Found by my former boss amongst his belongings, this colorful wooden toy paddle once had a rubber band and a ball stapled to it for hitting-and-bouncing play. Alas, the ball is long gone, the rubber band was still attached but dried to brittleness, but that solitary staple remains.
At least I can still use it to swat people who put the comics in my shop out of order. “Hey, did you put that Miles Morales back in the Scarlet Witch section?” SMACK!
My thought process on this item was “huh, I bet this is pretty old…no wait, it’s only from 1987, it’s not that old…but ’87 was nearly 40 years ago, so it is old.” …In case you were wondering what it’s like to be my age.
Thanks for the response to my Fantastic Four post, which, I have to admit, was a last-minute thing that I wrote with little to no planning. I do plan on returning to the topic, probably next week, with a little more thought to what I’m doing, I hope!
But for today, since I have a very early morning doctor’s appointment, I’m going to just point out that DC Comics is releasing 1972’s Action Comics #419 in a facsimile reprint edition this week.
Now, DC is releasing it because it’s the first appearance of the Human Target, who gets the occasional series and once had a TV show. But the big reason to pick up this comic is for its connection to the Hubble space telescope!
Bluesky pal Paul Cornish had an article in Scientific American a while back explaining the connection, and now seems like a good time to link to it!
• • •
In other news, the new Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide is out, and you may notice a slight physical difference from the previous year’edition:
Don’t get too excited, the new Guide is actually about 100 pages shorter in length. It’s printed on thicker, and much lighter, paper, so it no longer feels like the solid brick it paper that it used to. It’s slight and airy, despite its bulky appearance.
The comic book price listings are still in the same print size, with about 40 additional pages. Also, the strips of three mini cover reproductions across the tops of pages have been reduced to just one scan in the page corners.
In this day of “Hot Comic Apps” and such, the Guide may seem archaic, but it’s still a useful base for pricing, so long as you, y’know, do your research on that small percentage of books that may be seeing current price fluctuations. But stuff like Captain Savage, you probably don’t need to worry about the Guide being too far off the mark.
It’s still frustrating that the Guide devotes pages in every volume to “Pioneer” and “Victorian” comics, while ignoring undergrounds, which are more likely to be encountered in the wild. And, are more in need of current, consistent pricing. And, frankly, every time I’ve tried to buy a “Victorian-age” comic someone brought into the shop, given that the comic in question is in worse-for-wear condition, going by Guide prices always results in a rejection of my offer. “It’s old, therefore it’s expensive,” of course. Nobody wants to know their century-old item is worth only about $20.
Also, Yummy Fur still isn’t listed. C’mon, guys.
I’m sure I’ll have more to say. Oh, should note my copy of House of Secrets #92 is now valued at about $3500.
The new Superman Red and Blue 2025 Special was certainly a welcome arrival this week, given the Red and Blue mini-series from a couple of years back was about 95% great (there’s that unpleasant story in the first issue where Superman is captured and tortured, which does not sit well).
This special has four stories presented in the limited palette gimmick, each tale colored with only shades of red and blue and somehow manages to look great anyway. The story I specifically want to note is “Out of the Ordinary” written by Dan Abnett, drawn by Caitlin Yarsky, and colored by Alex Guimaraes. And just so I’m clear, I liked this entire comic, and I enjoyed seeing Superman doing super things and being nice without having to worry about the continuity of the DC Universe at large.
And I liked “Out of the Ordinary.” But I did get stopped short at one point when Superman just up and admits to this small town reporter he befriends that, oh, yeah, I have a secret identity. Here’s a little piece of that:
Now here’s the problem. It’s me, I’m the guy who’s been reading Superman comics since the John Byrne relaunch in 1986 and have picked up every issue of Superman and Action and the other ongoings. That’s spitting distance within 40 years, which clearly no sane person should have done.
