首版超人漫画当年10美分 如今100万
A 1938 copy of the first comic featuring Superman has sold for a record-smashing one million dollars in New York.
"It's the Holy Grail of comic books," auctioneers' founder Stephen Fishler said.
The record price was reached Monday, easily breaking a 317,200 dollar record set last year when sold another, less well preserved copy of the same first issue of Action Comics.
The mark-up on the original news stand price of 10 cents is one that even a superhero might have trouble arranging.
But the unnamed seller didn't do too badly either: he'd bought the comic for 150,000 dollars at auction 15 years ago.
The comic's cover marked Superman's debut. Wearing his red cape, he is pictured hurling a green car past terrified onlookers.
"Before Action Comics number one there was no such thing as a superhero or a man who could fly," Fishler said.
About 100 copies of the first Action Comics issue remain but only one other is considered to be in as good condition as the one sold Monday.
1938年出版的一本“超人”漫画创刊号近日在纽约创纪录地拍出100万美元的天价。
拍卖网站的创始人斯蒂芬·菲舍尔说：“这本书是漫画书中的极品。”
这本《动作漫画》杂志于本周一拍出，拍价轻松超过去年该网站以31.72万美元拍出的另一本保存完好度稍次的首期杂志，创下新纪录。
这本杂志最初在报亭仅售10美分，即便是超人也很难把价格飙到如此地步。
不过拍卖这本杂志的未透露身份的卖家也“神”赚了一笔，他在15年前以15万美元的价钱拍得这本漫画杂志。
这是超人首次出现在漫画书中。杂志封面上的超人身披红色斗篷，正猛摔一辆绿色汽车，把围观人群吓得魂飞魄散。
菲舍尔说：“在《动作漫画》创刊之前，根本没有什么超人或者会飞的卡通人物形象。”
目前，《动作漫画》的创刊号在全世界仅剩约100本，但像本周一拍出的这本保存得如此完好的据称只剩下一本。
Vocabulary:
record-smashing：创纪录的
Holy Grail：圣杯。关于圣杯有很多种解释，最传统的解释是在耶稣受难时，用来盛放耶稣鲜血的圣餐杯。
mark-up：the amount added by a seller to the cost of a commodity to cover expenses and profit in fixing the selling price（提价，标高价格）
news stand：a stall or other place at which newspapers and often periodicals are sold, as on a street corner or in a building lobby（书报亭）
