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| First Printing - Signed by Bob McLeod |
Superman: The Man of Steel 17 Signature
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9.8
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It's pretty cool how Superman is almost being overtaken with these creatures! It's also pretty cool that this Custom Set allows me to display these books in <i>reading order</i>, the way I always wanted to! Oh no!! <i><b>DOOMSDAY IS COMING!</B></I>
This is the very first of the four Doomsday cameos to hit shelves with the words <i>Doomsday is Coming</i> on the front. In my opinion, this book alone proves that newsstand editions are NOT superior collectibles. Seriously, would you rather have <i>Doomsday is Coming</i> on the front of a book like this, or a bar code?! For me, the answer is pretty clear!
I had a Universal 9.8 of this book in my collection from the earliest days of my collecting CGC graded books. At the time, I was focused primarily on the Doomsday portion of this set. I had bought that one on eBay and it was in this set when I started it, through reaching 100 percent completion. When my set was 100 percent complete and I only needed a few more 9.8’s I decided to replace some books with Signature Series if the right book presented itself. The copy you see here is one of those books that joined my set at that time.
You don't see many signed by <i>Bob McLeod</i> so I am very happy to have it! I reholdered this book in December 2020.
In April 2021 I added the book in the second picture slot to my collection. It had originally been listed on eBay for $350.00, then dropped to $250.00, before I got it for $160.00 after a couple of offers. According to the seller, <i>Bob McLeod</i> commented that this was the first time he had sketched Doomsday. Well, I think he did an awesome job... when I first spotted this book I knew it belonged in this gallery next to this other book he had signed. I am really happy to have a Signature Series of his in this set, as well as to be able to show this cool Doomsday sketched book next to it (and perhaps the first/only one of his at that)!
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| First Printing |
Superman: The Man of Steel 17 Modern
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9.8
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This was one of my first books and it stayed in my set all the way until it got to 100 percent complete. My Signature Series 9.8 is signed by Bob McLeod. I also have a very nice ss <i>Superman Blank</i> comic with a Doomsday head sketch by Bob McLeod that is shown with that book.
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| Second Printing |
Superman: The Man of Steel 17 Modern
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9.8
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The Underworld Rises Again... and <i>Doomsday is Coming!</i> What else could go wrong?
Sequentially, this is the first Doomsday cameo book with <i>Doomsday is Coming</i> on the cover so I included the action figure in the second picture slot to show just <i>WHO</i> is coming! This guy looks like a formidable foe indeed!
This is a pretty cool book and I really enjoy having the second printing. I bought this book on eBay for $107.99.
(I now have all four second printings of the Doomsday cameos in 9.8 but have decided to leave my descriptions unaltered to explain the progression of finding them.)
I'm working on getting the second printings of all four Doomsday cameos. As of this writing I have 2 out of 4 and the other two are at CGC now in different submissions. I would love to have all four second printings of the cameos graded 9.8 just to have that small part of this set completely tied up!
Update #1 - I got Superman 73 second printing back 9.8! I'm now at 3 out of 4 of the second printing cameos in 9.8. I'm hoping for the best with the two Action Comics 683 second printings I am still waiting on. It will literally be a dream if either one comes back 9.8. I would love to add a picture of all four of them in 9.8 together somewhere in this set!
Update #2 - The Action Comics 683 second printings came back, the highest graded was 9.6. The 9.6 currently shares the highest grade spot in the census but it is also a disappointment because I was really hoping for a 9.8. I considered resubmitting the 9.6 but am worried that it could come back 9.4 so I decided to put it in the set. Immediately after I did this, I found three separate eBay listings from the same seller that each had 8-10 books in them. Each lot had an Action Comics 683 second printing buried in it. I bought all three lots for $30.00 each and the AC 683's second's were the gems of the bunch. I am going to submit all three with my next submission. Stay tuned.
Update #3 - I can't believe it! All three of the AC 683 second printings received 9.8! Full details are in that slot. <i>Finally... I have completed what I consider a set within this set within this set, the four Doomsday cameo second printings all graded 9.8!</i> <b>I am the first to accomplist this feat!</b>
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| First Printing |
Superman 73 Modern
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9.8
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<i>“When you are courting... an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That's relativity.” Albert Einstein</i>
This is one of the earliest books I had already graded 9.8 when I started this set. I wish I could remember exactly when I got it but perhaps that information is at the Vanishing Point inside my memory. I reholdered this book in December 2020.
I really like the way the image vanishes into the background on this cover. I think Waverider is a very cool character and I like the way he ended up tying into this entire storyline during Superman Doomsday Hunter Prey. It must be tough to monitor the time stream only to keep it intact while not interfering with it. We know that even he couldn't sit it out when it came time to help Superman stop the monster Doomsday for good though. In my opinion they should have left Doomsday at the end of time, rather than have Brainiac pull him out. It was just so cool to think of <i>Doomsday</i> at the end of time. That just made sense whereas everything they did after that just diluted his significance... on that note, I have no idea who or why they later also added those stupid looking goat horns to Doomsday... that is probably the dumbest thing I have ever seen! Why mess with <i>Ultimate</i> perfection! <i>But I digress!</i>
Speaking of <i>digressing...</i> if you look through this entire set and still question my commitment to these books then check out the second picture slot. I thought it would be cool to also have reader copies displayed and easily accessible so I got a spinner rack and did just that. There is a raw copy of every issue on the rack (but not every printing) plus a couple others, like the <i>Wizard: Superman Tribute Edition</i> (which I also have 9.8's of both the Regular and Authentic Edition). These are unbagged and mostly extras I picked up that weren’t submission candidates (don’t worry, the window behind the rack has the light completely blocked with a solid panel behind the blinds!). It’s fun to grab one once in awhile to read, or flip through. I made the sign toppers myself.
I bought the spinner from <i>Spinner Rack</i> at:
https://spinnerrack.com/
I am very happy with the rack as well as their customer service. They also sell one that holds CGC graded books!
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| Second Printing - My Submission |
Superman 73 Modern
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9.8
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<i><b>This book is from my own submission and was one of only two 9.8's in the census when graded.</b></i>
(I now have all four second printings of the Doomsday cameos in 9.8 but have decided to leave my descriptions unaltered to explain the progression of finding them.)
I love this book and searched really hard for a nice raw copy to submit. I submitted it with my first big submission of 20 books and was really happy when I got the grades and learned that this one earned a 9.8! I got this book for $6.79 raw on eBay but it was one of a few I had bought separately until I felt that this one was in good enough shape to <i>maybe</i> come back 9.8 after CCS pressing.
I have one more of the Doomsday cameo second printings to get in this set (AC 683) and I had two of them submitted when I got this one back... keep an eye on the AC 683 second printing slot for updates... hopefully there will be a 9.8 with white pages there if you look.
Update #1 - Of the two AC 683 second printings I submitted, one came back 9.6 and has been added to the set. I've since got my hands on three more raw copies which I'll send in with my next submission.
Update #2 - All three of the AC 683's second printings came back 9.8! Details are in that slot... <i>wow!</i>
Note - a third Superman 73 second printing 9.8 joined the census in April 2020 and was listed on My Comic Shop in May 2020 for $499.99. It was gone in less than 24 hours! That makes me very happy that I had success with my $6.79 raw copy shown here!
The item in the second image slot is a window cling from 1994 when <i>Superman Doomsday Hunter Prey</i> came out. I decided to put it with this book because Waverider played a pretty important part in that sequel. I have had this for years but had lost track of it through the course of several moves, things in storage, etc. I finally was able to locate it when going through boxes for about the fifth time... I was really happy to find it! It's not a super rare item or an expensive one but this one means a lot because it's been with me for a long time. It's made to cling inside the window so the image is reversed... I flipped this picture in photos so it would read correctly in the gallery.
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| First Printing |
Adventures of Superman 496 Modern
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9.8
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"Not Kltpzyxm! Mxyzptlk!! Now the first thing I'm gonna do... Oh, nuts!" Mr. Mxyztptlk
This cover is obviously one of the goofier of the four Doomsday cameo books. Mr. Mxyztptlk was never one of my favorite characters in the pages of the comics but I really enjoyed how he was done in <i>Superman: The Animated Series</i> in the '90's. I really love all of the episodes from that series!
This is one of the earliest books I had when I registered my books. I reholdered this book in December 2020.
I added an image of all four of the first printings of the Doomsday cameos in the second picture slot. I think it's interesting to see what was going on in each of the Superman titles when this storyline kicked off. I consider the four Doomsday cameos a set within this set and I enjoy showing them all together like this. I've since upgraded Superman: The Man of Steel 17 to a Signature Series 9.8 copy but wanted to leave this picture as they were when first brought together. I did this in all cases where I upgraded or reholdered a 9.8 and there was a group picture already included in my set. This helps me remember how much work it has been to not only first assemble, but then maybe even upgrade a book; not to mention the stress of sending a rare book away for reholder.
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| Second Printing - Signed by Jerry Ordway |
Adventures of Superman 496 Signature
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9.8
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This is a pretty cool second printing and wasn't that hard to find. I won the Universal copy of this book that helped me get my set to 100 percent completion on eBay for $100.00, and later upgraded this slot to this Signature Series book signed by Jerry Ordway. I reholdered this book in December 2020.
The thing I really like about the various printings in this set is how the title colors were changed, as well as the roman numerals being added. The different colors make each printing's cover feel totally unique from one another.
It always brightens my day to pull out some of the various printings and look at them side by side!
I have included a picture of all four Doomsday cameo second printings graded 9.8 in the second picture slot as they were when first assembled including my Universal copy. The same image of the first printings is included in the first printing slot of this same book. In the gallery tab, these are located on the same page so you can expand them both and look at all of the first and second printings of the Doomsday cameos all at once, which I think is pretty cool!
<i>This was the *first collection in the World that contained all four second printings of the Doomsday cameos all graded 9.8!</i> It took a lot of work but was also a lot of fun putting them together! I hope anyone looking through this set enjoys the way I have photographed certain books to show them together in meaningful ways. I think it adds to the presentation of this set, but it also allows me to look through the set and reminisce without having to handle my books all the time.
