Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus Vol 1 Unbound – 1 Jan. 1944

This book is a dream come true. It goes all the way back to the original Superman comics .You can see Superman gradually change as the comic matures and it has so many stories that it will keep you busy reading for a long time. I hope they do a similar book for the Batman comics. Buy this book, it's unbelievable.

A great collection of all the Golden Age Superman comics from June 1938 to December 1940. This was exactly what I want and expect from an omnibus, it's a nice way to get a large collection of sequential comic books without all the messing around trying to work out which ones you have and which ones you need, I'm definitely looking forward to seeing if they bring out a Vol. 2. Be slightly wary if you're expecting the later style of Superman, their is a big contrast. Most of the story-lines are ridiculous, but it seems that the more absurd they are the more I enjoy them. Definitely worth every penny.

A beautiful price of history. Any die hard Superman or DC fan should own this.No, the stories are not as imaginative as the later comics and some of the takes can get a bit repetetive. But repetetive awesomeness is still awesome. If I had to describe this collection in one word, I'd say "FUN". It's a great read, maybe read a story or two each night before you go to bed (that's what I did). It introduces Lex Luthor, but the stand out villain in this collection is defiantly Ultra-Humanite. Superman mostly faces mob bosses, corrupt politicians, Jewel theifs etc. So it's great when you start reading another issue in this collection and realise Ultra Humanite has debuted/returned. Eventually Lex is introduced and takes Ultras place as Supermans arch enemy, though he doesn't out do Ultra quite yet.All in all this book is perfect... I'll be buying volume 2 and 3 when its released.

This volume reprints the very early Superman stories.The stories are primarily concerned with Superman fighting criminals or for social justice (and the occasional foreign warmonger); no costumed villains back then, though Luthor does wear a white lab coat – the uniform of mad scientists in those days - and you'll find there was a regular mad scientist even before Luthor...Although these were the top-selling comics of the day, they are nowhere near as interesting as the Batman comics published at the same time, which have stood the test of time much better than the early Superman. Superman was something quite new then, simply through having super-human powers, and that accounted for a great deal of his popularity. We tend to expect more nowadays.Even in appearance, Superman is different to today, as he still has the tiny S logo on his chest, by the end of this volume it evolves to a larger S-shield, though not yet to the stylised S of today. It is also towards the end of this volume that he evolves from just leaping tall buildings to flying.If you are a fan of the Golden Age of comics, then you will find these stories more entertaining than perhaps a casual browser would.

Probably, pages are obtained from old microfilms and are not scanned directly from originally printed comic books or original artworks. So the lines of the pictures are burned or missing. Maybe DC should leave this kind of issues to IDW or Fantagraphics, who know how to do them very well.

Schade: Das Buch ist zwar inhaltlich identisch mit der ersten Auflage, hat jedoch ein komplett neues Design erhalten und fügt sich im Buchregal nicht mehr in die Optik der anderen Bände der Reihe ein. Das mag für einen Nichtsammler nicht ins Gewicht fallen; ich empfinde es als extrem störend und werde warten, ob auch die anderen Bücher nachgedruckt werden.

Terrific book, haven't finished yet. Since it is impractical to track down first 20 issues or so of comics from the 1930s, is great to have books like this that reprint them, in colour, from the days when Superman, as the famous tagline goes, was ONLY "faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound." Prompt delivery, book as advertised.

