Superman: The Silver Age Newspaper Dailies Volume 2: 1961–1963 (Superman Silver Age Dailies)

Longtime fans of DC comics should be well aware of the concept of the multiverse. Whenever a story doesn't mesh with the rest of the established DC universe DC simply creates a new parallel universe for it to exist in. The product description refers to the universe here as Earth-N for newspaper and this may be the most fully realized example of a parallel universe DC has ever produced and it wasn't even done on purpose. I take it the thinking was that comic books and newspaper dailies were read by different audiences so rather than create unique stories they simply used the same stories, modified them and redrew them. This sounds rather lazy and it's hard for me to argue that it isn't but the effect is quite interesting. Earth-N appears to have but one superhero, Superman, so if other superheroes appear in a comic story they are removed from the newspaper strip. The newspaper comics also move at a slower pace so there is more time to do character development and build up the story. In most cases the newspaper version is actually the superior story.In volume one the drawing duties were split about 50/50 between Curt Swan and Wayne Boring but volume two is all Boring. It's interesting that Boring took over for Swan given that Boring was the elder statesmen among Superman artists. The writer is always Jerry Siegel but remember, Siegel is more often than not rewriting an existing a story by another author. There is one thing fans need to realize. These comics are taken from newspaper clippings, not the original artwork which has since been lost or likely destroyed. Despite the incredible talent of Wayne Boring these are far from the most attractive images ever seen. The detail is smudged away and pretty much everything looks messy. This is not a criticism of IDW or Boring it's just the reality of the situation of taking images directly from the pages of newspapers. The quality of the images is likely one of the reason these comics have never been reproduced.To those who don't know anything about the Silver Age Superman (how dare you) he is the classic, iconic and quite often goofy hero of the 50's and 60's. Given that the Silver Age Superman is almost supremely powerful and semi omniscient his main challenge is protecting his secret identity. Enjoyment really depends on what the reader is willing to accept because Superman's actions are often ridiculously outrageous. You just have to go with the flow. In one story Superman accidently gives himself amnesia and forgets who his secret identity is. He lucks on a Brit who is throwing out a suitcase of clothes (weird stuff like that happens all the time). Superman dons the clothes and since they are British he decides to present himself as a Brit including a ridiculous accent, monocle, pipe and driving cap. He colors his hair blond and ends up taking over Clark Kent's position at The Daily Planet. At the end of the story Clarence Kelvin (his British identity) allows himself to be caught by Lois Lane using super speed at which point he declares to Lois that he will simply adopt a new identity leaving Lois flummoxed that she has finally discovered Superman's secret identity and there's nothing she can do about it.Our hero tends to focus on rather mundane tasks like teaching some disruptive students to behave. This involves taking one to Venus and changing another into a monster using an alien crystal because surely there could be no easier way. Here is an example of a story. Clark Kent is kidnapped by some South American's who astutely note his close resemblance to Superman. They tell Clark they want him to dress as Superman in order to scare off any would be assassins who might try to kill their president. The true plan is to catch the president and his soldiers off guard and then kill the president. Clark discovers another man locked up who is a dead ringer for himself and was the original intended dupe. Along the way the gang discovers that Clark actually IS Superman and use a Lois lookalike to fool Superman and it actually works. The fake Lois leads Superman to a room with Kryptonite but a few moments earlier a clue gave away the fake Lois and Superman quickly switched identities with the president so it was the president with the Kryptonite and the villains were left unsuccessfully in their attempt to kill the president as the bullets bounced off his super chest. Superman then used his lookalike from earlier in order to have Superman and Clark appear at the same time to give the villains the impression that they were wrong in thinking Clark was Superman. The whole story is silly and insane but so much fun if you don't take it seriously.It may seem like I should be giving low ratings to a collection that is basically a retelling of comic book stories with muddy artwork but I really enjoy these comics. They are different enough from the comic books to stand on their own and I'm just a huge fan of the Silver Age Superman so to get more is just a tremendous blessing and I applaud IDW.

Very fast shipping and great price. Would buy from again.

Yeah,these are are stories one finds in the early 1960s supes comiics,but ofton expanded as well as being redrawn..A shame dc ended the strip in 1966, when it could have lasted to this day.Nice book, clean, not yellowed and faded copies, as show up on the net.

Loved the Book and I plan on getting more to continue the story. Great art work and Hardbound to last, and last and last. Would also make an incredible gift for someone who enjoyed the Superman stories and remembers them from the Newspaper days.

