TreasuryCast #59 – Superman

TREASURYCAST #59 - SUPERMAN

Rob welcomes Superman's Pal Henry J. Bernstein to discuss LIMITED COLLECTORS' EDITION #C31, starring Superman!

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13 responses to “TreasuryCast #59 – Superman

  1. OF corse Clark is important Superman is just a way for a crime reporter to get out of trouble. Just like Captain Marvel is’nt Billy Batson. He’s a genie that gets a kid out of trouble.
    Also having spoken about Clark KENT VS Billy batson Cool Secret ID ARE the way to the middling Superman rip-offs from the bad one Stardust the super-wizard just a lump of super-power one 8 page story American Cursader? Very clark like secret id lasts from 41- 47 (cool costume helped.)

  2. Oh, yeah. Another excellent Treasury Cast. And Henry was a wonderful guest – I guess that’s why he gets honored with his own day here at the Fire & Water network.

    And to Henry, I’ll just back what Rob said about people, or rather kids, cutting up comics. *heavy sigh* Yes, there were those of us who did such things, quite extensively. I did it pretty regularly in roughly the first two years that I read comics, so from about ages 6 through 8. (I stopped rather abruptly when something just clicked in my head and I realized I couldn’t go back and re-read the comics I had mutiliated.) However, although I had a few DC treasuries with the “table-top diorama” on the back covers, I never attempted to make one, nor did I otherwise cut up any of my Treasury books.

    Otherwise, to answer a question you posed in the show, that excellent cover image was re-used for a later paperback edition of Tom De Haven’s “It’s Superman” (that’s the copy I have).

  3. It’s always fun to explore the wide and wonderful world of Superman. There was so much Superman content by the 70s it’s easy to understand why he had so many treasuries. Boy do I wish I lived in a world where that Superman theme park existed.
    Henry was a fun an engaging guest, we ho’s love of Superman is evident and infectious.
    I feel a little sorry for him having been born in 82, by the time he was ten, EVERYTHING was a collectible! Don’t touch it, read it or look at it!!! Sorry, I know that’s hyperbole, but I too cut my comics up as a youngster. I’d rearrange the panes to tell my own stories and tear off the covers and pin them up on my bedroom walls. It wasn’t until I was ten or eleven that I started “collecting” comics, and even then it was just to build a library of comics that I enjoyed enough to keep and reread.
    Thanks for another great episode and hope Henry returns for more Superman content.

  4. Now you’ve got me wondering if there’s something I can send in to your podcast so I could possibly win a war bond or a “Punch a Nazi” flipbook like those kids who tore up Action Comics #1. So thanks for those strange 3 am thoughts, Rob.

  5. What a wonderful guest Henry is! Like Rob, I find his love of Supes contagious, and I really like his “younger fan discovering the roots” feel to this experience. And don’t get me started on the “comics are not toys” debate. I’ve had in my possession comics that had been cut, drawn, traced, had stickers on them and had been used as SILLY PUTTY MODELS. Still, cherish them as much as my Archive Editions (where I finally get to read and appreciate the otherwise compromised art)

  6. One of the Treasuries I have always tried to spy in the wild to pick up. As you say that cover is a thing of beauty.

    And how interesting to see such a mix of pure Superman artists – Siegel, Boring, Plastino, Schaffenberger, and Swan. I mean, talk about a Murderer’s Row.

    I can remember in high school I lent a bunch of Comico’s Robotech comics to a fellow fan. When he returned them he had cut out coupons in a bunch of them to send off for the models offered in the back. He wasn’t a comic book guy so I suppose I should have informed him better that he wasn’t meant to do that. Anyways, he never got any more comics from me. Instead I told him where to find the comic store.

    Thanks for covering!