A l'occasion des 75 ans d'un de ses personnages "fétiches", la firme DC Comics rend de nouveau disponibles les premières aventures de Superman, telles que proposées par Jerry SIEGEL (scénarios) et Joe SHUSTER (dessins), dans le comic book mensuel "Action Comics" à compter de son n° 1 de juin 1938.Les aventures comptent le plus souvent 12 à 13 pages par n° et, sauf exception, chaque histoire proposée par SIEGEL et SHUSTER commence et s'achève dans cette limite. Ces tous premiers épisodes avaient déjà été récemment réédités par DC Comics, notamment dans la collection de trade paperbacks "Chronicles", mais le traitement "Omnibus" regroupe avec ce seul premier volume les deux premières années et demi des aventures du personnage de Superman.Par rapport à d'autres publications de ce type (on pense à ce qui se fait chez IDW avec par exemple la série 'Complete Terry And The Pirates Volume 1: 1934-1936' et s.), l'appareil critique est très succinct (4 pages !), mais il est confié à un véritable créateur, Jim STERANKO (cf. par exemple le prochainement remis sur le marché 'S.h.i.e.l.d. by Jim Steranko: The Complete Collection'), doublé d'un historien des comics.Ce qui frappe le plus, en feuilletant les près de 800 pages de ce premier tome, c'est la pauvreté du dessin de SHUSTER au regard tant de ce qui est aujourd'hui proposé par les comics de super-héros, qu'en comparaison aux comics des années 1950 et 1960 ou bien encore avec les travaux de Milton CANIFF, Alex RAYMOND ou Burne HOGARTH à la même époque. En lisant ces pages de SHUSTER, je me suis remémoré "Les Aventures de Roger Fringant", écrites et dessinées par Jacques LOB pour le mensuel Métal Hurlant entre 1976 et 1979, et j'en mesure aujourd'hui mieux la justesse autant que l'ironie.De surcroît, il y a dans les dessins de la majorité des pages de ce volume beaucoup d'approximations et de problèmes de continuité parfois d'une case à l'autre. Un fait aggravé par la couleur, restaurée mais probablement fidèle aux choix originaux. D'une case à l'autre, un personnage peut être de cheveux clairs puis bruns, totalement chauve puis doté d'une couronne de cheveux etc.Les aventures sont souvent des enquêtes policières, et même des "whodunnits", avec une Loïs LANE impétueuse et un Clark KENT / Superman qui pourrait donner du souci... au plus grand détective du monde (i.e. Batman en personne) ! Quelques méchants à la hauteur des pouvoirs en expansion constante (1) de Superman se présentent aussi : l'Ultra-humanite (!!!), Luthor (ce n'est pas Lex : il a des cheveux roux, puis gris) et Zolar.Mais, la plupart du temps, Superman est le défenseur de la veuve et de l'orphelin du coin, luttant contre l'injustice et l'oppression. Ces dernières prennent la forme de mafieux, politiciens véreux et autres malfaisants de tous poils : fonctionnaires, policiers, hommes d'affaires, journalistes etc.Lorsque dans la réalité la guerre éclate en Europe, il faut attendre quelques mois avant que le journaliste Clark KENT (et Loïs LANE, bien sûr) soit envoyé en tant que correspondant de guerre pour couvrir un obscur conflit entre... le Toran et la "lesser nation" Galonia... On voit bien page 435 un Général Lupo qui porte une approximation de la croix de fer en sautoir, mais le conflit se révèle en fait animé par Luthor et, dès lors que ce dernier est mis hors d'état de nuire par Superman, Toran et Galonia signent un armistice avant que KENT et LANE ne prennent congé...La lecture de ces 750+ pages permet de se mettre à l'échelle de ce qui importait aux jeunes américains de base à l'époque : SIEGEL et SHUSTER n'ont pas 25 ans lorsqu'ils créent leurs histoires pour les adolescents. Ils sont plus préoccupés de nous montrer à de très nombreuses reprises comment Superman court plus vite que n'avancent les trains express, saute plus vite que les avions, autogyres ou mêmes fusées ne volent, nage plus vite que les bateaux transatlantiques ne voguent etc. Combien de fois, à partir de 1940, Clark KENT en vient-il à pincer ce nerf dans le cou de Loïs pour qu'elle pique un somme pendant que Superman à mieux à faire !Il faut dire que, tant humainement que professionnellement, KENT et LANE sont en opposition forte. Pour arranger les choses, à un moment, l'éditeur prend position pour KENT en lui donnant le poste de reporter occupé par LANE !Mais toutes ces critiques - et bien d'autres ! -, plus ou moins sévères, restent à mettre d'autant plus en perspective que les satanés Superman alias Clark KENT et Loïs LANE sont encore là 75 ans plus tard ! A l'évidence, SIEGEL et SHUSTER n'ont donc pas totalement loupé leur coup dès l'origine !DE fait, comme le souligne le collègue et historien STERANKO, il y a beaucoup de "premières" dans ces quelques pages d'une des toutes premières BD de super-héros. Certaines de ces "premières" ont mal vieilli tandis qu'un grand nombre d'autres restent dans l'ADN (si l'on peut dire, pour ce Kryptonien) du Superman de 2013.En ce sens, cet ouvrage est plutôt destiné aux fanatiques du "Man of Tomorrow" et aux lecteurs attentifs à l'histoire des comic books de super-héros plus qu'aux jeunes gens impressionnés par le film "Man Of Steel".(1) je ne crois pas que Superman garde aujourd'hui le pouvoir de remodeler à sa guise les traits de son visage ! Complete Terry And The Pirates Volume 1: 1934-1936S.h.i.e.l.d. by Jim Steranko: The Complete Collection

