SUPERMANIA is pleased to continue its serialisation of unpublished material from the production-used ‘Big Red Book’ of storyboards for Superman IV: The Quest For Peace in a post originally intended to celebrate reuniting the artist with his work.
This past July, tenured UK penciller Martin Asbury was scheduled to attend the Summer London Film & Comic Con – his first convention appearance – and SUPERMANIA was looking forward to presenting him with some of his earlier works while hopefully obtaining a sketch/getting pics and maybe even a quote or two.
Alas, disappointingly Martin cancelled last minute and the trip was abandoned (despite missing the opportunity of meeting both Jeff East and Helen Slater). Hopes are high Martin has been asked to attend the Winter Con so this ambition can eventually be fulfilled.
Meantime, exclusive vintage footage of Martin at work in the Superman IV Art Department drawing boards from the cut nightmare sequence at the start of the film is upcoming. In a short interview, Martin talks about the collaborative process and the process of storytelling. Look out for the upcoming post about Elstree Studios soon..!
…That is the question. One could be forgiven for thinking that this latest addition to the SUPERMANIA archive would be an evident/obligatory part of the collection but due to its deceptively bootleg appearance and difficulty to obtain complete, had been somewhat overlooked until now.
However, despite the highly questionable artwork on the portfolio cover above (top pic) housing the (indeed official) press kit for Superman IV: The Quest For Peace, it would seem such snobbery was misplaced – as far from being a poor attempt to copy Daniel Goozee’s superior final poster art – SUPERMANIA is now of the belief this may have been an early draft by the same artist.
While the finished painting references a portrait of Christopher Reeve taken at the time of Superman: The Movie (amended to exclude the kiss-curl) the rough, at second glance, is actually a good likeness and although its not signed, appears to be Goozee’s work. As for why this was used for promotion at all, who knows? Was the final painting yet to be finished? It may be raw but even in draft form, nothing could ever be as woeful as the final art used for the German release.
Refreshingly, the kit itself is a fabulous package, more often than not today found split and sold as individual stills, (commanding respectable sums on auction websites due to their exclusive nature) however this was the first example I’d ever seen that came with its own WB envelope, (second pic), indicating that with the portfolio notes and set of 14 photographs (third pic) that this handout may be 100% complete and therefore rare…
This post is dedicated to the late Menachem Golan, head of Cannon Films and Producer of Superman IV who died today aged 85. For better or worse, forever part of the Superman universe…
Another vintage rarity from the SUPERMANIA archive – enjoy this obscure Japanese promotional centrefold from an unknown publication announcing the release of Superman II. Though the text is a mystery this tabloid-size pull-out is chock-full of typically superb imagery and various ads for merchandise…
SUPERMANIA is again proud to host another outstanding fan contribution, this time from arguably the most prolific archivist of The Man Of Steel across all genres.
Famed for making his Superman obsession a lifestyle, Cleveland-based Jamie Reigle has dedicated his life (and a considerable fortune) to the upkeep of some 40,000 items of memorabilia (read more here) and makes the pilgrimage to Metropolis, Ill. every year to showcase and sell items at the Annual Superman Celebration.
Kindly loaning the original unpublished pics above to be scanned exclusively for SUPERMANIA, Jamie’s visit to Downtown Disney’s Planet Hollywood restaurant in Orlando is a further chronicle of the screen-used Christopher Reeve Superman costume (Presented by by Reeve himself according to the sign, third pic). first documented in this post as a free hanging display before being relocated to the lobby in an acrylic case .
As we know, the costume was used in the screentests for the SuperBoy TV Series and used again in a subsequent episode before being incorporated into PH’s considerable prop collection in the early ’90’s. These pics are the earliest examples of the display as the suit, fading onset aside, looks to be in pristine condition. As discussed in earlier posts, the current whereabouts of this costume is unknown so any record of its existence is a welcome addition to the site…
For a multitude of Super-treasures old and new please visit Jamie’s website supercollectibles.com..!
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…