Stuck in my head from the promotion for the ’80s Superman relaunch was Byrne’s insistence that in this new version of the mythos, the fact that Superman even has a double identity wouldn’t be common knowledge. You can read more about that here. Prior to this, Superman having a secret identity was known by the general public, and often a major plot point as bad guys (or Lois) try to get Supes to spill the beans or trick him into revealing it.
That little bit of knowledge is always there, whenever I read a modern Superman comic, whether or not it’s still an active thing or if it’s gone the way of the fancy cuffs that were the last remnants of Jim Lee’s terrible redesign of Supes’ costume. Realistically, I know in the nearly four decades since the relaunch happened, some storytelling choice made way back when, by someone who doesn’t even work in comics anymore, is not going to be enforced.
But that didn’t keep your pal Mike from being tripped up by Superman telling this young lady “oh, yeah, I grew up in a place like this, and I have a regular job when I’m not Superman, etc.” Then again, he was just telling one person, not, like, announcing it on TV or anything. And she probably knows “oh, yeah, I should keep this to myself.”
I am reminded by that story where Jimmy Olsen gets a photo of Superman’s hand, showing a wedding ring (which he neglected to remove before going into action, as he usually would). After some shenanigans regarding that photo getting out to the public, and getting explained away as a Justice League thing, Superman does confide to Jimmy that he is married, but his private life is private. And Jimmy, being Superman’s Pal, of course keeps that under his hat.
Okay, that’s a lot of typing that’s basically “Mike can’t let things go,” but I do want to add this story is still a fun and pleasant one. As are all the stories in this comic.
• • •
Normally, in current comics, especially with the limited page counts and occasionally sparse storytelling, I can find myself resenting any full-page illustrations, or God help us, two-page spreads that aren’t the opening splash pages. That usually just feels like wasted space, eating up valuable real estate.
Daniel Warren Johnson’s story in Absolute Batman Annual #1 delivers multiple full-page splashes and two two-page spreads, and they are earned and fantastic.
So when I was poking through old Superman comics looking for the perfect panel to head this post (where I’m still taking your questions and/or topic suggestions!), I came across this peculiar image from Action Comics #45 (1942):
…featuring Supes enjoying a copy of his own comic book.
This melding of comic fantasy with publishing reality is of course nothing new to us, the Jaded People of The Future, where it’s been long established that there is a Marvel Comics in the Marvel Universe that publishes licensed (I’m assuming) comics based on the “real life” superheroes that live there. I’m pretty sure, though, that this Action panel was a very early appearance of This Sort of Thing in superhero comics.
And it reminded me of something else…the slightly mind-bending story I recall reading in my old, beloved hardcover edition of Superman from the 30’s [sic] to the 70’s [sic again]. In this tale, also from 1942 (so the publisher was hitting that metafictional drum pretty heavily at the time), Clark and Lois go to the movies, where there is a featured cartoon…starring Superman!
And apparently the film, and the comics from which it was derived, are all news to Mr. Kent:
Anyway, what was mindbending about it to me, as but a young Mikester when I first obtained this tome, was the idea that Clark had to spend the duration of the film distracting Lois from the scenes that revealed his double life as Superman, even though it was apparently cool with him that the rest of the packed house found out.
I, like Clark, found that to be a puzzle, in my more innocent years before I took a cue from those wise philosophers and realized “it’s just a comic book, I really should just relax.”
Anyhoo, while I thought that push into semi-self awareness was interesting, what I found strange were some of the edits done to the work. One should remember that this book of mine, Superman from the ’30s to the ’70s, as it should be titled, was originally published in 1971. My copy is a 6th printing, which I got sometime in the very late ’70s, maybe 1980. But when originally assembled, Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were…well, let’s just say the company for which they created their character did not afford them the respect they deserved.
And as such, as noted by the GCD entry, the story’s splash page includes an extra “Our Very First IMAGINARY Story” blurb, apparently placed there to cover Siegel & Shuster’s credit. (And notably, not replaced in the version currently available on the DC app, as pictured above.)
