Superman Through the Ages! Forum

At last, the Silver Age Superman train is finally scheduled to leave the station!!!

(http://www.dccomics.com/comics/images/October2004/pic_medsmmotav1cvr.jpg)

SUPERMAN: MAN OF TOMORROW ARCHIVES VOL. 1

 
Written by Otto Binder, Jerry Coleman and various; Art by Wayne Boring, Curt Swan, Kurt Schaffenberger and various; Cover by Curt Swan & Stan Kaye

The first Silver Age Superman Archive, reprinting ACTION COMICS #241-247 and SUPERMAN #122-126 (1958-1959)! This volume, with an introduction by Mark Waid, features the debuts of the Fortress of Solitude, Brainiac, Kandor, the Super-Pets, and much more!

SUPERMAN  |  236pg.  |  Hardcover  |  Color  |  $49.95
On Sale October 6th, 2004  


By the way - I have no idea what they're talking about with the debut of the Super-Pets, but I'm going to let it slide as I'm in a celebratory mood...October can't get here soon enough!

The Superpets finally get their own archive! oh and that Superman guy will also have some stories in it as well.

 :D

This is fantastic news!  Thanks Osgood and thanks DC!

Now available for pre-order (http://superman.nu/fos/comingsoon/#silver), right here at Superman Through the Ages!, "only" $33.97... :?

:s:

Seen this one for some time now - I'm a member of the Dc Archives Section.  There had been a lot of wishful thinking, speculations, ect...  When the title was found on amazon, people began guessing.  I think that this one will dethrown Legion Archives that have like 12 or 13 Archives...

I think it's time to see just what it is that we will be getting here :

ACTION COMICS #241
http://comicbookcovers.dyndns.org/comicsdb/covers/ACTIONCOMICS241.JPG

ACTION COMICS #242
http://comicbookcovers.dyndns.org/comicsdb/covers/AC242.JPG

ACTION COMICS #243
http://comicbookcovers.dyndns.org/comicsdb/covers/AC243.JPG

ACTION COMICS #244
http://comicbookcovers.dyndns.org/comicsdb/covers/ACTIONCOMICS244.JPG

ACTION COMICS #245
http://comicbookcovers.dyndns.org/comicsdb/covers/ACTIONCOMICSDC245.JPG

ACTION COMICS #246
http://www.diamondgalleries.com/product_images/1/1481/001_big.jpg

ACTION COMICS #247
http://comicbookcovers.dyndns.org/comicsdb/covers/ACTIONCOMICS247.JPG

SUPERMAN #122
?

SUPERMAN #123
http://www.accessv.com/~batdude/IM003603.jpg

SUPERMAN #124
http://i3.ebayimg.com/02/i/02/2f/02/88_1.JPG

SUPERMAN #125
?

SUPERMAN #126
http://imagehost.vendio.com/bin/imageserver.x/00000000/metscape/02327.JPG

Try these links:

Superman #122

http://www.comics.org/graphics/covers/116/400/116_4_122.jpg

Superman #125

http://www.comics.org/graphics/covers/116/400/116_4_125.jpg

Gotta love that last one with the rainbows from the finger-tips.

Turns out Superman's "secret power" is the "Gay Ray"...allowing him to redecorate a room with a mere gesture.  :roll:

Curse that Pink Kryptonite...

And please used spoiler warnings next time ;)

LOL!  You guys really made me crack up on that one (gay ray thingie)!  It's not everyday that a space villain like me smiles - I won't shrunk your respective cities for an extra month... :D

Alright – 1 month to go Weisingerites, and here’s a more detailed sneak preview courtesy of the Grand Comics Database - all covers are by Curt Swan & Stan Kaye:

(http://www.comicsvf.com/scans/vodc/actioncomics/241.jpg)
Action 241 (June 1958)
“The Super-Key To Fort Superman”
Writer: Jerry Coleman
Artist: Wayne Boring
[First appearance of Arctic Fortress of Solitude; generally considered to mark the beginning of Superman’s “Silver Age”]
- reprinted in the Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told, and Superman Annual 1, among other places