Durante a infância, lia os episódios esporádicos da forma como eram publicados no Brasil pela antiga Editora Brasil América (EBAL) e sonhava ler as estórias desde a primeira publicação original.Esta obra finalmente realizou meus sonhos e, além disso o conteúdo histórico veio otimamente encadernado em capa dura e resistente, com cores vivas e nítidas.Minha próxima meta: adquirir o número 2.

Superman : The Golden Age collects the first appearances of the Man of Steel. The book is humungous. The pages are crisp and of good quality. I'm very proud to own this brilliant piece of history. Thank you Amazon for delivering it before time !

Lovely collection a must have for anyone into 'man of steel'

Very bright and colorful. Early days of Superman from its original creators!

El origen del cómic de superhéroes, la génesis de un género. Siegel y Shuster haciendo historia. Imprescindible para cualquier fan del cómic.

A quality hero in a quality book. This Superman Omnibus is a must for Man of Steel fans.lt is Superb !!

Love it! Great binding, great selection of books, great quality. Pretty sure they could have selected a much better cover for the dust jacket though.Hope they'll produce a Wonder Woman Omnibus.

Fantastic Omnibus at a fantastic price! Looks great on the shelf. Thanks!

Repetitive.

Huge collection of classic Superman stories in one volume, plus a killer cover by Darwyn Cooke. WOW.

I thought I would just get down to brass tacks and tell you what you get with the Superman Omnibus Volume one.This is DC’s third attempt at a Golden Age Superman compilation. The first was the Archive editions which separated Action comics and Superman comics into two collections. They were nice hardcover books with glossy pages. Volume one of Superman being 272 pages and volume one of Action Comics having 240 pages. The cover prices were $49.95 but can be purchased now for significantly less.The Superman Chronicles, by contrast, were paperback, closer to 200 pages, were printed on cheaper paper and had a cover price of around $18. Unlike the Archive editions these collected all Superman stories including World’s Finest stories.As with the Chronicles, The Omnibus edition collects all Superman stories but is printed on glossy paper like the Archive editions. Volume one has a whopping 784 pages and I was concerned that it might be so large as to be unwieldy but it’s not too big to open up and read. You get Action Comics #1-31, Superman #1-7 and New York World’s Finest #1-2. Of course you only get the Superman stories not the other supporting stories in Action Comics and New York World’s Finest. This volume of stories would constitute most of the first two volumes of the Action Comics Archive plus almost the entire first two volumes of the Superman archives plus part of the World’s Finest Archive volume 1. The material here is almost precisely the content of the first four volumes of the Superman Chronicles.Both the Archives and Chronicles have images that are about 8 by 6. The Omnibus is slightly larger at around 9 by 6.5. The Archives and Chronicles had very little in the way of extra material and the Omnibus doesn’t have a ton more. There is a four page forward and two page afterwards.In my opinion the Omnibus is the best bet for a Golden Age Superman collection. I have not seen a second volume scheduled for release but since this book is called volume one I assume there is intended to be more. The Omnibus is more attractive than Archives and Chronicles and has larger images. All in all I would say that the current price of $48 is more than fair for what your get.

