Set Description
One winter day in early 1994 I was at the grocery store with my family, I was 11 years old and had yet to get into comic book reading and collecting. While in the magazine section I noticed on the bottom shelf a graphic novel: The Death of Superman (1993). I had heard about this event, I remembered a Saturday Night Live sketch about Superman's funeral, Chris Farley was the Hulk, Aquaman brought shrimp and comedian Sinbad was Black Lightning. The graphic novel was a collection, reprinting the seven issues from late 1992, the death and return of Superman was yesterday's news in 1994, but thumbing through the graphic novel had me interested and eager to catch up.
The first season of Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman staring Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher was still airing on Sunday nights. The Reign of the Supermen storyline - the third act of the Death and Return of Superman saga - had concluded several months earlier in the comics. When I went to a comic shop for the first time in the spring 1994, there were still posters on the wall proclaiming “Superman Lives!” - this was a good time to become a reader of Superman comics!
Looking back, Funeral for a Friend was the better part of the saga, with an emphasis on how those closest to Superman and the citizens of Metropolis (and the rest of the world) were affected by living in a world without Superman. 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 I spent finding all the individual issues as a kid, and the CGC examples I’ve found as an adult, I 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 issues 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 also stood out to me as a kid and made me a Superman fan for life. The Funeral for a Friend covers also got to me. With all of this said, I tend to pass on the Reign of the Supermen issues, with the exception of the Action Comics issues for my main collecting focus. I think of all of these comics as the girl next door. After over 20 years of seeing all of these issues in grungy poly bags at every comic store, used book store and con I've ever been too in my life, seeing CGC certified high grade examples of these issues is the equivalent of seeing that girl next door you never noticed before step out in heels, a little black dress and make up, it gets me every time!
When I purchased my first graded example for this set, my intention was to only go for the basics, the first prints. 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. I found many of the issues from various collectors’ packs at Toys "R" Us, along with many 2nd, 3rd and other various printings for these issues. When I learned about the difference in printings as a kid, with the print variant notated with a roman numeral (II for second print, III for third, etc.) next to the issue number and price, and the title logo changing colors for each issues printing, I came to the mindset that these second and third prints were not worth the paper they were printed on. I now realize that these issues are more challenging to find in high grade than the first printings and really enjoying finding the various odds and ends of this comic book saga.
I have my memories, my worn graphic novels, most of the individual issues and the handsome Death and Return of Superman Omnibus (2013). This was my introduction to the world of Superman and comic books; this is where it all began for me, otherwise, I might not have gotten into comic books at all.
Set Highlights:
Superman: The Man of Steel #18 Fourth Printing
Superman: The Man of Steel #18 Fifth Printing
Superman #75 Poly-Bagged Platinum Edition
Superman: The Man of Steel #17 Second Printing
Still searching for these 9.8 grails:
Action Comics #683 2nd Printing
Adventures of Superman #496 2nd Printing - Found: November, 2016
Adventures of Superman #498 4th Printing
Superman #73 2nd Printing
Superman #76 & 77 2nd Printing
Justice League American #70 4th Printing
Superman: The Man of Steel #19 3rd Printing
Superman: The Man of Steel #20 2nd Printing
~Some of these have not reached 9.8 yet.
For several years my set highlights listed above were grails for me. I have concluded that my ultimate grail for this set would be Action Comics #686, Second Printing in 9.8. Raw copies are difficult to find in halfway decent shape or nicer.