*My friend <i>Brandon Shepherd</i> became the second member of the 'All Four Doomsday Cameo Second Printings in 9.8 Club' in December 2020... congrats <i>Brandon!</i>
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| Second Printing |
Adventures of Superman 496 Modern
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9.8
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This book was $100.00 on eBay and stayed in my main set until it reached 100 percent completion. My Signature Series 9.8 is signed by Jerry Ordway.
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| First Printing |
Action Comics 683 Modern
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9.8
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Of all the Doomsday cameos I enjoy this cover the most. The realism is amazing and the moon is haunting in the background! I really enjoyed all four cameos of Doomsday punching his way out of containment. There have been a couple of these on eBay asking over $3K... I don't understand what is driving that asking price (or if anyone will ever pay it) but it makes me glad I got mine long ago. I reholdered this book in December 2020.
On 25 May 2020 an eBay auction of this book ended with a final price of $210.37 with 48 bids (9 bidders), another 9.8 ended on 1 June 2020 for BIN $249.99 so I guess these two sales answer the three thousand dollar question posed above.
The second image is of a piece of original art I picked up in a ComicLink auction. I originally chose to put it with this book because it was first in the gallery in the competitive Registry set and I wanted this original piece of art to also come first when viewing that set. At this point I have so many things with other books that this is as good a place as any for it! If I am correct, this piece pre-dates even these Doomsday cameos.
The top half of the image is the page, and the lower half is a blowup of the stamp that is on the back of the artwork. Aside from the image being super-cool, the stamp on the back says <i>Special Projects Dept</i> and has the date 3/22. I can only assume this may be 3/22/1992 but I am not 100 percent certain. The project name is <i>Style Guide/Doomsday Model Sheet</i> so I am (again) assuming by the date and the facts concerning the way it is referred to that this was done to ensure all artists drew Doomsday consistently throughout all of the titles, and must have been done before the story hit shelves. Janice Walker is currently Senior Art Director at DC and I am pretty sure the initials <i>MC</i> are for Mike Carlin. If you are reading this and know anything else about dating this piece I'd love to hear from you.
Here's the info from the ComicLink listing:
<b><u>DOOMSDAY STYLE GUIDE</u></b>
Section: For Sale / Original Comic Art / Miscellaneous / DAN JURGENS
Primary Artist Name: DAN JURGENS
Secondary Artist Name: BRETT BREEDING
Dimensions: This art is executed on standard 11" x 17" art board and has an image area of approximately 11" x 9"
Item description: Illustrated by the Famous Superman Killer's Creator
ComicLink Comments:
Doomsday was created by Superman artist/writer Dan Jurgens in 1992 and first appeared in Superman: Man of Steel #18. He's the creature that famously killed Superman in the best-selling "Death of Superman" saga that culminated in Superman #75. When DC decided to kill Superman, long time fans realized it would not stick, but the general public was completely sucked in by the story and sales jumped to over a million copies. It was the first time in years that many people bought a comic book and it touched off a whole new era of collecting. The aftermath of the "Death of Superman" was huge, with sales on subsequent issues going through the roof. Doomsday became an important part of the Superman mythos following this huge event, and the character has returned several times over the years. He even kills Superman in the high profile 2016 movie, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
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| Second Printing - My Submission - First 9.8 Copy |
Action Comics 683 Modern
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9.8
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<i><b>This is one-third of the first copies of this book to ever achieve 9.8, all three were graded on 7 April 2020 and were from my own submission!</b></i>
Of the three, I added this one to this set because its certification number is lowest... if these books were identical triplets this one entered the world first!
This book was the last of the four Doomsday cameo second printings that I needed graded 9.8 and was a grail of mine for quite some time. I always looked at the four cameo books as their own small set within this set and their second printings are an even cooler set within the set within the set. I already owned Adventures of Superman 496 and Superman: Man of Steel 17 second printings in 9.8 and had no problem finding them already graded. The other two were a different story though; there was only one Superman 73 and zero Action Comics 683 second printings in 9.8 so I knew I'd be doing some hunting if I wanted them. Relatively early in my efforts, I was really happy to get a Superman 73 second printing back 9.8 from one of my own submissions (I only paid $6.79 for that one raw!).
I had previously submitted two copies of this book (I paid $99.95 and $20.00 for those) but the best I got back was a 9.6, which previously occupied this slot. I had considered resubmitting it but was afraid it may not upgrade, or worse, come back lower. I instead decided to hang onto it while looking for other raw candidates. The 9.6 was still the highest graded at the time so it wasn't the worst book in the world!
Almost immediately after getting the 9.6 back I found the three that are now 9.8’s in three separate listings from the same seller on eBay. The seller sold comics but I would not consider them a comic book <i>dealer</i> because they dealt in many other things as well. It was just very fortunate that I found these listings because these copies were each in lots of 8-10 books and were not listed as anything special among them. I only found them because I was so disappointed in my book coming back 9.6 that I was feverishly (yes, <i>feverishly</i>) going through listings looking for other copies. In fact, in the listing pics all I could see was the very clean spine of the book sticking out from under another book... when I spotted the roman numeral I quickly bought the first lot for $30.00 and then checked the seller’s other listings. They had two other lots that also each contained a copy of this second printing, so I bought them as well. I communicated with the seller and they checked their stock for a few other books I needed but I had no luck there. I also explained what I had planned for the books and they assured me they would be packed well, and they were. When they arrived the AC 683 second printings were the gems of the bunch! It looked like whoever owned them put them straight in bags and boards when new.
I was confident two of the three were 9.8’s but the third would be close. I sent all three through CCS and am obviously ecstatic that all three came back 9.8. It's kind of crazy if you think about it... in one day the census went from zero to three 9.8's of a book over 27 years old when graded. I'm glad <i>I</i> found them and not someone just interested in making a buck.
This book proves that persistence can pay off and that there are still some really good books out there waiting to be found after almost 30 years… you just have to want to find them bad enough.
I included a picture of all three of the 9.8’s in the second picture. <i>Check out the sequential certification numbers… pretty cool!</i>
When I got the three raw books looking as good as they did, I promised a friend of mine, <i>Brandon Shepherd</i>, a 9.8 if I got more than one because I knew that he also really enjoyed this book... it was his set that first inspired me to work so hard on my pictures and description for my set so I felt it was the least I could do. I've since sent that book off but will be keeping the other two.
I have included a picture of all four of the second printings of the Doomsday cameos in the Adventures of Superman 496 second printing picture slot… check it out!
Note - in early 2023 there were a total of five 9.8 copies of this book in the census. The first sale I know of occurred on 3 May 2023 via eBay. The book was listed auction style with an opening bid of $800.00. It did not sell during the first seven day auction but was re-listed identically and sold for $800.00 with one bid just a few hours before auction end.
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| Man of Steel 18 Promotional - My Submission |
Direct Currents 57 Modern
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9.8
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This is only the second 9.8 to enter the census and the fourth graded total. I bought a small lot of three of these and submitted this copy myself! I really wanted to have the Direct Currents for both Man of Steel 18 and Superman 75 in 9.8 and I was able to make it happen… I was so happy when I got the grade for this book as well as the Eleventh Printing of the TPB… both earned 9.8 and the TPB was the first copy ever graded! It was a very nice little two book submission! I really love the art on this book!
I originally had this book as well as the DC Direct Currents 58 displayed at the end of the storyline, but they seemed to get a little lost there. I then decided it would be cooler to put each right before the issue they previewed... I like them better here!
I seriously cannot understand why there aren't more copies of this book, and especially the Superman 75 edition graded! Crazy!
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| One of ONLY five 9.9's with over 4500 graded |
Superman: The Man of Steel 18 Modern
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9.9
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<i>From the 'NO ONE CAN KILL SUPERMAN!' collection.</i>
<b>This is the first 9.9 that joined this set!</b>
When I added this book there were a total of 3156 graded; 1586 were 9.8’s, but there were <b>only five 9.9’s.</b>
I knew that books like this one existed but I never imagined that I would ever have one in this set. I had already been talking to the owner about the 9.8’s from his collection that were missing from mine, and we were working on a price for those. He then mentioned this book and the Adventures of Superman 500 Platinum Error that he also had. Once we had a price for the 9.8’s I made an additional offer to add this one and the 500 Error, that he accepted. I really feel that we both dealt with each other very fairly, and I hope that he was as happy to sell these books to me, as I was to buy them from him. I know I could have just added these books to this set and forgot about where they came from, but I really feel like that would have been ungracious. I don’t mind letting whoever reads through this set know that I can’t take all of the credit for putting these books together.
I’m so glad to have a 9.9 of the 1st full appearance of Doomsday in <i>this</i> set! I got this book reholdered in September 2020. Sending this book (and a few others with it) away to get reholdered was so stressful that it inspired me to start my first CGC Journal titled <i>Adventures in Reholdering!</i> to document my experience as I worked to reholder all of my books that were in old holders.
The figure in the second picture slot is a SDCC exclusive from several years ago. I never fully realized how close it was to the cover of this book until seeing these images next to each other in this gallery. A friend of mine picked this up for me one of the years when I couldn’t go myself... thanks <i>Joe!</i>
Note - in November 2021 a 9.9 copy of this book sold auction style on Comic Link for $4532.00.
In early 2022 I added a <i>triple cover</i> 9.8 copy of this book to my collection… I call that book <i><b>The Beast</b></i> and you can check it out in my Custom Set of these books.