With the release of DC/Warner Brothers Man of Steel this Summer (this very week, as I type this), DC has been putting out numerous re-releases of Superman to get us prepped for the big film (and yes, I am oh-so excited to want to see the film come midnight opening). And just in time of the film release, DC has released this phenomenal omnibus of "The Last Son of Krypton" when he first appeared in 1938 that ushered in the age from the Pulp comics like the Shadow, The Phantom, and Doc Savage into the beginning creation of the "Superhero comic". I know I've seen other omnibi reviews like Spider-Man and Fantastic Four as being praised as the best material in the medium. With all due respect, THIS is the pendulum of the Superhero medium. Every icon you can name, even the mighty Batman, all came from the blueprint that is Superman and these stories go to show just why.SUPERMAN: THE GOLDEN AGE collects ACTION COMICS #1-31, SUPERMAN #1-7, and NEW YORK WORLD'S FAIR COMICS #1-2. Included is a foreword and afterword by Jim Steranko.I won't go into any real detail for the material itself, other then it being what it is for the time period. These early comics by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster (with accompanying art by Jack Burney and Wayne Boring) were meant for kids and adults (kids mostly) as a new form of entertainment in the comic medium. These stories are mostly about Superman being a social crusader for the oppressed people across America. Superman fights numerous thugs, thieves, and egomaniacs hell bent on taking over the world. It may not be as exciting as today's comics, but that's the charm about reading these stories. We get introduced to most of Superman's regular cast of characters like John and Mary Kent, Jimmy Olsen, and the most famous lady in comics (tied with Wonder Woman) Lois Lane. Additional introductions also go for Superman's rouge gallery like Ultra-Humanite (Superman's first villain), Alex Evell, Blackie Sarto, Medini, and Superman's greatest nemesis, Lex Luthor as that "egomaniac hell bent on taking over the world".The characters portrayed during this time are quite different then where they are now here 75 years later. Most of the characters designs, way of thinking, and motives were still being worked out by Siegel and Shuster. Superman will have various times his "S" logo will change its shape and color, his boots go yellow once in awhile, his power-set is still being worked out (he doesn't actually fly at this time yet, but there is times he does seem to float) and Superman will even leave villains to die. Other characters like Ultra-Humanite is an old crippled man instead of a humanoid ape and Luthor is genius-level mad scientist who wants to kill Superman and take over the world (which in some cases, is no different then the Luthor today...). But again, it was still about the characters finding their voice and there is nothing wrong with that.This new 2013 Omnibus comes with a dust jacket designed by Darwin Cooke (the lovely cover photo on Amazon shows why), with the original Action Comics cover on the spine jacket. The actual hardcover board is thick black, but sadly lacking in any design. The logo is imprinted on the cover and spine with nothing added. A shame DC couldn't do a cover design better then this, but for me, no biggie. The book itself comes with a contents page giving the title, list of author and artist, and page number where to find the issue. The paper is archive-level paper. Thick and non-glossy as to no reflections, with the colors being true to their original form, giving a vibrant look in it's original intent. The book is sewn/glued binding, but is impressively sturdy. The book spine bends out evenly with barely any gutter loss at all. It can get a tiny bit tight at the far ends, but after a while, the book folds on just fine and stays flat. There are no extras here at all in the back, sadly, aside from the foreword and afterword by Jim Steranko. This beats buying the Archives that are bit too much money for what they are asking.If you are economically strapped for cash, DC also has the DC Chronicles collection. They are softcover books with full color and cheaper to buy. All first 4 volumes of the Superman Chronicles books make up this entire omnibus. All four together cost about the same price (not counting shipping fees though) as the Omnibus at the current Amazon price. But be warned that books 2 - 4 are currently out-of-print and could be difficult to find (or be pricey). But that option is up to you. I'm more of a trade person over omnibus, but I couldn't resist having this book just in time for the upcoming film.So SUPERMAN: THE GOLDEN AGE OMNIBUS VOLUME 1 is an impressive book for the first and arguably greatest superhero of all time, even if it has some minor flaws. If you are a Superman fan that wants have these great stories and pay a little extra, go for it right now. I cannot wait for volume 2 of Superman during his golden era or the Man of Steel film coming out this week. So happy 75 years Superman. Let's just hope DC release a golden age omnibus book for Batman's 75th birthday next year as well.