Showcase Presents: Superman - VOL 01

My first Showcase Presents volume I ever bought was Batman: Brave and the Bold vol.2 or 3. I love older Batman comics. And then I decided to buy some House of Mystery because I love old horror comics. I kept buying all of the titles I knew I would love: Batman, House of Mystery, Phantom Stranger, Green Lantern... And then one day I decided to buy Superman vol.1 just because it was cheap and any old superhero volume is good. But now I have to say that this Superman issue took me by surprise... It is the funniest and weirdest collection of comics I ever read. Usually every volume has a few duds in it or a story that doesn't really hold your interest. Well this volume some how seems to keep me reading. Every story is totally ridiculous and ludicrous and yet so much fun... I love it. Even though I love Batman and horror comics so much I now just want to buy all of the old Superman and Jimmy Olson volumes. This stuff is too funny. Read some of the other reviews for some specifics of the content. This is really worth owning though. It is great for everyone; collectors, serious fans, people looking for a laugh, kids, whoever.

Superman sure was different back then. In this beautiful collection of Superman stories, you see the utter wackiness of the comics back in the late 1950s. Some of the other reviewers have mentioned specifics. I was a very young boy when these comics first came out, and I remember being amazed by Superman's adventures. Now, nearly 60 years later....you see that writing comics back then relied on imagination and speed. Not even a hint of scientific accuracy. Adults doing things (even Super adults), that a child of ten would find silly.Complete nonsense from a childhood. That's what these stories are.And I loved every minute of them.

As other reviews of books in the Showcase Presents series have noted, this is DC's version of the Marvel Essentials series-- B&W reproductions of comics published decades ago. The comics in this particular edition were originally published between June '58 and Nov '59, when I was eight and nine years old and a voracious comics reader. Even now, I can actually remember reading some of the particular comics that are in this book, and while, to an adult, the stories here are simplistic and even sometimes silly, it was, for nostalgia purposes alone, a real delight to get to re-read them again for the inexpensive price of ten dollars. In fact I sort of feel sorry for children growing up now, who have to make do with comics that are kind of grim and sordid, in contrast to the clearly drawn, cheerful and good-hearted ones that existed back in the fifties and sixties.

Love getting my graphic novels from Amazon. Speedy delivery and never have to worry about the condition of the book or price! A nice collection of Superman Stories in another volume. Definitely worth it for any Superman fan. Hope that this helps.

I'm only in my 20s, definitely not the traditional age for Silver Age fans, but I've loved these simplistic, often goofy stories for years. I buy quite a few modern comics, but I always make time for things like this. DC's Showcase line is a Godsend! In this volume, we have over 500 pages of classic Silver Age stories that are brimming with endless possibilities. This was in a time where creators weren't afraid to throw logic out the window if it made for a more entertaining story. Some of my favorite moments from this book include:-Batman shopping for a birthday gift for Superman at the mall, in full costume!-President Superman solving the budget deficit by filling Fort Knox with treasure he found in wrecked pirate ships on the ocean floor.-Batman taking a week off from crimefighting so he can break into the Fortress of Solitude and play pranks on Superman.-Superman scheming to eliminate the manifestation of his new power: a tiny version of himself that grows out of his hand, and steals his thunder!-Superman becoming a lion.-Superman using his super vision to see through the time barrier!this book is filled with such craziness, from cover to cover. There's never a dull moment. And for less than $10, there's no reason not to check it out.

The first thing you need to know is that these are printed in black & white and thin paper sock to save mone (if i was a young kid id take it as a plus and use it as a 600 page coloring book). These are the very campiest stories from the late 1950's; I highly reccomend it, makes for some great reading 'to go'

As noted, a collection of previously reprinted material, but it does complement the Superman Chronicles which stops before the end of WWII, so it does fill in some blanks.

DC was slow in getting on board with less white bread comics, but these are still a great nostalgic item, and gives a lot of origin.