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| Triple Cover - The Beast |
Superman: The Man of Steel 18 Modern
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9.8
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<b>I call this book <i>The Beast</i>… with three covers it’s bound to be <i>BULLETPROOF!</i></b>
This was the first book I bought from <i>Collectors Comics</i> and it couldn’t have went any better. I originally found it listed on eBay and then purchased it the same evening from their website. When I first spotted this book I was stunned… I don’t usually go out of my way to pursue books like double covers, errors, and things like that, <i>BUT…</i> a <i><b>TRIPLE COVER</b></i> CGC 9.8 copy of the first full appearance of <i>Doomsday!!</i> Even though I already had a 9.9 copy of this book, I couldn’t pass up what is very likely the <i><b>ONLY</b></i> triple cover CGC 9.8 copy, if not the only triple cover copy, period! The grade date on this book is 3 March 2022 and it blows my mind to think about how long this book was kept before being graded nearly 30 years after it’s original release… <i>WOW!!</i>
I’m so happy to have two very unique copies of this book; a 9.9, and this triple cover 9.8… better known as <i><b>The Beast!</b></i>
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| First Generation Slab |
Superman: The Man of Steel 18 Modern
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9.8
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I know you are supposed to buy the book and not the slab but when this book popped up for sale in January 2023 I thought it would be a cool addition to my collection. It was graded 29 December 2000, which is CGC’s first year of operation, and it is still in it’s first generation slab. I would bet it is one of the earliest copies ever graded and may be one of a <i>very</i> small number that can still be displayed this way.
To top it all off, this slab is PERFECT leading me to believe it may have only seen one other owner…
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| Second Printing - Signed by Dan Jurgens |
Superman: The Man of Steel 18 Signature
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9.8
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I enjoy the color choices that were made on the various printings of this book. I won my original copy of this book, a Universal 9.8, on eBay BIN for $72.24, not too bad. Much later I added this Signature Series copy signed by Dan Jurgens.
I had originally been looking for this printing for awhile and finally found the first copy for a fair price. I then searched pretty aggressively to find all of the subsequent printings of this book and get them into this set in a fairly short period of time. I sold a Marvel book I had to get a couple of the printings of this book, which I mention in their slots. It was nice to upgrade this slot a little bit with this current Signature Series copy...
...adding this Signature Series book was quite an ordeal! I first noticed it auction style on eBay for $249.00 I think for 30 days. At the time I was super disillusioned with the hobby because of a few things going on with DC Comics, WB Movies, Instagram Trolls, and QC issues with some of my submissions. This book would’ve provided just a small bump to my set; that, the price, and my blaise attitude at the time allowed me to let it slip my mind. Plus, I didn't really <i>need</i> another book signed by Dan Jurgens. It ended without selling and was re-listed for five days... I was sort of getting back into it but didn't feel like dealing with an auction so asked the Seller to just let me BIN for $250.00 to get it over with... he wanted to let the auction play out and wished me luck so I blew it off once again. A couple weeks later I saw it listed again auction style for $249.00 for five days... this time I decided I'd wait it out and snipe it, if it worked out, great, if not then whatever... this is where it gets interesting! The night of auction end came and there were still no bids... with three minutes left I suddenly seriously had to take a crap... it was a force of nature... I rushed to take care of business and probably set a world record for fastest defecation... I washed my hands because I'm not disgusting and got back to my couch where my wi-fi/cellular is the strongest. My hands still slightly damp, I decided to snipe this bad boy with around three seconds left... I typed in my bid and waited to confirm it, when I hit confirm my phone would not respond, I think maybe because of my damp finger!!! The auction ended with zero bids! Arrrggghhh!!! I immediately messaged the Seller and explained the phone malfunction (not my massive and expedient dump) and again offered to do this for $250.00... probably pretty sick of me by then I didn't hear anything back from the Seller. About a week later he re-listed it for $240.00... this time I made sure to go to the bathroom well before auctions end and low and behold here it is! I was the only bidder! A nice little addition to this set and my overall collection of these books!
Having all five printings of this book in 9.8 felt like hitting a major milestone in the original process of building this set. I later upgraded the first printing to a 9.9 thanks to <i>the 'NO ONE CAN KILL SUPERMAN!' collection</i>, even better! The book in the second image slot also came from that collection!
Speaking of the book in the second image slot... when the entire <i>Doomsday, Funeral for a Friend, and Reign of the Supermen</i> storylines concluded we still didn't have any idea where the creature that came to be known as <i>Doomsday</i> had come from! In 1994 the three part <i>Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey</i> did an amazing job of not only giving <i>Doomsday</i> an origin story but it also concluded (sort of) the story of Superman v Doomsday. Later, in 1995 this <i>Doomsday Annual 1</i> even further elaborated on what <i>Doomsday</i> had been up to his first year after pulverizing Bertron back on a primitive Krypton... so so so <i><b>COOL!</i></b> This is one of only four 9.8's, three of which are Signature Series, and mine is signed by Dan Jurgens. I'm happy to show it here with the <i>first</i> full appearance of Doomsday also signed by Dan... with these two books we get to see the monster fully in his containment suit in the first image slot, and then in his birthday suit in the second slot... <i><b>CRAZY!</i></b>
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| Second Printing |
Superman: The Man of Steel 18 Modern
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9.8
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This was my first 9.8 copy of this book and it was in my base competetive set when it reached 100 percent completion, and all the way until I replaced it with a Signature Series 9.8 signed by Dan Jurgens in May 2023. I won this book on eBay BIN for $72.24, not too bad, and got the Signature Series book for $240.00, also not too bad.
I still remember tracking all of these printings down when my experience with this set was still new and exciting! How fun it was at that time to finally have all five printings of this book! This set is still pretty exciting to work on but I kind of miss the days when I still had so much to learn!
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| Third Printing - Signed by Jon Bogdanove and Louise Simonson |
Superman: The Man of Steel 18 Signature
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9.8
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It always concerned me the way the <i>U</i> in Superman has the color missing at the top of it.
When I first noticed this, I thought maybe my copy was an error. I quickly concluded that every copy was this way. I wonder if it was intentional, or an oversight? I don't think it would be any harder to read if it was colored so my guess is that it's a mistake. Not a printing error type of thing, just an error/mistake on the part of whoever colored the title. I wonder if someone was in a hurry to get this printing out?
I picked up Universal 9.8’s of this printing and the second printing at the same time for $72.24 each from the same seller on eBay, which I think were both great prices. Later, after my set was already at 100 percent completion, I grabbed this Signature Series copy signed by both Jon Bogdanove and Louise Simonson. <i>Very cool!</i>
I reholdered this book in December 2020.
I added the Signature Series <i>The Death of Superman</i> TPB in the second picture slot because I felt like this slot needed a few more signatures! Now that I've created a Custom Set this TPB also has it's own slot! This is one of six Signature Series 9.8 copies of this book but I doubt many of those are signed <b><i>FIVE TIMES!</b></i> This book is from <i>the 'NO ONE CAN KILL SUPERMAN! collection.</i> I'm still so very grateful that the owner of those books trusted me with them!
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| Third Printing |
Superman: The Man of Steel 18 Modern
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9.8
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I bought this off of eBay for $72.24 and kept it in my set until it was 100 percent. My Signature Series 9.8 is signed by Jon Bogdanove and Louise Simonson.
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| Fourth Printing - Signed by Louise Simonson |
Superman: The Man of Steel 18 Signature
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9.8
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This is the third 9.8 copy of this book to join my collection! The first two were Universal 9.8’s; I got this Signature Series 9.8 off of eBay long after my set was at 100% completion, and when I was only short one 9.8.
I got the first copy of this book along with the fifth printing thanks to selling a Signature Series Marvel book I had which had been signed by Joe Simon, Stan Lee, Steve Epting, and Ed Brubaker. I didn't mind because I still had Joe Simon and Steve Epting signatures on other books. I was really happy to finish out all five printings of this book with that book and the fifth printing in 9.8 at the same time! I paid $250.00 for that one on eBay... the fourth and fifth printings of this book seem to go hot and cold and I think my timing on that one may have been a little off at the time, picking it up while it was hot. Live and learn!
<i>I submitted the second 9.8 myself around the time I bought the first one.</i> I was on a work trip to Elizabeth City, NC and searched <i>comic book stores near me.</i> I ended up driving to Virginia Beach to check out a shop there. You never know where and what you'll find and seeing that there aren't a lot of shops near me I can't pass up the opportunity to explore when I am traveling. There wasn't much displayed but when I asked, the owner pulled it from the back and I ended up paying $20.00 for it. I had to hand carry it back on the airplane and finally submitted it. I was so happy when it came back 9.8! I like the stories associated with both of the Universals and just don't have the heart to let either one go. Getting the second copy back 9.8 may have offset what I paid for the first copy so things did work out in a way, even though I don't see myself selling either anytime soon! I swapped my submission, which was in the new holder, for the first 9.8 when I was getting books reholdered; the first copy was in an old holder and this saved me the trouble of sending it in.
The copy you see here now was listed on eBay with a fairly aggressive BIN price, or Make an Offer. I have committed myself to always improving this set when I could, but an opportunity hadn’t presented itself in nearly seven months so I was pretty excited when it popped up. The only problem was that, ironically, I was right in the middle of working out a deal on another book through the CGC Registry, and had already made an offer. The seller of the other book was not being very responsive and, because my funds are not unlimited (and because my Wife will only put up with so much), I hesitated making an offer on this book because if both worked out at the same time it would be pretty painful. After nearly four days of silence from the seller of the other book, I decided to go ahead and make an offer on this book and deal with whatever happened on the other one if/when it happened. <b><i>I really didn’t want this book to get away from me!</i></b>
Whenever I do make an offer, it is always what I think a book is worth; I don’t lowball the seller just to eventually meet in the middle, I start with MY top/fair price and hope the seller can sense that I’m not a crook. Therefore, the other pending deal had no bearing on my offer on this book and I am really happy that the seller accepted, and that it is now in this set. The fourth printing of this issue is the rarest of the five printings in 9.8, and even rarer when it comes to Signature Series 9.8’s; this being one of only two copies at the time.
The second picture is of all three of my 9.8 copies.
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| Fourth Printing - My Submission |
Superman: The Man of Steel 18 Modern
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9.8
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This book is <i>from my own submission</i> and was replaced in what was then my main set by a Signature Series 9.8; one of only two ss 9.8's of this book at the time.
For the full story of where I picked up this book raw, check out the story in the Signature Series copy of this book's slot! Really happy to be able to show both copies in this Custom Set now!
