Previously on X-Men

Introduction

This unique newsstand edition set of near mint/mint 9.8 covers contains Jim Lee's well-recognized, "adjectiveless" X-Men run that includes his work on the four dynamic connecting issue #1 covers (A-D), issues #2-11, and finishing off with his iconic cover for X-Men Annual #1 (1992). These covers in some shape or form have inspired countless number of merchandise, from lunch boxes to underwear, that have collectively made the 90's comic frenzy ever more nostalgic. For me, X-Men #1 Cover C with the iconic imagery of Cyclops blasting at Magneto's magnetic force field and Wolverine's ferocious intimidation was the first comic book I had ever read, so the nostalgic value for me is incredibly high and what inspired me to put this set together.



I made it a personal goal of individually curating, pressing, and submitting each newsstand edition issue for grading myself which made this journey even more ambitious than most collectors. I can proudly say I've acquire raw copies and personally pressed each issue to achieve grades of NM/MT 9.8 at some point along this collecting journey. That is to say, I have owned a copy of a CGC 9.8 of all 15 issues that have had my personal touch. While some issues (#1B, 4, 10, and 11) in the current registered set had eventually been replaced with higher-quality graded 9.8 copies acquired on the secondary market (where I felt the visual appeal and condition surpassed the books I had pressed and graded myself), I feel not many collectors can say they've put the same kind of personal touch in collecting a set.

Inclusion Criteria

This unique set had a specific criteria in mind for which I felt made this set different from the other registered sets. I wanted this set to strictly include the following:

1. All the issues where Jim Lee had worked on in this run including X-Men Annual #1 that features his work on the cover and an interior page (which most registered sets did not include);

2.  Newsstand Editions;

3. Graded in CGC 9.8 NM/MT condition; and finally

4. Received a Universal Blue Label (no signatures).

Uniqueness

To my knowledge in reviewing the top registered sets in the general category of 'X-Men (1991) Jim Lee', no set had met this strict inclusion criteria. I particularly wanted my set to avoid a Frankenstein mixture of yellow and blue labels and also include a CGC 9.8 X-Men Annual #1 Newsstand Edition, which I found to be rather rare in high grade and in newsstand edition. I felt this set was the most consistent (all covers, universal labels, 9.8, newsstand editions, etc.), not overly ambitious, and overall unique. Putting this set together was no easy feat and was an undertaking that took almost two years.

• All Jim Lee covers: All of the top registered sets in the 'X-Men (1991) Jim Lee' category only include the run up to issue #11 and inconsistently include other special printings. In my opinion, It's a bit of of remiss to not include X-Men Annual #1 as it features Jim's work on the cover, which has become one of the most iconic images of the X-Men running into battle.


• Newsstand Editions: While issues from this run are quite ubiquitous, what makes this particular 15-cover set extra unique and noteworthy is that all issues are in newsstand editions, which are notorious for handling issues due to the nature of newsstands dealing with more unpredictable environments and it's general scarcity. Various sources note that from 1990's-onward, newsstand editions were much more rare than its direct edition counterpart at initial distribution and estimated to comprise of 10% of the marketplace.


• Near Mint/Mint Condition: Factoring in survivorship and mishandling of newsstand edition copies, near mint/mint 9.8 conditions can be deduced to be ever more rare. I was lucky to be able to find individual high grade raw issues to press myself to get them to the grade I wanted.


• Universal Blue Label: Visually, I wanted the set to have a consistency between the labels - so it was either all yellow signature labels, all custom labels, or simply all blue labels. I didn't want an inconsistent mixture of colors and custom labels so I choose the latter. I've seen complete newsstand 9.8 sets for issues #1-11 and the Annual, but I found the mixture of signature, blue labels, and custom labels to be too distracting for my taste. The choice in labels was strangely ambitious to the point where I've even reholdered a universal label with a custom label to a simpler universal blue label to avoid the inconsistency.

Gallery

Final Words

I am extremely thrilled to share this set with other collectors on the CGC registry as it had been a very personal journey in putting this together. It was an obsession that took nearly two years, with a lot of personal investment in time, energy and money to acquire multiple copies of each issue in newsstand edition, ensure they were high grade, clean and press them myself, just to get a CGC 9.8 copy at the end. While it would have been nice to simply purchase copies on Ebay and call it a day, not all issues were readily available (1B and 9 and 10), so I had to actively acquire raw copies and press them myself to complete this set. I've personally scanned each book to include in this registered set so that other collectors who stumble on this set can see these beautiful newsstand editions on full display.