November 30, 2011
"I'm not normally a praying man, but if you're up there, please save me Superman."
A friend of mine and I were just (like, earlier today) discussing Cage's recent fire sales of his previous belongings in an attempt to stave off bankruptcy, when looky here:
A near-pristine copy of Action Comics #1 -- better known as the first appearance of Superman -- sold at an online auction Wednesday night for a staggering $2.16 million.The seller? None other than cash-strapped actor Nicolas Cage, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Cage turned a super-sized profit, the Reporter noted. He bought the 1938 Man of Steel original 14 years ago for roughly $150,000.
The buyer has remained anonymous. But "he's an extremely passionate collector, and he treasures owning the best of the best," said Vincent Zurzolo, chief operating officer of New York-based ComicConnect.com, which conducted the auction. "In particular, he loves Superman."
Who doesn't love Superman? Wait...I don't, but that isn't really important. What's more impressive than a funnybook pulling in two million smackeroos is the fact that, apparently, Nicolas Cage made a sound business investment.
The dude's weird Bell curve career trajectory has been documented before (by me, even). And in the long list of questionable decisions are his ill-advised spending habits. Cage's purchases (made before he was forced to appear in G-Force, I assume) include a 40-acre Bahamanian island, a "flotilla" of yachts, and not one but two honest-to-Arthur castles. So while it isn't particularly surprising the avowed Superman man nabbed a copy of Action Comics #1, it's nothing short of astounding he actually made any money off the deal.
Hopefully a couple million bucks will keep him from selling son "Kal-El" to white slavers anytime soon.
