In the nick of time, the Man of Steel saved a family's home ... for real. A couple facing foreclosure found the collateral they desperately needed with the discovery of an Action Comics #1 (aka, the Holy Grail of comic books) in their basement.

As any true fanboy knows, Action Comics #1 is the most significant comic of all time because it was Superman's debut. In fact, the issue birthed the entire genre of the superhero.

The fortuitous find occurred when the anonymous family began the painful process of packing up their home due to a bank's foreclosure proceedings. The house had been in the family's possession since the 1950s, which is probably when the wife's father stashed the issue in a box with some other, mere mortal titles. When they first realized what they had found, they contacted Stephen Fishler, co-owner of New York's ComicConnect and Metropolis Collectibles.

"They said they came across a box that had magazines in it and some old comic books," Fishler told Asylum. "And that they came across what appears to be an Action #1." Fishler points out that "99.9 percent" of similar calls he receives turn out to be about reprints, so at first he was dubious. "They took a cell phone picture of the book and texted it to me, and I realized it was an Action #1," he says.

Fishler is no stranger to this title, having brokered the record-breaking sale of an Action #1 in February (for $1 million), only to break that record a month later by selling another copy for $1.5 million. This copy will go on display at this weekend's Comic-Con in San Diego, where it will also be officially graded. Fishler figures it will garner a VG+ (Very Good) rating and should fetch upwards of $250,000 when it goes up for auction on ComicConnect.

Asylum was able to get a reaction from the owner (who wants to remain anonymous), who said through Fishler that the family was "still a little shell-shocked about finding this book. I was so nervous when I realized what it was worth. I know
I am very fortunate but I will be greatly relieved when this book finds a new home."

Thankfully, it looks like they'll get to keep theirs.