A rare comic book an 84-year-old California man bought for a dime when he was a teen has been sold in Texas for US$492,937 ($633,078).

The copy of Detective Comics No 27 featured the debut of The Batman.

Robert Irwin says he bought the May 1939 issue from a Sacramento, Califonia, newsstand when he was 13, and it's the only comic book he kept from his youth.

The winning bid came from a collector who wished to remain anonymous. He placed the bid by phone Thursday in an auction by Heritage Auctions in Dallas.

Irwin, who attended the auction, says he is elated and wishes he had another book.

Heritage sold a rare copy of that same comic in better condition for US$1,075,500 in February.