Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Man of Steel Stops a Foreclosure

Superman is faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, but who knew that he had an even greater power: being able to stop bank foreclosures.

Yep, he's doing that too. Well, at least one of his comic books is.

Oh, but what a comic it is: It's a vintage copy of Action Comics, No. 1, dating from 1939, that represents the Man of Steel's very first appearance and the debut of the superhero genre in general."This is the Holy Grail of comic books," said Stephen Fishler, the co-owner of ComicConnect.com and Metropolis Collectibles, the world's largest vintage comic book dealer. "Until recently, only about 99 were known to exist, and most of those were in the hands of collectors."

Things changed two months ago, when a couple contacted Fishler and his partner, Vincent Zurzolo, wanting to discuss an old comic they had found in their attic. That old comic turned out to be a copy of Action Comics that was eventually rated to be "Very Good-Fine" by experts.

"The couple were going through a foreclosure and were actually going through some boxes in the attic to get things ready before the bank took over the house," Fishler told AOL News. "There were about 50 boxes total. There was an old movie magazine and four other comic books from the late 1930s that didn't have much value."Fishler said the couple have asked him to keep their identities and address secret.

"I can only say that they live 'down south,'" he said. "The house has been in the family a long time, and I think they want to keep this a secret from other relatives who might make a claim on the book, and also because it's embarrassing to admit you're at risk of losing a house.

"Basically, they had taken out a second mortgage to finance a business that didn't work and they found this comic at the last minute."

Although the couple weren't big comic book fans, they knew enough to recognize that Action Comics No. 1 might have value and did some research before finding Fishler and Zurzolo.

via Man of Steel Stops a Foreclosure.

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