Set Description:
"And sometimes I despair the world will never see another man like him..." Crash Test Dummies - Superman's Song
 
My love of this set began when my Mom sent me The Death of Superman trade paperback for Christmas in 1992. I was always a Superman fan but did not collect before this storyline. When reading through the TPB I was overwhelmed upon reaching the last page and witnessing Superman’s ultimate sacrifice. This had a profound impact on me that most certainly changed the way I have spent a good deal of my free time since then. I immediately started searching for the individual Doomsday books from the TPB. I found them while joining in as the Funeral for a Friend and Reign of the Supermen stories unfolded. Collecting cards came next; I remember getting the One True Superman card in the mail… what fun times! I have collected all types of Superman memorabilia since then and am especially grateful that my Wife supports my collecting. The above image, titled A Superman, is an original mixed media work by John Alvin and is one of the highlights of my collection... the collection whose genesis was the actual TPB shown below, still in my possession.
 
I've had raw copies of the first printings of these books since the 90’s; some have made their way into this set and are identified in their descriptions. I remember having zero interest in the later printings back then... oh, if I only knew then what I know now! I spent 30 years in the Marine Corps and moving every 2-3 years made collecting tough at times. At one point I did not see my entire collection for four years while overseas. Many of my books and other collectibles ended up being stored an interminable 10 years, 5 months, and 13 days a harrowing 1948.8 miles away while I finished my service and settled down.
When I at long last pulled my collection from storage and was driving it cross-country the rental truck had a blow-out, a minor setback during an otherwise smooth trip. Alone and unafraid, I took the below picture while waiting for roadside assistance.
With my collection on board...
In 2018 I finally had everything under one roof and started the real work on this set. With few exceptions, each comic description will tell how I was able to add that book.
There are 99 total books in this Set Type; my set consists of four 9.9's, 94 9.8's, and one 9.6. Thirty-eight are Signature Series, I have 37 of those 38 in 9.8 Universal as well and have a larger Custom Set where I display both copies; that set also holds The Beast... a triple cover 9.8 copy of Superman: The Man of Steel 18, and a Jerry Siegel signed Qualified 9.8 Superman 75 with Dynamic Forces COA, as well as various printings of trade paperbacks and other Death of Superman/Doomsday related books, including 9.9's of two different Superman 75 30th Anniversary Reprints!
In December 2019, I purchased 16 books in this set from bryan91, a fellow Death of Superman aficionado that I met through the CGC Registry. This filled 12 empty slots with 9.8's and expanded my set from 82 to 93 percent complete at the time. It also allowed me to upgrade three existing books to 9.8 and one to 9.9. Seven books were the lone 9.8’s in the census at the time and would have taken me years to find individually. One happened to be my grail of all grails, Adventures of Superman 498 fourth printing! I've included the Set Name they came from in their descriptions... the 'NO ONE CAN KILL SUPERMAN!' collection.
This set reached 100 percent completion on 12 March 2020. This was 27 years, 2 months, and 17 days from the day I first beheld, in the pages of that TPB, what was previously thought to be impossible... the End... to Superman's Never-Ending Battle... at the hands of Doomsday. My goal is every book in at least 9.8 but I will forever strive to improve this set, as well as my overall collection of these books.
That is why...
Set Type firsts:
• First set in this Set Type to be awarded both Best Presented Set (2020) and Best Modern Age Set (2021)
• First set to reach 100 percent completion
• First set with a complete run of all first printings graded 9.8
• First set with all four second printings of the Doomsday cameos graded 9.8
• First set with both printings of Action Comics 683 graded 9.8
• First set with all three printings of Action Comics 684 graded 9.8
• First set with all four printings of Adventures of Superman 498 graded 9.8
• First set with both (Regular and Collector's) printings of Adventures of Superman 505 graded 9.8
• First set with all four printings of Justice League America 69 graded 9.8
• First set with all four printings of Justice League America 70 graded 9.8
• First set with both printings of Superman 73 graded 9.8
• First set with all four printings of Superman 74 graded 9.8
• First set with both printings of Superman 76 graded 9.8
• First set with both printings of Superman: The Legacy of Superman 1 graded 9.8
• First set with both printings of Superman: The Man of Steel 20 graded 9.8
• Fourteen books in this set are the first 9.8 copy of that issue
• Four books in this set are confirmed (could be more) to be the first ever graded copy of that issue
• This is the only Set that contains four 9.9's... two of which are LONE 9.9 copies!