Also notable is that Siegel & Shuster’s credits are removed from the main story:
…but these are restored in the currently available version, also seen up there somewhere.
Now, there was a newer edition of the Superman hardcover, called Superman from the ’30s to the ’80s, which I don’t have on hand. But the GCD entry does note that the “IMAGINARY Story” blurb is still there, so I presume the other credit deletion is still there was well. But, if someone has a copy of this newer hardcover and can check for me, please let me know.
There is a smidgen of new text by then-publisher Jenette Kahn, so I’m presuming she gives Siegel and Shuster some proper, er, props there…again, let me know if that’s the case if you can.
Comicsbeat ran an article about the lack of Clark Kent in the new film. Specifically, the whole “double identity” thing in relation to his life in Metropolis and at the Daily Planet. We do get a little of that in the film, the article notes, but for the most part the “Clark” bits are with folks who know of his double life.
I mean, granted, Superman was otherwise occupied for most of this flick, but I certainly would have liked seeing him frustrating Steve Lombard’s attempted pranks on him throughout the work day. Yes, that’s what I want in my multi-million dollar blockbuster film.
What’s more interesting about the film’s version of Clark is, of course, how the movie’s tail is wagging the DC Comics’ publishing dog. (I do realize the argument can be made for the metaphorical dog and its tail to swap in this case.) And this is happening despite the relatively small appearance of the Traditional Clark Kent in the film.
Some time ago, we started getting our Superman movie trailers, and our first glace of David Corenswet as Mr. Kent:
And in a bit of corporate synergy, the Clark of the comics starts getting an equivalent mop-top, this example of which is taken from the recent Superman Unlimited #1:
I was going to say once the film’s run is over, Comics Clark will remember how to start combing his hair properly again. The success (so far) of this new Superman movie could mean this minor redesign mighjt stick around longer than expected, but we’ll have to see.
Speaking of Kryptonian hair styles, the cute ‘n’ fuzzy cinematic Krypto has inspired a similar redesign in the comics. I’m okay with extra-fuzzy Krypto in the movies. I’m also okay with Clark’s new look. But I’m not ready to see that version of Krypto in the comics:
As we all saw recently in the new facsimile edition of Adventure Comics #210, the original version of Krypto had a duo-toned mug and mmmmmm not my preference, I’m afraid.
This is still my Krypto:
Well, let me amend that…my Krypto is the one who thinks coherent thoughts in plain English:
And if he had a crown and some royal robes, that would be okay too.
So I don’t know by what means, fair or foul, a fellow Discord-ian found the above image of Superman’s Kryptonian parents, Jor-El and Lara, from James Gunn’s new Superman movie. But, let me tell you, it sure definitely answered for me the question I had since I couldn’t recall propoerly, “did Jor-El have the Superman ‘S” crest on his outfit?”
I mean, I put the question out to a few people, in fact to a couple of folks who were going to be going out that very evening to see it again, and they promised me they would check and report back. And they did, in the negative. And another pal I asked said he specifically looked for that “S” on their costumes the first time he saw the film, and did not see it.
Thus, the evidence mounted, but the screenshot clinches it. And why was I so concerned about that particular costume detail, you may ask? I’ll get to that in a moment.
I’d also like to note that my questioning certainly brought up an important factor in the success (at least, thus far) of this film — repeat viewings! It’s been a while since I’ve heard about folks going back to see the same movie again and again, given 1) COVID, 2) ticket prices, and 3) it’ll be streaming in about 4 to 6 months. This, and its opening weekend box office, seems to indicate DC may have a hit with some traction on its hands.
I mean, it’s only been out a few days, who knows what will happen a week from now, or even when the Fantastic Four movie comes out later this month, but I had been genuinely curious if the public would really be interested in yet another Superman film. And so far, the answer seems to be “yes.” Most folks seem to really, really like it.
