Out now from The Folio Society is another DC Comics celebration collecting some of Superman’s greatest tales: DC: Superman. Available to order via The Folio Society’s website, it joins DC: Batman as a premiere collection with a well-thought-out curation of stories. Running 312 pages long, the $100 collection feels like it’s well worth the price.
Similar to DC: Batman, DC: Superman offers things you can’t get anywhere else. The most obvious is the reproduction of 1939’s Superman #1. It comes in its own pocket folder, reproduced with a similar paper stock to the original, and scanned from an original copy held in the DC Archives. It’s a blast from the past to crack this open and imagine kids nearly a hundred years ago experiencing Superman for the first time.
It’s also a well-made hardcover with its own slipcase. Customary of this format, each of the reprinted comics has a black border, as if to protect the comic itself from your fingers.
Kicking off this book is an excellent foreword by Marjorie Liu. She relates how she was born in 1979, the same year Superman: The Movie was released, but the inspiration of Superman lived on with her from a very young age. Liu connects the hopefulness of Superman to its significance growing up with the Cold War and the ramifications of wars like Vietnam, making daily life feel hopeless and uneasy. She clearly connects dots making you realize how impactful a symbol of hope can be in dark times.
That’s never more the case when Liu relates a story of feeling incredibly alone after falling down some stairs when she was young. In a moving bit from the intro, Liu makes you realize it was Superman who helped her realize she may feel alone, but she isn’t. She had hope.
The selected stories are curated by Janette Kahn, who introduces each in a lengthy introduction. Kahn gives readers enough context and backstory for each of the selections so you know why it was picked, but also its significance in Superman’s history. Whether you read her setup of an issue and then read the comic or read the entire introduction, there are a lot of insights worth reading for super-Superman fans or casual readers.
Fans of Superman have likely read many, if not all, of the stories. What sets the Folio Society reprintings apart from past collections is how the curation is very much the message focused on in your revisit of these tales. By lifting up select stories, they’re lifting up the grander purpose of Superman and his importance.
Iconic!
Credit: Folio Society
All told, the hardcover contains:
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A letter from Jerry Seigel to Russell Keaton (June 12, 1934)
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Action Comics #36 (May 1941) – ‘Fifth Columnists’ by writer Jerry Siegel, artists Wayne Boring and Joe Shuster, and cover artist Fred Ray.
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Superman #30 (October 1944) – ‘The Mysterious Mr. Mxyztplk!’ by writer Jerry Siegel, artist Ira Yarbrough and Stan Kaye, and cover artist Jack Burnley.
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Superman #96 (March 1955) – ‘The Girl Who Didn’t Believe in Superman!’ by writer Bill Finger, artists Wayne Boring and Stan Kaye, and cover artist Al Plastino.
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Superman #149 (November 1961) – ‘The Death of Superman’ by writer Jerry Siegel, artists Curt Swan and George Klein, and cover artists Curt Swan and George Klein.
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Superman #400 (October 1984) – ‘The Living Legends of Superman – Chapter Four’ by writer Elliot S. Maggin, artist Marshall Rodgers and Terry Austin, and cover artists Howard Chaykin and Frank Miller.
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Action Comics # 583 (September 1986) – ‘Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?’ by writer Alan Moore, artists Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson, and cover artists Curt Swan, Murphy Anderson, and Anthony Tollin.
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Superman Vol. 2 #2 (February 1987) – ‘The Secret Revealed’ by writer John Byrne, artists John Byrne, Terry Austin and Keith Williams, and cover artist John Byrne.
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Superman Annual #2 (August 1988) – ‘Love’s Labors …’ by writer Roger Stern, artists Ron Frenz and Brett Breeding, and cover artist Ron Frenz.
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The Adventures of Superman #462 (January 1990) – ‘Homeless for the Holidays’ by writer Roger Stern, artists Dan Jurgens and Art Thibert, and cover artists Dan Jurgens, Brett Breeding, and Tom Ziuko.
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Superman #75 (January 1993) – ‘Doomsday!’ by writer Dan Jurgens, artists Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding, and cover artists Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding.
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Peace on Earth (January 1999) by writer Paul Dini and artist Alex Ross.
Once again, I’m impressed with The Folio Society’s curation, making this work feel complete as it relates to the importance of a modern myth like Superman. It’s an easy recommendation for the super Superman fan. It’s also a great place to start for a new reader, thanks to Kahn’s great introduction and the solid smattering of tales from 1949 to 1999. The replica comic puts this over the top as one of the most unique Superman collections available today.
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