• Three brothers found a Superman No. 1 comic in their mother's attic.
• The comic sold for a record-breaking $9.12 million at a Texas auction.
• This sale sets a new record, surpassing the previous highest of $6 million.
• The comic's exceptional condition significantly raised its value.
• Experts believe fewer than 500 copies of this comic exist today.

A copy of the original "Superman No. 1" comic book, discovered by three brothers while cleaning their late mother's attic, was sold for a staggering $9.12 million this month at Heritage Auctions, marking it as the most expensive comic ever sold. The brothers found the comic nestled in a cardboard box beneath layers of newspapers and dust in their San Francisco home last year. Their mother had previously indicated that she owned a valuable comic collection, although the brothers had never encountered it until they started sorting through her belongings for heirlooms, according to ABC News and NPR.

The comic, published by DC Comics in 1939, is one of only about 500 copies still known to exist. The auction's vice president, Lon Allen, mentioned that a small advertisement within the comic helped identify its rarity as part of the original print run of 500,000. This specific copy was graded a 9.0 out of 10 by the Certified Guaranty Company (CGC), indicating an impressively preserved state. The excellent condition was attributed to the protective Northern California climate, which helped maintain the comic's spine, colors, and corners over the decades, as reported by Indiatimes and ABC News.

This sale sets a new record for comic book sales, surpassing last year's high of $6 million for an "Action Comics No. 1," which first introduced Superman to the public, and another Superman No. 1 that sold for $5.3 million in 2022. The brothers, in their 50s and 60s, opted to remain anonymous due to the financial implications of the sale, reiterating that this wasn't merely a story about collectibles but a tribute to memory and family ties, as expressed by Indiatimes and NPR.