Superman #712 (UNPUBLISHED)

I believe this was the last piece of comic art I purchased before heading out to San Diego Comic Con, and this one was a little more in my forte. This is the art to the unpublished issue of Superman #712. Originally, the issue was set to be the latest chapter in "Grounded" – the Man of Steel story begun by J. Michael Straczynski and continued by Chris Roberson focusing on Superman's walk across America – with a special focusing on the establishment of a Muslim superhero called Sharif in Los Angeles. Instead, the comic that ran carried astory by Kurt Busiek and Rick Leonardi featuring Krypto the Superdog which was originally created then shelved during Busiek's run on the title circa 2007. Of course, since the originally solicited issue promised a story where "Sharif discovers that in today’s current cultural climate, some people don’t want his help – they just want him gone," it has led many online to speculate on what exactly the issue contained that might have made the story not work for the overall arc and whether fear over the Muslim superhero's portrayal could be a factor. If you go out and search on this story, you will find several color versions of this cover. However, in the original art, you can see the hero is being attacked by the crowd, not pulling off his coat to reveal his shit Supermanj style. You can also see the red cresent inspired Muslim Superman symbol.