bidding on the issue surpassed a half-million dollars, at $573,400.
The comic itself was graded a 7.0, and featured some off-white to white pages, according to its listing. This means, theoretically, that a higher-graded print of the comic could fetch an even higher price should one ever come to auction.
Despite the incredibly high price, the $570,000+ price tag for the comic would not even come close to being among the highest-priced comics sold at auction. In 2022, a rare copy of Detective Comics #27 from 1939, which featured the actual debut of Batman in DC Comics, sold for a whopping $1.74 million at auction. That auction, coincidentally, was also done by Goldin.
Of course, the designation for most expensive comic books ever sold still belongs to Action Comics #1. The very first introduction of Superman has routinely sold for multiple millions whenever a copy goes to auction. To date, the highest price for one was $6 million, which was set in 2024, by a Heritage Auctions sale.
