The $412 check from Detective Comics Inc. to Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster that inaugurated the superhero portion of the comic book industry has sold at auction for $160,000.  The check, which included $130 for the rights to Superman, was discarded by DC in 1973 after the company won a first skirmish in a long-running battle with Siegel and Schuster over the rights to the first superhero character (see "$130 for Superman").  A DC employee picked the check out of the trash and saved it.  The proceeds from the sale of the check will go to their heirs of the DC employee who had the foresight to rescue this bit of history from the trash.

 

Reuters quotes Vincent Zurzolo, the co-owner of the auction house ComicConnect, on the importance of the check that was signed by Detective Comics publisher Jack Liebowitz, “That $130 check essentially created a billion dollar industry.”

 

The dispute over the rights to Superman, which DC thought was settled in 1973 continues, and could be headed towards a trial (see "Warners Wants Superman Rights Trial").