Adding the 'NO ONE CAN KILL SUPERMAN!' books to this set made this the lone set with all printings of the below issues graded 9.8 at that time:
• Action Comics 685, three printings
• Adventures of Superman 497, three printings
• Adventures of Superman 500 Platinum and Platinum Error
• Superman 77, three printings
• Superman 82, two printings + Collector's Edition
Below is a breakdown of how this set first* achieved 100% completion:
• 23 books were from my own submissions, 10 of those were from my original raw collection
• 16 were from the ‘NO ONE CAN KILL SUPERMAN!’ collection
• Three were from CGC board members
• Four were obtained in a trade
• 53 were from various other sellers and sites including eBay, My Comic Shop, and ComicLink
*I have since upgraded or swapped out some of the books that originally brought this set to 100% completion... check out the very last set slot to see a triple cover 9.8 swap that I call The Triad!
I submitted 68 additional books while building this set; 16 of those became multiple 9.8's while the rest did not make the cut. I went through hundreds of raw copies to obtain the small successes that I did have with my own submissions. In the case of one particular Funeral for a Friend book, I went through over 50 copies before finding any that were worthy of submission. I opened three Doomsday! 7 issue Collector's Packs, two Funeral for a Friend 9 issue Collector's Packs, nine Funeral for a Friend 9 issue Limited Collector's Sets, three Superman's Greatest Hits 7 issue Collector's Packs, and seven Toys R Us Two-Packs looking for submission candidates during my pursuit of 9.8's for this set...
Noteworthy moments from my own submissions:
• First to submit Justice League America 70 third printing for grading, graded 9.8 Universal on 11 September 2019
• First to have Action Comics 683 second printing grade 9.8 Universal, grade date 7 April 2020, three copies
• First to have Justice League America 69 third printing grade 9.8 Universal, grade date 25 September 2020
• First to have Justice League America 70 fourth printing grade 9.8 Universal, grade date 16 February 2021
• First to have Superman 76 second printing grade 9.8 Universal, grade date 24 April 2020, two copies
• I also had the following challenging books earn 9.8's through my submissions; Action Comics 685 third printing, Adventures of Superman 498 third printing, Adventures of Superman 505 Regular and Collector's Editions, Superman 73 second printing, Superman 75 third and fourth printing and Platinum Edition, Superman 82 second printing, Superman: The Man of Steel 18 fourth and fifth printing, 19 third printing, and Green Lantern 46 second printing
Rather than showing the back cover of books, I have included other items in second image slots where I thought they would add to the set's overall presentation. I had 38 books in this set reholdered so that all books would be in current and pristine holders. To preserve gallery consistency going forward, I will (try) not put a book in this set unless/until it is in the current CGC holder. Some of my book descriptions also mention my larger Doomsday related Custom Set where I have all of these books in reading order plus quite a few others... if you enjoy this set please check out that one here...
Oh no... it looks like Superman has gotten himself into trouble again!
Don't worry... in reality this piece was a gift from the Marines at my last unit. It is two original comic pages and was drawn and inked by Stephen B. Scott. Putting this set together was almost as fun as I imagine it would be to actually knock out Darkseid with one punch! I hope whoever takes a look at it enjoys it just as much!
The Registry Award judges had this to say when awarding it…
"With a big surge at the end of 2019 this set shot up the ranks like a speeding bullet! Using his patience and laser-like focus Iconic1s has put together a complete set over the span of 27+ years. Your tireless efforts did not go unnoticed by our judges and we are sure that the collecting community will agree! Thank you for sharing your collection and personal journey with us all."
And then they said this when it was awarded...
"During the early 1990s, Superman was a long way from where he started back in 1938. DC sales were at all-time lows. Superman in particular wasn’t selling well at all. It seemed like the public had all but abandoned the Man of Steel.
In 1992, DC’s newly formed Superman creative team got together to give new life to the Son of Krypton… by killing him off. The idea was born of a joke made by Jerry Ordway, one of the creative team, but eventually it evolved into a provocative storyline that gave Superman something entirely new: vulnerability. It also invited readers to look at a world without the greatest super-hero of all time.
