Forget about the solar eclipse on April 8th. On April 4th, the comic book collecting community will likely witness something far more important (at least to us): the sale of the most expensive comic book ever. Specifically, Heritage Auctions has a CGC 8.5 copy of Action Comics #1 from the Kansas City Pedigree Collection up for bids.

How much will this copy of Action Comics #1 sell for?

Action Comics #1 is, of course, the most significant comic book of all-time. It features the first full appearance and origin of Superman (as well as Lois Lane and Zatara). Published in 1938, Action Comics #1 is widely considered to be the beginning of the superhero and established the conventions of the genre. It's also extremely rare; there are only 44 blue label copies of Action Comics #1 on the CGC Census, and only four of those have been graded at 8.5 or higher.

Let's take a closer look at this particular copy on Action Comics #1 on Heritage Auctions. In terms of quality, there are only two Universal copies of Action Comics #1 on the CGC Census that have been graded higher (two 9.0 copies) than the copy being auctioned right now on Heritage.

This issue is one of only four pedigreed copies of Action Comics #1.

In addition, the Heritage copy is especially unique since it belongs to one of the most important comic collections ever found (the Kansas City pedigreed collection). As a refresher, a pedigree is a designation that CGC provides to "exceptional" comic collections that meet certain criteria, including collections from an original owner that mostly consist of Golden or Silver Age comics that are high-grade. The Kansas City pedigreed collection consisted of approximately 250 high grade #1 issues from the late 1930s through the 1940s. In addition to this Action Comics #1, this collection also contained copies of Batman #1, Flash #1, Green Lantern #1, and Superman #1. There are only four pedigreed copies of Action Comics #1. This copy on sale at Heritage is the highest graded copy among the four.

How much will it sell for?

This copy of Action Comics #1 has already broken sales records in the past. It sold once before in 2011 becoming the first comic book to sell for at least $1M. That copy, graded CGC 8.0, was the first comic book to sell for $1 million in 2011. The current bid at $4,250,000 ($5,100,000 with the buyer's premium) with three days remaining would already make it the second highest comic book sale of all-time. If it sells for more than $5,300,000, it will then eclipse the sale of a CGC 8.0 copy of Superman #1 that occurred last year.

There are several reasons why this book will likely sell for more than $6M. First, this book is much more valuable than the copy of Superman #1 that sold last year for $5.3M; it's historically more significant, higher-graded, and more rare.

Second, there is only a very small number of collectors who could consider bidding on this comic. Those wealthy collectors likely have much of their wealth invested in the stock market, and, in case you haven't heard, the S&P500 has set 22 record highs in just the past three months. The investors who could afford to purchase this book have likely made millions in the stock market during the past few months.

I'm going to take an educated guess that it sells for around $6.3M. How much do you think it will sell for? Please let our community know what your opinion is in the comments section below!