Batman sale tops Superman record

DALLAS – A 1939 comic book in which Batman makes his debut sold at auction Thursday for more than $1 million, breaking a record set just three days earlier by a Superman comic, Heritage Auction Galleries said.

The Dallas-based auction house said the rare copy of Detective Comics No. 27 sold for a total of $1,075,500, which includes the buyer’s premium, to a buyer who wished to remain anonymous. The consigner wanted to remain anonymous as well.

“It pretty much blew away all of our expectations, and now it’s the highest price ever raised for a comic book,” said Barry Sandoval, director of operations of Heritage’s comics division.

A copy of the first comic book featuring Superman sold Monday for $1 million.

“We can really say that Batman has nosed out Superman, at least for now,” Sandoval said.

He said the consigner had bought the Batman comic in the late 1960s for $100.