Wednesday 18 November 2015

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE - SUPERMAN #1...


Images copyright DC COMICS

You're looking at the front and back cover of an original SUPERMAN #1 - not a replica, reprint, or facsimile ish.  That's exactly how it appeared in 1939.  The bottom two pics are from a 1999 reprint by CHRONICLE BOOKS (by arrangement with DC COMICS), the same dimensions as the original.


Below are the covers side-by-side for a quick and easy direct comparison.  Click to enlarge, but for a more detailed study, open this post in a new window, then adjust the size of each window so that you can see a larger single cover together with its reprint.


  

8 comments:

SUBZERO said...

Okay, after staring ast this for three hours my eyes hurt. Is that what you wanted ?

Kid said...

Wotcha talking about, SZ? It's only been up for less than an hour! (Guess it just seemed like 3 hours, eh?)

SUBZERO said...

Hey, I just wrote a post for the last four hours so my reception of time might be a bit spotty. Now tell me the truth : is there really a difference between those two covers or is this just one of this sick, demented experiments the government does about mind control ?

I think I should get some sleep now. That or watch CAPTAIN KRONOS - VAMPIRE HUNTER.

Kid said...

Aha! What makes you think that both possibilities are mutually exclusive?

DeadSpiderEye said...

There's the obvious one which is the difference in the cyan ink, there's a variance in the screen used too, which has made it more noticeable on the buildings. Besides that, the only thing I spotted was some loss of detail in the line work, most noticeable on his shorts, where some retouching has been fudged. There's a possibility of other lines being touched up but it could just be a slightly different exposure time or sensitivity in the photo process.

Kid said...

Yes, the colours are slightly different - cleaner and brighter. I don't think there's been much, if any, line touch-ups, DSE, although there is some fudging. However, I think that's simply down to the reprint suffering some deterioration in the copying process - probably a 3rd or 4th generation copy. The lettering on either side of the central pic is not exactly in the same position in relation to it, the circular border on the back cover is thinner, and the dotted line for cutting off the pin-up is absent. The most noticeable loss of detail is in Superman's face on the back cover, I'd say, and there are a couple of small black lines missing from the top curve of the 'S' on the front cover logo. I wish they'd follow the original, darker colour scheme when producing reprints.

baab said...

I also prefer the original colour scheme .
I prefer the original overall.

Kid said...

Yeah, it just seems slightly sharper, Baab.



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