1978: SUPERMAN POCKET BOOK (UK EDITION) ISSUE 1

From 1978: the first issue of SUPERMAN POCKETBOOK, a UK DC reprint title from London Editions/ Egmont.

Unlike the traditional British Pocket Libraries, this (and its BATMAN POCKETBOOK companion) was published with colour interiors.  The upgraded production standards were made possible because London Editions (who eventually had a long - albeit intermittent - association with DC) were part of a bigger European outfit, and the digests appeared in other European markets with the black plates swapped out in favour of the local language during a single print run.

The sudden pan-European interest in the character was, of course, down to that year's SUPERMAN live-action movie.

The UK-only monthly THE SUPERHEROES followed, to limited success despite boasting attractive new covers and some vintage (albeit possibly dated) reprints from the DC vaults.

Once that title faltered, London Editions turned their attentions to other licensed fare scoring hits with the likes of MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE and MY LITTLE PONY and less success with the likes of THE CENTURIONS and BATTLE BEASTS.

But, towards the end of the decade, they rediscovered their DC mojo with a slate of new reprint titles (now in colour) beginning with - as you might expect - SUPERMAN.  This expansion may have been prompted by the rising profile of DC characters (Superman celebrated his 50th with some hoopla, including a RADIO TIMES cover, in 1988), the post-CRISIS reboot of many of DC's top tier characters (making them more accessable to a wider audience), the impending BATMAN movie and MARVEL UK's retreat from the superhero market.

The new line, anchored by SUPERMAN and BATMAN but also including (at various times) HEROES, DC ACTION, ZONES and SHOCKWAVE, proved to be only a limited success and titles seemed to come and go (departing with little warning or fanfare) on a regular basis.

Robert Maxwell, now owner of the former IPC Youth Group  rebadged Fleetway, managed to annoy Egmont's European bosses by snatching the Disney license.  His ownership of MIRROR GROUP newspapers being a decisive factor in commiting to expose Disney's wares to the largest UK readership possible.  Egmont's response was to buy into Fleetway, an offer that Maxwell (no doubt very aware of the financial mess buried at the heart of his media empire) found hard to resist.  After his death, and the swift collapse of his crooked empire, Egmont bought the rest of Fleetway for a knockdown price.  

1993: DC COMICS NEWSTIME MAGAZINE MARKS THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN

From May 1993: Remember when Doomsday killed SUPERMAN... the first time?

DC made the most of the media hoopla around the death of the Man of Steel (the same mass media that was also suckered into thinking every comic book published that year was a surefire investment opportunity... suckers!) by publishing this in-universe current affairs mag (the title is a clue) giving a DCU perspective on the loss and the aftermath.

It's a fun read - complete with spoof ads and articles - that complemented events in the main comic books. As far as I know, it has never been reprinted and remains an interesting oddity.

1983: COMICS COLLECTOR ISSUE 1

From the Spring of 1983: another oft-overlooked fanzine of the period... the first issue of COMICS COLLECTOR.

This was a semi-professional mag with glossy colour covers and presentable interiors. 

They wisely decided to celebrate SUPERMAN's 45th anniversary because (maybe) they knew they wouldn't be around five years later for the big one. 

CC was one of several comics based magazines conceived in the early Eighties to take advantage of the growing Direct Sales market. Not only did it make targeted niche distribution easier byt the new comic book stores also concentrated readers in the same place for the first time. 

1987: SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE Novelization

From July 1987: the seldom-seen paperback adaptation of the notorious crime against cinema AND comics that is Cannon's epic misfire SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE.  

I only acquired this recently (and I'm not sure I would want to be seen reading it on public transport) but, considering the number of last-minute changes (mostly stemming from a chronic lack of dosh), it might make a fascinating excursion into the what-might-have been.  

As for the film: I saw it when it was first released on the big screen (my friends and I were banned from seeing our first choice... the latest JAWS sequel) and thought it was pretty grim.  Now I've acquired a love of the half-arsed (which makes virtually every film Cannon ever made fair game) and rather enjoyed it.

Clearly the publishers were only supplied a single still deemed useable for both the front and back covers.  The official movie subtitle is also curiously absent from the cover.  Does this suggest some last-minute wavering on the behalf of the studio(s) and their marketing commandos?

That's a cheesy official anniversary logo as well!

The real oddity is its predecessor: why did they suddenly think that the Man of Steel worked better as a comedy romp?  It's not as if the first two films had been creative or commercial failures...

1992: RED DRAWF SMEGAZINE and SUPERMAN House Ads (Fleetway Editions)

From 1992: A page of Fleetway Editions (the amalgamation of Fleetway, nee IPC Youth Group, and London Editions... a combination akin to two drunks proping each other up as the market collapsed around them) House Ads touting the licensed RED DRAWF SMEGAZINE and the bi-monthly (this was clearly a title that FE were struggling to keep viable) SUPERMAN reprint comic.

The latter takes this week's award for "That'll do!" design. 

1980: WH SMITH MATCHBOX AND CORGI TOYS ADVERT from LOOK-IN

From August 1980: A one-page WH SMITH (love the old 'box' logo... still on the doors of the Cardiff branch... and no doubt throughout the chain with notoriously threadbare carpets and weather-worn stores) advert promoting Corgi and Matchbox toys.

