Saturday 19 November 2011

PART THE THIRD OF MICK ANGLO'S PICTORIAL TRIBUTE...

Copyright DC COMICS

And now the remaining covers from my own collection of SUPER DC, a British reprint comic which came out in 1969 or '70.  There's a bit of a mystery as to exactly what year it made its debut, and I suspect that it followed the path of the IPC magazine VULCAN in the mid-'70s.  (For those of you not in the know, Vulcan was first sold in Scotland and wasn't sold nationally until six months later.)


In Super DC's case, I'm unsure in which part of the country it would have appeared first, but I suspect it may have been England initially, then Scotland.  I have two copies of issue #1, and both are of slightly different dimensions.  Also, the indicia typeset does not match (although both are copyrighted 1969), suggesting the possibility of being printed at different times.  The dates on the calendar free gift are 1970/'71, but this could have been an update for a second printing.


Of course, another possibility is that maybe only the first issue was reprinted, to launch it in Scotland and then get rid of previously printed, unsold subsequent editions.  The fact that every issue had the price of one shilling on the cover, even after decimalisation, tends to suggest that they were printed well before distribution - especially as the copyright date of 1969 also appeared on every issue (if memory serves).  This, of course, is all speculation on my part, but it would certainly help explain why there are two different versions of #1.  If anybody has a better suggestion (or, in fact, knows the real reason), feel free to share it here.


Thanks to the generosity of ANDREW KERR, I was able to show you the cover of the fourteenth and final issue, which I didn't have in my collection.  However, I've now managed to acquire the comic for myself, and replaced Andrew's image of the cover with my own.  I'm still looking for a spare copy though, if anyone could bear to part with theirs.  (Update: Now got a spare, meaning I have two sets of all fourteen issues.)


Incidentally, the ad below (featuring WORLD'S FINEST #180) appeared on the back cover of every issue of Super DC.  Exactly how they could colour BATMAN's costume correctly on the front cover, but get it so spectacularly wrong on the back is beyond me.


So, lift your glasses to MICK ANGLO, 'creator' of MARVELMAN, and editor of one of the fondly remembered comics of my boyhood.  Here's to you, Mick.
  
Coming soon: The cover of the one and only ('cos there only ever was one) Super DC Bumper Book.  (Though I've got two of them.)

17 comments:

Dougie said...

Now, I vaguely recall the Super DC Annual featured an Olsen/Legion story but it's a bit of a torment not knowing what comprised the actual monthly issues!

Kid said...

When I get a chance, Dougie, I'll dig out an issue or two and scan the interiors to put you out of your misery. Usually there was a Superman, Superboy, Batman, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen reprint from their individual titles. Plus a couple of text stories to pad things out. The strips were resized after the style of the Marvel reprints in Wham!, Smash!, and Pow!

Terence Stewart said...

Ever have one of those moments when things happen by coincidence and it must be a sign? Only two days ago I started watching a copy of Super DC on eBay that I came across quite by accident. Up to that point I have no recollection of ever seeing this comic growing up (though I do have an Annual that a friend sent me a few years ago)and then I come across your tributes to Mick Anglo and all those covers!

Kid said...

Cue Twilight Zone music. That copy of Super DC you saw - it wasn't #14 by any chance?

Terence Stewart said...

Nope, but I did find this link that suggests there were 14 issues:

http://www.comicpriceguide.co.uk/uk_comic.php?tc=superdc

Kid said...

Thanks, although I suspect people are basing their info on Denis Gifford's The Complete Catalogue of British Comics. Trouble is, he sometimes got it wrong. For example, his book says there were 91 issues of Fantastic, when, in fact, there were only 89.

Terence Stewart said...

Ah....have you tried checking with Lew Stringer?

http://lewstringer.blogspot.com/

Kid said...

Checked with him a good while back. If I remember correctly, he only knew there had been about 11 or 12 issues. Believe it or not, he sometimes has to refer to other sources just like the rest of us.

John Pitt said...

Thanks for these covers of the DC equivalent to "Fantastic". There is a small scan of #14 on AtomicAvenue if you want it. The VERY FIRST superhero comic book I ever bought was a Marvelman ( I didn't have enough pennies for a colour DC mag ) & I also used to get tv tornado every week ,so I salute Muck Anglo!

Kid said...

Thanks, I took a look - and distinctly remember having it back in the day. Funny how you don't remember things 'til you see them again, eh?

Anonymous said...

So glad to finally see an image of that mythical #14 issue! I saw in a comment posted elsewhere here that there are NO Batman text stories in that issue - is this true? I'd love to know...

I'm also only missing the Batman text story "Bite of the Penguin" from #11 now (unless there's one from #14, of course), and would really appreciate any scans of those 2 pages (no need to send a scan of the Super Dc #11 cover) from any kindhearted folks out there :)

You can send the scans to me at my regular email address (redacted) and I'll even pay you for them if you want.

Thanks for reading my plea, everyone, and have a great day/night depending on what part of the world you are in!

Kid said...

Correct, NO Batman or Superman text stories in #14 (only football ones). I've removed your email address to prevent someone exploiting you. The text stories from #11 will appear on this blog in due course and won't cost you a bean. (The stories from 1-6 are already up.)

Anonymous said...

Awesome! Thanks for the response, email removal, clarification of #14, and posting the Batman text story from #11.

It's odd that Batman is prominent on the cover, yet not inside the issue itself - at least I can cross it off my list now :)

Take care, -S.

Kid said...

Batman is on the cover because he appears in a comic strip inside the mag. There's just no TEXT story featuring him.

Anonymous said...

Right - and I have the original comic that story came from. I'm also curious about issue #13 now too, as I just received it in the mail: to my dismay, it didn't feature an original Batman text story either!!! Only a Superman one, I wonder why...

I also got a #5 in the mail with it too AFTER finding the Batman text story posted here on your site - so, in summary, I paid over $56 to ship it to me in the US for nothing!!!

ARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!

Oh well... thanks again! That #11 Batman "Bite of the Penguin" text story will sure make up for my loss when you get the chance to post it. In the meantime, take care...

-S.

Kid said...

Won't be long now.

Anonymous said...

Great! And to make matters worse, I just discovered that the Batman text story from Super DC #5 is an abridged version of the one from TV Tornado #3 that I ALREADY HAVE - GRRRRRRRR!!!!

But at least his text story from #11 is all I need to complete this "project" of mine, so I'm very glad it's coming along soon :)



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