More than 70 years after Superman first saved the day in the pages of a comic book, the Man of Steel has reached out and saved a family in the real world.

Asylum reports that a family was packing up their belongings after their bank had started foreclosure proceedings, when they came across a box of comic books in the basement.

But this wasn’t just any box, and the family suspected they’d struck gold when they discovered among the titles “Action Comics No. 1,” the comic that introduced Superman to the world and brought to life the superhero genre, which remains popular to this day.

It also happens to be worth upward of $250,000. Asylum writes: The house had been in the family’s possession since the 1950s, which is probably when the wife’s father stashed the issue in a box with some other, mere mortal titles.

When the family contacted Stephen Fishler, the co-owner of ComicConnect and Metropolis, he was naturally skeptical after receiving countless similar calls, of which “99.9%” turn out to be reprints, he told Asylum. But then they texted him a cell phone picture of its cover, which features Superman holding a car, and Fishler knew he’d found the key to comic book fans’ collections all over the world.

The comic is expected to fetch more than a quarter-million dollars when it goes up for auction on ComicConnect — and that’s a low estimate. In February of this year, an unrestored copy of “Action Comic No. 1″ sold for $1 million, according to the Los Angeles Times, followed a month later by the sale of another copy in better condition at $1.5 million.

But don’t go hunting down the family for what’s left over after they get back up to speed on their mortgage. They told Fishler they’d like to remain anonymous, although they did tell Asylum that they were “shell-shocked about finding this book.”: “I know I am very fortunate, but I will be greatly relieved when this book finds a new home.”

Thankfully, it looks like they’ll get to keep theirs.

Posted by Mai Ling at MSN Real Estate on Wednesday, July 28, 2010 10:19 AM

Original article:   http://realestate.msn.com/blogs/listedblogpost.aspx?post=1786978&_blg=1,1786978

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