Readers certainly took up the invitation and were riveted with the storyline to say the least. DC’s sales skyrocketed across the titles, and Superman 75 became the best-selling comic of 1992.
During Christmas of the same year, Iconic1s received the Death of Superman trade paperback, officially launching a 27+ year journey to collect every issue of the entire storyline! What an accomplishment!
This collection boasts some of the highest graded storyline issues, many of them the first 9.8's to be added to the census, as well as two 9.9's with Adventures of Superman 500 and Superman: The Man of Steel 18! Arguably, though, some of the toughest books in this set are the later printings! With such high readership, later printings were definitely not as appreciated as the first, and are very hard to find in nice shape.
We’re impressed with the high grades of Iconic1s set, but it’s the heart that’s gone into assembling this collection that really makes it shine! We’re proud to award Iconic1s with Best in Modern Age for this extraordinary set! Congratulations Iconic1s!"
And now, without further ado...
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| The gallery tab shows only items with images. Click the thumbnails to enlarge. |
| Slot: |
Action Comics 683 |
| Item: |
Action Comics 683 Modern |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
0230981030
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Owner Comments
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 Special Projects Dept 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 Style Guide/Doomsday Model Sheet 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 MC 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:
DOOMSDAY STYLE GUIDE
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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| Slot: |
Action Comics 683 Second Printing |
| Item: |
Action Comics 683 Modern |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
2095335003
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Owner Comments
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!
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 dealer 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, feverishly) 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 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. Check out the sequential certification numbers… pretty cool!
When I got the three raw books looking as good as they did, I promised a friend of mine, Brandon Shepherd, 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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| Slot: |
Action Comics 684 |
| Item: |
Action Comics 684 Signature |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1006319005
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Owner Comments
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 Butch Guice 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... pretty terrifying!!
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| Slot: |
Action Comics 684 Second Printing |
| Item: |
Action Comics 684 Modern |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
2028182023
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Owner Comments
"There can be only One..." The Kurgan - Highlander
...at least for now. This was the first Action Comics 684 second printing graded, and it is a 9.8! This was also my first experience having a one and only 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... worth it!
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 Funeral for a Friend and Reign of the Supermen 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 sold, rather than being kept in a collection for at least for a little while. That's just wild!
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!
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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| Slot: |
Action Comics 684 Third Printing |
| Item: |
Action Comics 684 Modern |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1218701020
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Owner Comments
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.
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. 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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| Slot: |
Action Comics 685 |
| Item: |
Action Comics 685 Modern |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
2032265017
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Owner Comments
I won this book on eBay for $62.00 which I think is pretty good considering there were two others listed at the time with buy it now prices over $150.00. My Base Set was at 52 percent when I bought this book, I also had 20 books at CGC and 11 others sitting on my shelf waiting to be submitted after those came back. This was one I did not have, either at CGC or on the shelf, so I was looking for it. I'm glad to have gotten it for a good price!
The book in the second image came with the one that started it all... this reprint was included with the TPB my Mom sent me back in 1992. After finally getting all of my stuff out of storage and driving it cross-country, I submitted this book to CGC via CCS. Grade date on this book is 19 November 2018... 25 Years, 10 months, and 26 days from when I first freed it from the shrink wrap, and well before I would have considered myself a collector. My Mom, having passed in 2012, may have been looking over the grader's shoulder when this one was graded!
I think Action Comics 685 is a great homage in the wake of Superman's death. There are so many cool things about this set if you take the time to appreciate them! I wish I had appreciated my Mom more when she was around.
Now that I've created a Custom Set this Action Comics 1 reprint will also have it's own slot! The fact that it literally came with the TPB that started this journey makes it easily worthy of it's own slot!
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| Slot: |
Action Comics 685 Second Printing |
| Item: |
Action Comics 685 Modern |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
0191861004
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Owner Comments
From the 'NO ONE CAN KILL SUPERMAN!' collection.
I had found several raw copies of this book but had no luck finding any worthy of submission. I also did not have one ready to submit when I was able to get the copy you see here. Even more exciting than getting this book at all, was the fact that I was able to get the third printing at the same time fo finish up all three printings of this book. I had this book reholdered in February 2021.
I really love this cover and think it was a great idea to use Supergirl to recreate the cover of Action Comics 1 during this storyline while Superman was presumably dead.
