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.)