Superman #82 Not all 9.8s created equal? 2 2

[Bibbo]

Superman #82 features what very well may be my favorite Superman cover of all time. Drawn by the unmistakable Dan Jurgens and inked by Brett Breeding, it is the final chapter of the Reign of The Supermen storyline, which brought the Man Of Steel back from the dead after his famed battle with Doomsday. Even during a time where gimmicky covers were a dime a dozen, it’s still extremely striking.

With that said I noticed that the color intensity in the chromium covers varies from issue to issue and is noticeably different, though it does not seem to affect the grading process. Also, the “Superman” moniker on some covers appears to be downright transparent, even with text visible from the first page of the issue through the cover. Again, this does not seem to affect the grade.

I know there are a more than a few DOS collector’s around these parts and was wondering if anyone else had noticed and was puzzled by this...

 

 

 

 

As as you can see from these examples,  all graded 9.8, they each look vastly different. I know sunlight exposure can “yellow” books, but was also wondering if this was perhaps the chromium cover reacting to possible pressing. Thoughts?

Edited July 3, 2019 by Bibbo

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

I have seen this a lot myself as well. It appears to be an issue they had in manufacturing,  but common enough that cgc has not noted this as a manufacturing error. Where some appear gold , others more silver and transparent.  Several people have started trying to ask more money claiming one is more rare than the other, and the error copy, yet they both seem relatively common. Still I would agree it is a good cover. Plus one of the issues I have been looking for although I am after the #82 second print 9.8 and considering only one on census i will have to hope some of my raws come back that high..

[valiantman]

Full cover chromium comics were NEW in 1993, and the first few ordered (starting with X-O Manowar #0 from Valiant) were made in very large quantities.  As a result, new process, high quantity, there are lots-and-lots of variations (unintentional) for those books. 

[Bibbo]

So it seems like we're chalking this up to various manufacturing errors due to mass printing of chromium covers.  This was 1993, so I guess that makes sense.  This does, in my opinion, hurt those who are trying to price gouge based on "errors" for this issue. 

I would say that the top photo is the correct/intended version, and that any other variations in color and transparent covers were simply the chromium not being correctly applied. 

[RockMyAmadeus]

1 hour ago, valiantman said:

Full cover chromium comics were NEW in 1993, and the first few ordered (starting with X-O Manowar #0 from Valiant) were made in very large quantities.  As a result, new process, high quantity, there are lots-and-lots of variations (unintentional) for those books. 

Superman #82 isn't a full cover chromium book. It's a hybrid half chromium sheet attached to a cardboard cover, a la Lady Death #1.

FYI for nerd minutiae.

[valiantman]

21 minutes ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

1 hour ago, valiantman said:

Full cover chromium comics were NEW in 1993, and the first few ordered (starting with X-O Manowar #0 from Valiant) were made in very large quantities.  As a result, new process, high quantity, there are lots-and-lots of variations (unintentional) for those books. 

Superman #82 isn't a full cover chromium book. It's a hybrid half chromium sheet attached to a cardboard cover, a la Lady Death #1.

FYI for nerd minutiae.

I literally had no idea. 

[RockMyAmadeus]

2 minutes ago, valiantman said:

I literally had no idea. 

[GeeksAreMyPeeps]

1 hour ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

Superman #82 isn't a full cover chromium book. It's a hybrid half chromium sheet attached to a cardboard cover, a la Lady Death #1.

FYI for nerd minutiae.

You mean Chromium front cover/card back, right?

[Lazyboy]

27 minutes ago, GeeksAreMyPeeps said:

1 hour ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

Superman #82 isn't a full cover chromium book. It's a hybrid half chromium sheet attached to a cardboard cover, a la Lady Death #1.

FYI for nerd minutiae.

You mean Chromium front cover/card back, right?

Yeah, with the chromium sheet being attached to a thin strip of the back cover that wraps around to the front.

[RockMyAmadeus]

1 hour ago, Lazyboy said:

2 hours ago, GeeksAreMyPeeps said:

3 hours ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

Superman #82 isn't a full cover chromium book. It's a hybrid half chromium sheet attached to a cardboard cover, a la Lady Death #1.

FYI for nerd minutiae.

You mean Chromium front cover/card back, right?

Yeah, with the chromium sheet being attached to a thin strip of the back cover that wraps around to the front.

A la Lady Death #1.

[divad]

4 hours ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

Superman #82 isn't a full cover chromium book. It's a hybrid half chromium sheet attached to a cardboard cover, a la Lady Death #1.

FYI for nerd minutiae.

You had a list somewhere of the full-chromium covers . . . not really that many issues if I recall.

 

[Brandon Shepherd]

I never knew of the color differences on this cover, I just figured the quality of the photos, lighting and scans varied.

As for the attachment of the cover, I wonder if the glue holding the front cover to the inch wide strip from the back cover stock that goes over the front spine will eventually separate now that we are 25 years out from publication. 

I got my CGC copy of this Collector's Edition for a nice price on eBay a few years ago, now I'm tired of seeing them listed. Show me a CGC 9.8 copy of the regular cover for sale at a nice price, and a 9.8 of the second printing! 

[JoeRock]

Picked this copy up in trade, did a mild search, didn’t see much info on it. Most of the other qualifying copies were unwitnessed signed copies. 

[DjFlex]

On 7/3/2019 at 9:37 AM, RockMyAmadeus said:

Hahaha!  Yeah, front cover is a half-Chromium sheet glued to a 1" inch-tab part of back cover. I have a gem-mint 10.0, and mine is ALL GOLD on the front cover, but inside cover is pure Chrome... It's like magic! lol.  #82 is an Amazing storyline and has fantastic artwork, guys! 

 

On 7/3/2019 at 10:17 AM, GeeksAreMyPeeps said:

You mean Chromium front cover/card back, right?

 

[valiantman]

On 4/10/2020 at 11:07 AM, DjFlex said:

Hahaha!  Yeah, front cover is a half-Chromium sheet glued to a 1" inch-tab part of back cover. I have a gem-mint 10.0, and mine is ALL GOLD on the front cover, but inside cover is pure Chrome... It's like magic! lol.  #82 is an Amazing storyline and has fantastic artwork, guys! 

Until it is in a CGC 10 slab, there are no Gem Mint 10.0 books, there are only very nice copies. 

Sorry, (but welcome to the board), "Gem Mint 10" isn't a real thing until it's in a CGC slab.  Before that, it's just a proud papa of the world's best baby... according to the papa... (and what baby isn't?!?)... but not according to the official world's best baby evaluation company.