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| Fifth Printing DCU |
Superman: The Man of Steel 18 Modern
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9.8
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<i>I have a second 9.8 copy of this book that was from my own submission.</i>
I like the way the DC Universe logo has been knocked crooked by Doomsday's escape from containment, not to mention that he busted the title of the book! This guy is bad with a capital B... Bad!
For a period of time I also collected Captain America comics/memorabilia, but have since focused entirely back on DC/Superman. I had a Captain America 25 signed by Joe Simon, Stan Lee, Steve Epting, and Ed Brubaker. I sold that and was able to finance this book as well as the fourth printing at the same time. I paid $349.99 for this book but because I used money from a sale it wasn't as <i>painful</i> as it sounds! I probably bought this book on the high side but man I wanted to add it to my set! I love setting all five printings of this book side by side and just looking at them. I ended up getting my hands on another pretty nice looking copy which I submitted, and which came back 9.8, grade date 25 September 2020. I will hang onto the second copy as well even though I could probably sell it pretty quickly to make this slot overall less pricey.
This is the only book in this set that received a fifth printing. The second picture is of all five of these printings together to show the variations of the title colors. Kind of makes me dizzy looking at them sideways but this was the best way I could fit all five in the frame. Really fun!
<i>I've since either reholdered, upgraded, or swapped out some of the books in the second picture but kept this group picture here to remember what life was like when I first got all five printings of this book together in 9.8 for the first time.</i>
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| First Printing - Signed by Dan Jurgens |
Justice League America 69 Signature
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9.8
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This is one of the original books I had already graded 9.8 long before I started working on this complete set. I had my original Universal Label book when my Base Set reached 100 percent but later upgraded it to this Signature Series copy. I reholdered this book in December 2020.
It took me quite awhile to assemble all four printings of this book in 9.8. The third print was the last printing of this book that I was able to find in 9.8, and that was through my own submission.
<i><b>I finally show a picture of all four printings together in the second picture slot... this is the first set to contain all four of these in 9.8, and as of this writing, this is the only place this picture is possible.</b></i>
The picture was taken when the four printings were first assembled and before I replaced the first printing with this Signature Series book. <i>Pretty cool title colors!</i>
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| First Printing |
Justice League America 69 Modern
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9.8
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This is one of the first books I collected from this set. This copy stayed in my Base Set until it was 100 percent complete and was replaced by a Signature Series 9.8 signed by Dan Jurgens.
Happy to be able to now show both in this Custom Set!
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| Second Printing |
Justice League America 69 Modern
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9.8
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I always felt that Justice League America 69 was a slightly disparate book from the rest of this set so it was really fun when I originally added this second printing; I've since also managed to get the third and fourth printings in 9.8 and you can check them out in their slots. I like the choice of the characters being over a solid background on this book. I also think this is a book where the varied title colors on the four printings really stand out nicely.
I grabbed this book off of eBay for $149.00.
The second image is of a print I have that was put out by Clampett Studios in 2003. The image was drawn by Bruce Timm and then painted by Alex Ross. The print is signed by both artists, and my piece is 29 of 250. I really wanted to work this piece somewhere into this set and this seemed like a good place for it. I always comment on how cool it is that the various printings from this set have different title colors; the second printing of this book uses yellow in the title and I think this print goes well with it. The Justice League line-up is quite different in this book than in the print/cartoon. <i>Both are very cool!</i>
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| Third Printing - My Submission - First 9.8 Copy |
Justice League America 69 Modern
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9.8
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<i><b>This is the first copy of this printing to be graded 9.8 and it is from my own submission!</b></i>
<i>This is the fourth copy of this book that I personally submitted in my pursuit of all 9.8's for this set and it's grade date is 25 September 2020. I got a 9.2 and two 9.6's back before this book FINALLY earned the 9.8 I had been hoping for!</i>
I pulled the 9.2 from an unopened <i>Doomsday!</i> Collector’s Pack that I won on eBay for $43.00. I also won the <i>Funeral for a Friend</i> Collector’s Pack from the same seller but paid over $200.00 for that one. At the time I wasn’t close to finishing this set and was pretty much mining for books everywhere I could, hoping to strike gold. I bought both packs not knowing exactly what was in them, but at the time I needed the books on the top of each, which was Superman 75 third printing, and Adventures of Superman 498 fourth printing. I also had this crazy idea that maybe the <i>Funeral for a Friend</i> pack was full of the entire set of DC Universe logo printings! That would have been incredible, but I was wrong.
Both packs had never been opened but were disappointments. The books towards the top of the pack had either impact dents, or color rubbed off near the staples. About three books down, the books started to look pretty good structurally, but foxing started showing up on the back covers that worsened as you got farther down the stack. There was an extra piece of cardboard inserted for strength and the books against it had the worst foxing I have personally seen on modern books.
This 9.2 looked great structurally and only had one small spot of foxing about the diameter of a pencil on the back cover. I didn’t intend on submitting it but ended up throwing it in at the last minute while getting some other books ready. I sent it through CCS for pressing and dry cleaning and hoped for the best until I found a better copy.
When it came back 9.2, I was glad to have a relatively decent copy and I liked the fact that I saved it from the Collector’s Pack… a few more years in there would not have been good for it. I also learned something about these packs during this experience and that is that even if the corners look decent on the boxes, or even if they have never been opened, the odds are still pretty good that the books inside may not be the 9.8’s you are hoping for.
I included a picture of the Collector’s Pack in the second image slot. This picture is actually of a second set that I bought later, packaged together, and which contained Superman 75 fourth printing instead of the third... I had no better luck with this pack, but did have a <i>little</i> luck with a third pack I bought.
I then bought my first 9.6 raw for $9.00 from the same online Comic Book Shop that I had bought several other raw books from that are also now graded members of this set. I bought the last of this store’s raw stock of several books and wish I had gotten into trying to finish this set much earlier because I can only imagine what they had in stock for the last 25 plus years that went unnoticed.
When that book came back 9.6 it became the single highest graded at the time. I didn't want to seem <i>ungrateful</i> then but when I received that book back from CGC with no grader notes, I could not find anything that kept it from being a 9.8 (even with my loupe!). If it hadn't been the lone 9.6, and highest graded, I probably would have resubmitted it. I then decided to submit the copy from the second Collector's Pack and it also earned 9.6 after pressing. In the meantime, a third 9.6 popped up on eBay for $55.00 and I bought that one as well, giving me three 9.6's with the intent of examining them all and deciding which had the best chance at 9.8 with CPR if nothing else worked out.
While all of that was going on, I purchased the book you see here raw off of eBay; it was listed with the first, second, and third printings together and I got all three for $19.99 BIN! I submitted this book through CCS, as I do with all of my books, and here it is in glorious 9.8. I am very happy to have the first collection with all four printings of this book all in 9.8! I spent quite a bit of time, energy, and money to get this book added to my set in 9.8... I am super-happy to remove JLA 69 3rd from all of my searches!
<i><b>With the addition of this book I only needed two more to have the entire set in 9.8 or above!</b></i>
Update - the second 9.8 copy of this book to enter the census was also from my own submissions and is in my collection! That copy came from the third <i>Doomsday!</i> pack I bought and was in the same submission that I got the first ever 9.8 copy of Justice League America 70 fourth printing... <i>nice!</i>
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| Fourth Printing DCU |
Justice League America 69 Modern
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9.8
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I bought this book from My Comic Shop for $599.99. I originally spotted it on eBay and then checked it out on their site. The addition of this book put my set at 95 percent complete.
My first impression of this book was not very good. The label did not identify it as a fourth printing, and the certification number was associated with a first printing. When looking closely at the scan of the book it appeared to have some issues. I really wanted this book in 9.8 but did not want to purchase it unless I knew for sure that it was alright, and that I would be able to get it in the correct holder and identified as the fourth printing that it actually is.
I was able to contact the Consignment Director at My Comic Shop. She pulled the book and assured me that it looked fine. In her opinion, it was on par with other 9.8's she had handled, and the case showed no signs of being tampered with.
I went ahead and completed the purchase and then asked My Comic Shop for help with the reholder process. They were given an authorization code from CGC, which allowed them to send the book to CGC for correction and then it was sent from CGC directly to me. I'm glad that I contacted the store before making the purchase and I appreciate the extra effort <i>Este</i>, the Consignment Director, put in to get the book correctly labeled for me.
Now that I have the book in my possession, I am very happy that the book looks great in person. I agree with <i>Este</i> and can say that it is clearly a book deserving of the 9.8 grade. I’m happy to have it!
I included the image from the original eBay/My Comic Shop listing in the second picture slot showing it incorrectly labeled. It also shows that my concerns with the condition of the book were caused by either the slab/inner well, or the scanner bed, but not the actual book.
One of only two 9.8's in the census at the time.
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| Fourth Printing DCU - Signed and (Doomsday) Sketch by Dan Jurgens - My Submission |
Justice League America 69 Signature
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9.6
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I submitted this book myself. It was received at CGC on 7 June 2023 for the signing that was to take place in July. This book was not graded until 8 December 2024!
When I started seeing books from this signing on eBay, while mine hadn't moved an inch through the process, I began to worry. After contacting CGC Customer Service several times they finally told me that Mr. Jurgens was not able to finish all of the books in July as scheduled, and that mine was one that was not finished. In my opinion that is very <i>NOT</i> cool! I was (and still am) super disappointed that CGC apparently oversells signings to the point that the artist doesn't even finish your books when promised (and in the time frame you paid for!).
I was eventually told around October 2023 that all of the remaining books had been sent to Dan to finish, then around November I was told they were finally done. Remember that when you pay for a signing that you are also told you will get a compressed pressing/grading timeframe. My book was finally <i>received/in process at CGC</i> (again) on 5 December 2023 and then sat at <i>scheduled for grading</i> for another month... before finally being graded on 8 January 2024! So much for that quick turnaround promised!
