(Ewbank's Auctioneers via SWNS)
By James Gamble
Nearly 50 copies of an ultra-rare Superman comic bought at a car boot sale for $26 over a decade ago have sold at auction for over $82,000.
The comic books - described as the 'Holy Grail' for collectors - were privately commissioned by a British billionaire in 1988 for his son's bar mitzvah.
However, decades later, another man picked up 48 copies of the very special edition - of which around just 200 were made - at a car boot sale.
The buyer, completely oblivious to their value, put them away and didn't think about them again until lockdown, when he dug them out again and discovered their worth.
A decade on from the car boot sale, 47 of the comics have now sold for an eye-watering collective of over £63,440.
Diehard Superman fans snatched at the chance to grab what is said to be one of the rarest comics ever produced at auctioneers Ewbank's sale.
The seller, who wishes to remain anonymous, recalls buying the comics at least a decade ago at a car boot sale on the south coast of England.
He revealed that the only reason he bought the box containing the Superman comics was because he spotted some Star Trek comics sitting alongside them.
"My dad was a Star Trek fan, and there were some Star Trek comics in the box," the seller said.
"When I got home, I found that they were part of a series and some of them were missing.
"I didn't even bother looking again. I didn't even see the Superman ones.
"They were tucked away in a cupboard, but during Covid, I looked through a few things.
"I found the Superman comics and found out a bit more about them.
"I don’t usually buy comics, so I had no idea about what I had."
The seller researched the 48 identical comics online and discovered they formed the surviving run of a unique private commission - the only known such example in publisher DC Comics’ 89-year history.
He found that, in the late 1980s, building works at wealthy businessman Godfrey Bradman's home exposed his comic book fanatic son’s extensive collection to asbestos, resulting in them being thrown out.
To win back favour with his less-than-impressed son, Bradman commissioned the special edition as a gift for his son’s bar mitzvah in 1988, handing out copies to the guests.
Although it was a one-off commission, featuring the businessman's son Daniel Bradman and his friend Andrew Hunt alongside Superman, DC Comics decided to build the storyline into its existing Superman adventure.
Known as the 'This Island Bradman' Superman comic book, it featured an 8-page story created by David Levin, with artwork by Curt Swan and Angelo Torres.
(Ewbank's Auctioneers via SWNS)
It's believed that around 200 copies were printed, with over half being handed out to guests.
At the end of the party, Bradman told the clean-up crew to get rid of the remaining comics.
However, one of them decided to take 48 of them home, where they were forgotten about.
After a house clearance, the stash of comics fell into the hands of a regular car boot seller, who then sold them to their last owner around ten years ago, along with other comics, for just £20.
Having dug them out again during Covid, the seller was shocked to learn of their 'legendary' status.
“I started researching them on the internet, and I found an article about their origins as a special commission," the seller explained.
"It turned out that this was legendary among Superman comic fans.
"They specifically mentioned that the number cleared away after the bar mitzvah was 48, and that was exactly the number in the box, so I knew then what I had."
The seller decided to test how valuable the comics were by putting one on eBay, which sold for £750.
The same comic then reappeared on eBay the following day with the hefty price tag of £30,000.
The seller put the remaining 47 comics up for sale with Ewbank's.
“Copies handed out at the bar mitzvah occasionally appear, and the last two to sell made $6,500 and $3,500,” Tom Francis-Duma, Ewbank’s Comics specialist, said.
“Die-hard Superman fans have been chasing the discarded stash of 48 comics for the best part of four decades - and now we have found them.
"Many are in near-mint condition, and we have now officially graded them, with a couple ranking at 9.6 out of 10, and a handful at 9.4.
“This was a Holy Grail moment for die-hard Superman completists to fill that elusive gap in their collections and represented the last opportunity to get hold of a copy of this unique commission."
Copies in the best condition sold at auction for around $2,600 each, but even those at the lower end of estimates - pitched at around £40 a copy - sold for between £800 and 850 apiece.
The cheapest comic to sell went for $650.
"We kept the estimates tight as we were offering all remaining 47 copies at once," Mr Francis-Duma added.
"It was the right thing to do in the interests of the owner, as we felt that it would create more of an occasion - and so more impact among fans - than drip feeding them onto the market.
"The results speak for themselves.”