Cool:
Action Comics #2 Court Copy (DC, 1938) CGC Apparent FN/VF 7.0 Slight (P) Off-white pages. A significant copy of a significant issue is offered here! This is the second-ever appearance of Superman, an issue ranked among the 20 most valuable comic books by Overstreet and one of the toughest of those twenty keys to come by. The last copy we offered some 3 1/2 years ago (CGC 4.5) didn't hold a candle to this one — in fact it had no small amount of mold on the cover — and still sold for over $7,000! Thanks to some professional restoration, this is the most appealing copy we've seen (for comparison's sake, the highest-graded unrestored specimen to date is a 7.0). Quaintly enough, Superman did not even appear on the cover of this anthology book, instead readers got a gorgeous adventure illustration by Leo O'Mealia. This is designated the Court Copy because it was used as evidence in DC's lawsuit against Fox and the latter publisher's character Wonder Man, claiming copyright infringement. The case was styled "Detective Comics, Inc., v. Bruns Publications, Inc., et al." and this comic was Exhibit 13. It bears two date stamps from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, one showing March 16, 1939, the other showing April 6, 1939. The judge did indeed issue an injunction "forbidding the further publication" of Wonder Man. The unique history behind this copy makes it perhaps the biggest wild card in our auction; since we observed much oohing and ahhing when this comic was on display at Geppi's Entertainment Museum, we expect spirited bidding at the auction session. CGC notes, "Restoration includes: spine split sealed to cover, tear seals, cover cleaned, cover reinforced." Overstreet 2007 FN 6.0 value = $11,613; VF 8.0 value = $28,065.