The extremely ridiculous thing about this book is that it says that it was signed and sketched on 29 July 2023!! If that was the case then what took from 29 July 2023 until 8 January 2024 to grade this book!? I think it is more likely that this book was signed and sketched around October/November 2023 timeframe. Man, it is stuff like this that really gets me down about CGC sometimes and makes me question my commitment to this company... they just do whatever they want, and treat you however they want and you are expected to just take it. One of these days I am afraid that they will cross my line of disappointment and all this time collecting CGC graded books will have become a mistake... I really hope that doesn't happen. Such a bummer submission experience with this book!
On the bright side I do like the Doomsday sketch that Mr. Jurgens provided on this book! I wish it was more obvious, but to be honest, this cover wasn't much of a canvas to work with as it is pretty busy. I absolutely <i>LOVE</i> the choice of the yellow signature on this book! Although I was hoping for a 9.8 (because I could have used this book to provide my competitive set a small bump), I am pleased with this grade overall. I love all of the printings of this book and am now very happy to have this sketched and signed copy of this rare fourth printing in my collection!
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| First Printing - Signed by Dan Jurgens |
Superman 74 Signature
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9.8
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I love the silhouette of Doomsday on this cover. We haven't yet glimpsed this evil in it's entirety but we soon will! Most of the JLA is down but the battle rages on!
It seems to me that this is beginning to be one of the easier first printings from the Doomsday portion of this story to find in 9.8. As of this writing, there have been about 4-5 of these on eBay pretty much continuously for the past several months. I haven't checked the actual sales but it is definitely available at a good price for those looking for it.
This was also one of the first books I had already graded 9.8 Universal when I first registered my books. I had my original copy reholdered in December 2020 just to end up adding this Signature Series book the same month. I bought this ss copy on eBay for $175.00. At that time I was just in search of two more 9.8's to complete the entire set in 9.8/above... I was getting a little impatient and upgrading to Signature Series books where I could to keep my set competitive while still searching.
I added a second book signed by Dan Jurgens in the second picture slot. This is the <i>Wizard: The Superman Tribute Edition</i>. I like displaying it here alongside this other Signature Series book from Dan. This is one of only four Signature Series 9.8 copies of this book... I also own the lone Universal 9.8 copy of the <i>Wizard Authentic Edition</i> of this same book, which has a Gold Foil logo on the cover. Now that I've created a Custom Set both of the Wizards will also have their own slots!
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| First Printing |
Superman 74 Modern
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9.8
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My original copy of this book was a newsstand and it was one of the earliest books I owned. That copy was in my set until it reached 100 percent complete. I had it reholdered in December 2020 before adding a Signature Series 9.8 signed by Dan Jurgens to my collection.
I replaced the Universal newsstand with this book in October 2022 to have as few newsstands as possible. I now show both the Signature Series copy and this Universal in this Custom Set!
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| Second Printing |
Superman 74 Modern
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9.8
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<i>From the 'NO ONE CAN KILL SUPERMAN!' collection.</i>
I'm <i>REALLY</i> happy to have finally found this book, and am super-pleased that it came from this collection!
This was the last of the Superman 74 printings that I was able to get a hold of. I really enjoy getting all of the printings of a book in 9.8 so I can then include a picture of all of them together in one of the second picture slots. As far as presentation goes I think it is nice to show all of the printings together to display the various title colors and roman numerals all at once. I had been getting really excited to do this for this book but just couldn't seem to get there.
My hunt for this book had taken some frustrating twists and turns. There was one listed on ComicLink. I initially made an offer but didn’t get any response from the seller. I then went ahead and agreed to the buy it price, five days went by and again no response. I then did the buy it price again, another five days with no response from the seller. At this point I contacted ComicLink customer service and they attempted to reach out to the seller. Eventually the book was taken off of the exchange. It was a bummer to think you were so close to finally getting a book, literally agreeing to the buy it price, and then not getting a response.
Later, I bought a lot of 20 raw copies off of eBay for $40.00. From that lot of 20 I found two that I planned on submitting that I thought had good chances at 9.8. Now that I have this book, I won’t be submitting them anytime soon but will be sure to take care of them.
Thanks to <i> the 'NO ONE CAN KILL SUPERMAN!' collection</i> the Superman 74 all printings saga has finally come to a close! At the time I finally added this book there were four Universal Label 9.8’s and two Signature Series 9.8’s in the census.
I have finally added a picture of all four printings together in the second picture slot as they were when assembled. <b>Yes!</b> This picture was taken before I had this book and the first printing both reholdered in December 2020, and then also upgraded the first printing to a ss book! <i>Whew, lots of work (and fun)!</i>
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| Third Printing |
Superman 74 Modern
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9.8
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This book popped up on eBay newly graded along with a Superman 74 fourth printing which I already had. I kept an eye on both and watched the bidding throughout the week. I had been getting discouraged because other books from this set had been on eBay recently with pretty high BIN prices. It was looking like people were starting to gouge collectors looking for these books.
On the last day of the auction it looked like some bids were being placed to drive the price up on both books so I pretty much decided to write this one off. I don't mind paying a premium for a book that I need as long as it feels fair and it was starting to feel like it wasn't going to be. Anyways, I'm driving home from work with these thoughts running through my mind when a commercial comes on the radio with a jingle that always irritates the crap out of me... I immediately change the channel before they get too far into it and the channel I switched to was playing <i>Superman</i> by R.E.M. <i>I aaaam, I aam Superman... and I can do anything.</i> I took this as a sign to not give up on this book so here it is. Ultimately, I think I did get it for a fair price at $140.38. It ended up that there was a flipper but they were more interested in the fourth printing, which was relisted a week later for twice the price! <i>NOT COOL MAN!</i>
The statue in the second image slot is from Prime 1 Studio. I ordered this in November 2017 and it finally shipped January 2019, whew! I've become accustomed to waiting a looong time for some of these statues and this one was definitely worth the wait! At 1:3 scale this thing is massive! I custom made the cape shown in this picture. The original cape it came with was also poly-stone and it did not match the cover of Superman 75. The cape I received was also damaged. I didn't bother to try to get a new cape from Prime 1 Studio but instead decided to make my own which better represents the source. It was a lot of fun making the cape and I posted my first ever Youtube video explaining how I did it, you can check it out here if you'd like...
https://youtu.be/VHW6o0IDaZA
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| Fourth Printing DCU |
Superman 74 Modern
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9.8
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I had been watching this book and an Action Comics 684 third printing 9.8 on eBay for quite awhile. My Wife surprised me with an early Father's Day gift budget so I was able to make offers on both, and both sellers accepted. I am really happy to have grabbed both at fair prices because they can be pretty hard to find. Like some of the other books in this set this one seems to heat up every once in awhile and then cool off before heating up again... it wasn't the first (or the last) time I think I bought a book on the hot end. It was still what I felt was fair based on how much I wanted it... $225.00, so hot or cold doesn't matter so much when that's the case. Even with my set at 100 percent complete I still can't say that I have paid more for any book than I <i>personally</i> felt it was worth... <i>I hope I can still say that when I finally have all 9.8's or above.</i>
These two books rounded out the DC Universe logo variants from just the <i>Doomsday</i> portion of this story, which I show in the second picture. It took me quite a few tries before I was able to figure out how to best photograph these books together to show all of the DC Universe logos! The only book from this portion of the story, not including Superman 75, to not get a DC Universe logo printing was Adventures of Superman 497.
I have a Custom Set to show just all ten DC Universe logo books from this entire set together. Here's a link to that set to cut and paste:
https://comics.www.collectors-society.com/WCM/ComicCustomSetView.aspx?s=30661
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| ONLY 9.9 with over 450 graded- Obtained in Trade for Avengers 4 CGC 7.0 |
Adventures of Superman 497 Modern
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9.9
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Many thanks to my big brother for helping me add this book to my collection! Thanks also to the previous owner for making a deal!
"silver bullet - noun - something that acts as a magical weapon, especially one that instantly solves a long-standing problem." Dictionary
<b>This is the <i>third</i> 9.9 from this set to join my collection! It is the <i>ONLY</i> 9.9 copy of this book and it was graded on 17 May 2005!</b>
When I added this book there were a total of 451 graded; 277 were 9.8's, and this was the <i>lone</i> 9.9.
If you look through the census for every book in this set there are only *three that have 9.9 copies; <i>Superman: The Man of Steel 18 first printing</i> (five copies), <i>Adventures of Superman 500 Regular Edition</i> (two copies), and this book... <i>ONE</i> copy.
*In October 2023 a fourth 9.9 book entered the census! Check out <i>Superman: The Man of Steel 19 first printing’s</i> slot for details!
When I started this set the first 9.9 I ever became aware of was The Man of Steel 18 because it was in someone’s set… I was amazed and doubted that I would ever be able to have a copy like that. At the end of 2019, the owner of that set ended up selling me the books from <i>the ‘NO ONE CAN KILL SUPERMAN!’ collection</i> including that 9.9… I was (and still am) very grateful.
Not long after that I ran across the copy you see here while looking through Registry Award winning sets from years past. I can’t remember now which set I spotted it in but I bookmarked the book so I could keep an eye on it in the Registry.
Meanwhile I put up a WTB post that included this book as well as the Adventures of Superman 500 9.9, which at the time there was also only one. In July 2020 I reached out to the owner of this book for the first time, I then messaged him about every 3 months or so just to make sure that if he ever did want to let the book go that he knew that I <i>really</i> wanted it.
In May 2021 a second 9.9 copy of the Adventures of Superman 500 popped up in the census and, luckily, a CGC Forum member had submitted it and posted a pic of it… a friend of mine tagged me and I was able add it. This put two out of three of the books with 9.9 copies in my set, leaving just this 497 9.9 out there…
…I continued to message the owner of this book every few months… I removed it from my WTB post because I knew where it was and by this time I realized that the owner wasn’t a CGC Forum user… I saw no good reason to draw extra attention to this book.
