My Collection - SUPERMAN [1939 Series]

Superman [1939 series]
94 issues [1966 - 1986]
183, 196, 200, 202, 212, 216, 221, 233, 238 - 239, 241 - 244, 246, 251, 253, 260, 267, 284, 287, 289, 299, 302, 304, 308, 327 - 329, 333, 339, 342, 344 - 345, 350 - 397, 399 - 402, 405, 410 - 413, 415 - 416, 422

The classic Superman title, it was renamed to ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN with #424 so they could launch a new SUPERMAN #1, both continuing to this day.

I used to have the final issue, #423, the Swan/Moore wrap-up, but got rid of that (with its ACTION counterpart) when they were reprinted in one edition. Anyway, this set of books is pretty similar to my ACTION collection. #350 - #400 is mostly the run I bought off the newsstand as a kid, at various times I picked up the earlier stuff as back-issues (a lot of them are 80/100 page giants full of earlier reprints), and picked up some of that later stuff in the early 1990s.

Most of the artwork in these is by Curt Swan, of course. Some really nice Murphy Anderson inking in the early 1970s stuff, and I really like the ones I have inked by Al Williamson from the last year of the book.

On the writing side there's lots of good Cary Bates stuff in the 1980s, plus some Elliot S. Maggin . I enjoyed what I have of Dennis O'Neil's run from the early 1970s too.

Like ACTION I've got quite a bit of nostalgia that'll have me keeping most of these. In particular I really like a lot of the back-up stories with series like "Private Life of Clark Kent", "The In-Between Years" and others. For back issues, most of the stuff, I wouldn't mind picking up a few more of the later issues that have Swan/Williamson art.

A few that stood out leafing through them:

#202 - 80-Page Giant of Bizarro stories, including Bizarro-Krypto
#212 - 80 pages of Superbaby stories (both characters as babies and turned into babies)
#379 - The Bizarro Justice League
#400 - Maggin's big anniversary issue, with lots of guest artists, and even a nod to MIRACLE MONDAY, plus some great pin-ups including a great Ditko piece and one by Jack Kirby.

Hm, I still wonder why they changed the logo slightly after #385. Just some minor changes, but definitely inferior (more rounded). Being a comic fan, I don't take to change well, and I remember not liking the logo change back then.