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SYSTEM OF A DOWN Drummer Pays $317K For Rare SUPERMAN Comic

March 14, 2009

According to The Associated Press, SYSTEM OF A DOWN drummer John Dolmayan paid $317,200 for the first comic book featuring Superman in an Internet auction. The previous owner had bought it for less than a buck.

Dolmayan, who is also a dealer of rare comic books, told The Associated Press he acquired the Superman comic on behalf of a client he declined to identify.

"This is one of the premier books you could collect," he said. "It's considered the Holy Grail of comic books. I talked to my client, and we made the move."

Dolmayan said the client has "a small collection, but everything he has is incredible."

John Dolmayan's Torpedo Comics, an exclusively Internet-based retail store, went live in November 2007 and at one time reportedly boasted some 15-million items — comic books, toys, graphic novels, trade paperbacks, superhero action figures and other comic book-related memorabilia, ranging in price from 99 cents to six figures.

"I've been collecting comics for well over twenty years and at a certain point I couldn't afford to buy more comics anymore, so I started selling comics, you know, to make money to buy new ones," Dolmayan told the Artisan News Service. "I noticed that I had a knack for it and I enjoyed it. There is something cool about setting up at a convention, having no guarantees and you make sales because you're personable and you have the right prices and the right product. It kind of manifested into a little bit larger than I thought it would, but at this point we have 15 million books, original art, huge Silver Surfer statue. You name it, we got it."

He added, "It's a labor of love for me, so the more time I spend on it the better I feel. It is really a lot of fun because you're dealing with comic books, toys, animation and it's all fun. I come in and I have a lot of great employees who work with me and it's a team effort. It isn't something that I dread, you know. I wake up happy to go to work. I guess I'm lucky because I have the same experience in music that I do with Torpedo Comics."

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