Most folks.
I have seen some criticism of this film…by which I mean, real, sincere criticism, not the screeches of “IT’S GONE WOKE” from the usual parade of grifters out for your attention and your wallet. And the specific criticism I’m thinking of, the one I feel a little more qualified to talk about, is the demonizing of Superman’s “foreign” parents and the apparent erasing of his heritage at the end of the film.
I really, really don’t think this was Gunn’s intention, but of course once art is out for the public to see, the public is free to interpret it as per their personal thoughts and experiences. And looking at the film, particularly in the historical moment in which my fellow Americans are living, where awareness of immigration and heritage is at sky-high levels, I can absolutely understand how they can see these elements of the film in the way they do. So, please, if any of them are reading this, what I’m writing here is not an attack on them.
But what I think is happening here is that we are seeing a conflict between Superman’s allegorical weight regarding the immigrant experience and Superman’s sci-fi plot tropes that arise from his being a literal extraterrestrial. More than anything else, I think the complaints are caused by a bit of bad timing regarding this conflict.
Yes, technically, Superman is an immigrant. Even an illegal immigrant, as per this episode of Smallville:
But that aspect tends to be downplayed, especially in more recent decades. The preference appears to be that Superman, while of Kryptonian heritage, is Of Earth, as per this page from #6 of John Byrne’s Man of Steel mini-series:
There are, in fact, multiple stories of Superman resisting the imposition of Kryptonian values upon Earth and himself. His battles against the Eradicator, and his conflict with Bar-El and Lilo-El.
But obviously Superman does not reject Kryptonian culture outright. He has a Fortress of Solitude, in some versions of the story based on Kryptonian architecture, that contains Kryptonian technology. He has (in some versions) a surviving city of Krypton, shrunken by his nemesis Brainiac, which he occasionally visits. He wears an outfit that emblazoned with what is, in some versions of the story, a Kryptonian symbol.
Speaking of that symbol, I said earlier on that I was wondering if Superman’s Kryptonian parents were wearing it. So many versions of Superman’s origin story, especially of late, put that “S” on Jor-El just so we know there’s a connection between that man we’re seeing onscreen and the baby that’s about to be rocketed into space.
As you saw, there’s no “S” there, which does away with my argument that ultimately, at the end of the film, when Superman has replaced images of Jor-El and Lara with images of the Kents, his Earth parents, for display in the Fortress, it’s hard to say that he’s rejected his heritage fully when he’s still got a Kryptonian symbol on his chest. Except, we don’t know that it is. In several versions of the Superman story, it is, but here, we’re not sure.
Despite that, the idea that he’s fully rejected where he comes from is still sort of belied by thge fact he’s still surrounded by presumably Kryptonian technology, robots seemingly built from that same advanced tech, in a Fortress that also seems to come from that same tech. Granted, yes, we don’t know any of that stuff for sure, but at the very least the Fortress’s appearance evokes every other cinematic version, all of which come from Krypton science.
The real problem arises when the sci-fi plot twist shows up, when the partially damaged final message from Jor-El and Lara is restored, and instead of simply being an expressive of love and hope for Kal-El, it reveals their desire for their son to subjugate the Earth, to take many wives and spread the Kryptonian bloodline. It makes Jor-El and Lara into villains, along the lines of other pro-Krypton adversaries like the Eradicator and (in Superman: The Animated Series) Brainiac. And Superman resists them, denies them this influence, by removing their images from his Fortress.
This is an interesting twist on the Superman story, one that we haven’t quite seen before in the mainline Superman comics. (The return of an older, crankier Jor-El in relatively recent Superman continuity may come close.) However, like I said, the problem is timing.
The demonizing of the foreign Els, who are sneaking their immigrant offspring into our county/planet in order to destroy us, only to have said offspring reject completely where he came from and meld into this new society…yeah, putting it that way, you can see why some people are upset, especially, like, right now.
