Showcase Presents: Superman, Vol. 1
Grade 3 Up–Twenty-nine Superman comics published between 1959 and 1963 are reprinted in this black-and-white omnibus edition. A perfect example of the tone of the collection is the opening tale, a jolly mystery that culminates in Batman throwing his old chum Superman a birthday party. For all of the hokey word balloons that spell out Superman's choked-back sobs of anguish at whatever bizarre circumstance he finds himself in, and despite Lois Lane's constant bold proclamations of her intent to marry the Man of Steel, the pages contain a massive catalogue of invention. Many of the stories consist of Superman's clever ways of convincing Lois that he's not Clark Kent, or persuading some criminal that he's now immune to kryptonite. The text is fraught with barefaced exposition, but the tricks, traps, puzzles, and quandaries that Superman constantly outsmarts are charming and should give readers a clear indication of what comics were like in an earlier age and how they captured the imaginations of young readers so well and so completely. The stories also provide a happy sampling of the first appearances of a number of Superman's notable supporting characters and beloved minutiae.–Benjamin Russell, The Derryfield School, Manchester, NHCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.