CHRISTMAS WITH THE SUPER-HEROES #1

Cover shows clean, bright colors with strong gloss and sharp corners; no visible creases or tears. Slight yellowing/toning is visible along the left edge and spine area, and there appears to be minor edge wear at the top right corner. The book is protected in a plastic sleeve, which may be masking minor surface wear. Interior and back cover were not assessed.

Christmas with the Super-Heroes #1 is a 1988 DC one-shot anthology gathering short holiday-themed stories starring several of the publisher's heroes, released as part of DC's late-1980s tradition of seasonal specials. The issue is best remembered for its Deadman feature, written by Alan Brennert with art by Dick Giordano, a quiet and emotionally direct story about a suicidal Vietnam veteran that is frequently singled out in retrospectives as one of the strongest single stories to run in a DC anthology of the era. The cover, credited to George Pérez, places Batman, Superman, and other heroes in a snow-bound holiday tableau typical of the format.

Market data for the issue is thin, reflecting its status as a lower-print anthology rather than a mainstream ongoing title; census population sits at only eighteen certified copies, and recorded sales are limited to a handful of transactions clustered at 9.4 and 9.6. Demand is driven less by character-first-appearance interest, since the book has none, and more by niche collectors of the Deadman character, Brennert's writing bibliography, and completists of DC's Christmas-special line. The pronounced price gap between 9.4 and 9.6 sales suggests a steep grade-sensitivity curve typical of low-population Copper Age books, where even modest condition differences move price substantially.

This is a book that trades quietly: raw copies in low to mid grade sell for a few dollars in bulk bins and back-issue boxes, appealing mainly to Deadman readers and DC anthology completists rather than speculative buyers. High-grade certified copies command outsized premiums relative to raw material simply because so few exist, making a 9.8 (were one to surface) a genuine rarity play for census-chasers rather than a mainstream key investment. Overall, it remains a well-regarded but market-modest title, valued more for its storytelling reputation than for competitive bidding activity.