| Author | Topic: Superman in The Sixties |
| Aldous Member |
 posted March 04,
2003 03:51 AM 
I was poking around in here, looking for something... I figured I may as well give it a bump while I'm here... IP: Logged |
| Osgood
Peabody Member |
posted March 08,
2003 03:11 PM 
I posted this over on the Archives board - but this thread would be just as appropriate: The recent Dynamic Duo collection has sold me on the merits of
combining the Action and Superman titles into one Silver Age
Superman archive line. You be the judge: Volume 1 - Action 241-247, Superman 122-126 (226 pages of
content) Volume 2 - Action 248-255, Superman 127-131 (240 pages of
content - oversized to accommodate Bizarro 2-parter) Volume 3 - Action 256-262, Superman 132-136 (226 pages of
content) Volume 4 - Action 263-269, Superman 137-140, Annual 1 (206 pages
of content) Volume 5 - Action 270-275, Superman 141-145, Annual 2 (217 pages
of content) Volume 6 - Action 276-283, Superman 146-149, Annual 3 (216 pages
of content) Volume 7 - Action 284-289, Superman 150-154, Annual 4 (219 pages
of content) Volume 8 - Action 290-296, Superman 155-158, Annuals 5,6 (209
pages of content) Volume 9 - Action 297-302, Superman 159-163, Annual 7 (211 pages
of content) Volume 10 - Action 303-309, Superman 164-167, Annual 8 (206
pages of content) Volume 11 - Action 310-316, Superman 168-171 (206 pages of
content) Volume 12 - Action 317-322, Superman 172-176 (209 pages of
content) IP: Logged |
| India
Ink Member |
posted March 08,
2003 03:34 PM
On a point of clarification Osgood, since I don't have any of the original Annuals, would the material from the Annuals only be covers, or is there other new material contained in these comics that would be reprinted in the proposed Archives? IP: Logged |
| Osgood
Peabody Member |
posted March 08,
2003 04:18 PM
My hope is that the Archives would include the covers as well as the "new" material found in the Annuals, such as the map of Krypton and glossary of Krypton names. This would enhance how Weisinger used these features to further Kryptonian lore during this period. Many of these little tidbits were fleshed out a decade later in the "Fabulous World of Krypton" series - but this is where those stories germinated so to speak. IP: Logged |
| India
Ink Member |
posted March 08,
2003 04:27 PM
Of course Weisinger also imposed his version of continuity onto the reprints themselves by altering certain stories--but including all those changed stories would hopelessly retard the progress of an archive series (but a textpiece outlining these changes might be useful). IP: Logged |
| Aldous Member |
posted March 08,
2003 10:07 PM
A great effort there, Osgood. I'd love those editions if they were issued. But you're talking about $1700 worth of Archives in my country. I am so totally in favour of black and white, cheap newsprint editions of all of this wonderful material. Otherwise, I'll never get to see any of it. That's a selfish view, yes, but also a realistic one for me. IP: Logged |
| Lee
Semmens Member |
posted March 09,
2003 05:20 AM
Aldous, a new archive here in Australia costs a minimum $104 (about $64 U.S.), although one place I know has the nerve to charge $115 (about $71 U.S.). I am aware comic dealers need to pay freight and other costs, but even so they have not lowered their prices since the Australian dollar rose from about 50 cents U.S. of about a year ago to the current approximately 61.5 cents U.S. Another factor for the high prices here is that in 2000 our rapacious, moneygrubbing, high-taxing (and unprincipled) government introduced a 10% G.S.T. on products, including previously untaxed books. I don't consider buying (relatively) cheap archives online viable, as the postage rates from the U.S. just about swallow up any savings, so I figure I might just as well buy them from the shops. There, I've got all that off my chest! IP: Logged |
| Aldous Member |
posted March 09,
2003 01:45 PM
The comic shop here in the city charges $140-$145 (NZ) for an Archive, Lee. They have some old stock on display, but generally if a customer wants a certain Archive it has to be ordered in. Things sound a little better price-wise in Victoria, but yeah -- that G.S.T. is annoying. Here our G.S.T. is 12.5%.