I still think this is a good, solid superhero movie, with some minor issues (I don’t like one of the antagonists being killed off at the end…at the very least, they could have shown him in a wheelchair with casts on each limb to show he survived the fall). Given the number of other superheroes in the film, Gunn manages a good balance of keeping Superman the star while giving everyone else their moment or three.
I’m truly sorry what some folks saw in this film ruined it for them…nobody wanted that, for sure. There were more controversies than just this, but those are whole other posts I’m not quite ready to make yet.
At the very least we can all agree that Krypto is amazing. The Superdog heals all division.
It’s a real pleasure to read one of these oversized treasury comics where the artwork is drawn to take advantage of the larger dimensions of the pages. Plenty of full page illos and double-page spreads, and while this may annoy in your standard-sized monthly periodical comics, it feels like a special bonus to get such imagery in these books. Bruno Redondo (along with assists from various artists like Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding) knocks it out of the park here, and the comic is never anything but delightful to look at.
Now, the story…it takes place slightly in the past, where Superman and Lois’s son Jon was still a boy, before getting aged up for reasons I’ll touch upon shortly. And because it’s the aforementioned Dan Jurgens is the writer, we get more Jurgens creations in addition to Jon popping up throughout the story, such as [reminder: SPOILERS] the Cyborg Superman and Maxima. (Well, okay, Jurgens didn’t create Maxima, but he sure used her a lot.)
As I was reading this, I was just slightly disappointed that these particular characters got dragged out from the last thirty years or so of Superman’s history. I’d hoped for something a little less deep-cut-ish and more accessible for new readers, rather than Jurgens doing a “My Greatest Superman Hits.” But, in fairness, it was either “yet another Superman Vs. Luthor” story versus something that showed off some variety in Superman’s rogues gallery, so ultimately, in retrospect, I suppose I don’t actually have a problem with this.
One this this story does do is establish the history of the current version of Superman, spending a few pages outlining the character’s Big Events (death by Doomsday, his marriage, etc.) and trying to get straight just what exactly is canon for this character, who had his from-scratch reboot in 1986 and has gone through some various revisions in the decades since.
(Also of note: it’s confirmed that Maxima was once a Justice League member, from way back in the pre-Zero Hour DC Universe.)
(Also of note: the “timeline,” as such, ends around the time Superman first encounters his father Jor-El, who survived Krypton’s destruction, but takes place before Jor-El takes Jon on his space trip, during which, due to time travel/dilation/timey-wimey stuff, he ages into his late teens. So Jurgens is really threading the needle here of when this story took place.)
After the story are some pages promoting the new Superman film, with nice big color photos of the cast. Overall, it’s a fun, attractive book…would’ve been okay with not seeing the Cyborg Superman yet again, but, eh, it’s fine. Hopefully this comic will sell well enough to encourge DC to publish more new treasury comics, instead of just reprinting the old ones.
Kevin Smith his own self writes this crossover between the world of Archie and the View Askewniverse, and while not wildly over-the-top funny, it’s certainly amusing enough and will inspire a few Sensible Chuckles.
A good chunk of the humor is in the contrast between the filthy language used by Smith’s characters versus the general innocence of the Archies, commented upon within the book itself:
And I’m not made of stone, seeing characters drawn in the Archie style, in a comic published by Archie Comics, use naughty words made me laugh a bit.
The plot itself works its way up from smaller character pieces and interactions into a giant climactic event at a concert, but I felt the smaller scale scenes worked better. There was just more focus in the earlier bits of the book, while things just got a little too chaotic at the end. Might have been the sort of scene that would work better cinematically but falls a little flat on the page. Not that it wasn’t amusing, it just didn’t entirely work for me.
But overall I enjoyed the comic, which reminded me a little of the Good Ol’ Days of the early Clerks comics from Oni Press. I wouldn’t mind seeing more of these, though I suspect we were lucky to just get the one.
