The Broadway Show

Here's some coverage from the New York Times about the Broadway musical It's a Bird ... It's a Plane ... It's Superman. The soundtrack is available on CD.

As you can read, it was partly written by David Newman, who also, unfortunately, also had input on some parts of the Superman movies (the stupid parts). Yes, this show is a lot like one of the sketches that used to be featured in Bob Hope specials or other variety shows of the 60s and 70s.

A certain cavalier, jesting approach was mistaken for wit. A jarring flippancy was substituted for optimism. And a cheesy, self-mocking smarminess was used, instead of treating serious things (like truth, justice, and the American way) with respect, even in "light" entertainment.

Super Dishwasher Sign

Both of these images are from Superman 544, June 1983. The one of Luthor is by Swanderson, and the image of Superman is a special one created by Joe Shuster for this issue, a 45th Anniversary celebration.

After I went to the trouble to scan and clean up the images, plus add the speech balloons, I found out to my dismay that threfront of our dishwasher is aluminum -- nonmagnetic! I was going to stick a magnet inside. Ah, well.

So print, cut, fold. Cover with clear contact paper with a little magnet inside. Then you'll have your own Super Dishwasher Sign!

More on Superman 1 & 2

More Q&As from the Superman Movie Book.

Note how the "Metropolis" set was created to be an exact replica of a New York street. I guess it cost too much to replicate a Metropolis street!

Which reminds me, there's a scene in Superman IV: The Quest for Cheese (oops, I meant Peace) which shows the shoddiness of that film's production.

There's a scene where Lois Lane is riding the subway, and visible over her shoulder in the background is a tourism poster for New York City (not Metropolis or Gotham).

Eh!?!

Behind-the-Scenes Secrets

More information from the Superman Movie Book.

Did you know that David Prowse (Darth Vader) helped Chris Reeve (Superman) bulk up? Now you do!

More Pages from the Superman Movie Book

Here's the centerfold of the book, part of the "special color insert section," concerning production art of the "flight over Metropolis" sequence, and the finished shots.

Notice that in the storyboard / artist's conception, you can't see Superman's face, and Lois's face area is just a watercolor wash. Nothing personal, Miss Kidder!

I think it's also interesting to look at "the lights of the city." Note that the look and layout of the background -- a big flat area leading to a far-off horizon -- looks a lot like all the millions of "night shots" of LA from a distance, as featured in dozens of films and TV episodes. I doubt that the big city of Metropolis would look like that from the air! Where are the skyscrapers?

Another interesting thing about the concept art is how sketchy-looking Superman and Lois look, when compared to the city lights. Looks like more work was spent dabbing the lights in perfect gridlines, than was spent on painting the stars of the movie!

Amazing Facts Your Friends May Not Know!

Here are more pages from The Great Superman Movie Book .

Note that the "deleted scene" mentioned on the second page, involving Lois jumping out a window, is one of the scenes restored in the Superman II Donner Cut.

See you later, Super-Gators!

Good Taste in Reading!

In July 1963, the truly with-it type of cat was reading Superman 158, which gave a lot of background information on the bottle city of Kandor, and introduced the names Nightwing and Flamebird to the DC universe.

It was a great three-part novel that featured super-powered guys breaking into Earth's scientific installations, provoking Superman and Jimmy Olsen to go undercover to secretly infiltrate the only possible origin of the super-invaders -- Krypton's original capital, Kandor!

What!?! No Poster?!?

Yep, if I were the complaining type, I'd whine about the lack of a "Full-color SUPERMAN Pull-Out Poster For Your Wall!" because I didn't get one with this tabloid. Of course I got it second-hand, too, so I'm thankful that everything else is complete!

We'll look at a few pages of this treatise soon.

Super Wallet!

As you can see from the Superman image, it's a variation of the old "Superman busts chains across his chest" image, which has been depicted by Joe Shuster, Neil Adams, and various anonymous DC staffers.

From the musculature of Supes's body, and the bone structure of his face, I'd say that this image is 1970s Curt Swan. As you can see, it's copyright 1976.

It's got a zipper all the way around, and an "Identification Card" in case you're rendered senseless by Kryptonite or something.

At about 7 inches across when opened, this wallet isn't really convenient for keeping folding money.

It is, however, about perfect for keeping friends' phone numbers, the note you intend to pass on the playground, the key to your back door, the dog tag given you by your Uncle Leon, the combination to your bike lock, and other important stuff like that.

To give you an idea of its size, you could zip up your Razr in it, just barely. But why would you need a cell phone, when you could just use Super-Hearing, and Super-Ventriloquism?

Super Critter to the Rescue!

If you're a parent "of a certain age," or a child of same, then you will be familiar with Little Critter, star of many books by child's author Mercer Mayer.

Sort of a Jederbeast (that is, Everyman in animal form), Little Critter runs into many of the adventures encountered by kids today: the scary adventure of travel, the angst of a new babysitter, meeting new relatives, tryng a new skill for the first time ...

... and bullies. In Just a Daydream (1989), Little Critter is picked on by a bully who ruins the other kids' ball game. So Critter goes home and wishes he had super powers so he could fix things, like the fun ruined by bullies.

Boy, don't you feel the same way?

Being that this is a children's book, the problem is solved rather unrealistically by the bully apologizing and giving back Little Critter's ball.

If only all pushy types could be so humble! If only you and I could be so humble!

Superman at Burger King!

In 1997, we had a Burger King tie-in, in conjunction with Superman: the Animated Series.