I included a Superman Wall-Relief Sculpture in the second picture slot. This was put out in 1997, I ordered it through Previews and paid $99.00 for it. Created by William Paquet, it is hand painted cold-cast porcelain limited to 800 pieces; mine is 460. I thought it would go well with this book for obvious reasons. It's also just a neat piece that you don't see come up for sale that often so I thought it would be fun to share it here.
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| Slot: |
Action Comics 685 Third Printing |
| Item: |
Action Comics 685 Modern |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
0191861005
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Owner Comments
From the 'NO ONE CAN KILL SUPERMAN!' collection.
I was able to get this copy as well as the second printing at the same time from one very awesome fellow collector. At the time, I had a raw copy that I had very high hopes for waiting to go in with my next submission. When I got the chance to buy this book, my raw copy immediately came out of my submission stack to make space for other books. I have commented before on how I enjoy the title color changes on the various books and this one is no exception. This book has title colors that are more earthy in tone, which is different from the rest in the set, but they work very well with the art.
In the second picture slot I have included a picture of all three printings when they were first brought together… very cool!
I had both the second and third printings of this book reholdered in February 2021.
Update - In June 2022 a copy of this book that I submitted was graded 9.8! I'm not sure if it was the raw that I referred to above or a different book because, by the time I had submitted it, a lot of raw books had accumulated in my collection. Whichever book it was, I am very happy to have had the experience of submitting a copy of this rare third printing and have it come back a 9.8!
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| Slot: |
Action Comics 686 |
| Item: |
Action Comics 686 Signature |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
0958709012
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Owner Comments
I liked the black border on all of the Funeral for a Friend books and the way they were numbered across the top. The black border does make high grade copies very hard to find though, especially of the later printings which are hard enough to find to begin with! As I said in my set description, if I only knew then what I know now... I would have done a much better job of collecting the later printings when they were sold new. That definitely would have saved me a lot of time and money, but it wouldn't have been as fun as it is to be on the hunt for them now! Most importantly, my search has caused me to meet some pretty awesome fellow collectors that I might have missed out on otherwise.
I bought my Universal copy of this book on eBay for $87.00 and that book helped me get my Base Set to 100 percent completion. I later added the Signature Series book shown here to my collection. It’s pretty cool that Roger Stern signed this book Best, Roger Stern… I haven’t seen another like it, it seems personal and it feels nice to have it in my collection.
This version of Supergirl visually reminds me of Helen Slater as Supergirl, particularly the colors of her suit as they appear under the night sky of this cover. I attached a signed photo I have of Helen Slater as Supergirl that I got about 20 years ago for comparison. I don't know if this similarity was intentional, a mistake, or maybe it's just my imagination. Either way, I think it's kinda cool.
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| Slot: |
Action Comics 686 Second Printing |
| Item: |
Action Comics 686 Modern |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
2117041007
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Owner Comments
“e·nig·ma - noun - a person or thing that is mysterious, puzzling, or difficult to understand.” Dictionary
After adding this book, I could count on one hand the number of 9.8's I needed to complete my entire Base Set in at least 9.8... five!
I bought this book off of eBay for $1100.00! It was only the second 9.8 copy of this book to come up for sale; the first was the lone 9.8 at the time and sold for $750.00 about a year prior to this one. This book was originally listed for $3000.00 and then again for $3200.00 before the seller and I worked out the $1100.00 price through offers and counteroffers. There were four 9.8’s in the census when I bought this book and it's addition put my Base Set at 93 of 98 total books in at least 9.8.
This book is the my third copy. It replaced a 9.4 that was from my own submission. The 9.4 had replaced a 9.6 Restored Label book that I had also submitted prior to that. The restored book spent about three months in my Base Set, and the 9.4 was there a little over a month before this 9.8 replaced it. With this book being so hard to find in any grade, all three of them will remain in my collection and I have included a group picture in the second picture slot.
I had decided to add the restored book and one other, at a time when I was down to my last two books before being at 100 percent completion. I had one last criterion that I required myself to meet before I could add those and that was that I had to have another raw copy of the same book submitted to CGC before doing so. While working on this set, I collected and gathered raw books from many different sources. As a result, I had several books that I submitted return with color touch restoration, this was a huge (and expensive) learning experience. The other restored book, Superman 76 second printing, has since been replaced with a 9.8 Universal Label book that I submitted myself, and which I personally opened from its collector's pack ensuring it had not been altered!