In March 2022, after almost two years I got a reply from the owner that he was thinking about letting this book go as he was <i>downsizing his DC collection. </i>We talked a bit, and I made an offer. I thought my offer was fair (it was exactly what I paid for the 500 9.9) but I <i>think</i> that the fact that this book is a newsstand (which doesn’t matter to me, but does to a lot of collectors) made my offer appear low... <i>OR</i> maybe he just wasn't really ready to let this book go, in which case I completely understand. Unable/unwilling to offer more, I decided to just move on hoping that someday I would receive a counter-offer and then go from there… at the very least I felt good knowing that he knew I was <i>really</i> interested!
Years ago I had picked up an Avengers 4 CGC 7.0 OWP… at the time I was also collecting Captain America. Over time, that book became less significant to me; maybe it was time to let someone else enjoy it. I had toyed around with the idea of putting it up for a trade for the last 9.8 I needed, Adventures of Superman 499 third printing. I started to think that it would take something <i>crazy</i> like that to get that book out of the woodwork.
In July 2022 I was thinking seriously about throwing that Avengers 4 up for trade on my WTB post. Before doing that though I decided to reach out to the owner of this book and offer him the trade first. The Avengers book was worth far more than I could offer in cash, and remembering that he was <i>downsizing his DC collection,</i> I figured the Marvel book may do the trick. In the hierarchy of books I also consider this 9.9 way... <i>waay... <b>WAAAY</b></i> more important for this set than my last 9.8. This is because I think it is much more likely that additional 9.8's of my <i>last 9.8</i> will eventually be added to the census, long before another 9.9 of this book ever will be...
This book may truly be a once in a lifetime <i>Death of Superman</i> collector's book, that is why I decided to try my magical Silver Age <b><i>SILVER BULLET</i></b> on this book first...
So, I reached back out to the owner of this book in July 2022 and proposed the trade… he replied pretty quickly and after a few days of conversing we made a deal. Only thing we had to work out was how to do the trade in person, which was best from both of our perspectives! He proposed meeting at C2E2 but I had no plans to be there. Finding out that he was in the Chicago area made this easier. I ended up sending the Avengers book to my <i>most awesome</i> big brother in Sandwich Illinois, and the owner of this book drove to Sandwich where the exchange was made on a Saturday afternoon at the Police Department parking lot. The owner also threw in a couple very cool pieces of original comic art of Bane and Doomsday, which I wasn't expecting but greatly appreciated! My Brother then sent this book and the art back to me.
<i><b>And here it finally is!!!</b></i>
I don't collect these books to sell later, so I don't really view them in those terms (although it is still good to know a book you have is appreciating). I am working on <i>THIS</i> set for other reasons. For me to give up a Silver Age key that, at the time I think I could have easily gotten $4-5K for, in order to put the <i>only</i> 9.9 copy of this book in this set was worth it! I am very happy for the new owner of the Avengers 4... I really hope he loves it as much as I love this book... this one is a dream for me to finally own. If we're both happy that's pretty cool! And, who really knows what this 9.9 might be worth if it had one day went to auction (<i>that</i> thought kept me awake more than a few nights while I was pursuing this book!).
This cover really shows how difficult this battle is going to be for Superman. The fact that Superman has to put all his effort into it shows that Doomsday is unlike anything Superman has faced before. Much like trading a Silver Age key to add <i>THIS</i> 9.9 to <i>THIS</i> set… difficult, but <i>definitely <b>worth it!</b></i>
This is the third book to occupy this slot. The first was one of the original Universal 9.8's that I had when I started the work on this set. That copy stayed in this set until I got it to 100 percent completion and was just short two 9.8’s. I love this cover and jumped at the chance to upgrade this slot to a Jerry Ordway Signature Series 9.8 when the opportunity arose. I reholdered that book in December 2020. As much as I loved that book, I was obviously super thrilled to finally replace it with this 9.9!
<i><b>So happy to have <u>three of three 9.9 books</u> in this set… lots of work but feels incredible to finally have done it!</b></i>
I included a picture of the Avengers 4 I traded for this book in the second image slot. It’s definitely a beauty which I always felt had great potential to upgrade with a clean and press! I obscured the certification number because this book no longer belongs to me but I think including this image here is important to document my journey assembling this set, much like I have included pictures of collector's sets, two packs, etc. with other books.
Fun Fact #1 - This trade took place on Saturday 23 July 2022 while SDCC 2022 was also taking place!
Fun Fact #2 - Sandwich Illinois's neighboring town is Plano Illinois. Plano was used as Smallville in Man of Steel and is where Henry Cavill's Superman fought off Zod and Faora!
Such cool coincidences associated with the addition of this book!
After adding this book I still need one last 9.8 for this set but am now a lot less worried about that.
Note #1 - I had <i>REALLY</i> wanted to get this book reholdered! Unfortunately, some scammer apparently used the reholder process to swap lower grade books into higher grade labels/holders. This came to light in December 2023. I was already nervous about sending this book in for reholder but after this incident I don't think I'll ever let this book out of my sight... I'd hate to have it get caught up in a new policy like <i>regrading every reholder</i> as some people are screaming for! I'd rather not risk this 9.9 for a new holder, especially when this slab is super clean, and the only reason I'd reholder it is to have it in the latest generation slab for presentation purposes. At this point I doubt I will ever reholder another book that is really important to me. It is unfortunate when a few greedy people ruin something like this for so many others! I worked so hard to add this book to my collection, and now I won't be able to present it as awesomely as it should be, all thanks to some crook.
Note #2 - In 2024 there was chatter about CGC revisiting its grading philosophy and giving more 9.9's. This started with a Giant Sized X-Men 1 9.9 that loudly hit the market, as well as statements made my Matt Nelson about how he believed there <i>should</i> be more 9.9's. Then a ton of Wolverine 1 9.9's showed up! I don't mind if books <b>earn</b> 9.9 or 10, but I think it wrong that after all this time the scale might be intentionally slid. As you can tell from the above, I really <i>LOVE</i> this book and worked really hard to add it! It was graded 9.9 in 2005 and I would hate to think that it is made less important, not because other books earned the 9.9 grade based on the same standards, but because of a policy change.
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| First Printing - Signed by Jerry Ordway |
Adventures of Superman 497 Signature
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9.8
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This image really shows how difficult this fight is going to be for Superman. The fact that he has to put his entire body into it and Doomsday is taking it definitely shows that this foe is unlike any other Superman has faced, particularly in sheer physical hardiness.
This book was one of the original Universal 9.8's that I had when I started the work on this set. That first copy stayed in my Base Set until I got it to 100 percent completion and was just short two 9.8’s. I love this cover and jumped at the chance to own this Signature Series book when the opportunity arose, I reholdered this book in December 2020.
This Signature Series 9.8 was eventually outdone by the lone 9.9 copy of this book... which has it's own slot in this Custom Set!
In the spirit of seriously tough impacts I have included a sericel from SDCC 2007. This was done by Warner Bros Animation and was limited to 200. This ended up being the second to the last time (so far) that my Wife and I attended SDCC. The last (so far) ended up being in 2008. We actually had tickets to the 2009 SDCC but I received orders overseas, so we ended up being able to get a refund. We were then overseas for four years straight, and then assigned to Florida before I got out of the Marine Corps in 2014. We have been back through San Diego since then but haven't made any serious plans to try to make it to SDCC. From what I understand, it has become really difficult to get tickets. We eventually made it a habit to go for the entire weekend, as well as preview night, but I do remember the first time we went we were able to show up Saturday and buy tickets for the day, I think those days are long gone. When we got this sericel I think Bruce Timm only signed 20 of them and, as you can see, we were able to obtain one of those. I included it here because I think both this comic book cover and this sericel capture how brutal this fight was. I don't think they have ever done the Death of Superman story justice in animation (including the recent two-part Death and Reign movies) but this sericel is still pretty cool.
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| First Printing |
Adventures of Superman 497 Modern
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9.8
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I have the <i>ONLY</i> 9.9 copy of this book in this set as well! This book was one of the earliest books I owned from this set and it remained in my Base Set until it reached 100 percent complete. It was replaced by a Signature Series 9.8 signed by Jerry Ordway before I was able to acquire the lone 9.9 copy. All are shown in this Custom Set!
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| Second Printing |
Adventures of Superman 497 Modern
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9.8
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I can't even imagine the force of Superman literally throwing his entire body into an attack!
This cover reminds me of the flack that the <i>Man of Steel</i> movie caught due to the battle with Zod in Metropolis, and all of the casualties it must have caused. Surely a full on assault with Superman's entire body upon an opponent as tough as Doomsday caused some collateral damage as well!
I won this on eBay BIN for $100.00. <i>Happy times indeed!</i>
The book in the second picture slot is from 2011 and is probably about the most recent book I am willing to include in this gallery. Although there have been some more recent homages to this story on the covers of books, I need to draw the line somewhere... This is the very cool <i>DC Comics Presents: Superman/Doomsday 1</i> 100 Page Spectacular. This is the only 9.8 copy and one of only two graded at all! I picked this book up with the other books <i>from the 'NO ONE CAN KILL SUPERMAN! collection.</i> I think this cover is really cool and I'm happy to include it here! I think it goes well with this book!
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| Third Printing |
Adventures of Superman 497 Modern
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9.8
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<i>From the 'NO ONE CAN KILL SUPERMAN!' collection.</i>
This is the last printing of this book that I needed, and is one of only two 9.8’s in the census as of this writing. The best raw copy of this book that I was able to get my hands on came from a <i>Doomsday!</i> boxed set that I bought the same time as the <i>Funeral for a Friend</i> boxed set. The problem with some of the books in both boxes was that the books lower in the stack had foxing that got progressively worse as you went further down the stack. The raw copy of this book was absolutely perfect except for a couple very small foxing stains on the back cover. I am not sure how that would have impacted the grade but my plan was to send it in through CCS for pressing and dry cleaning and then grading, hoping that the cleaning would make the foxing slightly better. I know that it likely would not have made a difference but I was going to cross my fingers for the best results possible, until I could find a better copy. Now that I have this book I no longer plan on sending that book in.
The second picture slot is of all three printing of this book together. This is the only book (other than Superman 75) from the Doomsday part of this storyline that did not get a printing with the DC Universe logo treatment. I have since upgraded the first printing to a Signature Series and reholdered that book and this one in December 2020, but like to leave these group pictures as they were when the various printings of the different books first came together in my collection.
