Minnesota Man Working on Fixer-Upper Finds Rare, Expensive Comic Book

This looks like a job for David Gonzalez probably wasn’t uttered as the 38-year-old man was renovating a fixer-upper home in Elbow Lake, Minnesota.

He may be no Superman, but he came across a super-find.

According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Gonzalez who had worked as a renovator and construction worker for years, pulled something special out of the walls of the formerly abandoned residence: An issue of Action Comics No. 1 that was being used as insulation.

Action Comics No. 1 introduced the world to the “Man of Steel,” Superman himself. in June of 1938.

“I knew it was worth money,” Gonzalez told the Star-Tribune. “But I had no idea how much.”

More On This...

The comic book, a rare find in the collectibles world is currently fetching more than $100,000 in an online auction.

Gonzalez purchased the home by outbidding a local restaurant who wanted to demolish it and turn it into a parking lot. He offered $100 dollars more than the $10,000 offer made by the restaurant..

What makes the story even more entertaining is what happened after the comic was found.

Caught up in the excitement over the finding, one of Gonzalez’s relatives grabbed the comic book before Gonzalez grabbed it back and tore the back cover.

“That was a $75,000 tear,” said Stephen Fishler, co-owner of ComicConnect, a New York City online auction house that is selling the comic for Gonzalez.

The comic was graded as a 1.5 on the grading scale. Had they not torn it, the comic would have received a 3.0 grade, according to Fishler.

For example, a 9.0 Action Comics No. 1 that wasn't torn sold for $2 million..

Gonzalez is looking at the positive of the situation and not the negative.

“I am a humble working guy, so I didn’t get too excited when I found it with old newspapers stuffed in the walls,” said Gonzalez, a father of four. “Money won’t buy you happiness.”

Money also won’t buy him super strength, but he seems to have it -- mentally, at least.