I don't know if he's as good a sculptor as Alicia Masters, but he's faster.

I mentioned I was looking for a new copy of this one some time back, and the dollar bins did provide: from 1992, Superman Special #1, "The Sandman" Story and art by Walt Simonson.

Like we mentioned before, this special was a bit of a speed-run of the Kryptonite Nevermore storyline that ran (intermittently) from 1971's Superman #233 to #242. This version doesn't have I-Ching, but instead post-Crisis had Superman making a memorial statue for the alternate-dimension Phantom Zone criminals Zaora, Zod, and Quex-Ul: Superman had executed them in Superman #22, and still carried that guilt with him. He swears "...that I will forever be the champion of life and never its destroyer." That's pretty much as it should be, although the direct-sales version's UPC box notes "Doomsday is Coming!"

This falls into a relatively thin wedge of continuity now, although it was several years: after Superman's self-imposed exile in space, and after Jimmy Olsen had met the new Newsboy Legion, but before Clark and Lois were a couple...that might be a thinner wedge than I'd thought, since they were dating by Superman #45. If you have time to re-read that run of issues you could probably narrow it down further: Lex is wearing a black glove, so this was after he lost his hand to Kryptonite poisoning but before he 'died' of it. Anyway, exiting a storeroom at the Daily Planet and pretending to be absent-minded, Clark bumps into Lois, who was hot on the heels of a story, investigating the mysterious Cosmography Industries. Which, as luck would have it, was just in the middle of an experiment, that would go awry with a massive explosion. Superman takes off to help, closely followed by the Newsboy Legion (and their flying Whiz Wagon!) who pick up Jimmy, with Lois barging in as well. After getting caught in another massive explosion, that drives him into a pile of rock; while Superman is rescuing trapped scientists, he is interrupted by Lex Luthor arriving via helicopter, who tries to order Supes off of his property. When Supes gives him some sassback, Lex decides to show him what they had been working on there: synthesizing Kryptonite! And, he had a good-sized chunk of the original right handy...what the--?!

The Kryptonite does nothing to Superman, and he even goes so far as to nonchalently eat it. While Lois and the others don't arrive in time to see that, and Lex tells them he had just given Superman "a little snack as a gesture of thanks," Lex is seething as Superman flies away, but then notices him dip, just for a second, as he flew away. Superman shrugs off his momentary weakness, but Lex suspects there might be something there. Later that night, at the rock where Superman had been embedded, a duplicate of Superman forms out of sand, and attacks some guards at Cosmography (which should just be a smoking hole in the ground at that point...) while Clark discovers hey, his super-breath was gone. The sandman later attacks him at his home, seemingly knowing he was Clark Kent, but couldn't fly yet, and smashes itself lunging at Superman and falling out a window. Thinking the creature was pulverized, Superman leaves to investigate further; but the creature re-integrates from a pile of sand, now with heat-vision! (Long-time comics readers would've probably seen Marvel's Sandman do that many times; so it feels weird that Supes thinks it was gone!)

Luthor, after a brief interlude with an Aboriginal tracker he had brought in, sets his armored Team Luthor on the Superman double, who is eventually caught in a box for a chat: the creature wanted Superman, and Lex was more than happy to help it out. The next day, a bank robbery with heavily armed and trained goons draws out Superman, whose flight powers give out midway there! The sandman attacks Superman from an armored car; while Jimmy and the Newsboy Legion arrive: the Newsboys clobber the bank robbers in short order, while Jimmy realizes the sandman was stealing Superman's powers, and tries to run it down with the Whiz Wagon. No sale there, and Jimmy gets grabbed, but Superman then escapes in the Whiz Wagon, drawing the sandman away from Jimmy. Superman does have a plan, and luckily the sandman hadn't taken his super-speed yet, so it couldn't catch him before he got back to the Fortress of Solitude. The sandman recognizes it, as it thinks once he takes everything from Superman, it will no longer be in pain. The pain hit it every time it stole a power, and as it starts beating Supes in the Fortress, it spills how Lex had explained those powers, and it was leaving invulnerability for last, so it could enjoy beating on Supes.

With the sandman now a full-color dupe of Superman, it thinks it had beaten him unconscious; but Superman surprises it, seemingly giving it something else in a burst of pain. It sees, and then smashes, the statues of Zaora, Zod, and Quex-Ul; but is then stricken with remorse: Superman didn't kill. Panicked, it cries over the body of Superman, repeating his earlier oath.

Later, back at Lexcorp, Lex is feeling pretty smug, up until the moment he finds Superman in his office. Superman explains, while he couldn't prove anything, he didn't need to: the sandman had been feeling the pain of becoming Superman, but when it had everything, it sacrificed itself to save Superman. Which, inadvertently, saved Lex (and the world) from a Superman with no guilt or conscience; although Lex doesn't see it that way. 

This was a 50-page story, but the last couple of pages feel a bit rushed, like they were running out of room. Which in the special is taken up by pin-up pages, from some big names, like Frank Miller and Todd McFarlane! I feel like this issue might be overshadowed by the Death of Superman; but it's still great.