A rare copy of the first Superman comic will be put up for auction online today and bids could soar as high as the "man of steel," experts say.
Action Comics #1, published in June 1938, is considered by collectible experts to be the world's most valuable comic book and is valued at about $126,000.
"It's the holy grail of comic books," said comic expert Stephen Fishler, who created the 10-point grading scale that has become the industry standard for evaluating comic books.
"This is the one that started it all. There was no such thing as a super hero before it. No flying man. Comics weren't even that popular. It's the single most important event in comic book history," he said.
Fishler, founder of New York's Metropolis Collectibles, will manage the auction of the comic -- created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster -- at www.comicconnect. com. The auction of Action Comics #1 begins today and concludes on March 13.
The unidentified seller bought the comic in 1950 when he was nine years old after begging his father for 35 cents.
"Lots of kids bought comic books in the '50s, but almost all of them eventually tossed them out," said Fishler.
