Speeding Bullet

 Last weekend, mooching upstairs in the Elgin branch of John Menzies, I came upon this 2006 release of a 1992 BBC audio drama. I had been looking fruitlessly for the latest Eleventh Doctor audiobook but this disk was alone, unloved and reduced to six quid.What was there to lose? It reworks a celebrated storyline from the 90s (an era in comics that, it's safe to say, was not a creative high spot); but Superman had already proved successful on radio; and Burt Kwouk has a guest role. There was no turning back.
Doomsday and Beyond is very faithful to the original comics, right down to Aussie Luthor and creepy protoplasmic Supergirl. There are even cameos for Guy Gardner and Bloodwynd (what a 90s name-always reminded me of "Blodwyn"!).There's great zest and commitment to this cosmic storyline from all the cast.Superman and Clark sound like the same character, Lois is a screwball comedy sassy broad and the Kents are suitably folksy. Jimmy sounds a bit too mature to my ears but the whole production is a pleasing blend of period radio drama and sci-fi thriller.Happily, it also eschews the kitschy take of the Seventies movies.
It's a very Marvel storyline, however; perhaps not surprisingly, given the X-Men stable's prominence in 92. The virtually-unstoppable Doomsday could be the Hulk or the Juggernaut; and the four substitute Supermen are amalgams of Thor, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Cyclops, the Punisher and Deathlok. In a 60s Superman comic, they would probably have been Perry White, Olsen, Bruce Wayne and Van-Zee from Kandor.

 As I've gotten older, I've cooled to the urban angst and paranoia of Batman, retooled with stultifying seriousness by Christopher Nolan. The freewheeling four-colour fantasy of Mort Weisinger's Superman Family strikes me as more subtle and complex; and here are some of the reasons why...

 This is my earliest memory of Superman. It's an annual from 1968. Not only does the cover recall the Fruit Salad chews from the Penny Tray, that's the Futura Batmobile, natch, from my first encounter with Batman, before I could read. I don't remember much about this book apart from this:

and this:

and this:

Now, although the Superman of 2965  was inconsistent with almost everything established about the 30th Century in Tales of The Legion of Super-Heroes, it established the idea of a Superman dynasty and cemented the sci-fi context of the Man of Steel, for me.
My next memories of Superman are as a member of the Justice League and in this comic, as Batman's crime-fighting partner:

The Alien Who Doomed Robin projects images on his belly just like the Silver Surfer in 2007!

Reprints like these also appeared in black-and-white in the late Sixties and early 70s in Super DC. Issue 2 also featured an article on the Cybermen, several years before the legendary Radio Times/Dr. Who Tenth Anniversary Special. This was the Greatest British Comic Ever!

 For many years, I thought Jamie was a Motherwell supporter.

My most abiding childhood memories of Supes are not from the comics, but from television. This animated series, in the vein of Spider-Man's cartoon, has a memorably jazzy theme and forms the basis of my conception of the caped Kryptonian. "Is it a bird? Is it a plane?"; the mild-mannered reporter in the storeroom; "This is a job for...Superman!"; "Up, up and away!". I was introduced to Brainiac and the Toyman by this show; but my favourite episode features The Warlock and Satana as The Team of  Terror!

In those distant days, newsagents and general stores across Scotland often stocked  DC and Marvel comics; even some Charltons by the early 70s. My Dad obviously thought the Giants were better value for money and this headlining Kandorian tale of super-siblings is still a favourite:

But in the very early Seventies, the fantastic world of Kryptonite, Super-Pets and Bizarro duplicates was about to be rocked by the wildest, most revolutionary creator mainstream comics ever knew:

I can still remember the disturbing images of misshapen, cloned Kirby creatures floating in tanks and me, lying in the sunshine beneath the washing line, on the path to my Dad's pigeon lofts. Reading this two-page announcement was somehow strangely unsettling:

Change was coming and the new decade ushered in by DC's Carmine Infantino threatened to be scarier and sexier than before.  Kirby's Fourth World, with its distinctly Marvel flavour, seemed to be influenced by the New Wave of sci-fi, rather than the "Planet Stories" pulpy style of the 40s and 50s.

But Kirby's chutzpah and Pop Kozmic seemed at odds with the tenor of DC's other material. As the US plummeted into energy and resource crises, nostalgia boomed in popular culture. The moral certainties of previous decades seemed to gain appeal as (cheap) reprints bulked out comics:

The muscular physique of the Swan/Anderson Superman recalls the sleek, sophisticated style DC's heyday rather than the blocky, kinetic figures of Kirby. And that Adams cover is such an uplifting image-no pun intended. It sums up the brightness and optimism of DC's characters- and their Big Blue Boy Scout.
 The 100 page Super-Spectaculars were terrific value. They sometimes carried text features on the heroes of yesteryear and their significance as archaeological guides to DC's heritage can still be felt in comics today.

 As the 70s moved on, Watergate, Viet Nam and the coke-fuelled cynicism of the Me Generation tainted the Counter Culture. Darker characters began to appear, even in the pages of DC's Twinkie-loving Super Friends. While Debbie Harry sang about them in "Presence Dear", even the folk in the Funny Pages weren't that funny any more:

 This candy-coloured clown kills off his rival with a lethal cuckoo-clock!

 It's been suggested that "Merry" Gerry Conway engineered the end of comics' Silver Age with the deaths of Gwen Stacy and the Green Goblin. Certainly, the characterisation of that era elevated Spider-Man's plots to new levels of tragedy. In the mid-70s, however, Conway also scripted this, an unprecedented team-up for two of America's biggest pop culture icons:

 

I'd never read this Treasury/Tabloid comic before this weekend, having finally decided to pursue it on ebay after a bout of Bronze Age nostalgia this month. I'm pleased to say it's aged well; undemanding, if a little silly. It seamlessly blends Parker's tragic Ryan O' Neal persona with Clark Kent, victim of Steve Lombard's puerile pranks (prefiguring Christopher Reeve's geeky goof). Purple-clad Jumpsuit Luthor teams up with unhinged freak Doc Ock for some satellite mayhem that reminded me of You Only Live Twice- I swear I could hear John Barry's Space March.
 DC seemed to flounder and founder in the late 70s; never more so than when the infamous Implosion led to the cancellation of many series and projects. But the company and its characters would undergo something of a renaissance in the next decade. As David Puttnam told America: The British are coming...

Next: Kneel Before Zod or: Superman Eats Quiche.

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