'Batman' comic breaks auction record

A rare comic book featuring the first appearance of Batman has fetched a record price during an auction.

Heritage Auctions is selling Detective Comics #27 on February 25, but bidding on the book has already reached $418,250 (£266,500). The issue is being sold on behalf of an anonymous consignor, who purchased it for $100 (£63) over 40 years ago.

"Since a Detective #27 in any grade is the crown jewel of any comic collection, nobody ever seems to want to part with one, and when one is on the market it tends to be a restored copy," Heritage wrote. "This is easily the highest-graded unrestored copy Heritage has auctioned, the next highest being VG 4.0."

The previous record paid for a comic was set when System Of A Down drummer John Dolmayan purchased Action Comics #1 for $317,000 (£201,988) last year. Both books were published by DC in the 1930s.