JOHN DOLMAYAN OF SYSTEM OF A DOWN BUYS RARE SUPERMAN COMIC

System of a Down drummer John Dolmayan just purchased a rare copy of the first comic book featuring Superman for $317,200 on an Internet auction

System of a Down drummer John Dolmayan has been keeping himself busy during System of a Down’s hiatus, whether it be with his latest band Scars on Broadway or his latest business endeavor, Torpedo Comics. With a catalog of over 15 million rare comics and vintage artwork, Torpedo Comics has even out grown Dolmayan’s original idea. Just recently Dolmayan won an internet auction for the 1938 edition of Action Comics No. 1 which he purchased for $317,200. It’s one of the highest prices a comic book has ever sold for and features Superman lifting a car on its cover.

Artisan News caught up with John Dolmayan at Torpedo Comic’s warehouse in Las Vegas to get his thoughts on the incredible feeling he has when he gets his hands on a rare comic.

“There’s a few stand out pieces that I’ve pursued and was lucky enough to find. You know, it’s basically stuff that I grew up with, stuff that I was interested in when I was collecting comics and to own the original cover or storyline or something like that is pretty incredible.”

Dolmayan also talked about having a knack for comic book collecting.

“I’ve been collecting comics for well over twenty years and at a certain point I couldn’t afford to buy my comics anymore so I started selling comics to make money to buy new ones and I noticed that I had a knack for it and I enjoyed it.”

Only about 100 copies of Action Comics No. 1 are known to exist, and they are rarely up for sale. The man who previously owned the book purchased it in a secondhand store in the early 1950s when he was nine years old for 35 cents. Even though Dolmayan purchased the comic for a private collector, Torpedo Comics already has a stunning collection of memorabilia which includes such rare items like Sensation Comics issue #1 (the first solo series featuring Wonder Woman), just about every key issue of Marvel and DC comics including Marvel Comics’ issue #1, multiple copies of Giant Size X-Men #1, plus superhero action figures from Marvel, X-Men, Superman, and Batman titles. Although no official break up announcement was ever released, it seems Scars on Broadway have decided to call it quits as in a recent interview bassist Dominic Cifarelli revealed the band “Is pretty much over. I have not heard a peep.”