This looks like a job for Superman!

A FIRST edition of Action Comics, the legendary comic which brought Superman to readers for the first time, has been sold at auction on eBay for $3.2 million (some €2.4 million).

The auction showcased the best-conserved of around 50 first editions of the comic thought to be in existence. With the bidding opening at $1 million (€760,000) it was no surprise that it fetched such a high sum, despite only 48 people placing bids on the lot.

The buyer has not been named, although Darren Adams, previous owner of the comic and proprietor of the comic book store Pristine Comics, said that he was proud to have owned the most expensive comic in the world. 

This near-perfect copy was expected to fetch $3 million (€2.3 million) and in fact surpassed expectations. In 2011, a slightly-less pristine edition of the comic sold for $2.2 million (€1.6 million).

This so-called ‘Holy Grail’ of superhero comics saw the first appearance of the Superman character created by writer Jerry Siegel and illustrator Joe Shuster in 1938, and the start of the superhero world as we know it.

It is believed that a percentage of the money raised from selling the comic will be donated to the ‘Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation,’ a charity dedicated to curing spinal cord injuries. Christopher Reeve remains for many the archetypal Superman actor, who was seriously injured in a horse riding accident in 1995.