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This final set (for now) of unpublished poster concept artwork features my favourite alternate tagline that still seems fresh – The Man of Steel – Is Real!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More from the set of unpublished advertising material for Superman: The Movie featuring the final tagline and the more sci-fi slant of ‘No Limits’ featuring a collage of a painting (Artist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…
More from the never-before-published set of advertising poster mockups for Superman: The Movie featuring the tagline used in some of the early trailers precluded (in voice over) by This Year… but ultimately losing out to one of the most famous taglines in Movie history.
From the top –
Title over Bob Peak art, alternate shot of Reeve in flight over Metropolis, The Crystal shield and finally the Crystal title. The selection of the final art must have been an agonising choice given the strength (and simplicity) of the concepts presented here. All credit to the producers for standing firm with a campaign as iconic as the Movie…
This newest addition to my collection (and another SUPERMANIA exclusive!) is from a set of what I believe to be unpublished studio 10×8’s taken of a series of poster mockups for Superman: The Movie featuring variations on the tagline, and featuring art (with the exception of the bottom image) by the legendary Bob Peak.
Though the familiar silver shield and rainbow streak would ultimately be the final image used in the global release, The Peak painting in the first poster was later utilised in full colour and the liner notes of the Varese Sarabande soundtrack release in 1998…
