A SUPERMANIA exclusive – The first pieces of a multi-part oversized collage/poster originally serialised in BRAVO magazine in 1979 –
The pages have been scanned at printable resolution and untouched, making them ready to print yourself and assemble to create the illustration seen on the cover. The remaining parts will be posted in the coming weeks so be sure to check back..!
Some fine examples from the Japanese advertising campaign for Superman: The Movie in 1978.
Of all the artwork used to spread the word of the Man Of Steel’s cinematic debut, the designs from the Far East were easily the sharpest and most colourful. From the top, magazine ad, Chirashi-style leaflets and article splash page…
Another SUPERMANIA exclusive – Starting above is a serialisation of storyboards from Superman IV: The Quest For Peace by acclaimed UK artist Martin Asbury.
These never-before-published sequences are from the longest cut of the movie and feature the script in its entirety and much more detail of the various Nuclearman battles. Collected in a handsome red binder, this significant find was rescued from a skip at Elstree Studios some years ago. Sadly, only the second binder of two survived (picking up from the gym scenes) but nonetheless feature the majority of the action.
Keep checking back for more updates…!
This final set (for now) of unpublished poster concept artwork features my favourite alternate tagline that still seems fresh – The Man of Steel – Is Real! is just as punchy as ‘You’ll Believe a man Can Fly’ but possibly lost out as it didn’t ‘challenge’ the audience to come see for themselves…
From the top – Publicity photographs of Christopher Reeve against the New York skyline and in flight (using the image later adapted for the final one-sheet poster and European Quad) with some experimentation with blurring to suggest speed. Many of the images presented here and below were put to good use and made it to print in publicity material in some form, from full-page ads in Variety to teaser posters. The collection presented here documents the brainstorming process that eventually produced one of the most thorough campaigns ever associated with a Movie whose legacy lasts to this day…
More from the set of unpublished advertising material for Superman: The Movie featuring the final tagline and the more sci-fi slant of ‘No Limits’ featuring a collage of a painting (Artist unknown) of a star field and a publicity still of Christopher Reeve.
The centre image is another variation (by another unknown source) of the Bob Peak ‘Flying Sequence/Read My Mind’ art. The bottom poster is an interesting (and exhaustive) build-up to the tagline indicative of the producers determination to get the message across to audiences that they were attempting to make nothing less than cinematic history…