Also, I liked the running gags referencing specific Archie comics titles. I knew that Pep wasn’t in there just by chance!
On a related note, I was listening to some old mix discs of mine (remember mix discs? ask your grandparents) and came across this one track, which is about the first 30 or 40 seconds of this very Not Safe for Work video. That still makes me laugh.
So I have to admit, of the many post-Capital Comics/First Comics attempts at reviving the Badger, this one feels most like the classic version of the character, with funny, off-kilter dialogue and a quickly-paced plot and oddball character moments. I have to admit I was taken aback a bit in the first issue by the occasional stereotyped accent used by the Badger’s Vietnamese wife Mavis, but said accent is brought up by other characters in this second issue, and she appears to be deliberately doing it to mess with a specific person. Whether we get an actual reason for it eventually, who’s to say…this is a Badger comic, after all. (Plus, I can’t remember if that was a thing in the original Badger books.)
Cute and fun, though it feels weird describing a comic with Darkseid and Desaad as bad guys as “cute” but there you go. My knowledge of the Sonic universe ends with the initial three or four original games for the Sega Genesis, and a few episodes of the live action/CGI Knuckles TV show which I inexplicably started watched not long ago. I don’t jibe with this “Eggman” stuff, for example…”Dr. Robotnik” or get out.
But the charm in this series is in the interactions between the Sonic characters and the Justice League, which is wisely the version of the team most kids will know from the animated series. And it is definitely a comic for all ages, despite the reference to a nearly 30-year-old Flash story from the Mark Millar/Grant Morrison that’s in there for aged folks like myself.
The comic also gives us this one cool panel:
Even with Wonder Woman’s foot stickin’ down from the panel above, it’s stil quite the image.
In which Elektra fights a deceased enemy of Daredevil’s that has some back and taken possession of a willing thrall in the land of the living. The main Daredevil book is also dealing with similar menaces, in that devils representing the Seven Sins are possessing friends and enemies of his. The supernatural element does feel weird to me just a little, despite 1) this is taking place in the Marvel Universe, and 2) there’s been plenty of that sort of thing in the Daredevil comics before.
It’s still an enjoyable story, don’t get me wrong. I do wish the “Red Band” polybag gimmick wasn’t A Thing, in place to supposedly protect the squeamish from the violent content within. There’s maybe like one or two panels in this issue where the blood and violence is maybe a bit much, but just as easily been handled differently and appeared in a regular ol’ non-polybagged edition.
Anyway, how long before we get, like, ghosts and demons and stuff in the TV series? We’ve already had “mystical amulets.”
I know there had been delays on the second issue, but looking it up for a customer I was shocked to be reminded it had been since the middle of 2023 since #1 came out. Regardless, this is still one solid piece of Superman comicking, building itself around, more or less, the “classic” Silver/Bronze-age-y version of the character.
The story is in regards to Superman’s search for a cure for Luthor’s incurable condition, with flashbacks to their shared childhood and CLark’s possible influence on Lex’s life. Said search reminds me a little of a story I read waaaaay back in the early ’80s, in Superman #362 and #363, in which Lois and Lana are accidentally exposed to a deadly plague…the same one that killed Superman’s adoptive parents (long story).
As you can see in those panels, Superman went researching for cures on other plants, to no avail.
He thinks about putting them into the Phantom Zone:
…but the Phantom Zone villains use their combined psychic powers to sabotage the device, because they’re dicks.
And, speaking of Luthor, even he’s like “nope, can’t help you, wouldn’t help you even if I could.”
And like in Last Days #2, Superman travels into the future to find a cure, but given the ol’ “can’t change history” excuse:
Plus, though I didn’t pull any panels for use here, I believe a similar search goes on in The Death of Captain Marvel to no avail. It was just interesting to me that these stories take on similar elements, but of course a “searching for a cure” plot on a superheroic level is going to involve, like, going to other planets and other times. And Last Days does it in a compelling way, tying the past to the present, and giving us a Superman/Luthor relationship that’s fascinating to read.
