Set Description:
One winter day in early 1994 my family and I were at the grocery store, where in the magazine section, a graphic novel caught my eye, The Death of Superman (1993). I was 11 years old and had yet to get into comic book reading and collecting. A year or more prior I had heard of the death of Superman event, I even saw a Saturday Night Live sketch about Superman's funeral, Chris Farley was the Hulk, Aquaman brought shrimp and comedian Sinbad was Black Lightning (no one knew who he was). The graphic novel reprinted DOOMSDAY!, the seven issue storyline from late 1992; Act 1 of the Death and Return of Superman Saga. This was all yesterday's news in 1994, but thumbing through the graphic novel had me interested and eager to catch up.
Also at this time, the first season of LOIS AND CLARK:THE NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN staring Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher was airing on Sunday nights. REIGN OF THE SUPERMEN! - Act 3 - had also concluded several months earlier in the comics. When I went to a comic shop for the first time in the spring of 1994, there were still posters on the wall proclaiming “Superman Lives!” This was my time (and calling) to become a reader of Superman comics.
Act 2, FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND, examines how those closest to Superman, the citizens of Metropolis and the rest of the world were affected by his loss. These particular comic books take me back to a special time in life, my transition from late childhood to early adolescence. When I think about the time spent finding all the individual issues as a kid and the CGC examples I’ve found as an adult, I still find myself wondering from time to time if I will ever be able to put this storyline and collection to rest.
I love the cover art for the four Superman titles cover dated November 1992, with the Doomsday teasers on the last page: Superman: The Man of Steel #17, Superman #73, Adventures of Superman #496 and Action Comics #683. These four issues eluded me as a kid, I’ve since found all of them as an adult and I still look for them to this day. The solid background covers for many of the “Doomsday!” issues were appealing to me as a kid and made me a Superman fan for life. The “Funeral for a Friend” covers also got to me. After almost 30 years of seeing all of these issues in grungy poly bags at every comic store, used book store and con I've ever been to in my life, seeing CGC certified 9.8 examples of these issues is like seeing the girl next door, who usually dresses down, who one day who steps out in heels, a little black dress and hair and makeup to die for - makes my heart sing!
When I purchased my first graded example for this set sometime in the late 2000s, my intention was to keep it basic and only go after the first printings, but there has always been that side of me who is a completest, who cannot help but want the Collector’s Editions and multiple printing variants for these issues. As a kid I found many of the issues from various collector’s packs at Toys “R” Us, many were 2nd, 3rd and 4th printings. When I learned about the difference in printings as a kid, with the print variant notated with a Roman numeral next to the issue number, and the title color scheme and taglines that changed colors on each printing, I came to the mindset that these later printings were not worth the paper they were printed on. I, along with several other collectors now realize that these later printings are much more of a challenge to find in high grade than the first printings.
I’ve been fortunate enough to find some of these ‘girls next door’ in the wild, which I've submitted for grading to have return to me in 9.8 holders. These books already carry a lot of nostalgia and the pieces I've submitted to CGC have a sense of accomplishment. I may not have pulled those pieces off the racks when first released, but I take joy in finding these books randomly, decades later, and eyeing the pieces that make the grade.
I have my childhood memories, my worn graphic novels, most of the individual issues and the handsome Death and Return of Superman Omnibus (2013). This storyline was my introduction to the world of Superman and comic book reading and collecting. Who knows, if this event never happened I might not have gotten into comic books at all.
~Annual Registry Awards: Best Set Presentation - 07/14/2017
"Don’t worry, Brandon Shepherd, we won’t turn you away like the Black Lighting was in the SNL skit. We think that your Superman (Doomsday Death Funeral Return) Set is turning into something special! Keep up the good work and thanks for the walk down memory lane."
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