Yes, it’s a cliche, but in my case it is absolutely true. One day, after I moved out of the house to live on my own, my mother threw away all my old comic books. I was mildly upset at the time—how hard would it have been for her to store a three-foot pile of paper?—but now I am outraged. If I still had those old comics, I could be a multimillionaire!

Well, maybe not. I don’t think any of my old Archies are up there with Action Comics #1, which recently pulled down $2,161,000, or the first Batman, bringing in $1,075,500.

Wired.com reports on the latest evaluation of the hottest comics in the article, The World’s Most Expensive Comic Book Art (And Why Prices Keep Climbing). In addition to Superman’s and Batman’s first appearances, the introduction of folks like Spiderman and Captain America also bring in big dollars, as do certain pieces of original art. Why? Funny enough, one reason is that a lot of mothers did indeed toss out their kids “worthless” old comics, making the ones that survived that much more valuable. And, of course, the interest in comic book heroes has grown recently thanks to their appearances in movie theaters. On top of that, as comics migrate from paper to electronic media, old-fashioned printed comic books are becoming rarer by default.

The moral of this story? There’s a three-foot pile of comics in my daughter’s closet, despite the fact that she moved out of the house years ago. Am I being noble and holding them for her future interest? No way. I’m piling them into the back of the car this weekend and heading down to the comic shop and seeing if I can make a few bucks.

Don’t tell my daughter.