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| First Printing - Signed by Butch Guice |
Action Comics 684 Signature
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9.8
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I always felt that the art on this cover seemed almost separate from the rest of the series. The lines seemed lighter and it has more of a colored sketch feel to it. I'm not saying that I don't like it, just that it feels different from the rest of the books in this series continuity-wise.
I really like the Metropolis sign in the background and the fact that it indicates Doomsday is getting closer to those closest to Superman!
This is one of the first books that I had already graded Universal 9.8, and originally registered when I started this set. I can't say exactly when I got that book, but I would have gotten it off of eBay as that was pretty much the extent of my collecting at the time. I didn't really expand my searches to places like ComicLink or My Comic Shop until I started to more aggressively work on completing this set.
My set was already at 100 percent complete when I upgraded to the Signature Series book you now see here. I love that Jackson Guice signed this book <i>Butch Guice</i> because I haven’t seen many books that he signed this way. I reholdered this book in December 2020.
The second image is a 1:10 scale statue put out by Iron Studios in 2020. I bought this new for $210.00 and it sold out pretty quickly. I decided to include this close-up of it here because of the pose; this is probably pretty close to what Superman is staring at on the cover of this book... <b><i>pretty terrifying!!</i></b>
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| First Printing |
Action Comics 684 Modern
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9.8
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This is one of the first books I owned from this set. I later added a Signature Series 9.8 signed by Butch Guice to my collection as well. Both are shown in this Custom Set!
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| Second Printing - First 9.8 Copy |
Action Comics 684 Modern
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9.8
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<i><b>"There can be only One..." The Kurgan - Highlander</b></i>
<i>...at least for now.</i> This was the first Action Comics 684 second printing graded, and it is a 9.8! This was also my first experience having a <u><i>one and only</i></u> book from this set. I spotted this on eBay and worried over it for five days until the auction was about to close. I had been looking for raw copies and was watching about half a dozen different ones when this popped up for sale. It seems relatively easy to find raw but one can never tell the condition until it arrives in the mail. Needless to say, I felt that paying a premium for this book was worth alleviating myself from the continued search for a raw example that may or may not grade at 9.8. I ended up bidding what I thought was a ridiculous price thinking it would sell for around $120.00 - $160.00. I ended up winning it at $304.01... <i>worth it!</i>
Books like this confuse me. When I started this collection I only intended to collect the Doomsday storyline from the cameos up to Superman 75 (all editions but not the later printings), as well as the Adventures of Superman 500 (all editions) and the Platinum TPB. When I had those, I registered my set only to find out it also included the <i>Funeral for a Friend</i> and <i>Reign of the Supermen</i> books as well as the later printings. I could not bear to look at all those empty slots and that's when I realized I had only just begun to collect this set! My confusion is that I have a hard time understanding how, after all these years, that at least one each of all of these books hadn’t already been graded. It also blows my mind that a book like this ends up being graded with the sole purpose of being <i>sold</i>, rather than being kept in a collection for at least for a little while. That's just <i>wild!</i>
<i>Whether I'm confused or not, I do know I'm really happy to have the first 9.8/graded copy of this book in my collection!</i>
On this same note, I had the privilege of being the first person to submit a copy of Justice League America 70 third printing and also had it come back 9.8. That was a very rewarding experience, please check out that book's slot to learn more!
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| Third Printing DCU |
Action Comics 684 Modern
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9.8
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I had my eye on this book on eBay for quite awhile as the listing ended and was relisted multiple times. I had been waiting for the price to drop but it never did. It ended up that my Wife surprised me with an early Father's Day gift budget and I was able to make offers on this one and also a Superman 74 fourth printing. I made what I thought were fair offers on both to different sellers and they both accepted within an hour of each other. I am really happy to have gotten this book for what I feel was a fair price of $275.00, even if it still wasn't cheap. I have had a pretty nice raw copy sitting in the queue for awhile waiting for it's turn to be sent to CCS and CGC. I may still send it in to see how it does but for now I can rest easy with this book in my collection.
<i>When I took the second picture it was the only place in the World that you could see all three of these printings together graded, let alone all in 9.8 with white pages.</i> Only time will tell how long this stays the case. I have since added a Signature Series copy of the first printing to my collection but left this picture for historical purposes to document the first time all three printings were brought together in 9.8, including the first ever graded copy of the second printing!
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| ONLY 9.9 with over 1200 graded - graded 20 October 2023 |
Superman: The Man of Steel 19 Modern
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9.9
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“surreal - adjective – Having an oddly dreamlike quality. Resembling a dream: fantastic and incongruous.” Dictionary
<b>This book was graded on 20 October 2023 and became only the fourth book in this entire set to have a 9.9 copy! At the time I added it to this set there were a total of 1244 graded copies, 714 9.8’s, and <i>JUST THIS ONE</i> 9.9! It is, ratio-wise, over twice as rare as the LONE Adventures of Superman 497 9.9 that took me over two years, and an Avengers 4, to obtain! It is insane that this book exists, and I am thrilled to have it in this set!</b>
<i>I already had each of the other three 9.9’s in this set when I added this book!</i>
I came across this book at a time when I was taking a break from graded books… I had been shaken by a couple of scandals that had occurred in late 2023 early 2024… one being the <i>reholder scandal</i> where a scammer switched book’s inner wells, and the other was the revelation through a court filing that a couple of CGC employees had been stealing, grading, and selling customer’s books! I had decided to take a break from collecting graded books for a while, while also stepping back from this topic online… basically burying my head in the sand and seeing if I could love collecting graded books again.
<i>Anyways…</i> I was doing okay at this break and checking eBay and other sites much less often… I even passed on a few books I otherwise would have bought if I wasn’t on <i>break.</i> One evening in February 2024 I was checking my usual searches, such as <i>Superman 9.8.</i> I decided to take a look at the Superman <i><b>9.9</b></i> search results, which I don’t often do… about eight books down I spotted this monster! At first I was in a bit of disbelief… I thought to myself that this wasn’t possible… this book doesn’t exist… and if it did, I certainly would have heard/known about it, right? I then saw the asking price of $3000.00 and my heart sunk. Still in disbelief, I checked the census and certification number… sure enough there it was in the census, and the certification lookup showed me it was graded on 20 October 2023.
How did this get past me!?
If you can’t tell by now, I am sort of into the Death of Superman storyline and making my collection of these books the best it can possibly be. Regardless of being on a <i>break</i> I felt like this book <i>belonged</i> in my collection and in this set… it should be hanging out with it's fellow 9.9 buddies! So, break or not, and scandals be damned, I couldn’t let it sit there without at least giving it a try. I made an offer which was immediately auto-declined… I made a second offer which was also auto-declined… I then messaged the seller saying:
<i>“Hello, I hope all is well! First, congrats if you submitted this book yourself! I offered XXXX and it was auto-declined. If you ever want to meet me around that price please let me know. Thanks and take care!”</i>
This was close to bedtime, so I figured maybe I’d get a reply tomorrow, or maybe not at all… I had never bought from this seller before and didn’t know how they may receive a message like that. Within about 20 minutes I got a nice reply with an offer, I countered splitting the difference between where we both were, and we had a deal.
I did not pay near the initial asking of $3000.00 but I will say that I still think I paid a decent amount for this book (especially for being on a <i>break</i>). I paid what it was worth <i><b>to me</b></i> but unfortunately that is a terrible method of measurement, as I really value books like this… the financial cost is just a temporary thing… the feeling of adding this book to my collection and having <i><b>ALL FOUR of the current 9.9 books</b></i> in this set is priceless!
<b>This is my favorite comic book cover art of all time, <i>bar none,</i> making having it in 9.9 all that more special!</b>
You can really feel the struggle between good and evil with the close up image and seeing the strain on Superman's face. This image really drives home that this might not turn out the way we are used to!
I think that is blood on Superman's face but due to the Comics Code Authority it had to be black instead of red. If I am wrong, someone please let me know. If this is correct, it is crazy what is on the covers of books today!
<i>I’m so happy that the seller worked with me on this book, and that it is now a member of this set! Having had to pine over the other 9.9's in this set for so long before obtaining them, it still seems <b>surreal</b> that I so quickly learned about this book, and was almost immediately able to add it to this set... all while on a break from collecting graded books!</i>
The second picture slot looks <i>nice…</i>
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| First Printing - Signed by Jon Bogdanove and Louise Simonson |
Superman: The Man of Steel 19 Signature
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9.8
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For this book, I have shown both the direct and newsstand editions in the gallery even though I did not intentionally set out to own both. A Universal 9.8 direct edition was one of my original books in this set. I had that for awhile when the 9.8 newsstand edition came up for sale really cheap so I figured why not have both to show. In general, I don't care whether a book is a direct or newsstand edition when I am hunting it down though. I am happy to pay whatever I think a book is worth, regardless of the type of edition. If all things were equal though I would go for the direct edition because I enjoy the text in the boxes much more than I do the bar code. I enjoy these books not only for the story inside, but also for their appearance and in my opinion the direct editions are just much more appealing to look at. To me, the bar code gives the cover a cold feeling whereas the direct edition has life. I would never set out specifically to find any newsstand book. This is why I created my larger Custom Set... CGC decided to make newsstand books <i>variants</i>... to me that was just a way to drum up business and I wanted no part of it! It was also completely unfair to those of us that never were and never will be newsstand guys... I wasn't about to start collecting something I don't love solely for the Registry. Both covers are shown here so you can judge for yourself.
I upgraded my first 9.8 copy to this Signature Series book when my set was already at 100 percent. This book was eventually replaced in my competitive set by the lone 9.9 copy!
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| First Printing |
Superman: The Man of Steel 19 Modern
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9.8
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This is one of my first books and also my favorite cover art. This book stayed in my set until it reached 100 percent complete. My Signature Series of this book is signed by both Jon Bogdanove and Louise Simonson. I later added the lone 9.9 copy of this book to my collection!