I had bought the 9.4 copy of this book raw for $125.00 on eBay thinking that it would probably grade right about where it did. When that book arrived it was one case where the book was even better looking in person than what was shown in the listing. I still didn't think it was 9.8 material, but I stuck it right back in the bag and board and mailed it off to CCS immediately. I was happy with the grade and even happier to add it to my collection and be able to replace the last restored book with a Universal Label.
I opened this description with the definition of enigma and that is how I see this particular book right now. The lone 9.8 sells for $750.00... about a year later there are four 9.8's and this book is not the rarest graded DC Universe logo book in this entire storyline, yet I paid what I paid for it. When my 9.4 was graded there were three CGC copies on eBay that popped up in this order; an 8.5 listed for $249.99, a 9.4 for $499.99, and finally this 9.8. What I ultimately paid makes no mathematical sense considering the increase in the number of 9.8’s since the lone 9.8 had sold only a year prior, and considering there is nothing super-special (first appearance, etc.) about this book, hence...
... enigma... a modern book multiplies in the census by 400 percent while sellers simultaneously ask increasingly higher prices for it, this baffles me. I personally believe this book is worth (to me) what I paid but will it continue to be an enigma? Will sellers continue to ask (and receive) higher prices to cash in on the few people that really love these books while the census continues to grow? I suppose the root cause to this puzzling situation may be that as long as there is someone willing to pay it, they will keep asking it... maybe it's not that confusing after all!
As much as I personally love these books I still try to keep a little bit of my head in the game. Yes, I really want to finish this collection all in 9.8 but it would be no fun looking at any book knowing that you got completely taken advantage of when buying it. I much prefer transactions when both the buyer and the seller are reasonably happy. I think that this book more than any other in this set (so far), pushed me right to the edge of where I know I paid a premium to add it, but where I can also still look at it and feel good about it. Plus, my wife had just done pretty good at the Casino so it was good timing... woo-hoo!!
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| Slot: |
Action Comics 687 |
| Item: |
Action Comics 687 Modern |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
2054669016
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Owner Comments
From my original raw collection (second 9.8 copy).
I picked this book up for $60.00 BIN on eBay. It was just two days after I won Superman 74 third printing so I was going to take a break for awhile. At the time I had been seeing the first printings from the set going for around $120.00 BIN on average. I also had a copy of my own submitted to CGC at the time. Even with the submission pending this price seemed really good to guarantee a 9.8 for my collection.
A week after buying this book my submission went into scheduled for grading and moved pretty fast into finalized shipped, at which time I found out that my submission of this book was also graded at 9.8! I'm pretty happy about that because that book was one of several from my original collection that also received a 9.8. I've included both books in the second picture.
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| Slot: |
Action Comics 687 Collector's Edition |
| Item: |
Action Comics 687 Modern |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1261119002
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Owner Comments
These die cut covers were my first introduction to multiple covers for the same book. I liked that only the S of that particular Superman imposter was showing through. The fact that there were four new Supermen was pretty intriguing at the time. In this case, The Eradicator was a pretty ruthless Supes that took no prisoners!
I got this book off of eBay for $39.99, which I think was a very fair price. I remember feeling like I had struck gold when I found the whole raw set of these four die-cut covered books in a Comic Book Shop in Savannah, Georgia in 1993. It was so fun back then to travel to different places, and find new stores to explore, looking for treasures.
I included a cool Eradictor figure in the second slot. This is from the early days of DC Direct, and is from The Return of Superman line. I remember my Wife and I picked up the entire set at a Comic Book Shop in the mall in Oceanside, California. These were pretty hot at the time and we just got lucky by stumbling in when they had just been put on the pegs.
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| Slot: |
Action Comics 688 |
| Item: |
Action Comics 688 Modern |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
2041066005
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Owner Comments
From my original raw collection.
When I started the real work on building this set in CGC 9.8 this is one of the books that I had in my long boxes from the '90's. I sent this in with a stack of 20 books (not all were from my original raw collection) and ended up with 14 9.8's! Not too bad for hanging onto these for all those years. Also not bad considering that when I originally got these books back in the '90's I had no intention of ever sending them to a third party grader, I just wanted the nicest looking copies I could find.
