With a cover boasting the story of “the strangest man of all time,” a rare first edition copy of Incredible Hulk #1 has been sold for nearly half a million dollars to a private, anonymous collector. The comic, first published in 1962 by Marvel’s Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, was snapped up after being given a grade of “Very Fine/Near Mint” condition. “Highly-graded copies of Hulk #1 are notoriously hard to find,” said Vincent Zurzolo, an executive for Comic Connect, the auction site that handled the sale. The issue depicts the Hulk’s backstory, in which Dr. Bruce Banner is exposed to toxic gamma rays before transforming into the iconic, raging hero—albeit with gray skin, rather than his signature green. Marvel switched his color in the series’ second issue over the primitive printing technology at the time, which made the Hulk appear as various shades of gray on different pages. Zurzolo predicted that the comic would appreciate in value over time: “Vintage comic book values just keep going up.” Though the sale marks the most expensive Hulk #1 ever bought, it doesn’t hold a candle to an auction last year for Spider-Man comic Amazing Fantasy #15, which ended in a $3.6 million sale.