Nicolas Cage will auction rare comic books

Nicolas Cage never got to play Superman; a proposed ”Superman” movie he would have starred in under Tim Burton’s direction fell apart a few years back. Still, Cage owns a piece of Superman history, one that he’ll sell you, if you match his price. In fact, Cage plans to auction off his entire comic book collection, including one prized Man of Steel issue, at this fall’s Dallas ComiCon, a three-day convention for comics and sci-fi fans, the Associated Press reports.

Heritage Comics Auctions, which will sell Cage’s collection as well as other memorabilia at the Oct. 11-13 event, says that Cage’s holdings amount to only about 400 issues, but they’re well-preserved and well-chosen. In addition to books containing the first appearances of Batman, Captain America, and Green Lantern, Cage owns a copy of Action Comics No. 1, which contains the first appearance of Superman and is one of the most coveted collectibles in comicdom. ”It’s not so much that it’s a huge collection, it’s that Nic collects toward quality,” Heritage’s John Petty told AP. ”He bought them in really nice condition.” Petty says the collection could fetch ”a value well into seven figures.”

Cage has been up for a number of comic-book hero roles in his career, including Superman, demon-fighter John Constantine, and undead biker Ghost Rider. With ”Constantine” and ”Ghost Rider” stalled in development, he’s gone on to sign up for ”Matchstick Men,” a drama currently in production (Cage plays a con man who discovers he has a daughter) and ”Land of Destiny,” a Western shooting this fall that will reteam Cage with ”Windtalkers” and ”Face/Off” director John Woo.