There's a lot of classics on show here, all of these were playground staples in the Star Age and I personally had (and may still have... tucked away in a loft somewhere) the Superman van (and a pink Charlie's Angels variation), the James Bond Lotus, the Wonder Woman buggy (containing a butch-looking WW whom my mum compared to a "Red Indian"), the Batmobile (hard to believe the TV show was already a decade old at this point but ownership of the toy was still a playtime prerequisite) and - best of all - the Supermobile (as plugged in the comic book itself) with spring-loaded "punching fists' feature. 

This advert appeared in a copy of LOOK-IN. 

1979: KRYPTONITE ROCKS AD

From July 1979 get yer authentic chunks of KRYPTONITE: 

Yes!  I'm a pal of ol' Supes so I can think of no better way of extending the hand of friendship than keeping a small quantity of the one thing that can harm him sitting on my shelf.  Foolproof marketing guys!

I love that they have tried to explain it all away with a completely improbable ruse ("in no way to be confused with actual fact") that this is somehow being helpful.  Sure, sure. 

Safe and non-toxic... unless you are the Man of Steel.

This appeared in US comics in 1979. 

1988: BATMAN UK Launch Ad (London Editions)

From July 1988: a launch ad for London Edition's UK reprints of BATMAN.

LE were already running a SUPERMAN comic (which is where this ad appeared) and smartly added Batman in anticipation of the 1989 Tim Burton movie.

The ad is deliberately evocative of the Sixties live-action series and sundry spin-offs.  It was still (thanks to near-constant reruns) the incarnation of Bats most familiar to the British public.  LE shifted the tone, and the selection of strips reprinted, over time to better reflect the tone of the movies and (presumably) the rising age demographic of the readership.  UK comics were also entering the "Dark Age" of the early 1990s. 

LE had past form with DC reprints: They published a series of Superman and Batman Pocket Books (unlike Marvel UK... there's were colour) in the late Seventies.  They then launched the black-and-white monthly SUPERHEROES in the early eighties and annuals based on various top level DC characters through sister company World Distributors.  Superheroes and the annuals both often featured new art commissions from British artists.  

SUPERMAN and BATMAN plugged the gap for superpowered fare left by Marvel UK's temporary retreat from the genre following the closure of SPIDER-MAN AND ZOIDS.  The line expanded (and frequently contracted again soon after) with the launches of DC ACTION (plush reprints of the Teen Titans, Animal Man and the Creeper: see here for more), ZONES (classy reprints of Swamp Thing and others), SHOCKWAVE (Animal Man, Black Orchid and Hellblazer: see here for more) and HEROES (weekly reprints of The Legion and Brave and the Bold: see here for more).

London Editions, part of a larger European group, became Egmont and entered into a joint-venture with Robert Maxwell's Fleetway.  After his death, and the collapse of his smoke-and-mirrors empire, Egmont took full control of the Fleetway side of the business.  Superman (always the weaker of the two titles) faltered and eventually the two titles combined... and then shuttered altogether. 

1985: SUPERGIRL Movie Adaptation (DC Comics)

From 1985: the cover of DC's SUPERGIRL movie tie-in one-shot, complete with a distinctive piece of New York geography.  

The movie was, of course, something of a creative and box office stinker which hastened the sale of the rights to Cannon Pictures.  The result was their legendary SUPERMAN IV, the death knell for the once-lucrative franchise.  

1987: SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE MOVIE ADAPTATION (DC Comics)

This is DC Comics' (of course) adaptation of CANNON FILM's low-flying entry into the SUPERMAN movie franchise: the much lambasted (I saw it in the cinema in 1987… I believe it was deemed more acceptable than whichever JAWS sequel was playing on another screen at the same time… and it was pretty bad) SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE, the last outing in the original sequence of films.

Somewhat unbelievably, DC had only started doing adaptations of these movies with the third outing (they also covered-off dodgy spin-off SUPERGIRL) because the corporate mandarins believed that having the movie version of Supes AND the regular comic book incarnation appearing on news stands at the same time would confuse the punters.  Go figure.

1976: SPIDER-MAN MEETS SUPERMAN (Marvel UK)

Here's a landscape-proportioned cross-company encounter: a SPIDER-MAN/ SUPERMAN back-page pin-up from SUPER SPIDER-MAN AND THE SUPER HEROES issue 183 (cover-dated 11 August 1976) from MARVEL UK.

1983: SUPERMAN III SHREDDIES GAMES ADVERT

This is a British ad, from September 1983, plugging a SUPERMAN III in-pack promotion from SHREDDIES breakfast cereal. Each game is connected, in some way, to a moment or plot-point in the not-terribly-good movie. 

DC COMICS CORGI CARS

Here's a late-seventies advert, ironically published in a Marvel comic (Battlestar Galactica!) for Corgi's range of toy cars based on DC heroes and villains.

These were sold in the UK as well.  What's not clear from the artwork is that each open-topped vehicle included a glued-in crude plastic representation of the featured character.  Wonder Woman did not look good.  The Supermobile (the blue thing with the fists) even turned-up, by way of product placement, in Superman's own comic book.

1981: SUPERMAN VS. NICK O'TEEN: WHEN TITANS CLASH!

The early 1980s saw the Man of Steel facing-off against Nick O'Teen, devious corrupter of pre-pubescent lungs, in a series of TV and print adverts (appearing in IPC and Marvel UK, and probably elsewhere, titles) bankrolled by the UK's Health Education Council.

Three TV nicely produced animated Public Service Announcements also ran as part of the campaign.

Remember kids: Never Say Yes to a Dirty Old Man who smells nasty!