quote: Same here. IP: Logged |
| India
Ink Member |
posted March 09,
2003 03:24 PM
I sympathize. Here in Canada we have it a little easier, but there's still a high cost to buying archives. The cover price is around $80, then an additional 7% G.S.T. + 7% P.S.T. And I don't bother with the on-line deals because of the shipping charges and duties on top of the dollar conversion. It's really bothersome given that most Canadian cities are just across the border from the U.S.--it's just a quick truck-drive. It used to be even more disturbing when the archives were printed in Canada. Like couldn't they establish distribution within Canada, and therefore cut out the cross-border traffic on items destined for Canada anyway? In the case of Australia and New Zealand--now that the archives are printed in China--it would seem more efficient to ship copies directly to those countries rather than all the way across the Pacific to the U.S. and then over to Australia and N.Z. Still, since my new comic purchases have gone down and since my local gives me a 10% discount (which doesn't quite make up for the taxes I'm paying), I'm sinking most of my comic-buying power into the archives. IP: Logged |
| Osgood
Peabody Member |
posted March 09,
2003 05:51 PM
I guess I take it for granted - I worked out a deal a while ago with a local comics shop to buy a certain number each year for $32.50 apiece. Have you guys tried E-bay? I know if you have the patience of Job, you can pick up Archives still in their shrink-wrap for as little as $20-$25 here in the States. IP: Logged |
| India
Ink Member |
posted March 09,
2003 11:48 PM
I may eventually go the online route. I'd prefer to find a Canadian online site since I don't want to have to deal with all the dollar conversion, shipping and handling charges, etc. on top of the quoted price. And my 10% store discount is determined by how much money I spend. So if I stopped buying archives (the largest percentage of my average monthly expenditures) I would lose my discount on everything else. Still 10% isn't much of a deal. My local is just so darn convenient (only a few blocks away) and now part of my weekly routine--with a usually very friendly and helpful staff. But if I hear anymore crass remarks about Smallville from the staff I may decide to stop going there out of spite. IP: Logged |
| Aldous Member |
posted March 10,
2003 04:27 AM
quote: Oh dear... I assume you mean "Smallville" the TV show... "Smallville" is the best thing to happen to "Superman" for years and years. IP: Logged |
| Lee
Semmens Member |
posted March 10,
2003 05:04 AM
I regularly order at least 9-10 archives a year from the same comic dealer (they rarely get any in apart from customer orders). Even so, I don't get any discount at all, because I don't have a standing order. This in spite of the fact that they know me fairly well, and they are probably aware I would spend a lot more money per year than many of their standing order customers. IP: Logged |
| India
Ink Member |
posted March 10,
2003 04:28 PM
I haven't been able to see much of "Smallville" this season because it's been switched over to a different station--and since I don't have cable I can't get a good signal (some night when I have the inclination I'm going to try and download this season's programs from the web). But for the Christopher Reeve episode I made a special effort to fiddle with my antennae--I still couldn't see much of Prof. Swann, but I could hear enough to be tearfully choked up over the show. Then I go into my local and the guys are making remarks about how lame that whole Christopher Reeves stuff was and anybody who gets emotional about it is a real idiot. I had to get out of there before I lost my discount. IP: Logged |
| Aldous Member |
posted March 10,
2003 05:31 PM
quote:
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| Aldous Member |
posted March 10,
2003 05:43 PM
(Smallville spoilers ahead.) Incidentally, I try to avoid discussions about "Smallville" storylines because I'm afraid we're wayyy behind in New Zealand. The very latest episode to screen here was "Redux" which featured: ***Martha Kent's father, who Jonathan dislikes. ***The cheerleader who steals the youth of others so she can stay young forever. ***The new headmaster of Clark's school who pushes Clark into deciding he will become a journalist. ***A mysterious man in a photograph who Lana thinks may be her real father. So you see, I have a lot of catching up to do. IP: Logged |
| Super
Monkey Member |
posted March 10,
2003 08:54 PM
