What am I bid for his boots -- his suit -- his cape?

I found it!

As best as I can remember, this is the very first superhero comic book that won me over to the genre, back when I was a young kid growing up.

But, it was a specific page on the interior of this issue that sticks in my mind the most, and not the cover, itself.

This issue hails from the year 1970, so I didn't gravitate toward comic books until some time after my seventh birthday. If memory serves me correctly, my daddy's copy of this comic book was already missing its front cover, by the time that I got around to discovering it.

Three hundred thousand dollars is what Superman's costume fetched from its buyer, back in the day, apparently. "Completely bullet-proof!" it's buyer quipped! Off the top of my head, I don't recall how much the other various components of the Man of Steel's costume brought at auction, on that fateful day.

I am going to contact a local comic book shop, and see if I can't track down a copy of this particular issue from the past. I don't need - nor even care about - a collector quality copy. As long as the pages are all intact, even a heavily worn copy will suit me, just fine.

By comparison, I read relatively few comic books, these days. As a kid, I couldn't get enough.

Superheroes, superheroes, and more superheroes! I liked the super villains, too. Archie, Richie Rich, and various Disney characters, especially Scrooge McDuck, a favorite of my daddy's. Various Westerns and World War II-oriented titles were all consumed with equal fervor.

Comic books were a learning tool, also. Whether pure fiction or historically-based, comic books made learning fun. When words such as Metropolis, Krypton, and Thanagar were already in your vocabulary, spelling tests were a much less daunting task. Comic books unleashed the imagination, and they were certainly far more interesting than school curriculum.

Superman survived his date with the Execution Planet, it seems. At the time, it may, indeed, have been the one doom that Superman feared the most - but, for me, it is a memory that I cherish, even still.

Thanks, Superman! You're OK, in my book.