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Author:
Title: Ultra-Rare Superman" Debut
Place Published: Signed by Siegel & Shuster"
Publisher:
Date Published: SCIENCE FICTION: THE ADVANCE GUARD OF FUTURE CIVILIZATION No. 3 * Siegel & Shuster's REIGN OF THE SUPERMAN" * Otto Binder's Copy * Signed by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster"
Description: Cleveland[Self-published by Siegel & Shuster]January, 1933CBCS certified: Poor (0.5). Grader's notes: "1st page missing, does not affect story. INCOMPLETE. Staples removed. Slightly brittle. Verified signatures: JERRY SIEGEL & JOE SHUSTER (on 2nd page). 1st use of 'SUPERMAN' by Jerry Siegel in 'The Reign of the Superman' story. Forrest Ackerman's name used in story. Letter from Julius Schwartz." Art: Joe Shuster. Story: Jerry Siegel (under the pseudonym "Herbert S. Fine").

Scarcity and Sales Data: There are no copies on the CGC Census; thus, there is no GPAnalysis sales data. According to Heritage, it's likely "that no more than 50 copies were printed," and only a few are known to survive. This is the ONLY KNOWN SIGNED COPY in existence. Heritage sold a coverless, unsigned copy (together with Science Fiction: The Advance Guard of Future Civilization #s 1 & 2) for $47,800 in September, 2006; Profiles in History sold an unsigned copy for $59,000 in 2010; and RR Auctions sold an unsigned set of Science Fiction: The Advance Guard of Future Civilization #s 1-4 (with #3 lacking the front cover) for $43,750 in September, 2018.

Provenance: From the collection of Richard A. Lupoff, comics historian and author/co-editor of All in Color for a Dime (1970) and The Comic-Book Book (1973). Mr. Lupoff acquired this copy from science fiction author Otto Binder. Included with the lot is a hardcover first edition of All in Color for a Dime, and a copy of Nemo: The Classic Comics Library #2 (1985), which features an article about the Birth of Superman and a reprint of "Reign of the Superman," copied from Lupoff's own copy of Science Fiction: The Advance Guard of a New Civilization #2. Also included is a typed and signed letter of provenance by Ken Lupoff, Richard's son, which reads in part:

"To Whom it May Concern: The following is my statement regarding the provenance of the Otto Binder / Richard Lupoff copy of Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster's Reign of the Super-Man (aka Science Fiction: The Advance Guard of Future Civilization #3), autographed by Siegel & Shuster. This is also the copy that was reprinted in the magazine, Nemo: The Classic Comics Library in 1983.

"My father, Richard Lupoff, was a fairly well-known science fiction and mystery author, having written over thirty novels during his lifetime. He also, along with my mother, Patricia Lupoff, was one of the founders of comic book fandom, featuring a series of comic book related articles in their seminal science fiction fanzine, Alter Ego. These articles became the basis for the book, All In Color For A Dime, co-edited by my father and Don Thompson.... Most of the information below was relayed to me over the years by my late father:

"In the early 1960s - preceding and shortly after my birth in September 1961 — my parents hosted a series of film nights at their Manhattan apartment, including the screening of the 1941 movie serial, Adventures of Captain Marvel. According to my father, noted science fiction and Captain Marvel author, Otto Binder, attended several of their movie nights.... It was during this time period (early-'60s NYC) that Binder gave my father his copy of Reign of the Super-Man.

"Sometime in 1982 or 1983, my father loaned his copy of Reign of the Super-Man to Tom Andrae and Robert Beerbohm for reproduction in Nemo #2. It is my belief that Mr. Andrae took the fanzine with him when he traveled to meet with and interview Jerry and Joanne Siegel and Joe Shuster. This is the only interview with Superman's creators that I know of where Reign of the Super-Man is discussed. I also believe that this is when the fanzine was autographed to my father.... The salutation reads, 'W[ith] warmest super regards to Richard Lupoff from Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster.' It seems to be written with one pen, and the two autographs appear to match other autographs by each of the Superman creators.

"In any case, when the fanzine was returned to my father some months later (sans staples), it had the above-described salutation and signatures. Sincerely, Ken Lupoff.""In the realm of modern SF, fantasy and popular literature a more important printed work does not exist." — John McLaughlin, legendary comic book and pulp collector, whose set of Science Fiction: The Advance Guard of Future Civilization #s 1-3 was sold in 2006 for $47,800.

When Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were high school chums in Cleveland, they'd sit around Joe's room for hours dreaming up fantasy worlds and putting their visions down on paper, hoping to get published in the pulp mags that flourished during the Great Depression. All they got for their efforts was a great deal of writing and drawing practice, and a big fat heap of rejection letters. In 1932, the boys decided to bypass the pulps and self-published their work in a mimeographed sci-fi fanzine entitled Science Fiction: The Advance Guard of Future Civilization. Their fanzine ran for five issues before the boys pulled the plug due to poor sales. It's said that only about 50 copies were printed of each ish; most went unsold, and only a few survive.

The third ish of young Siegel and Shuster's fanzine included a story that heralded the most significant pop culture creation of the 20th century: "The Reign of the Superman," a pulpy take on Friedrich Nietzsche's concept of the Übermensch. While Siegel and Shuster's original version of the "Superman" is portrayed in their story as a bald, telepathic villain, the name and general concept took root in their minds and reemerged several years later as the foundational superhero whose debut in Action Comics #1 would transform comics and popular culture forever. As Siegel later remarked, "A couple of months after I published this story, it occurred to me that a Superman as a hero rather than a villain might make a great comic strip character. Obviously, having him as a hero would be infinitely more commercial than having him a villain."

"The very first Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster debuted in #3 of a self-produced fanzine going by the pretentious title of Science Fiction: The Advance Guard of Future Civilization. This Superman was not the blue, red and yellow-clad hunk from Krypton we all know and love, but a different character influenced by the readings of Siegel, a staunch pulp magazine fan." — C. Sesselego, "The Prehistory of the Super-Man." Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster's Science Fiction: The Advance Guard of Future Civilization, Featuring The Reign of the Super-Man. Blue Monkey Studio/Licorne Prints: 2020, p. 17.