(http://www.comics.org/graphics/covers/116/400/116_4_122.jpg)
Superman 122 (July 1958)
“The Secret of the Space Souvenirs”
Writer: Otto Binder?
Artist: Al Plastino
- reprinted in Best of DC digest 12

“Superman In the White House”
Writer: ?
Artist: Al Plastino
[Semi-imaginary story – Jimmy Olsen dreams of Superman becoming President]
- reprinted in Superman Annual 7

“The Super-Sergeant”
Writer: ?
Penciller: Wayne Boring
Inker: Stan Kaye


(http://www.comics.org/graphics/covers/97/400/97_4_0000242.jpg)
Action 242 (July 1958)
“The Super-Duel In Space”
Writer: Otto Binder
Artist: Al Plastino
[First appearance of Brainiac; first appearance of Kandor]
- reprinted in Superman Annual 2, and Superman 217 giant


(http://www.comics.org/graphics/covers/116/400/116_4_123.jpg)
Superman 123 (August 1958)
“The Girl of Steel”
Writer: Otto Binder
Penciller: Dick Sprang
Inker: Stan Kaye
[Prototype "Super-Girl" appears in this story]
-Reprinted in Supergirl Archives volume 1, Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told, among other places

(http://www.comicsvf.com/scans/vodc/actioncomics/243.jpg)
Action 243 (August 1958)
“The Lady and the Lion”
Writer: Otto Binder
Penciller: Wayne Boring
Inker: Stan Kaye
[Superman vs. Circe – Kandor cameo appearance]
- reprinted in Superman Annual 3

(http://www.comics.org/graphics/covers/116/400/116_4_124.jpg)
Superman 124 (September 1958)
“The Super-Sword”
Writer: Jerry Coleman?
Artist: Al Plastino
- reprinted in Superman Annual 7

“Mrs. Superman”
Writer: Otto Binder
Artist: Kurt Schaffenberger
[Clark & Lois are trapped on a desert isle. Believing his powers permanently gone, Clark reveals his identity and proposes marriage (!!)]
- reprinted in 80-page giant 14 from 1965

“The Steeplejack of Steel”
Writer: Otto Binder
Penciller: Wayne Boring
Inker: Stan Kaye

(http://www.comics.org/graphics/covers/97/400/97_4_0000244.jpg)
Action 244 (September 1958)
“The Super-Merman of the Sea”
Writer: Otto Binder
Penciller: Curt Swan
Inker: George Klein
[Introduction of undersea Fortress of Solitude]
- reprinted in Superman 187 giant

(http://www.comics.org/graphics/covers/97/400/97_4_0000245.jpg)
Action 245 (October 1958)
“The Shrinking Superman”
Writer: ?
Penciller: Wayne Boring
Inker: Stan Kaye
[First Kandorian villain (Zak-kul), first use of an “enlarging” ray by a Kandorian]

(http://www.comics.org/graphics/covers/116/400/116_4_125.jpg)
Superman 125 (November 1958)
“Lois Lane’s Super-Dream”
Writer: Jerry Coleman
Artist: Kurt Schaffenberger
[semi-imaginary story in which Lois dreams she acquires super-powers]
- reprinted in Lois Lane Annual 1

“Clark Kent’s College Days”
Writer: Jerry Coleman
Artist: Al Plastino
[Flashback relates when “Superboy” became “Superman” during Clark’s college years]
- reprinted in Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told, Superman 183 giant

“Superman’s Mystery Power”
Writer: Jerry Coleman?
Penciller: Wayne Boring
Inker: Stan Kaye
- reprinted in Superman Annual 7

(http://www.comics.org/graphics/covers/97/400/97_4_0000246.jpg)
Action 246 (November 1958)
“Krypton On Earth”
Writer: ?
Penciller: Wayne Boring
Inker: Stan Kaye

