In 1961, the Superman title had an average monthly circulation of 820,000 — second only to Disney’s Uncle Scrooge, with its 853,928 head count.
The rich, stingy duck was self-explanatory, but a good number of those nearly a million Superman readers weren’t entirely clear on who this strange visitor was and how he came to be. His origin was not constantly referred to, neither in 1950s comics nor in The Adventures of Superman TV series.
Editor Mort Weisinger used this opportunity to summarize those elements of increasingly elaborate Superman lore that had been added to the superhero’s background since 1938 — the indestructible baby blankets that became his costume, his dog Krypto, his cousin Supergirl, his foster parents’ general store, his career as Superboy in Smallville, kryptonite, Jimmy Olsen, Perry White and Lana Lang.
I was generally aware of Superman’s origin because my grandmother told me what she recalled of it from the 1948 movie serial, in surprisingly vivid detail.
But the issue included a house ad for a related title that would be published the next month — the 25-cent giant Secret Origins. That one included the provenance of the Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, the Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, the Challengers of the Unknown and the Superman-Batman team — absolutely irresistible.
I had just turned 7 when my grandfather dutifully took me to the local newsstand in Effingham, IL, to pick up Secret Origins the week it came out.
But it wasn’t there. It had sold out instantly.
I was so crestfallen I burst into tears on the spot, then I was ashamed of myself for having cried. But I rarely remember ever having been more disappointed.
Chris Juricich:
ReplyDeleteA comic book 'selling out' seems like such a strange notion -- I guess it DID happen back in the 50s or early 60s, but there was no popular uproar or anticipation for most comics that came out after that period ... at least not where I lived in suburban San Francisco's Bay Area. I had NO idea of 'on sale dates' or the like...
Damon L. Fordham:
ReplyDeleteThe very first episodes of the radio and television versions of The Adventures of Superman did in fact get into the Krypton story, and quite well I might add. But it's true that it wasn't constantly referred to at the time.
I replied:
True. We were reminded every episode that he was a "strange visitor from another planet," but that's about as far as it went. They may have been concerned about the massively tragic nature of his origin, given how young many fans were.
Bob Bailey:
ReplyDeleteDan I joined you in your disappointment as I, too, missed that Secret Origins annual and only found it 10 years later once I started going to small local comic conventions. The local drugstore in my home town often didn’t put out the early annuals. So I missed the first couple of Superman Annuals and Secret Origins. It was when Dad was stationed at different rock quarry in another part of NC that I found a store that regularly carried the annuals.
Alex Johnson:
ReplyDeleteI too missed it and was disappointed.
Timothy Kevin McPike:
ReplyDeleteI’ve driven through Effingham a few times! I grew up in Crystal Lake, IL, and was blessed with an excellent newsstand / sporting goods store run by the father of a schoolmate. CL was so small in the early 60s that everyone knew everyone, and all the local businesses were run by schoolmates’ families — like Ma and Pa Kent’s grocery store. How cool that your grandmother watched the Alan Kirk Superman serials and your grandfather took you to buy comics. My dad disapproved of my comics habit.
Paul Zuckerman:
ReplyDeleteDan, a great post as always. I'd give a bit more credit to Otto Binder for his script, putting together all of these diverse elements! The former main Captain Marvel scripter writing the definitive for the era origin of Superman is ironic to say the least! But he pulled it off without any sense of irony to us reading the book who did not know who wrote the story! I don't recall when Plastino was first given credit in the books for his art, but his work was very recognizable. His art had morphed over the decade prior, first emulating Boring and by now, Swan, but he always did a solid job, including on the Batman strip, near the end of his DC career.
I replied:
Oh, you're right. I did include his credit in the art, of course.
ReplyDeletePaul Zuckerman:
This story was based on the 1948 version drawn by Boring, but greatly elaborated. That base story would be used once more for the 1970s version that Infantino laid out but that Swan drew --- so each of the three main Superman artists after series co-creator Joe Shuster got to draw definitive versions of the origin for their generations.
Let's not go to the Bryne version!
I replied:
Let's absolutely not. Clark Kent, football hero, my ass!
ReplyDeleteGeorge Blake:
Thanks for the memories.
Except that I happened upon the last copy of the Giant Superman Annual celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Man of Steel, I might have gone through withdrawals over missing out on it, suffered social embarrassment and counted myself as not worthy of this world.
Comics meant a lot to me back then, they were my refuge from the many problems common to those times. An inexpensive remedy to salve my many wounds.
Thanks, again for posting.
Richard Meyer:
ReplyDeleteI actually got Secret Origins off the spinner rack with my father… a special treat because it looked so enticing. But since both of us only knew Superman and Batman, I asked him who all the others were and he could only guess! We got Manhunter, GL and Flash mixed up.
I replied:
When I bought the second appearance of the JLA, I had no idea who the Flash, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman were, but I was highly intrigued. I knew the Martian Manhunter and Aquaman from their backup features in Batman and Superman titles.
Chet Cox:
ReplyDeleteI would have cried too!