As a kid, I started reading/collecting comics in 1956, my first Superman comic was in 1957, 'The three men of Steel, a beautiful purple, Wayne Boring cover. In the early 70s I started picking up almost all the back issues of Batman, Det. Action, Worlds Finest and Superman back to 1939. As any extensive collector of these books will tell you, the 1948 to1955, (some 1956), period was THE BEST for those five titles. Before 1948, a bit too jokey (tho the first 12 issues of Batman could be kind of 'hard-hitting'). By 1948, Dick Sprang, the All Time, undisputed King of Batman artists, tightened his work up, compare Det. 140, first Riddler with Det.147 'Tiger Shark' to see a more detailed, serious look. Sprang drew a lot of the issues in the prime period, after 1955 less and less, other than World's Finest. And Wayne Boring, with the help of Chuck Paris and Stan Kaye, was the best Superman artist, altho Swan was close. With Boring and Sprang, Superman's and Batman's capes never lay flat, and their versions of Luthor and the Joker ( among other villains) remain tops! They would alternate in World's Finest in that era, one issue with a Sprang Batman and Plastino Superman, the next with Superman by Boring, Batman by Lew Schwarz or Shelly Moldoff (or-even worse, Jim Mooney). The Editors knew their onions!Well, back to this book ( too bad it didn't start in 1956, a couple of outstanding issues, Action 215 and 223). There are some really fine stories, esp. Sup. 123, a three part ( meaning full issue) story illustrated by Dick Sprang, including the death of the first Supergirl, it had a sad storyline, which was unusual then. Believe me, that was an unforgettable issue. Another full length one, Sup 132, 'Krypton lives on'. First Lori Lemaris ( she was OK for a mermaid!) The first Titano, who us kids wanted to see return (as he did) and the first two Bizarro stories, which we felt was more than enough. Action 233,'Undersea Kingdom' was one of my favorites, and 250,The Eye of Metropolis (no relation to Det. 192, 'The Phantom Eye of Gotham City') was a tense story. Al Plastino's art was boring ( no pun intended) but his Sup. 124 ( silver cover) 'The Black Knight's Super-Sword' was always one of my favorites cause I was reading about knights then and he did better than usual also for 'The Menace of Metallo', probably due to it's being a great story. Funny, I have all these issues, but Superman 126 and 129 I could hardly recall. This book will make GREAT reading for kids today who, like I , really learned to read via comic books, with improved spelling by constant reading. Plus, they are much safer for kids than anything else on the market ( I see even Archie comics became tales from the dark side, Yuck!) But don't fool yourself or try to fool others by complaining they aren't 'relevant' or on a 'higher plane', or should be more violent, whatever. They were written for kids and did good by us. They are what they are.

Entweder man mag ihn, oder man hasst ihn. Der Silver Age Superman ist eine hochgradig kontroverse Figur. Er hat so tolle Fähigkeiten wie "Super-Bauchrednerei" und "Super-Gedächtnis", hat scheinbar nichts anderes im Sinn als seine Geheimidentität vor Lois zu verbergen und ist ein echter Scherzkeks. Das ist nicht der "Man of Steel", der edle Charakter, sondern ein lieber, fast tolpatschiger Kerl, der zufällig Superkräfte hat, die er kaum gegen Supergegner einsetzen muss, sondern gegen die Widrigkeiten des normalen Lebens (Geldbeschaffung und - wie erwähnt - hauptsächlich zur Verdeckung seiner Geheimidentität). Soviel Kryptonit, wie in diesen Geschichten rumfliegt, lässt darauf schließen, dass der gesamte Planet Krypton in Bruchstücken auf die Erde gefallen ist - es ist ein Wunder, dass Superman überhaupt leben kann, da er scheinbar alle Viertelstunde mit grünem Kryptonit beworfen wird.Entweder man mag es, oder man hasst es. Die Zeichnungen sind meist typische DC-60er-Jahre-Standardware, nur Superman selbst sieht aus wie eine Tonne mit einem Stecknadelkopf (irgendwie völlig unproportioniert). Wie auch bei den Batman-Geschichten dieser Zeit liegt der Hauptfokus auf dem Spass, den die Superhelden haben - die dunkle, düstere Phase der späten 80er Jahre ist hier noch weit entfernt. Dies ist ein Punkt, der die Stories letztlich noch rettet - wenn man bereit ist, sich auf diesen Superman einzulassen, sind die Geschichten kurzweilig, fast schwankhaft. Letztlich bleiben sie aber doch Kindergeschichten, und sind mit modernen Comics kaum ernsthaft zu vergleichen.