Superman Masterpiece Edition
With the debut of superman in 1938, he wasn’t much of the Superman as we know today. He couldn’t fly, but leaping over 20 story buildings wasn’t much of a challenge for him. He couldn’t fly, but could out-run a train and a bursting shell could damage him. But the colors of red, blue and yellow were established, the cape was there and the ‘S’ which made obvious changes through out the years took shape.
In 1999 Les Daniels made it possible for us all to own a piece of vintage superman.
This has to be one the nicest pieces of Superman memorabilia I own. Coming in a box that you can open and display as shown above or you can take out the pieces individually. The set comes with a nice glossy reprint of the the first issue of superman’s comic from 1939 , and an illustrated, color hardcover book by author Les Daniels. Also in this pack is an 8 inch statue of the 1938 Superman.
So lets break this down item by item. First up……
1) The Comic Book.
Printed in full color as it would’ve been back then, this reprint shows exactly why the comics back then were great. They were priced at 10c for one and the art was simple yet effective. The paper feels rough just like you would imagined it would have back then. Remember the times where you could see the dots to make the ink colors? Well that’s here too. The best part of the reprint is you turn all the way to the back inside cover and you see adverts for a printing press at $2.50, a 30 shot BB Pistol for 30cents, and the best one; ‘Fighting Roosters’ for 10cents. I would only hope this was a toy and not a box of one dead and one live rooster at your doorstep.
2) The Book
This 97 page hardcover book looks back at the history of the super hero and also gives us a great insight into the creators. It also shows us the different comics, memorabilia and other methods of advertising that were used back in the day such as bubble gum wrappers. You get a look at the ‘Daisy Picture Pistol’s Krypto Raygun’ which much like the STAR WARS movie viewer this was a little gun shaped viewer with film strips that you would insert and then reflect the comics stories on the wall. This book is definitely a great read but its not new info that cant be found in other books that have popped up over time.
3) The Statue
The statue was a collaboration of many people to come up with this very outstanding piece. You had Alex Cross who created the pencil sketches inspired by the initial design of Superman by c- creator Joe Shuster. The sculpt was made by artist Jon DeVito who has also been known for sculpts of Doc Savage and Tarzan. Then the baton was passed to Chris Ware who hand painted the first statue by which the manufacturing company used as reference to mass-produce this. It stands 8 inches tall and would make a great addition to the collection to any super-fan!
Overall this piece, if you can it get for the right price, is a good read and great addition to your collection. Expect to pay around $50-75 even though some are demanding a high price, search for the bargain and you will find it.