Once DC comics sold the rights to adapt Superman for the Silver Screen to European producer Alexander Salkind, among the mess of litigation that took almost thirty years to unravel was the ownership of the story.
Mario Puzo was credited as the writer of both Superman: The Movie and Superman II yet little of his work beyond concept and structure made the final cut. This is one theory as to why there was never a comic-book adaptation of the first two Superman Movies, The other is nobody at DC had thought of it yet.
Over the next decade the situation was rectified and adaptations of Superman’s III and IV took their rightful place on newsstands along with every major DC property to follow. Fans have longed for the set to be complete for decades along with Puzo’s original colossal volume. During the wait some visionary DC Writers and artists have taken it upon themselves to envision an origin story using the theme and tone of the movies as a major influence. The best of these is John Byrne’s Man Of Steel mini-series from 1986 and the bang-up-to-date Superman: Secret Origin series by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank.
From the top; French Superman No: 136 (Circa 1979 – Although the perfect cover for an adaptation sadly houses nothing more than a reprint of two silver-age adventures) Superman III Movie Special, Superman III 7Up Promotion Cover variant and Superman IV; The Quest For Peace Movie Special…
Shot on location in London’s Hippodrome nightclub in November 1986, the crystal-clear stills above were the only evidence for decades that the scenes set in the grand opening of ‘The Metro Club’ were indeed filmed, serving to develop the relationship between Clark and Lacy and also introduce the archaic Nuclearman I.
According to the script, Clark not only manages to jump a waiting Newlywed couple past the mean bouncers at Super-Speed but then sweep Lacy literally off her feet by levitating whilst in a clinch. This entire sequence may have not made it to the screen but did make it into the comic-book adaptation, where the scripted dialogue is also nicely preserved.
Allegedly the only reason for the footage exclusion in the Superman IV; Deluxe Edition DVD was the lack of music copyright which has since been rectified. UK pop group Re-Flex provided tracks for these scenes which was finally released in its entirety in the Superman; The Music Boxed Set. Hopefully in future a Blu-Ray release will reinstate it, finally making the deleted scenes complete, albeit in workprint form…
In an age long before the introduction of the digital press pack, these campaign pamphlets would be distributed to Cinemas in advance of release.
Containing the Movie synopsis, cast info, competitions and ad. slicks of varying size – they would also be the source of ordering posters and 10×8 photographs. Increasingly scarce due to their fragility and the fact they were usually disposed of after use – this complete set, however, survives to this day in excellent condition…
A rare collection of set-taken prints from the production of Superman IV: The Quest For Peace –
Presumably shot at Elstree Studios in 1986, this excised scene is the rescue of Lacy Warfield (Stunt double unknown) from the clutches of Nuclearman by Christopher Reeve’s stand-in Mark Stewart against a chroma-key screen. This footage was released for the first time in the Superman IV: Deluxe Edition DVD…
Presenting the final scans in this great set – The German campaign will feature next followed by the French then maybe even the UK…
Stay tuned!!
