You Can't Be Too Super!

Back in December my new bosses were very wise and gave me a silly Christmas present, one of those 30-inches-tall Superman figures.

In an earlier post about that time I mentioned how Jazra had gone ga-ga over it.

Well, here's proof!

And no comments about how it took until April to get Christmastime photos developed. I know, I know!

Aww, ain't that cute?

In 10 years we hope she is as picky on her boyfriends!

...And First in the Minds of Their Federation!

As a junior in high school, I was given a dream job for one school period. My credits were all caught up, so I became a "teacher's aid." And I aided Dear Mrs. Craighead in an interesting way.

Somehow she had come across hundreds of Life magazines from the 1940s through the 1960s. My job was simply to riffle through them and extract "interesting" stories. Stuff that was oddball, or perhaps of historic significance, and so forth.

Boy, I got a great look at mid-20c American living -- the Dionne Quints, the Missile Crisis, Eisenhower's election, and so on.

There were also some Times and Newsweeks in there. This fullpage ad for RCA TVs came from one of those, presumably from fall/winter 1966, when NBC still acted as if it cared whether Star Trek thrived or died.

You probably recognize the larger images in the background as being from "Man Trap," the first aired Star Trek episode.

This was only one ad in a series, all with the same tagline..."When you're first in color television, there's got to be a reason." Other TV shows were featured, alongside other models of RCA TVs. Remember, this was the time when a television set was a honking big piece of furniture, not something you could hang on a wall.

A few years ago I paid Kinko's ten buck to put it on a T-shirt. Cool, huh?

You Are the Master of Superman's Fate!

While moving a Honking Big Bookshelf at home in the study (aka The Fortress of Markitude), I found two books had fallen down behind.

They'd been there at least three years. That's why this one is a little dingy around the edges.

It's from 1983. On the front cover are three Phantom Zone baddies, Faora (the gal), General Zod (in the military cap) and a third guy -- maybe Kru-El? To the right are Toyman, Luthor, and behind them a big buy who, according to page 4 of the book, is "a nine-foot yellow monster."

Depending on which page you pick next, this here monster could either split into myriads of identical monsters, dooming the Earth, or ... he could apologize and leave quietly.

Wow, what fun! And we haven't even read the stories that involve the Phantom Zoners, Toyman, or Luthor!

I can only reflect on how hard it would be to WRITE such a gol-darned thing! But the knack must be handy ... Helfer also wrote at least one other of these things, featuring Supergirl -- the Supergirl of the Daring New Adventures era, complete with headband.

Ah, those were the days!

Charley Alfred Is Whole and Happy Now!

Well, I just talked to Mom about 8:30 tonight. Yesterday she called me to say that Dad was in the hospital and not expected to be able to come home.

Joyce and I had already made plans to drive up on Saturday, the whole gang plus Jazra: the Next Generation.

But Mom called tonight and said that the hospital had just called her to say that Dad had died.

Oh Lord, thank you for my dad! He had been so sick since he went into the VA hospital to have a polyp removed. He was left underattended (or unattended) overnight, had a mini-stroke, pulled out his IVs while flailing around, and as a result the VA nearly killed him.

That was about three and a half years ago. His eyesight has never gotten better, and he's had pains and back problems. More than a decade ago he was diagnosed with something like COPD, and he's been on oxygen ever since.

My dad, who five years ago was shooting his age on the golf course and had shot his last hole-in-one sometime in the 1990s, couldn't hit the greens any more. He couldn't even read Sports Illustrated ! He'd had good and bad times, but recently had been fighting off pneumonia and other stuff.

You know, I wouldn't want to hang around like that either!

And Mom feels that way too. As she told me, we want Dad to be whole and happy, and we knew that it wasn't going to happen HERE.

Especially if you (like Dad, Mom, me, and lots of us) have a personal friendship with God, and such a deferential, thankful, interactive Life with Jesus and his love in our hearts and (we hope) showing in our lives!

I'm so thankful to have known such a decent, strong guy. And to be his son! Me, who was hyperactive, couldn't sit still, couldn't shut up his yap. And, yet, with a few bumps along the way, he never failed to show his love, support, and guidance for me.

And also, Lord, thanks that we had all the time to say all those "guy things" that, sadly, sometimes go unsaid. We could say "I love you." It is great -- it is WONDERFUL -- to hear your dad say, "I'm proud of you."

So, here we are. God has promised that anyone who asks him to forgive us through Jesus's death and resurrection, will be forgiven and receive eternal peace and joy; only it starts here, on Earth!

And now that those frail breaths are now finished, Dad is alive and rejoicing with the Lord right now.

Any time now, Jesus and Dad will be teeing off on the front nine of Heaven. And if Jesus is lucky, Dad might let Him win!

In the words of a song I wrote a long time ago in sympathy for the death of a friend's father,

I'm going to see him
I'll lie down in the grave and rise up in my father's arms
I'll run with him to Jesus, freed from all this Earth's alarms
I'm going to see him
One of these days

Oh, friends, if you're not satisfied with life, please learn from my Dad. Any man who, with God's help, could love and raise even a weirdo like me, and who could show God's love at work, at home, and even on the golf course, must have found a strong shoulder to lean on!

God is dependable, and he loves us. Please rejoice with me that Charley Alfred Is Whole and Happy Now!

G. Ailaird S. Artain, We Need You!

Yes, in the early 1970s there arose a character so silly, a personage so outre, that he dared not even place his actual name in the credits of his cult-status TV show on late-night Tulsa TV.

That critter was the incredible Dr. Mazeppa Pompazoidi, and here are a few fragments from the archives of his 5-year reign.

Young people wanted to dress like him!

He popularized 7Up, "the uncola," with discount-earning membership in "Mazeppa's Uncola Underground Card."

He even dressed in tights as his alter ego, Jetzeppa Landingear.

Google "Mazeppa Pompazoidi" and find out for yourself.

Super-Cling

As you can see, these came out in the throes of the Superman Animated Series.

This Is the Greatest Thing Ever!

You won't believe this! I just saw an ad on TV for these candles that melt in their little holder. "Scented oils" candles.

But, what you won't believe, is what the lady says at the end of the commercial. You see, the thing melts into a puddle of oil, or something.

Then the gal says, "When the oil is gone, the candle goes out."

Did you hear that?!?!

When the oil is gone, the candle goes out!

What's up with that! I mean, who came up with that idea! It's great!

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.