Pow! Early Superman comic sells for record US$3.2 million

A near-flawless edition of the first comic book featuring Superman, from June 1938, has fetched US$3.2 million at auction, surging past the previous record for a single comic.

After the 10-day eBay auction concluded on Sunday, the hammer came down for Action Comics No1 with a price of US$3,207,852.

The vintage work's seller, Darren Adams, a collector in America's Washington state, described it as possibly the "best copy in existence" and the "Holy Grail" of comic books.

It was kept for decades in a cedar chest in the West Virginia mountains by a man who had bought it off a newsstand, Adams told The Washington Post.

The cover features the red-caped man of steel hoisting a car over his head. The character is widely credited with starting the multibillion-dollar superhero phenomenon.

The first issue of Action Comics was bought by marketplace firm ComicConnect.