Rare Superman #1 comic that cost 10 cents in 1939 has sold for $2.6 million

• A Superman #1 comic book sold for $2.6 million at an online auction on Thursday.
• The comic was originally bought for 10 cents in 1939.

A rare Superman #1 comic book, which was first printed in 1939 and sold for 10 cents at the time, sold for $2.6 million at an auction on Thursday.

The comic – "the complete story of the daring exploits of the one and only SUPERMAN" – featuring an image of Superman leaping over tall buildings on the cover sold on ComicConnect.com, an online auction, and comic marketplace, to an anonymous buyer.

The seller, Mark Michaelson, purchased the comic from the original owner in 1979 and kept it in a temperature-controlled safe ever since the auction website said.

The comic has only traded hands twice– once when first purchased in 1939, and then in 1979 when bought by Michaelson.

Michaelson told MarketWatch that he paid between $1,000 and $2,000 when he bought it.

Now living in Houston and semi-retired, Michaelson told The Associated Press that he paid his way through college by buying and selling comics.

"This is by far the nicest copy of Superman #1 I've ever brought to market and is the second highest-graded copy on the census," Vincent Zurzolo, ComicConnect founder, said on their website.

"The cover inks are rich and the interior pages supple. What a thrill that there are still undiscovered comics like this lying dormant."

The price is one of the highest ever fetched for a comic.

Earlier this year, ComicConnect said it broke the world record for the most expensive comic ever sold with $3.25 million for a copy of Action Comics #1.

The comic published in June 1938 also featured Superman on the cover, this time lifting a car above his head.