As promised a little while ago, here's the cover of the one and only SUPER DC Bumper Book for 1971, which completes the run of TOP SELLERS' monthly reprint title from the early '70s, as edited by MICK ANGLO. It included various U.S. DC COMICS' strips (Superman, Batman, Jimmy Olsen, etc.), plus U.K.-produced text stories, features, joke pages and humour strips.
I'm not sure why it was called a 'Bumper Book' rather than an 'Annual', as it's a fairly slim volume with absolutely nothing 'Bumper' about it. Incidentally, The FRIENDLY SOUL cartoon strips below were drawn (and probably also written) by famed comics historian and collector, the late DENIS GIFFORD.
Wow! There is a lot going on on that cover! Where do you look first? The exploding planet, the drinking Jimmy Olsen or the relaxed Batman?
ReplyDeleteBatman has the satisfied look of someone who's just emptied his bowels after baking his 'deposit' for a few hours, and Robin's right foot is a bit dodgy looking, but - that apart - I suppose it does the job.
ReplyDeleteI think there's an Olsen/Legion story in this annual but what were the contents, exactly?
ReplyDeleteSuperman - The Revenge of Luthor, A Killing Job (Text story), Batman - Prey of the Alien Hunters, Jimmy Olsen - The Lone Wolf Legionaire Reporter, Superman Vs Samson (Text story), Superboy - The Super-Dog that Replaced Krypto, Lois Lane - Courtship, Kryptonian Style, Batman - Baby, it's Cold Outside.
ReplyDeleteIt also had various text features, a couple of DC Laugh In joke pages, and a couple of humour strips by Denis Gifford (I believe), called The Friendly Soul.
Wow! I could immediately picture Lois practising Klurkor, B&R frozen in a block of ice and a meeting bewtween Superboy and Superman. No recollection of Swifty. Wonder why?
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, the strips were all re-coloured - and nicely done too - except that, for some strange reason, Krypto and Swifty were brown instead of white.
ReplyDeleteThis is the very book that is responsible for me being such a Silver Age geek today. The Jimmy/Legion, Superman/Superboy, and especially the Lois and Lana in Kandor tales remain firm favourites to this day.
ReplyDeleteMemory Lane is usually a great place to visit, eh?
ReplyDeletehttp://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280854013760 ,theres one for sale
ReplyDeleteThanks, but I've already got one.
ReplyDeleteI have both the Super DC book and the Batman Annual (the one on the flyer, showing Bats & Robin riding in the Batmobile). It's been many years since I looked at the SDC book, but the Batman annual (which pre-dates the SDC book by at least a couple of years)has been viewed & re-viewed many times over the years.. so much so that about five years ago I purchased a second copy through Ebay because my original one was seriously falling apart. The strips contained therein reflect the tone of the TV show, which was to the 5 or 6 year old me the REAL Batman. I wasn't until a year or so later that I realised that Batman had much of a life outside the telly-box in the corner of our living room! I may just dig it out & re-read those strips again.
ReplyDeleteStaz, my memory of this book is in another house, on a Sunday night, curled up in an armchair I no longer have, in my pyjamas and dressing gown, wishing I didn't have school the next morning. Funny how the past comes alive again by looking at (never mind through) an old book or comic, eh?
ReplyDeleteI had this book. I may still have it someplace. I have to say, silver age stories are still the best for kids.
ReplyDeleteWhen you can't let a kid read a super hero comic because someone may be killed or raped or stuffed in a fridge, it's really sad.
Some adults couldn't leave comics behind when they grew up, so those that became writers made the mags reflect their 'grown up' tastes and interests, which is why they're no longer as 'kid-friendly' as they used to be. That's what I think anyway, Phil.
ReplyDeleteAHA!! - Just found the updates on here!
ReplyDeleteIt's always worth a poke around in your archives, you never know what you've added!
A poke around in my archives? Why does that sound rude?
ReplyDelete