Thanks to a nice fellow who managed a local franchise, I was able to get some of the merchandising materials. I have the life-sized Superman cardboard cutout in my attic!

Of course, this Super-version of the BK Kids' Club newsletter isn't necessarily a "collector's item," except to folks like us who are "in the know," right?

They Call It Plain Truth, but I doubt some of it

Today's bit of Super-Ephemera is an article from the "Worldwide Church of God" 's magazine called The Plain Truth . But we'll leave religion aside and let you just read the article.

Next up -- Super Burger King ! ? !

Scouting in Metropolis

Here we have an article from the September 1998 Scouting magazine about recycling newspapers in Metropolis, Illinois.

Supes's Rogues' Gallery!

In this page from the Metropolis Edition "World of Superman," we meet a few more baddies.

Do you think there is any chance in heck that you could somehow compel an actually bad person to politely introduce themselves to a hypothetical 10-year-old reading this comic? But, here they are, each waiting their turn to say hello.

Especially with the Phantom Zoners! Of course, even in the movies, you can see the same taming influence of the storyteller. If they really wanted to "get back" at Superman, they'll simply split the Earth to the core and kill every human in about thirty seconds.

That's kind of what Jax-Ur did to Wegthor, Krypton's inhabited moon, come to think of it!

More Than 200,000 Combinations!

Well, here's a treasure from the same year that brought us STAR TREK: The Motion Picture and Disney's The Black Hole. It's a blazing example of the limitless choice foreseen by Adrian Veidt in Watchmen.

Andru & Orlando are listed as artists. But there's no record of anybody being brave enough to own up to the text, which consists of a sentence broken into six sections, with accompanying "art."

You can flip the pages to any random assemblage, and while the resulting sentence may appear outwardly grammatical, that doesn't mean it makes any sense.

As you can see, below!

Y'see? Y'see? Your Super Minds. Super, Super! *

I just got a wonderful thing in the mail. It's a mini-onesheet for Superman Returns. But, it's in Korean, not English! How cool is that!

It's kinda neat to see this piece of Asian PR.

Look at the top line of text on the front side. Because of the comma in the middle and the exclamation point at the end, I bet that this line is Korean for "Look, Up in the Sky!"

And the tag at the bottom refers interested parties to http://wwwsupermanreturnsmovie.co.kr. That site isn't valid, but something similar is found at http://wwws.kr.warnerbros.com/supermanreturns/.

And many thanks for my old STAR OKC / SoonerCon buddy, Jon Powell, who now lives in South Korea with his lovely wife Jeong and kids Andre and Pauline. Jon's blog may be found at http://crossingculturessk.blogspot.com/.

Thanks again, Jon!

And y'all don't forget to write!

(* That was a reference to Dudley Manlove's line in Plan 9 from Outer Space.)

If You're Not Scared Enough -- You May Die!

Pageant was a magazine intended to appeal to the newly leisured middle class. Maybe to read back and forth on the subway. Maybe read in a doctor's office. The issue at hand included mild cheesecake, right alongside an article for the ladies on how to spot "an unfaithful male."

But what concerns us in this November 1956 issue is its coverage of the looming nuclear threat. Yes, pages 6 to 27 comprise a section called, "The New Invisible Death Around Us." -- that is, nuclear radiation. It features articles pro and con X-rays, how hereditary genetic mutation might occur, and other cheerful topics.

The final page is a brave summation of the section, basically saying that maybe the threat of nuclear destruction might scare the world into a one-world government that would solve our problems. Yeah, right!

Some might see the whole set of articles as disinformation by an "in-crowd" that tips its hand at the end when it mentions the need for a one-world government. I can certainly see how it might look that way!

PS -- no matter how much the cover girl looks to be Elizabeth Taylor, she's actually a model named Bunny Cooper.

What About "Anti-Nuclear" Madness?

Today's diversion is a 1978 book by Dr. Helen Caldicott. This is the 1980 paperback printing. The hardback went through four printings before the softbound version came out.

As you can see from the rear cover, Dr. Caldicott isn't worried about us blowing each other up, but about nuclear poisoning of the environment. You'll have to draw your own conclusions.

According to the pronouncements on the rear cover, made in 1980, by now we should all be "deformed or diseased" by now.

Of course, this might explain the popularity of "American Idol."

Malfunction! Malfunction!

Hey guys, I'll add a new post as soon as the Blogger gets fixed.

No, really! It won't let me add images. So when that is fixed, we'll be back with a few tales about nuclear scariness.

Superman in Oklahoma City !

Included in the 448 Page Super Heroes Big Big Book is a section involving Superman battling a new earthquake machine devised by Lex Luthor.

For no reason at all, Lois and Clark are sent to Oklahoma City, where Superman rescues some collapsing oil derricks. "An earthquake? In Oklahoma? Not impossible -- but it's not exactly common, either!" he thinks.

In the second panel presented here, doesn't it look like those derricks are in front of the (non-domed) OKC capital building?

Here's my guess. This coloring book, as you'll recall from a previous post, is copyright 1980, which is during the tenure of "Mr. Superman Know-It-All" for DC Comics, E. Nelson Bridwell.

I'd say that Mr. B might have had a hand in the assembly of the stories in this here kiddie book. And since E. Nelson Bridwell grew up in Oklahoma City, the depiction of the capital building surrounded by oil derricks is precisely the kind of thing he would have "dropped into" the story.

What do you think?