While Superman is still ahead, with more than 600 million approximate sales, if one were to account for the sales of Weekly Shonen Jump for each year that One Piece has been featured on it, the numbers would be much closer.
There are estimated to be less than 100 copies of Action Comics #1 left in existence out of a print run of 200,000. The combination of scarcity and demand for the first American Superhero has skyrocketed the value in recent years.
According to the most recently available data, the best-selling American single-issue comic of all time was X-Men #1, which was published in 1991 and has since sold almost 8.2 million copies.
Including Shonen Jump Sales, One Piece Has Outsold Batman & Superman. In August of 2022, sales reports for One Piece volumes worldwide reached over 516 million, making One Piece the best-selling manga series and the best-selling comic series printed in book volumes in history.
Marvel taking the top spot isn't exactly news. Since ICv2 took over reporting comic book sales from Diamond Comic Distributors in late 2020, the Disney subsidiary has come out on top in every quarter.
It is impossible to know exactly how many copies have been printed in the roughly 1500 years since its contents were standardized, but research conducted by the British and Foreign Bible Society in 2021 suggests that the total number probably lies between 5 and 7 billion copies.
The comic book has since become one of the most sought after items for collectors, regularly breaking auction records. Only about 100 copies of the comic book are known to have survived, the auction house said.
Collectibility. At the 2014 New York Comic Con, Vincent Zurzolo of Metropolis Collectibles displays the CGC 9.0 copy of Action Comics #1 for which his firm paid $3.2 million (USD). Comics Buyer's Guide estimated in 2012 that only 50 to 100 original copies of Action Comics #1 exist.
Among collectors, Action Comics #1 is considered the most important comic book ever issued, Zurzolo said, adding, “The superhero genre essentially was born with this issue, as was the Golden Age of comics.” Action Comics #1 marked the first appearance of Superman.
How much is the first print of Superman comic worth?
One of the few copies of the comic book that introduced Superman to the world has sold for a super-sized, record-setting price. The issue of Action Comics No. 1 went for $3.25 million in a private sale, ComicConnect.com, an online auction and consignment company, announced Tuesday.
film helped bolster the character's popularity, but he still lags behind the other members of the Justice League. Shazam is far from his glory days as the hero who outsold Superman, and he can thank DC's lawyers for that.
He was popular, and in fact was the most popular superhero of the 1940s, outselling Superman, and was the first superhero to be adapted to film, in the 1941 Republic Pictures serial Adventures of Captain Marvel.
Firstly, Marvel movies have more characters that have more connections both with each other and in their storylines, while DC has a lack of continuity within their cinematic universe. Flop movies are movies that are highly unsuccessful and poorly favored, and DC has had many flop movies.
On August 31, 2009, The Walt Disney Company announced a deal to acquire Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion, with Marvel shareholders to receive $30 and approximately 0.745 Disney shares for each share of Marvel they own. The voting occurred on December 31, 2009, and the merger was approved.
Whether it's any other manga, comic or book, none have outsold the bible, which according to Guinness World Records holds a record of 5 billion copies distributed in the world.
I would say it's a larger favor to Superman though because of his exotic skillsets. Arctic Breathe and Laser Vision and actual Flight should be a large enough nuisance to hold luffy off, once time expires he loses.
In a recent poll by Fandom, One Piece is officially more popular than massive franchises like Harry Potter, Disney, Star Trek, Barbie, and Pokemon. In fact, the only franchises that are more popular than the tales of the Straw Hat Pirates are Star Wars and Marvel, which are first and second, respectively.