I was never a huge fan of Guy Gardner, or his bowl cut, but I think that it was a great idea to include as many DC characters in this storyline as possible to illustrate the impact of these events throughout the entire DC Universe. Very nice vibrant cover!
Even if Guy isn’t my favorite dude of all time I thought that my copy of Guy Gardner 1 from October 1992 would go well with this book!
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| Slot: |
Action Comics 689 |
| Item: |
Action Comics 689 Modern |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
2041066007
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Owner Comments
From my original raw collection.
To me, this cover has a strange science fiction vibe to it. It isn't one of my favorite covers but I do like the mysterious aspect of it. It would be really cool to have an actual floating chair like that!
If I did have a floating chair like that I would probably sit in it and drink IPA's from the mug I show in the second picture slot. This is a California Originals Superman Mug by Jim Rumph that was put out in 1978. According to some sources this was only sold in certain theaters while Superman: The Movie was being shown but I cannot confirm that. This mug is HUGE and holds several beers and YES I do drink out of it when I am in the right mood... usually kicking back playing a video game or rewatching a superhero movie. Over the course of about ten years I was able to put together a set of four of these. Okay, I've got the mug now I just need the floating chair!
Who is watching the Supermen? Or rather... ‘he awakes!’
You don't see this book come up very often so I am glad that I took care of it and that it came back 9.8! I am really happy that some of my original raw books, like this one, achieved 9.8 and are members of this set... they create a connection from the earliest days of my collecting until now, which feels kinda cool.
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| Slot: |
Action Comics 690 |
| Item: |
Action Comics 690 Modern |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
2110952007
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Owner Comments
The Man of Tomorrow Makes His Move!
This book was an upgrade to a 9.6 that was from my original raw collection. My Base Set was already 100 percent complete but this book was the 90th book to reach at least 9.8 (I had one 9.9 at the time) out of the 98 total books. I was really excited to be able to break the 90 books graded at 9.8 mark. It was also the second to the last first printing that I needed in 9.8 from this entire set. The last first printing I needed was Adventures of Superman 498, which is ironically how I ended up adding this book.
Over the couple of years working really hard on this collection I had never seen an Adventures of Superman 498 first printing pop up for sale anywhere. As far as books from this set go, it’s not a rare book at all but I guess the people that did have it were hanging onto it. On 22 December 2019 I posted a WTB post on the CGC forums looking for a 498 first printing graded 9.8. I ended up finally getting a reply on 31 January 2020 from a member that had just bought a collection of 1700 ‘90’s era raw books. He had a really nice copy that he offered to submit for me. I asked him about a few other books I needed at the time and he also had this Action Comics 690. The Adventures of Superman 498 looked incredible and seemed to be a sure thing while we were not as certain about this book coming back 9.8.
I agreed to buy them both if they came back 9.8 and he submitted them for pressing and grading. On 23 April 2020 we finally got the grades and this book earned a 9.8 while the 498 received a 9.2 with no grader notes! This was good news mixed with bad but I decided to look at the glass half full… as much as I hoped to finish out all four printings of Adventures of Superman 498 in 9.8, it was also pretty cool to finish out the entire Reign of the Supermen all in 9.8. On the really bright side, as of this writing, this book makes a total of 10 (all labels) 9.8 copies of Action Comics 690 while there are a total of 23 (including one Qualified) 9.8’s of the 498 first printing; this book was actually more than twice as rare at the time and I’m really glad to have it! Sometimes things work out a certain way for a reason and when I do add the Adventures of Superman 498 first printing in 9.8 it will be in good company!
Many thanks go out to KryptoSpidey for his help with this book.
Update - the Adventures of Superman 498 first printing was finally added thanks to the help of another board member... check it out there!
The book in the second picture slot is from 1998 and was graded 1 February 2022. As of this writing it is still the ONLY graded copy… and a 9.8! I show it here because of the inclusion of Doomsday on the cover, as well as a later iteration of Cyborg Superman. For that, and it’s rarity, it fits nicely in this gallery! This is a really cool book and this one, like many others, blows my mind that it took so long for one to be graded! I also think it goes well with this Action Comics 690 because they both show Villains on the cover, although The Eradicator is being framed as one!
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