| Action Comics 683 |
0942387012
|
9.8
| 40 |
| 1/7/2016 |
| Action Comics 684 |
0942387013
|
9.8
| 40 |
| 1/7/2016 |
| Action Comics 684 Third Printing |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Action Comics 685 |
0792418015
|
9.8
| 40 |
| 1/7/2016 |
| Action Comics 685 Second Printing |
0290717001
|
9.8
| 25 |
| 10/14/2016 |
| Action Comics 685 Third Printing |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Action Comics 686 |
0153226015
|
9.8
| 40 |
| 1/7/2016 |
| Action Comics 687 |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Action Comics 687 Collector's Edition |
0150582012
|
9.8
| 40 |
| 1/7/2016 |
| Action Comics 688 |
1056680022
|
9.8
| 40 |
| 1/7/2016 |
| Action Comics 689 |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Action Comics 690 |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Action Comics 691 |
0230981029
|
9.8
| 40 |
| 1/7/2016 |
| Action Comics 692 |
0153228012
|
9.8
| 40 |
| 1/7/2016 |
| Adventures of Superman 496 |
1024355016
|
9.8
| 40 |
| 1/7/2016 |
| Adventures of Superman 496 Second Printing |
0297768001
|
9.8
| 40 |
| 12/9/2016 |
| Adventures of Superman 497 |
0227226001
|
9.8
| 25 |
| 1/7/2016 |
| Adventures of Superman 497 Second Printing |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Adventures of Superman 497 Third Printing |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Adventures of Superman 498 |
0315840001
|
9.8
| 40 |
| 6/1/2017 |
| Adventures of Superman 498 Second Printing |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Adventures of Superman 498 Third Printing |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Adventures of Superman 499 |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Adventures of Superman 500 |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Adventures of Superman 500 Poly-Bagged Platinum Edition |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Adventures of Superman 500 Collector's Edition |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Adventures of Superman 501 |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Adventures of Superman 501 Collector's Edition |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Adventures of Superman 502 |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Adventures of Superman 503 |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Adventures of Superman 504 |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Adventures of Superman 505 |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Adventures of Superman 505 Collector's Edition |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Green Lantern v3 #46 |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Green Lantern v3 #46 Second Printing |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Justice League America 69 |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Justice League America 69 Second Printing |
0218419014
|
9.8
| 40 |
| 1/7/2016 |
| Justice League America 69 Third Printing |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Justice League America 70 |
0932645027
|
9.8
| 35 |
| 1/7/2016 |
| Justice League America 70 Second Printing |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Justice League America 70 Third Printing |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Justice League America 71 |
1077720005
|
9.8
| 25 |
| 1/7/2016 |
| Superman 73 |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Superman 73 Second Printing |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Superman 74 |
0227267016
|
9.8
| 50 |
| 1/7/2016 |
| Superman 74 Second Printing |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Superman 74 Third Printing |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Superman 74 Fourth Printing |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Superman 75 |
1027499055
|
9.8
| 65 |
| 1/7/2016 |
| Superman 75 Second Printing |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Superman 75 Third Printing |
0185823007
|
9.8
| 80 |
| 1/7/2016 |
| Superman 75 Fourth Printing |
0290717002
|
9.8
| 40 |
| 10/14/2016 |
| Superman 75 Poly-Bagged Edition |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Superman 75 Poly-Bagged Platinum Edition |
0998751002
|
9.8
| 480 |
| 2/18/2016 |
| Superman 76 |
0294920006
|
9.8
| 25 |
| 11/7/2016 |
| Superman 77 |
0178186002
|
9.8
| 25 |
| 3/26/2016 |
| Superman 77 Second Printing |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Superman 77 Third Printing |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Superman 78 |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Superman 78 Collector's Edition |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Superman 79 |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Superman 80 |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Superman 81 |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Superman 82 |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Superman 82 Collector's Edition |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Superman 82 Second Printing |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Superman 83 |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Superman: The Legacy of Superman 1 |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Superman: The Legacy of Superman 1 Second Printing |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Superman: The Man of Steel 17 |
1038834027
|
9.8
| 60 |
| 1/7/2016 |
| Superman: The Man of Steel 17 Second Printing |
0958297018
|
9.8
| 32 |
| 4/27/2016 |
| Superman: The Man of Steel 18 |
1051998023
|
9.8
| 72 |
| 1/7/2016 |
| Superman: The Man of Steel 18 Second Printing |
1395760003
|
9.8
| 32 |
| 11/10/2016 |
| Superman: The Man of Steel 18 Third Printing |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Superman: The Man of Steel 18 Fourth Printing |
0275195011
|
9.8
| 32 |
| 2/4/2016 |
| Superman: The Man of Steel 18 Fifth Printing |
1201841006
|
9.8
| 32 |
| 5/13/2016 |
| Superman: The Man of Steel 19 |
0103480033
|
9.8
| 50 |
| 5/12/2016 |
| Superman: The Man of Steel 19 Second Printing |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Superman: The Man of Steel 19 Mattel Reprint (2005) |
No Comic
|
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| |
| Superman: The Man of Steel 19 Third Printing |
No Comic
|
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| |
| Superman: The Man of Steel 20 |
No Comic
|
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| |
| Superman: The Man of Steel 21 |
No Comic
|
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| |
| Superman: The Man of Steel 22 |
No Comic
|
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| |
| Superman: The Man of Steel 22 Collector's Edition |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Superman: The Man of Steel 23 |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Superman: The Man of Steel 24 |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Superman: The Man of Steel 25 |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| Superman: The Man of Steel 26 |
No Comic
|
| |
| |
| The Death of Superman nn Platinum Edition |
No Comic
|
| |
| |