Look, up on the shelf! It’s just appeared from nowhere! It’s Superman, The Silver Age Sundays, Volume 1!
In the late ’50s and early ’60s, Superman was appearing in seven regular comic books. So, when it came time to look for material for the daily and Sunday comic strips, DC’s Superman editor Mort Weisinger simply recycled stories from the comic books. These stories were generally written by Jerry Seigel, the co-creator of Superman.
The stories were redrawn by Wayne Boring, one of the regular Superman artists. Sometimes they were redrawn identically to match the comic stories but reformatted to fit the demands of the comic strip proportions. Mark Waid and John Wells contribute an introduction that pinpoints the origins of each story arc, and anything of special note. (for example, one Sunday arc is a combination of two comic book stories blended together, one written by Bill Finger, the other by Jerry Siegel!)
This volume collects the Sunday (colour) stories, 18 in all, that ran between 1959 to 1963.
It’s great fun revisiting these old stories: some have aged better than others. Some are heavy on patriotism, others are filled with the concerns and biases of the times (obese people were openly mocked, for example). But all have a whimsical side, for, after all, the Sunday funnies pages were read by all ages.
There are some wonderful and familiar moments here: Superman is plagued by kryptonite and is powerless against magic. Aliens periodically invade earth, pester Daily Planet editor Perry White, and try to date Lois Lane!
This volume is the second last in the Superman comic strip reprint series: Volume 2 will follow to conclude the run.
IDW, Superman, The Silver Age Sundays 1959-1963 $49.99 for 184 pages, Rated All Ages
Newsdesk