Action Comics #1 Auctioned For $317,200

If you could invest under a dollar and make a little over $300,000 in return, you’d do it, right?

That’s what happened to a collector who purchased a copy of “Action Comics #1″ for less thirty-five cents in a second-hand store in the 50s. The unidentified person auctioned the comic off on-line for $317,200 last week according to the Associated Press.

It’s one of the highest prices ever paid for a comic book, a likely testament to the volume’s rarity and its excellent condition, said Stephen Fishler, co-owner of the auction site ComicConnect.com and its sister dealership, Metropolis Collectibles.

The comic was purchased by John Dolmayan, drummer for the rock band System of a Down, according to managers at ComicConnect.com. Dolmayan is a dealer of rare comic books. The auctioneers said he acquired the Superman comic on behalf of an unidentified client.

“I imagine it’s someone from the entertainment world,” said Vincent Zurzolo, chief operating officer at ComicConnect and Metropolis Collectibles.

Only about 100 copies of Action Comics No. 1 are known to exist and they seldom come up for sale.

“Maybe in a booming economy, it would have done a hundred grand more, but in this economy, I think the price is great,” Fishler said.