BARGAIN BOOKS: SUPERMAN & JOE SHUSTER

I know I've said this many times before, but I feel I should say it again, I don't like superheros.

So why did I buy a book about the history of SUPERMAN?.... Because, I like Joe Shuster's art. Especially, after I found out about his work for NIGHTS OF HORROR.

SUPERMAN: THE HIGH-FLYING HISTORY OF AMERICA'S MOST ENDURING HERO seems like a really interesting book.

I've only had time to skim through a few chapters, but I like what I've read.

Chapter 4 "SPEED OF SOUND", deals with, the radio show, the animated serial, the first live action tv show, the first actor to portray the live action version of SUPERMAN, the first actress to portray the live action version of Lois Lane, Fleischer studios, and more.



This book contains a sixteen page photo section ( color and black & white ). This part covers Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Bud Collyer of the radio version of SUPERMAN, the Fleischer animated serials, the fifties tv show, the comic books, the seventies animated tv show called SUPER FRIENDS, the seventies SUPERMAN movie, the LOIS & CLARK tv series, SMALLVILLE, and more.



BOOK INFO:
TITLE - Superman: The High-Flying History of America's Most Enduring Hero
ISBN ( 9781400068661 )
AUTHOR - Larry Tye
COVER ARTIST - Credited to the dynamic duo / corbis images
COMPANY - Random House
OBTAINED AT - Dollar Tree
PRICE - $1.00.... Originally priced at $27.00!
HARDcover
SIZE - approximately 6 1/2" wide by 9 1/2" tall
PAGES - approximately 424


Above is a newspaper ad for the animated SUPERMAN serial ( Miami Florida U.S.A. - Oct. 1948 )... This is NOT from the book

DO I WANT MY MONEY BACK?:
Noooooooooooooo!!!!!...

It was only one fuckin' dollar, hell yeah!

There was NO way I was going to leave this on the shelf!

I'm lucky that I have two DOLLAR TREE stores that are close. So, when I don't find certain items at one location, I can usually find them at the other store.



As you may know, Joe Shuster was one of the creators of SUPERMAN.

However, most folks still aren't familiar with the work he did for an infamous underground comic called NIGHTS OF HORROR.

Most of the characters he drew for that series of books were kinky versions of Clark, Lois, Lex, Lana, and Jimmy.

This part of Mr. Shuster's career is detailed in a book called SECRET IDENTITY: THE FETISH ART OF SUPRMAN'S CO-CREATOR JOE SHUSTER.

I'm really hoping I'll find this book at a bargain price.


Above are examples of Joe Shuster's fetish art - screengrabs are from a YOUTUBE video

BOOK INFO:
TITLE - Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman's Co-Creator Joe Shuster
ISBN ( 9780810996342 )
AUTHOR - Craig Yoe
COVER ARTIST - Joe Shuster
COMPANY - Abrams
OBTAINED AT - I do NOT own a copy yet..... HAMILTONBOOK.COM had copies for under ten bucks ( sold out as I write this )
PRICE - $9.95
HARDcover
SIZE - approximately 8 1/2" wide by 8 1/2" tall
PAGES - approximately 160


Above are more examples of Joe Shuster's fetish art - screengrabs are from a YOUTUBE video

DO I WANT MY MONEY BACK?:

I do NOT own a copy of this book... yet.

I'm hoping I'll find a cheap new copy at one of my local DOLLAR TREE stores, but I doubt that will happen.


Screengrabs from the animated SUPERMAN serial ( chapter called ARTIC GIANT - from a TGG DIRECT DVD )

The FLEISCHER STUDIOS animated SUPERMAN serials from the forties, are outstanding examples of traditional animation at it's best. In my eyes, they're works of art.

It's been released on region one DVD many times, and by many different companies.


Screengrab from the animated SUPERMAN serial ( chapter called ARTIC GIANT ).... What do you suppose SUPERMAN / Clark Kent is thinking about?... Is Lois Lane the world's first fictional media-whore? ( from a TGG DIRECT DVD )



An official region one multi-disc set was released by WARNER BROS. I do NOT own it, so I can't give you any details.