It’s Black Friday and while you’re hunting for deals (particularly at Amazon), treat yourself by dropping a copy of Behind the Shadows into your cart!

Black Friday, 1992. I was there, and my good buddy Brad Owings will attest to this, having been there in the comic book retail trenches with me. The Death of Superman, aka “Doomsday,” had rocked the world. Superman had met his bitter end (mmm, yeah, okay) and comic shops were getting bulldozed by an investment-minded public to get in on the hype. We were crushed by readers and non-readers alike, who pre-purchased the entire best-selling “Doomsday” arc to the point we were inundated and exhausted from the whole affair.

Superman # 75 was the hottest thing in the land, especially the polybagged edition with the silly mourning armband inside. When demand had been so great a second printing of the pivotal “death” issue came, we had a line from Alternate Worlds all the way down to the end of the shopping center. Many had arrived hours ahead of time. Complete insanity for what was then a worthless second printing.

I recreate this moment and rain Hell all over it in “Death of the S,” one of the ten stories you can chew on in Behind the Shadows, available immediately at Amazon, Lulu and Kindle. Other ordering hubs to follow.

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.