This is a Black Label book, and as such is outside regular DC continuity, allowing for a twist or turn that would break regular Superman canon. That said, I think it’s notable that the story is called “The Last Days of Lex Luthor,” and not “The Death of Lex Luthor,” so I’ll be interested to see how it all wraps up next issue.
So I done dood it…I got myself a copy of the nigh-legendary Time Beavers graphic novel by Tim Truman, published by First Comics in 1985. Now I haven’t had the time to read it yet, but read it I shall, oh yes. I’m just a tiny bit miffed with myself in that copies of this were just all over the place at my previous place of employment. I mean, I could have bought one of these from there on the day of release, but alas, I thumbed my nose at Time Beavers and headed straight to the rack to grab Green Lantern #188 with its Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons back-up instead. Thus, I have to resort to the eBays and other nefarious means instead.
Anyhoo, there were plenty of comics I had easy access to back then, but didn’t think about acquiring until, oh, say, ten-something years after I stopped working there and three years after that shop closed. Ah, well, What Can You Do™? I’ve got my Time Beavers now, so my decades-old oversight has been corrected. I’ll get it read soon and let you Dingbats of ProgRuin Street know what I think.
Krypto: The Last Dog of Krypton by Ryan North and artist Mike Norton, which sounds amazing. No thought balloons here, North promises, but if you’ve ever seen Norton’s artwork, I suspect there’ll be expression enough from the Dog of Steel.
Supergirl written and drawn by Sophie Campbell…good, there should always be a solid and accessible Supergirl title on the stands.
Action Comics, which isn’t a new ongoing, obviously, but the new regular team of Mark Waid and Skylar Patridge will be effectively making it into a new Superboy series with a young Clark Kent. After years and years of DC either not having “Superboy” in Clark’s history after the Byrne reboot, and then kinda sorta waffling about it over the last decade of in-flux continuity, it’ll be interesting to see a modern take on the “Adventures of Superman When He Was a Boy.”
Batman by Matt Fraction and Jorge Jiménez – YAY! Restarting the main Batman series with a new #1 – BOO! I saw a news site state that “this is only the fourth time the Batman series has been renumbered,” and c’mon, that’s like five times too many. Batman will sell just fine without renumbering. Yes, we’ll get a boost in sales for the first few issues, which is the reason they do this, but then it’ll be back to its normal sales level soon enough. …I mean, the comic sounds good, I’ll definitely be reading it, I’ll just sigh heavily every time I look at the issue number.
I didn’t see any new Swamp Thing comic news, so all this Super/Bat stuff will have to do.
So pal Brook showed me the other day this reprint of Man of Steel #6, the final issue of 1980s mini-series that kicked off John Byrne’s relaunch of the Superman franchise.
It’s of slightly smaller dimensions than a standard comic book, about 9 by 6 inches. The story is reprinted in color, and appeared to be unedited, though I didn’t go through every single word balloon. All the pages do seem to be there.
To fill out the booklet, there are three black and white cover reproductions captioned “GREAT MOMENTS IN SUPERMAN’S HISTORY.” You know, like this one:
…for, you know, certain values of “GREAT,” I suppose.
The back cover is this slightly menacing image:
…which I’m sure I’ve seen before, but can’t quite place it.
Anyway, this comic was released as part of an audiobook series in the late 1980s. It’s acted out with multiple performers, with music and sound effects, and, well, you can experience it right here in this handy embedded video (which features an image of the accompanying cassette’s J-card insert):
Well…that’s certainly…something. It’s weird hearing real people reciting Byrne’s dialogue, and some of the performances are…well, Your Mileage May Vary, I guess. The voice for Superman/Clark Kent takes some getting used to, no offense to whoever played him.
It’s an interesting artifact, certainly, and one I hadn’t known existed. Thanks to Brook for cluing me in on this.