(http://www.comics.org/graphics/covers/97/400/97_4_0000247.jpg)
Action 247 (December 1958)
“Superman’s Lost Parents”
Writer: Otto Binder
Artist: Al Plastino
- reprinted in Superman 193 giant

(http://www.comics.org/graphics/covers/116/400/116_4_126.jpg)
Superman 126 (January 1959)
“Superman’s Hunt For Clark Kent”
Writer: ?
Penciller: Wayne Boring
Inker: Stan Kaye

“The Spell of the Shandu Clock”
Writer: Jerry Coleman
Penciller: Wayne Boring
Inker: Stan Kaye
- reprinted in Best of DC digest 38

“The Two Faces of Superman”
Writer: Jerry Coleman
Artist: Kurt Schaffenberger
[Superman masquerades as Alfred E. Neuman (!!)]
- reprinted in Superman Annual 3

I can't wait!  I advance ordered mine from Discount Comic Book Service at an incredible price, but this is the first archive in years I'd have willingly paid cover price for.  

Hope it does so well we get a Volume 2 fast-tracked for next fall!

I am hyper excited about this one, the only other archive that I own is the Supergirl v2. Of course I will be getting this one as well :D

SuperMonkey, do yourself a favor and get World's Finest Archives, either volume (or better yet, both).  

The first volume is due for re-release soon for just $19.99, and that's before any price breaks you might find on the 'net!  So you have no excuse.  :wink:

This is some great stuff with art by Curt Swan and Dick Sprang and terrically fun stories.  Trust me, you can't go wrong.

The $19.95 price was a rumor that was specifically denied by DC.  See  DC Archives Message Board (http://p206.ezboard.com/fmarvelmasterworksfansitefrm2.showMessageRange?topicID=619.topic&start=1&stop=20) and  DC Universe Archives message board (http://dcboards.warnerbros.com/web/messages.jsp?topic=57819962&board=dc_universe_archives).

D'Oh!

Well, it's still worth it, even at full price.

Good news - various sources have confirmed this is shipping a week early, and will in fact arrive on 9/29.

4 more days!

 :D

Got mine!

Just read the first couple of stories and I'm already totally immersed.

You can dissect "Super-Key to Fort Superman" a million ways - it's a brilliant story.

I'm sure I've read it several times before, but there's always some little Weisinger touch that jumps out at me upon rereading it.

This time it was that painting in the Fortress. What a concept! It's not enough to have Superman dabbling in the fine arts - we find him working on a Dali-esque alien landscape, with a pair of hands emerging ominously from the ground! But the Man of Steel assures the reader that this is no flight of fancy, he's sketching this from a telescopic view of an actual Martian landscape!!

Then, to top it off, he finds the painting has been finished off by an unseen intruder with an even more bizarre crystalline design, that Superman attests is an alien life form he's never seen before!

When we all find out that the intruder turns out to be Batman, I find it fascinating that Supes doesn't even question his pal about this strange crystal formation, as if it's nothing out of the ordinary for the Caped Crusader.

But then again - given that Jack Schiff was putting Batman on a first name basis with all kinds of critters during this era, perhaps the reader would have taken this in stride as well!

Great stuff!

Just a cursory glance through this book reveals at least three blunders in the Table of Contents.

The first is the howler crediting Wayne Boring instead of Dick Sprang with the pencils on The Girl of Steel! from Superman #123.

In The Super-Merman of the Sea! (Action Comics #244), the inks, credited to Stan Kaye, are almost certainly those of Ray Burnley, brother of Jack.

By far the worst mistake, though, is crediting Curt Swan with the pencils on Krypton on Earth! (Action Comics #246), when they are very obviously by Wayne Boring, even to the most untrained eye! How anyone could make this most fundamental of mistakes is beyond me.

My only other real quibble at this time is that, in my opinion, this volume should have started off around about Action Comics #235, as these slightly earlier issues have more of a very late 1950s feel about them than stories from even the early-mid 1950s, but then again, the starting point was always going to be a fairly contentious issue.

Having said all that, I am still absolutely delighted to finally get this long anticipated volume in my hands.