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| Second Printing |
Superman: The Man of Steel 19 Modern
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9.8
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I got really lucky finding this book!
I won it on eBay already graded at 9.8 for only $25.00. This was pretty amazing because at the time there were only two 9.8 Universal Label and one Signature Series 9.8 in the census. I watched this all week thinking that someone was going to snipe it. I ended up being the only bidder! I guess sometimes the timing is just right and everyone else is either busy or looking for something else at the time. This buy almost felt too good to be true so I was really happy when it showed up at my door. Coincidentally, this was from the same seller that I later bought the lone 9.8 Action Comics 684 second printing from. If they took any loss on this book I think they made up for it on the AC sale.
The book in the second image slot is a reprint of Superman: The Man of Steel 19 from 2005. This book was included with the Mattel Doomsday action figure as it says on the label, but it also came with the Superman figure with the red and black chest symbol from the same line. I submitted three of these myself and received two 9.6’s and a 9.0 before buying the copy you see here from the owner of <i>the ‘NO ONE CAN KILL SUPERMAN!’ collection.</i> One of the 9.6’s was from my original Doomsday action figure that I opened just to submit this book! I’m glad the owner of this copy still had it when all my other attempts had failed at returning a 9.8. This book <i>was</i> a member of the competitive Set Type when I started my set, as was the Platinum TPB, but we agreed that it should be removed as it was a reprint that was not from the original era of these books, but rather <i>much</i> later; the cover is also completely different… I still love having it in my collection and am glad I can display it here! Oddly enough, as CGC started allowing <i>newsstand variants</i> and such into competitive sets we started to see much later reprints of books creep into sets... such a slippery slope, which ruins the spirit of the registry in my opinion!
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| Third Printing DCU - My Submission |
Superman: The Man of Steel 19 Modern
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9.8
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<i>"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them." Walt Disney</i>
I consider this book one of my first major successes as far as my own submissions go. This being my favorite cover <i>art</i> I was really driven to get all three printings graded 9.8. I wasn't so sure it was going to happen though! I bought this raw for $18.00 from a Comic Book Shop online after winning a couple of their other raw books on eBay and being pretty pleased with them. When I got this book though it didn't look like it would come back 9.8 so I just bagged/boarded it and set it aside. I then ended up winning a 9.6 on eBay, which I thought I would get pressed and resubmitted hoping to upgrade to 9.8.
In the meantime I obsessed over this copy, taking it out of the bag/board often and looking it over, trying to make a decision on it. I was convinced that the best I'd expect back was 9.6, but I decided to send it to CCS for pressing and forwarding to CGC anyways. I liked the book so much that even if it didn't get a 9.8 at least it would be safe inside a slab where I could no longer handle it! Five months later I got the grades and this book, as well as my two Green Lantern 46 second printings (mentioned above), got 9.8's! I love having all three printings displayed side by side. I'm really glad that I sent this copy to CCS and gave it a chance!
I love this cover and really enjoyed having all three printings in 9.8! The group picture in the second slot is very cool... I also have a direct edition of the first printing and have also upgraded my first printing a couple times since that pic, first to a ss book, and <b>then to a 9.9!</b>. <i>Super cool!</i>
The newsstand shown here IS NOT a variant, but this picture does serve the purpose of showing three different takes on <i>art box</i> use.
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| Superman 75 Promotional - My Submission - First 9.8 Copy |
Direct Currents 58 Modern
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9.8
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First 9.8 copy and only the second graded copy (the other is a 9.0) ever! This is from my own submission! I bought a lot of five of these that all looked pretty good… I decided to send just this one copy in and holy smokes am I happy with this grade! This being the promotional for Superman 75, and with The Death of Superman and Funeral for a Friend featured on the front and back covers, it is hard to believe that this is only the second copy ever graded... and the <i>ONLY</i> 9.8!!
I think it looks cool right before Superman 75 in this custom set!
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| Platinum Edition - Signed by Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding |
Superman 75 Signature
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9.8
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"plat·i·num - noun - a precious silvery-white metal, the chemical element of atomic number 78. It was first encountered by the Spanish in South America in the 16th century, and is used in jewelry, electrical contacts, laboratory equipment, industrial catalysts, and awesome comic books!" Dictionary (with my own addition)
This is the second 9.8 copy to occupy this slot... the first was a Universal 9.8 that I submitted myself; I talk more about that book below. It's also now in my Custom Set.
I bought this copy off of eBay in September 2023, not long after the CGC in-house private signing with Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding, where I believe this was signed. This was originally listed for $2500.00... I thought that was very ambitious. There had been another listed at the same time for $2399.00 signed only by Dan Jurgens. I had been looking at the single signed book until this one popped up. I did not have a Signature Series copy of this book so I figured it would be a nice addition to my set. I made an offer for what I actually thought it was worth, the seller countered and was still well above where I was... I came up $50.00 and explained my rationale. I also told the seller that I understood if he declined. After about 20 hours he accepted and I paid for this book, what I thought was a fair price. I'm glad the seller was reasonable.
Note: this book is missing the <i>Manufactured with “2269” printed on back cover</i> label annotation that is traditional for these Platinum Editions.
I also have a Universal 9.8 copy that I owned, along with another raw, since the '90's. I remember picking one of them up at a Comic Book Store in Illinois for $300.00 around 1994 before the internet made them relatively easy to come by. That was a lot of money back then, and still is today for a raw book, but seeing one of these in the wild back then was like seeing a Unicorn so you had better not pass it up. I kept one in the bag and opened the other to see what it looked like. In 2013 I sent them both into CGC along with a Platinum Adventures of Superman 500 I had also had since the '90's. One copy came back 9.8 and the other 75 and the 500 both were 9.6. I kept the 9.8 and traded the 9.6 set for four of the other books in this set. I think the other guy got a better trade if you look at dollar value, but I got some books I needed so I think we were both happy. I really enjoy the fact that I hung onto that book all those years, submitted it myself, and received a 9.8. I'm not sure if the one I opened, or the one I kept sealed, got the 9.8. I have more recently started hearing how many of these poly-bagged books were damaged by leaving them in the bags all those years so I wish I had kept track of which was which, just out of curiosity. I had my Universal 9.8 reholdered in February 2021 and it is also in my Custom Set.
I’ve included a picture of my <i>The Death of Superman</i> Platinum TPB in the second picture slot (there is a lot of Platinum going on in this book's slot!). I wanted to include it here because I think it looks great alongside this book. This is one of the things that is so cool about being able to add two images for each book in sets. It's nice to have a place to show these different books, collector's packs/sets, and other collectibles. I hope anyone flipping through this set enjoys it! This book also has it's own slot in my Custom Set!
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| Platinum Edition - My Submission |
Superman 75 Modern
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9.8
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<i>From my original raw collection.</i>
I owned this copy, and another, raw since the '90's. I remember picking one of them up at a Comic Book Store in Illinois for $300.00 around 1994 before the internet made them relatively easy to come by. That was a lot of money back then, and still is today for a raw book, but seeing one of these in the wild back then was like seeing a Unicorn so you had better not pass it up. I kept one in the bag and opened the other to see what it looked like. In 2013 I sent them both into CGC along with a Platinum Adventures of Superman 500 I had also had since the '90's. This copy came back 9.8 and the other 75 and the 500 both were 9.6. I kept this one and traded the 9.6 set for four of the other books in this set. I think the other guy got a better trade if you look at dollar value, but I got some books I needed so I think we were both happy. I really enjoy the fact that I hung onto this all those years, submitted it myself, and received a 9.8. I'm not sure if this is the one I opened or the one I kept sealed. I have more recently started hearing how many of these poly-bagged books were damaged by leaving them in the bags all those years so I wish I had kept track of which was which, just out of curiosity. I had this book reholdered in February 2021.
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| Poly-Bagged Edition - Signed by Dan Jurgens |
Superman 75 Signature
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9.8
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I like the tombstone/monument feel of this cover. It's worth noting that there is no credit given for the cover art on this book. According to a couple different sources, most importantly <i>DC Direct Currents 58</i> which can be found in my custom set, the cover was computer animated by Eric Kachelhofer. I submitted this information through the CGC forums by starting an <i>Ask CGC</i> topic which you can check out here:
https://www.cgccomics.com/boards/topic/471210-superman-75-poly-bagged-and-platinum-edition-cover-artist/?tab=comments#comment-11262550
I received this reply when following up later:
<i>Yes, your information was sent over to the graders and they will review. The graders don't provide updates on things like this so if they do decide to change the wording on the label you would just see that change going forward. If you have a specific book you want to send in, you can always put a note on the packing slip as well as a sticky note on the comic bag for the graders to review or consider adding or changing the wording but again, this final determination is up to them and a request does not guarantee they will put what you want on the label.</i>
So we will wait and see if this starts popping up on labels going forward... because this is such an iconic cover I think it would be really cool for the artist to receive proper credit, so I personally hope this information is added.
This was the first Signature Series book from this set that I added when barely beginning to build it. I was originally striving for all Universal Label books. I made an exception for this book because it came up for sale before a Universal and that started me down the Signature Series road. I had this book reholdered in February 2021 but did not attempt to get anything changed on the label. I was so stressed when sending that batch of reholders off that I just wanted them back as soon as possible so didn't attempt anything that may cause a delay. I've since added a Universal to my collection and both are in my Custom Set. lf I ever have an <i>extra</i> copy I may send it in to try to get the label annotation added... if sources are correct I think Mr. Kachelhofer deserves it!
Instead of showing the back of this book I included an image of another fairly rare item from this story. This is an uncut sheet of the four spectra etch foil cards from The Death of Superman trading card set. I was on a long bicycle ride many years ago while living in North Carolina when I steered into a Comic Book Store and spotted this. It was a huge pain to carefully put this in my backpack and get it miles to home without ruining it. I really enjoyed all of the Skybox card sets throughout the early/mid '90's but lost interest when Fleer bought Skybox. The non-sport card industry never felt the same to me after that. I also have an uncut sheet that has three of these uncut sheets on the same sheet.
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