Superman #19

Jul 1988 · DC · 0.75 USD; 1.00 CAD; 0.40 GBP

📊 ~48,598 copies sold its debut month

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“The Power That Failed!”

★ 1st appearance — Dreadnaught

About this Issue

Superman (Vol. 2) #19 marks the simultaneous debut of three villains created by John Byrne — the technology-broker Professor Thaddeus Killgrave and his alien mercenary duo Psi-Phon and Dreadnaught — who together form one of the Byrne era's most inventive threats: a pair of extraterrestrials capable of methodically stripping away Superman's powers one ability at a time. The issue also advances the slow-burn Lex Luthor arc initiated in Action Comics #600, showing Luthor receiving a synthetic replacement hand after Kryptonite radiation poisoning claimed the original, a plot thread that feeds directly into the 'They Saved Luthor's Brain' saga. As one of the final issues produced under Byrne before his departure following the Supergirl Saga in #22, it represents the closing chapter of the most consequential single-creator reimagining of Superman in the post-Crisis era.

writer, artist John Byrne · inker John Beatty · colorist Petra Scotese · letterer John Costanza · cover Jerry Ordway

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (VF) $5

CGC 9.8 · 3 in census $40

CGC 9.6 · 4 in census $20*

CGC 9.4 none in existence

CGC 9.2 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 9.0 none in existence

CGC 8.5 · 1 in census $20*

Show all 18 grades ▾

CGC 8.0 none in existence

CGC 7.5 · 2 in census $20*

CGC 7.0 none in existence

CGC 6.5 none in existence

CGC 6.0 none in existence

CGC 5.5 none in existence

CGC 5.0 none in existence

CGC 4.5 none in existence

CGC 4.0 none in existence

CGC 3.5 none in existence

CGC 3.0 none in existence

CGC 2.5 · 1 in census $20*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

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History

Written, penciled, and plotted entirely by John Byrne — with inks by John Beatty, colors by Petra Goldberg (Scotese), letters by John Costanza, and editing by Mike Carlin — the issue shipped on March 22, 1988, well ahead of its July 1988 cover date. It was produced as part 1 of a two-part arc, concluding in Adventures of Superman #442, reflecting the coordinated multi-title storytelling structure that Byrne, Marv Wolfman, and Jerry Ordway had maintained across the three post-Crisis Superman titles since 1986. Byrne departed DC entirely after completing Superman #22, making this issue part of a very compressed final act of his tenure.

Trivia · 8 facts

First appearance of Professor Thaddeus Killgrave, the arms-dealing scientist villain who orchestrates the power-drain scheme against Superman.
First appearance of Psi-Phon (J'ankway), the alien mercenary with the ability to siphon Superman's powers one by one.
First appearance of Dreadnaught (Bree'mill), the hulking alien enforcer paired with Psi-Phon.
Matrix (the post-Crisis Pocket Universe Supergirl) appears as a supporting/cameo character, continuing her arc begun in earlier issues of Byrne's run.
The issue advances the Lex Luthor kryptonite-cancer subplot: Luthor receives a new synthetic hand following the amputation of his original hand due to kryptonite ring radiation (established in Action Comics #600).
Story title: 'The Power That Failed!' Part 1 of 2; concluded in Adventures of Superman #442.
Full creative credits: script and pencils by John Byrne, inks by John Beatty, colors by Petra Goldberg (Scotese), letters by John Costanza, edited by Mike Carlin.
Reprinted in the Superman: They Saved Luthor's Brain trade paperback (2000), Superman: The Man of Steel Vol. 9 (2016), and Superman: The Man of Steel Vol. 4 (2022 Edition).