Fred Guardineer

If you're the kind of person who keeps up with news about people spending truly massive amounts of money on comic books, then you're probably aware that there was a copy of Action Comics #1 rated at 9.0 that sold for $3,000,000 earlier this year. On one level, that makes sense. It is, after all, an incredibly important historical artifact, featuring the first appearance of Superman and Lois Lane in a story that kickstarted the entire superhero genre. On the other hand, if you really want to read that comic, you don't need to spend three mil. You can get it for like fifteen bucks. Either way, the CGC corporation put the entire issue online to read for free -- presumably to prove that these crisp, unblemished pages really are as good as they say they are -- and there's a lot more in there than just Superman, whose first appearance has naturally overshadowed the numerous other short features contained in this most coveted comic.

The oldest surviving piece of original Superman art sold at auction last week for $286,800. And, surprisingly, Superman co-creator Joe Shuster didn't draw it. In fact, it's the cover to Action Comics #15, cover dated August 1939, and it was drawn by Fred Guardineer, one of DC Comics' go-to cover artists at the time. The cover depicts Superman underwater, saving a disabled submarine. When the issue