System Of A Down drummer John Dolmayan hasn’t only pursued a life-long passion of music with the aforementioned Armenian-American nü-metal stars, he’s also spent decades in the comic books industry. His Torpedo Comics shop in Las Vegas, NV has been featured on ‘Pawn Stars‘ and he’s worked conventions promoting the business, while also creating and launching comic books of his own.
Over the weekend, Dolmayan showcased what may be his most valuable comic, a copy of the 1938 Action Comics #1. That book marked the first appearance of the iconic DC superhero Superman. An 8.5 graded copy of that book sold for $6 million at auction back in April of 2024.
While the copy that Dolmayan recently showed off on social media and appears to own also featured an 8.5 grade from CGC, his copy is not the one from that sale. Rather, his features an 8.5 restored grade, meaning it has been altered to return it to its previously known state. As such, it wouldn’t likely command as high of a price tag as that copy that went up for auction.
However, as a holy grail for collectors, and only an estimated 100 copies of the book still in existence today, it likely didn’t come cheap. Speaking on his Instagram yesterday, February 07th, about the book, Dolmayan stated: “I dreamed of owning this book for years. I know it’s just a materialistic possession but damn it makes me happy when I look at it.”
