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Thursday, May 20, 2021

Favourite comic book covers: Superman issue 252 (DC-13)

A regular comic book purchase of mine from around 1970 to 1972 was DCs Superman title. From issue 231 the title had feature the triple art threat of Neal Adam on covers and Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson on the internal art. In addition to the great artwork that was on show there was also the not inconsiderable writing talents of Cary Bates and in particular Denny O’Neil making this a must read comic. As it turned out issue 252 was to be my last regular purchase of Superman as I had replaced many of my DC purchases with Marvel titles that were starting to become more available in the UK.
Issue 252 itself was not the best issue of Superman in that great 21 issue run as it was a 100 page all reprint special featuring strips from the 1940s/50’s. But it had its charm reprinting some nice strips from the likes of Doctor Fate, The Ray, Black Condor Starman and the Spectre. But that cover is just a classic and worth every penny of the 15p purchase price when I first bought it on the road home from school in 1972 - and later the £10 it cost me to pick up my replacement copy (as I stupidly gave my original copy away).

9 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. I remember buying this issue from a small newsagent in my local shops when it was first on sale, and for some reason, whenever I look at the cover, I think of the view on the horizon across from the front of my house. It was dark and the lights were on everywhere, so I'm guessing I'd just bought the comic and that's why the association is so strong. I was probably walking home from the shops while looking at the comic's cover, and glanced over at the view as I made my way towards the stairs leading up to my house. Sometime in the late '70s or early '80s, a pal gave me a mug with the illo of Superman on it; I've still got the mug, but the picture has long since worn off. I also had two or three stickers of that pic of Supes, which adorned my bedroom windows in the mid '80s. And of course I acquired a replacement of the comic many years ago

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  3. Hi Kid, I bought my original copy on my way home from school in Birrells newsagents .I'm afraid I can't recall too much else about it though, but I have strong associations with other comics similar to your own My second copy I picked up in the old Aka comic shop in Glasgow

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  4. Nice blog buddy!

    That cover is a classic.

    Regarding the innards, dare Charlie say that the Quality Comics (Ray, Condor, Plastic Man, Blackhawks, Spirit) were often the real highlight with art by Fine, Crandall, Cole, Eisner. And perhaps (nay - probably) the two best comics ever produced throughout the 1940s were Cole's Plastic Man and Eisner's Spirit.

    But ole Charlie was an addict for the 100-pagers... grabbing them off the spinner rack at Weis's Grocery in Gary, Indiana.

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  5. Oops! Forgot to mention that Kid Eternity, actually featured on the cover in the far upper left, was a fun Quality comic as well! Not sure who wrote / drew the Kid. Maybe Kid knows?

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  6. I know that Kid Eternity was created by Otto Binder and Sheldon Moldoff, so I presume that they wrote and drew (respectively) the original strip.

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  7. Hi CH apologies for the delay replying (forgot my Gmail password for my new tablet). I loved the DC 100 pagers and the old reprints it was always a wee treat finding a new (old) strip back then. I will have to accept Kids artist suggestion , which will probably be correct as my copy of the comic is packed away.

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  8. Kid Eternity doesn't actually appear in this issue (apart from on the cover), but there's a strip in #245 which is drawn by Mac Raboy.

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  9. What a great cover! I don’t have it any more, but will work on tracking down a reading copy ASAP. Keep the posts coming!

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