  7. Fun show guy! You give Rob hell for those Superman comments, Henry! 😉

    I LOVE this cover. I own this treasury, and I was so happy to get it about 15 years ago. To me, this is THE portrait of the Earth-Two Superman. That’s how my brain works, the Golden Age Superman will always be E2 Supes, Daily Star shenanigans aside. This cover has a similar feel to the Lowther book, but that cover has Superman leaping tall buildings. I don’t have an original of that one, but I do have the reprint from about 20 years ago or so. The art in that book, both painted and pencil and ink, was supposedly all done by Shuster, but I suspect his studio may have been involved as well.

    Oh, and that classic art of Superman that was on the 30s to the 70s cover, and that Kryptonite rock ad? Believe it or not, that’s very early Curt Swan work, and comes from the cover of Superman 3D #1 back in 1953.

    I do think these concept drawings by Adams were indeed developed for the proposed Superman Park in Metropolis, IL, but I have to agree they were kind of pipe-dreaming it here. I think they could do this now, but I doubt we’d see a land dedicated to Superman alone. It’s too bad DC didn’t go along with Universal’s proposal for a DC Land at their then-in-development Islands of Adventure park in Orlando, which eventually became Marvel-themed. We could have gotten a DC park vastly superior to the rather tepid offerings Six Flags has given us, and Disney World would be able to give us East Coasters an Avengers Campus and other Marvel-themed rides as well.

    Chris

  8. Great episode, men. Henry was a fine guest, and his other productions sound fascinating. Other thoughts:

    1) I haven’t bought a newly produced Superman comic since Action #1000 (which is absolutely superb, by the way), and I hadn’t bought one for a year or three before that. But — assuming it happens someday — if someone will please tell me the issue wherein Lois has to go meet with HR about the way she talks to Clark, I will buy it — no complaints and no questions asked. Thank you.

    2) Rob said, “I didn’t cut up my comics because I was lazy.” Preach, brother! Who did those comics editors think they were, assigning me extracurricular homework? I had Cub Scouts for that, anyway. Like Henry, when I really did need to cut something out of a comic — say, for a contest — I took advantage of the fact that mom had access to a color printer. And you can paste copies of those diorama pages on better cardboard. I remember someone (probably Mom) telling me that as I was looking like I was thinking about making one. The feeling probably passed without incident.

  9. Thanks for another terrific show, I really enjoyed Henry’s opinions and insights. I don’t have this issue, but it’s an odd fish, isn’t it – a few Golden Age stories and a couple of crackers Silver Age stories. And not one super villain. Do you think that was fo go with the radio show vibe of the covers? I don’t know, it all seems so random.

    The Case of the Lethal Letters and the Krypto story are the only ones I’ve read previously, both are fun, but prestigious collection worthy? I do have a soft spot for Ross Andru’s Superman, and I can bore for Britain when it comes to Kurt Schaffenberger, mind, so I’m never not pleased to see their work.

    I’ve just bought that Amazing World of Superman Limited Collectors Edition hardback that is mentioned by Henry, it’s a real treat and no mistake!

  10. I would love to visit a Superman theme park!

    But when you mentioned a Batman Land? That gave me pause. Because if you truly built a park that had Disney levels of immersion to look and feel like Gotham City, it might actually be upsetting. The first theme park where you constantly feel like you’re going to get mugged!

  11. Great show as usual, Rob! I enjoyed Henry’s enthusiasm for all things Superman! I also drooled over the Superman theme park drawings by Adams when I was a kid. The problem with doing it today is that it would all be based on movies, not comics. Look at what Disney is doing. Universal’s Islands of Adventure, while some of the big art pieces are from comics (from the 90s, sigh), the rides (thinking the Spider-Man ride) are mainly sourced from animation. My hope is the contract Marvel had eventually runs out and we get an entire Marvel theme park in Disney World and then maybe WB will cut a deal with Universal. But sadly I doubt that will come to pass (and not sure I want a Batman v. Superman ride anyway…)

    And just a note on Golden Age Superman stories. Like Henry, I think they are so much fun. I have been through about 5 or 6 Archives, with about that many to go, but there are some great affordable trades out there now, as well as on DC Universe. I can only read 2 or 3 stories in a row, though, before I have to move on to my beloved Bronze Age!

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