$1 million comic books

DALLAS, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- A record of more than $1 million was offered by a secret bidder in an auction for a copy of the first comic book to feature Batman.

The $1.075 million winning bid for Detective Comics No. 27 broke the 3-day-old record comic book price of $1 million for Action Comic No. 1, which introduced Superman. That was more than three times the previous mark, set last year when a fan paid $317,000 for another Superman comic.

Detective Comics No. 27 was published in 1939 and sold for 10 cents. In the 1960s, Thursday's seller bought the book for about $100, auction house Heritage Auction Galleries of Dallas said.

"It was owned for decades and kept in excellent condition by a savvy comic book collector who purchased it for $100 more than 40 years ago. In the 1960s and 1970s many people considered that an outrageous amount of money to spend for a 1930s-era comic book," said Lon Allen, a director of the comics department at Heritage.

Both the seller and buyer -- like Batman and Superman -- of Thursday's auction chose to keep their identities secret.

"This is a world's record price for any comic book. There was applause in the room when the gavel pounded for the final price of $1.075 million," Heritage Auctions President Greg Rohan said.