Skip to main content

Characters & first appearances

What is the first appearance of Superman?

Published Sep 14, 2026 · Updated Sep 14, 2026 · 1 min read

Short answerSuperman first appeared in Action Comics #1, cover-dated June 1938 and on sale in April 1938, created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster and published by Detective Comics, Inc., the company that became DC Comics. It is the first superhero comic and the most valuable comic book in the world: a CGC 8.5 copy sold for 6 million dollars in April 2024.

The issue

Action Comics #1 was a 64-page anthology priced at ten cents. Superman's 13-page story, adapted from a strip Siegel and Shuster had failed to sell to newspaper syndicates for years, opens with the baby rocketed from a dying planet and ends with him carrying a car over his head — the image on Shuster's cover. The other features in the issue (Zatara, Tex Thomson, Scoop Scanlon) are footnotes now.

Superman did not appear on the cover again until Action Comics #7; the publisher was unsure the character was the reason the book sold until newsstand surveys said so.

What followed

  • Superman #1 (Summer 1939) — the first comic book devoted to a single superhero and the second most valuable comic: a CGC 7.0 copy sold privately for 5.3 million dollars in 2022.
  • Action Comics has been published continuously since; issue #1000 appeared in April 2018.

Collecting Action Comics #1

Surviving copies are commonly estimated at around a hundred, most in low grade. The copies that set records — 3.25 million dollars for a CGC 8.5 in April 2021 and 6 million dollars for a different CGC 8.5 in April 2024, both at public auction — are the finest known. Restored copies, incomplete copies and even covers alone trade for large sums.

Beware of reprints: DC has issued facsimiles and the 1974 Famous First Edition oversized reprint, and the 1938 issue has been counterfeited. Any copy offered as an original should be graded by CGC or CBCS or examined by a specialist. See What is a facsimile edition?.

Superman in the Golden Age

Early Superman keys after Action #1 include Superman #1 (1939), Action Comics #23 (April 1940, first Lex Luthor), and Superman #14 (1942, the patriotic shield cover). Our Golden Age collection lists what is currently available, and the Superman character page collects everything on this site about him.

Sources and further reading

Written by the Rare Comics Collectors grading team. Spotted an error or have a question this guide does not answer? Tell us.

In the vault right now

Browse all listings →
Key issueLast copy

DC Comics · Golden Age

Superman #1

CGC 3.5 · Universal Blue

First solo Superman title; reprints Superman's origin from Action Comics #1

(4)
$425,000
Key issueLast copy

DC Comics · Golden Age

Action Comics #1

CGC 2.5 · Universal Blue

First appearance and origin of Superman

(3)
$1,250,000
Key issueLast copy

DC Comics · Modern Age

Wonder Woman (2011) #49

CGC 9.8 · Signature Series

Neal Adams variant cover, CGC Signature Series

(0)
$159
Key issueLast copy

DC Comics · Golden Age

Superman #2

CBCS 3.0 · Universal Blue

Second issue of Superman's own title (Fall 1939)

(0)
$6,820

Keep reading

  • Collecting

    What are the ages of comic books? Golden, Silver, Bronze, Copper and Modern explained

    Collectors divide American comics into eras: the Golden Age (1938 to the mid-1950s), the Silver Age (1956 to about 1970), the Bronze Age (about 1970 to 1985), the Copper Age (about 1985 to 1991) and the Modern Age (1991 to today). The boundaries are conventions rather than official dates, but each era has its own print runs, survival rates, paper and pricing, which is why listings and price guides always state one.

    Updated Sep 14, 2026

  • Collecting

    What is a key issue in comics?

    A key issue is a comic that matters for a reason beyond its story: the first appearance of a character, an origin, a first issue, a death, a famous cover, a creator's debut, or the first appearance of a costume or team. Keys are the books that hold and grow value because demand is tied to the character or event rather than to the issue's rarity alone.

    Updated Sep 14, 2026

  • Collecting

    First appearance vs cameo: what is the difference?

    A cameo is a brief appearance — often a single panel, a shadowed figure, or a last-page teaser — while a first full appearance is the issue in which the character plays a real part in the story. The market usually prices the first full appearance higher, but when the cameo is the first time the character is seen at all, both issues become keys. Incredible Hulk #180 (cameo) and #181 (first full appearance) for Wolverine is the classic example.

    Updated Sep 14, 2026

  • Collecting

    What was the Comics Code Authority?

    The Comics Code Authority (CCA) was a self-regulation body set up by American comic publishers in 1954, after a public campaign against crime and horror comics and a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing that year. Its seal on a cover certified that the contents met the Code's content rules. The Code ended the pre-Code horror era, was loosened in 1971 and 1989, and was abandoned by Marvel in 2001 and by DC and Archie in 2011, after which it ceased to exist.

    Updated Sep 14, 2026

  • News

    The most expensive comic books ever sold: documented record sales

    The record for a single comic is 6 million dollars, paid for a CGC 8.5 copy of Action Comics #1 (1938) at Heritage Auctions in April 2024. Other documented milestone sales include a CGC 7.0 Superman #1 at 5.3 million dollars (private sale, 2022), a CGC 9.6 Amazing Fantasy #15 at 3.6 million dollars (Heritage, September 2021), a CGC 8.5 Action Comics #1 at 3.25 million dollars (ComicConnect, April 2021) and a CGC 9.4 Captain America Comics #1 at 3.12 million dollars (Heritage, April 2022).

    Updated Sep 14, 2026

  • Characters

    What is the first appearance of Batman?

    Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27, cover-dated May 1939, in a six-page story titled “The Case of the Chemical Syndicate”, created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger and published by Detective Comics, Inc. (DC). Finger, who wrote the story and shaped the costume, was officially credited by DC as co-creator from 2015. A CGC 8.0 copy sold for 1.5 million dollars at Heritage Auctions in January 2022.

    Updated Sep 14, 2026