A DC Comics milestone suitably celebrated with a 96 page spectacular, 2011’s Action Comics #900 would court considerable controversy, but not in the tradition fans may have expected.
Unusually for the comic-book universe, one of the many anthology stories in this issue would cross over into international news headlines due to Superman’s renouncement of one of his defining attributes – upholding ‘Truth Justice, and the American way.’
Ironically in a collection also featuring Superman: The Movie director Richard Donner as a guest writer, this publication slams the book firmly closed on the ‘classic’ Superman interpretation and in retrospective, clearly paves the way for what would evolve into the ‘Man Of Steel’.
David Goyer (yes, that one) in a short story entitled ‘The Incident’ manages to plunge Superman into real-world controversy (something the late screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz always insisted the character should always avoid) by attending a peaceful protest in Iraq. When questioned about his actions by US Officials, Superman at once declares that the world is now a smaller place and ‘Truth and Justice isn’t enough anymore’ (third pic), effectively ending his status as a representative of the US. While the story is well-crafted, the notion of Superman becoming politicised and being anything other than ‘A Friend’ seems somewhat irresponsible writing given the ramifications.
Continuing SUPERMANIA’s series of posts for recommended comic reading for fans of the classic Superman series is a challenge in this instance, not least by the contribution of two of its greatest contributors (Donner and artist Gary Frank) but for what a wasted opportunity this was to unite them. Indeed, Frank’s wonderful art (still shamelessly channelling Reeve) is relegated to a few pages (second pic) in a large chunk of otherwise poorly illustrated Saturday morning cartoon silliness that is the first story ‘Reign Of Doomsday’ (the finale of the ‘Black Ring’).
The worse news is that Donner’s mini-screenplay (written with Derek Hoffman) somehow manages to not engage, a poor soulless attempt to merge Superman with the movie ‘Hancock’ (even acknowledging Superman’s nemesis as ‘like Will Smith’) and similarly failing to engage at every turn. Presented as storyboards (feebly rendered by Matt Camp) with accompanying dialogue and story notes (bottom pic) its astonishing to think that Donner may have had anything to do with it, it has to be read to be believed.
There is little more to be enjoyed beneath the moody cover (by David Finch) but the absolute highlight of the whole issue is a somewhat abstract story entitled ‘Life Support’ with mature, sharp dialogue (by Damon Lindelof), lavish art (by Ryan Sook) and an indisputably epic, cinematic tone. Amazing how something as simple as Jor-El’s recruitment of an aide to build a part for will become Kal-El’s StarShip can be told so elegantly and effectively.
Only this and the tiny vignette ‘Friday Night In the 21st Century’ by the always-dependable Geoff Johns (coupled with Gary Frank’s art) emerge worthy of the ‘spectacular’ status as declared. A landmark issue to be sure, proving, if little else, June 1938 was a long time ago…
SUPERMANIA is proud to host these fascinating long-forgotten yellowed pages from deep within various Silver Age DC Comics. Collated and contributed by Superfan Ethan Clark from (the top), Worlds Finest #251 & #252, House Of Mystery #257 and Batman Family #18 & #19 respectively, they form a valuable documentation of the buildup to release of Superman: The Movie.
With the advent of what would become the ‘Event’ movies of the late ’70’s early ’80’s and the most revered fictional character of the all making his cinematic debut, what better forum to generate advance word than within the comic-book readership?
In what would be so much rapidly-circulated internet noise today, these well written and researched reports profile everything from the Producers, (third pic), actors, (second and fifth) and even the Special Effects (where we learn for the first time Reeve’s cape flapping device was the creation of John Richardson).
However its the advance screening writeup by Mike Gold (top) that really fires the imagination. Though as we all know the picture didn’t meet its planned release date of Summer 1978 I envy the excitement of any child old enough to read and comprehend that article and the anticipation it creates, and for once, having the finished product more than exceed the initial promise…
Enjoy this nice vintage piece reproduced in full from the 29th Internationale Berlin FilmFest Spiele of early 1979.
One can only imagine the response of European audiences seeing Richard Donner’s magnum opus unfold for the very first time…
Enjoy this great little piece by Dan Shaw of The Black Country Bugle –
SOME children are lucky enough to meet their heroes but Phil Carr met a superhero when he was introduced to actor Christopher Reeve in 1978.
The story on the ABC Minors in our March 27 edition prompted Phil to bring along to our offices his souvenirs of a very special day.
Phil was a member of the ABC Minors at the cinema in Stourbridge in the late ’70s and early ’80s. He went on to work there when he was 16 but before that he helped out during the week, after school, polishing the backs of chairs and cleaning the carbon projectors and carbon rods that provided light for the projector.
“I rewound films onto spools after showing, and checked them by hand as I wound them back on,” recalled Phil.
“Because I’d worked so hard, the manager of the ABC, Tim Williamson, asked me if I wanted to go with him to Pinewood Studios in London. He was going there to see Derek Meddings, a model maker for a lot of films. He built a bridge for Superman, and an entire street that a lot of it was filmed on at Pinewood.”
Tim was a keen on stop animation, hence his interest in Derek’s models.
“While we were there,” said Phil, “a woman called Pat O’Brien, a PR for the Superman films, came down to see Derek Meddings. She told us they were filming Superman II, and asked if we wanted to go in and have a look.
“She took us through, popping into an office on the way to get some photographs of Christopher Reeve for him to sign.
“We went onto the set, and were told to be very quiet. They were just filming the flying scene, with Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder. We were sworn to secrecy, but they did it by lying him down in a cast of his chest, with a green screen behind him and cameras moving around him.
“When they finished shooting and got them down, Pat O’Brien brought him over. He seemed huge, and the first words he spoke to me were ‘Well, hello down there’, as he put his hand out for me to shake. He had the tights and the boots on, and a dressing gown over the top.
“I was so star struck I didn’t say much at all. He asked me if I liked the first film, but I barely managed an answer.
“He signed the pictures, and when he signed mine he dropped the picture and trod on it. It may well have been my fault, I was pretty nervous when I passed it to him. But that footprint on the picture is from Superman’s boot.”
Bottom pic – Clean version of the signed photo. Read the original article here.
Now approaching forty years later it seems unlikely in the extreme that between the industry and fans in the internet age any pop culture material remains undiscovered.
Imagine the excitement then, on the rare occasion something like the modest example above surfaces and challenges that perception, making you wonder if we’ve even scraped the surface –
While this set of six (four shown) unmarked, unpublished 10×8 prints may be slight variations of more common stills, the second shot (of Christoher Reeve first flight in the Fortress at Shepperton Studios) and fourth of Valerie Perrine as Eve Teschmacher to my knowledge are world firsts and SUPERMANIA is proud to showcase them here..!