For fans of Wayne Boring, the absolute BEST classic era Superman artist, something new: panels not previously endlessly reprinted from the comic books.

this is an interesting series -- did not know there were so many Superman newspaper strips. Great package also -- hardbound with ribbon. Yes, a bit expensive, but Amazon lowers the price so it's reasonible.

Still related to comics- some good stories- but times were changing.

This book collects 27 months of Superman comic strips from August 1961-November 1963. These stories were adapted by Jerry Siegel from a wide variety of different stories published in Action Comics, Superman, and Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane.The stories reflect perfectly the silver age goofiness of Superman and are a lot of fun. The only story that hasn't been reprinted in its original form was, "The Man With the Zero eyes" which features Superman's x-ray vision emitting cold instead of heat.The best stories in are, "The Day Superman Broke the Law" which fines Superman visiting a smalltown where a City Councilman tries to get Superman charged with technical violations of the law for some other nefarious purpose. "When Superman Defended His Arch-Enemy" has Lex Luthor landing on a world where robots rule and being charged with "the murder"of an android setting up a situation where Superman has to prove Luthor has the right to a trial and then defend him. The twist ending is classic. "Superman, Please Marry Me" is probably the most meta story in the book. A comedian makes a record in which he pokes fun at Lois' matrimonial pursuit of Superman and later makes another mocking an imarginary marriage. Given that most of the Lois Lane comic was full of these stories, it's definitely interesting. I love Superman's thought, "Poor Girl. I don't blame her for being upset! It must be humiliating to lovely, celver...and yet to be laughed at by everyone."The downside is that this book has some pretty repetitive storylines. Of the twenty stories in the book, four involve amnesia with Superman getting amnesia twice, Lois Lane once, and Perry White once. There's also two or three super masquerade plots. Overall, despite some repetitive moments, this is another fun collection of Superman comic strip stories.

Excellent reproduction.......and thanks to 'speedy hen' for a fast delivery......boyhood dreams fulfilled again in a wonderful collection of nostalgia..

As reproduções das tiras de jornais apresentam ótima nitidez ao mesmo tempo que mantém a sensação de estar impressa no próprio jornal. As estórias são ingênuas para os dias de hoje, mas representam um retrato da época em que foram produzidas, o que é ótimo para quem gosta de fazer esse tipo de viagem no tempo, com o prazer nostálgico. O livro é bastante sólido, bem produzido e com encadernação luxuosa, inclusive, com fita vermelha para marcar as páginas. Para fãs que acompanham a estória do Homem de Aço ao longo do tempo é um investimento que vale a pena. Trata-se do segundo volume de um total de três, que abarcam a idade de prata do Superman, de 1959 a 1966.

Adapted and expanded from silver age comics that were running at the same time that these strips were being created, newspaper Superman is a corny, bizarre adventure unlikely anything in today's Superman comics. Superman's biggest concern isn't being harmed or anyone dying, but protecting his secret identity as he is constantly pushed into increasingly bizarre situations as both Clark Kent and Superman, written/adapted by no less than Superman's co-creator (Jerry Siegel) himself.To solve the own mystery of who his secret identity is when he gets amnesia, Superman creates a giant magnifying glass and flies to the reaches of space (at a faster than light pace) so he can look back in time and watch himself don his civilian identity to solve the mystery. Or, when Kent Clark is made an temporary police officer, he must find bizarrely complex solutions about how to stop crimes without identifying himself as Superman. It's full of strange tales like that -- aliens, robot Superman, fake identities, and more are all just the daily life of Superman.The art is also excellent. The introductory piece about the book describes the artist (Wayne Boring) as developing the art style that would become a staple of Superman for decades to come, and it is easy to see why. The faces are expressive, the panels are detailed, and nothing ever feels reused or rushed. My personal favorite is a storyline in which red Kryptonite split Superman into a meek Clark Kent and an arrogant Superman -- when the two are on panel together, their differing expressions and postures really help establish them as two separate individuals.Quality wise, the production of the book is great. No issues with the binding, good quality paper, and it even has a dividing ribbon to help mark your place in the book. Overall, the book is excellent -- it is strange, corny and old fashioned fun, something that superhero comics don't really see that often these days.

This is the one for all superman fans, i had some of these original pages in 1952 ,should have kept them,brings back great memories,cant beat the proper superman comics, just brilliant..