Yesterday, I decided to fill out my Sandman collection a little further at a local comics shop. There were two copies of Brief Lives on the shelf, with very similer covers. I checked the copyright info: one was the first printing of the 1994 edition, the other was the 7th printing of the same. I bought the older one, as I always do given the chance.

Of course I read through it right after buying it and getting it home. When I got to the afterword and the credits, I noticed that inker Dick Giordano had apparently autographed the page with his "picture" on it (as with many Sandman volumes, the pictures of the staff at the end aren't actually their pictures ....).

I wonder how this autographed copy got to be on the shelf of supposedly new comics volumes? Maybe it was returned, but in such good condition that the shop just re-shelved it? But why return it after going through the trouble of getting it autographed? I'm wondering what the story could be!

- Cho