How about a Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told Volume 2? Here are my picks for the stories : "Superman's Return to Krypton" "Superman Under the Green Sun" "Superman in Kandor" "Secret of Kryptonite Six" "The Revenge of the Super-Pets" "The Legion of Super-Creatures"
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| India
Ink Member |
posted March 10,
2003 11:18 PM
* IP: Logged |
| India
Ink Member |
posted March 10,
2003 11:20 PM
One can hope for another Greatest--I feel like we're owed another, because the first one (at least the tradepaperback that I got) was printed on cheaper paper than the rest of the series (and look how many Greatests on better paper Batman got)--but I think the ship has sailed on those books, and sunk. I'd just be happy if DC did annual Superman "lost" annuals every year (how's that for redundancy). Replica editions of the actual annuals, 80 page Giants, etc. are good enough--but that kind of limits the choices to what the editors decided to collect back in the sixties. Whereas lost annuals opens up the concept to any stories editors might like to reprint--and maybe stories that have more significance now then they had back in the sixties. And did you ever wonder how they managed to print 8 annuals in five years? -- Just for fun here's a GCD link to all the covers for those
annuals IP: Logged |
| Lee
Semmens Member |
posted March 11,
2003 05:48 AM
quote: I have often wondered about that myself. IP: Logged |
| India
Ink Member |
posted March 13,
2003 08:11 PM
Or maybe they just assumed the kids wouldn't know the difference. IP: Logged |
| Wayne1776 Member |
posted March 28,
2003 12:18 AM
The eight SUPERMAN ANNUALS were published 1960-1964. # 1 - 1960 (I never realized this until I was checking out the publication dates, but it was published by All American Printing Co. Inc. Copyright 1960 Superman, Inc. # 2 - 1960 (Published by All American Printing Company, Inc. Copyright 1960 Superman, Inc.) # 3 - Summer 1961 (Published by National Comics Publications, Inc. Copyright 1960 Superman, Inc.)
My favorite Annual - the first one I bought in 1961 and read in my Dad's car while he was in the Western Auto hardware store. I guess he took me to the local bus staion and bought it for me. I was nine years old. I read it to pieces and still have the coverless copy of it although the first page and back cover are missing too. It is my oldest original purchase. # 5 Summer 1962. (The publication data, and copyright notice, is the
same as above on # 6 Winter 1962-'63. # 7 Summer 1963. # 8 Winter 1963-'64. Although the indicia for # 1 does not say so, it must have been a Winter issue. It has an ad asking readers to decide the contents of Annual 2 by voting for the Super-Villains to be featured from a list of potentials. I would think a minimum of 3 or 4 months lead-time would have been necessary for Mort Weisinger to gather the reprints together. (If he even tallied the hard-chosen votes of those who mailed in their postal cards.) So, the term Annual applies as it was further defined as seasonal. IP: Logged |
| India
Ink Member |
posted March 28,
2003 12:48 AM
I'm surprised to see that Superman Inc. and All American Printing carried on so late. I just assumed these were over and done by the end of the forties and it was all either National Comics or National Periodicals. IP: Logged |
| Aldous Member |
posted March 28,
2003 04:58 AM
quote:
IP: Logged |
| India
Ink Member |
posted March 28,
2003 04:40 PM
Although I didn't start buying Giants until 1966, I have to say my experience was very similar. Since the Giants were the big ticket items, whenever out on a trip with my Dad--just the two of us for a change--he would volunteer to treat me to a comic book and of course I always chose a Giant over the regular size comics because you got so much more. Invariably when he went to pay for the comic he would be quizzical at the fact that there was no tax! This would be a moment when I would find myself more knowing than my father--of course comics didn't have taxes, why should they? I'd think. (Now all my comics have taxes--both PST and GST, how times have changed!) All of my sixties Giants lost their covers and the first few pages at front and back through being read over and over--but I've clung to those comics through the years, never throwing them away. Well, what I've said above is almost true--there were Giant Archies that pre-existed my DC purchases, but these were obtained by the older members of the family--and some of these still have their covers. And there's a Mighty Crusaders/Flyman Giant that never had a cover in my living memory, which I read over and over--and still have though it too misses a lot of pages, still haven't figured out which comic this was. IP: Logged |
