Oddities: Superman’s Boots

When I was younger (which doesn't narrow things down much: until now I've always been younger) I used to draw -- or rather colour -- Superman's boots with a yellow stripe around the top, the same yellow as his belt and the blobs on his chest's S-symbol. The angle of the top of the boots …

Oddities #20191101

A somewhat personal oddity this time, though I guess it's not necessarily all that odd... This is the bag I was given in Forbidden Planet in Denmark St., London, on Tuesday May 25th, 1982. It was my first ever visit to an actual comic-book store, so naturally I kept the bag because I was a …

Oddities #20191018

Today's oddity is a piece of comics promo... a double-sided newspaper/poster given away in 2012 to promote the then-upcoming Before Watchmen series. Younger readers might not recall the ire that this series raised. Watchmen was a ground-breaking and beloved twelve-episode maxi-series created by Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons and John Higgins. It was collected as a …

Noncomics: Making Superman’s Shield

For a change, today's article isn't about something created by someone else... this is a vanity project! (In stark contrast to the pure altruism that drips from every other article on this blog...) If you're a regular reader of this blog you'll likely be aware of my interest in logos and symbols, particularly when it …

Noncomics: Superman: The Man of Steel – A Which Way Book

This 1985 paperback book opens with a warning: "Do not read the pages in order. If you do, the story will make no sense at all." Ah, the noble "choose your own adventure" experience! Game-books like this were all the rage back before we had convenient interactive electronic entertainment. The book looks like a proper …

Super DC Bumper Book

Super DC was a forty-page monthly comic published by Top Sellers (AKA Thorpe & Porter) in the UK from June 1969 to July 1970. It reprinted American DC Comics strips alongside home-grown text features, puzzles, letters pages, etc. The strips were in black-and-white, culled from titles such as Action Comics, Detective Comics, Superboy, Superman's Pal …

Superman’s 50th Anniversary… Radio Times’ coverage, 30 years on

The June 4-10, 1988 edition of Radio Times celebrated Superman's 50th birthday (albeit a couple of months late) with a cover feature, a small article, and a brand-new two-page Superman strip written and drawn by Dave Gibbons (who also drew the cover) and coloured by John Higgins from a concept by Dirk Maggs. (I'm saving …