is this a good deal?

[the blob]

the book is indeed 20 years old, but there are palettes of them somewhere, no? John Byrne was a hot artist right then (perhaps still the hottest artist in 1986, though Miller was in the neighborhood) and people speculated heavily on the book. at every show you will see these in long boxes for 25, 50 cents, a buck, whatever. Perhaps they are not all 9.8s, but some will no doubt be that high or 9.6 9.4s. I know one of my LCSes probably has 10-15 of these scattered in their dollar boxes. Admittedly, they aren't 9.8s, but is the fact that a book is incredibly common, but so worthless for so long that there aren't many very high grade copies, a reason to plunk down $40 + S/H? I don't really "get it" for other moderns either, but perhaps if you are a huge X-Men fan and a completionist dropping $40 for 9.8 copies of generic issues in the 200s and 300s makes sense, I'm not going to question that, but are you a big Steel fan? If you're a big Byrne fan, this was probably the start of his decline.

 

Seriously, look at the goodies you can pick up here for that much loot!

[sckao]

Yes. This book was heavily speculated upon when it came out. (Reboot of Superman, John Byrne, National News coverage, etc.)

 

As a teenager, I personally ordered about 75-100 copies of #1 from Westfield Comics (still have most of them) and about 50 copies of #2.

 

Considering that I probably ended up paying about $.50 per book... this wasn't the greatest of "investments". I give out free NM/NM+ copies of these books to kids sometimes at conventions.

[Mac Man]

Not all 9.8s are worth buying. If you're looking to collect as an investor, look into Golden Age Tecs and Supes or the "grails" (a la Amazing Fantasy 15, Fantastic Four 1, Showcase 4, etc). Otherwise, buy the stuff you like.