Back in an age where ‘Limited Edition’ meant just that, this hardback behemoth was released to celebrate the Man of Steel’s 50th anniversary in 1988 and restricted to 2500 copies. Published by Russ Cochrane Ltd. In association with DC Comics and grandly mounted inside a slipcover box embossed with a metallic ‘S’ shield, (bottom pic) ‘The Adventures Of Superman Collecting’ created and designed by Harry Matetsky (written and edited by Amanda Matetsky) is a celebration of paraphernalia charting the evolution of Superman’s comic origins to the multi-million, multi-media property of ‘today’.
Beautifully presented, this volume opens with a detailed summary of Siegel & Shuster’s creation and their battle to bring it to a wider audience before abandoning any further insights in favour of a simple picture book showcasing a plethora of rare and obscure vintage treasures (nicely photographed by Robert Scott) contributed for documentation by many a dedicated fan.
Less flashy and more conservative than Chip Kidd’s Batman Collected published some years later, there is still much here to please the nostalgic eye, such as the colour-guide celluloid for Max Fleisher’s Superman cartoon and the first jointed Superman doll (released by the Ideal Novelty & Toy Co. in 1940). However In its 215 pages, you would be forgiven for expecting more coverage of action figures yet curiously, few more are mentioned save for an overcrowded group shot spread over two pages at the back. This means there is no mention of the revolutionary Mego figures in either scale of the late ’70’s – a baffling omission.
Thankfully, there are features devoted to merchandise derived from Superman’s appearance in other media, including the cartoons, Movie serials and TV Series. The Superman Movies are also bestowed with two pages per picture (second & third pics) though the range of memorabilia on show is barely representative of the unprecedented marketing drive initiated by Warner Brothers at the time.
And therein lies the only criticism you could possibly level at this volume, that for all its grandiose presentation there eventually amounts to little more than an elaborate auction catalogue in content. Perhaps this explains why (besides the expense – I first saw this book 20 years ago with a £100 cover price!) after an initial rush, sales dwindled and perfect, unread copies still occasionally become available. An absolute must for the Superman historian, and to date still the definitive (and only) book on the subject, this edition is long overdue an update, or at least, a well-earned Volume II…
Another addition to SUPERMANIA’s series of recommended comic reading for fans of the Superman Movie series is this epic graphic novel published by Titan Books in 1997. Collecting the Elseworlds run originally published by DC comics and written by Mark Waid, Kingdom Come is a grand, ambitious project permitting creatives to indulge themselves with the characters of the DC Universe without consequence as outlined below –
“In Elseworlds, heroes are taken from their usual settings and put into strange times and places – some that have existed or might have existed, and others that can’t, couldn’t or shouldn’t exist.”
Ironically, besides the awesome and touching dedication to Christopher Reeve on page 1, there is little content thereafter reminiscent of anything seen on the big screen. Despite Kingdom’s astonishing hand painted art by the unparalleled Alex Ross, every panel may well be suitable for framing but purposefully portrays alternate versions of all the DC frontrunners -some more convincingly than others.
In fact, Kingdom is a heavy going, sometimes exhausting read, just as the definition above precludes. Its an epic tale crammed tightly into a format that can’t really accommodate it and therefore does it little justice. The dialogue is sharper than the premise and in a similar vein to Alan Moore’s Watchmen, you realise from the outset this is a doom-laden morality tale. Kudos, however should be given to the characterisations of Batman and Wonder Woman and the notion of making Captain Marvel an atomic version of Lenny from Of Mice And Men…
SUPERMANIA extends its best wishes to you & yours this Christmas and by way of present I offer select pages of this rare article featuring our favourite Lois Lane, Margot Kidder.
Interviewed by Fred Robbins for the January 1980 issue of High Society magazine, Ms. Kidder’s featured portfolio and candid views on relationships are probably best left to another website(!) – meantime enjoy Margot ‘stripping the pants off Truth, Justice & The American Way’ with this pictorial containing stills from Superman: The Movie…
The exclusive behind the scenes images from the SUPERMANIA collection continue – this time from the Kent Farm set faithfully recreated in the village of Baldock in Hertfordshire, England.
From the top – Christopher Reeve as Clark Kent observing the preparation of the air cannon to fire the baseball, (a similar technique was used for the football in the Smallville scenes of Superman: The Movie) the crew gathering round to rehearse the scene, (notice Reeve still brandishing the bat in the centre) Director Sidney J. Furie conferring with Reeve (far Left) by the remains of the Kent Farm, and Reeve stood next to his double for the walk up the dusty trail for Clark’s opening shot as Furie is presented with the storyboard…
Select pages from one of a clutch of tie-in publications (see listing on 2nd pic down) by Grosset & Dunlap, this competently illustrated ultra-kitsch Supergirl cut-out paper doll book was a blatant cash-in on the young female demographic.
Though not as outrageously targeted to the young female market as the trading card set, this bizarre collectable nonetheless remains the only opportunity the world will ever have to see what style shorts Marc McClure’s Jimmy Olsen wears…
