newsmakers

newsmakers

Rare Superman comic found inside house

MINNEAPOLIS

It’s considered the Holy Grail of comic books: Action Comics No. 1 from 1938, featuring the debut of Superman. And David Gonzales found one mixed in with old newspapers insulating a house he was renovating in a small town in Minnesota.

Gonzales did some research that confirmed the comic with a cover showing the Man of Steel holding a car over his head was valuable, though it’s not worth as much as it could have been.

The book sat undisturbed in the ceiling of the house in Hoffman for more than 70 years. But a few days after he found it, Gonzales said, he got into a heated discussion with his wife’s aunt about its value, and she wanted a cut of the money. He said he also grew irritated because every time she would turn a page, crumbs of paper would fall out.

Finally he said, he grabbed it and tossed it aside, accidentally tearing the back cover.

Partly because of the damage and partly because the book shows the effects of its long service as insulation, New York-based online auctioneer ComicConnect.com said it’s graded 1.5 on a 10-point scale. By comparison, an Action Comics No. 1 that was graded a 9 recently fetched $2.16 million.

Bidding on Gonzales’ find was up to $137,000 as of Friday. Bidding will close June 11.

Snooki: Gov. Christie ‘just doesn’t like us’

SEASIDE HEIGHTS, N.J.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was never a fan of MTV’s “Jersey Shore,” saying it unfairly cast the state in a negative light.

So when Nicole Polizzi, otherwise known as Snooki, got to meet the governor Friday and shake his hand, their exchange was a bit awkward.

Christie and “Jersey Shore” cast members appeared separately on NBC’s “Today” show during filming in Seaside Heights, N.J., to talk about the state’s recovery from superstorm Sandy. Seaside is where “Jersey Shore” was filmed.

In a later exchange captured on video by the Asbury Park Press, an unsmiling Snooki told Christie that she hoped he would “start to like us.”

Christie responded, “Well, we’ll do our best.”

After they parted ways, Snooki looked at the camera and said, “He just doesn’t like us.”

Vindicator wire services