COLLECTOR'S ALBUMS REUNITED - (With One Being 'Restored' To Something Almost Resembling Its Original Condition...)

Before restoration.  Copyright DC COMICS

Fancy going on a little journey with me?  Well, not quite so little, perhaps, as it's all the way back to 1981 to a shop in Southsea.  Me and my pal Joe had gone in for him to buy cigarettes and we spotted two copies of the Superman The Movie Collector's Album lying on the newsagent's counter and I immediately 'bagged' what I considered the best condition copy for myself, leaving the second copy for Joe.  Being originally published in 1978, neither of them could be described as pristine, both showing some relatively minor signs of wear.  When we returned home from Portsmouth a few months later, I have no memory of ever seeing Joe's copy again.

Before restoration

Down through the decades, I looked after my copy and it's pretty much in the same condition as it was in 1981, except for me removing the 50p sticker from the cover not long after purchase.  As all regular readers will perhaps know, Joe died back in October and I was among the friends invited to Joe's flat to help ourselves to a pile of stuff destined to be disposed of, either to charity shops or Joe's bin in the back garden.  It was then my eye fell upon the self-same Superman Special he'd bought at the same time as mine almost 45 years earlier, so that joined my other choices, most of which were comics I'd given him from the late '70s onwards.

After restoration

Joe was never too great at keeping things in good condition, and his copy was quite blootered, with creases and colour 'rubs', as well as there being some foxing on the interior pages, but I decided to work a little 'magic' on its imperfections and restore it to an acceptable condition, though I've still got a bit of work ahead of me until I'm satisfied.  However, I thought I'd show you my progress so far, with some before-and-after scans of the front and back covers.  Also included are two scans of my own copy, acquired, as I said, at the exact same time and place as Joe's, just so you can see well how I look after my stuff (barring accidents) over the passage of time.

After restoration

So nearly 45 years later, both copies are reunited with one another, which is a nice way to end this post I think.  What do you esteemed Crivs say?  Below is my copy side-by-side with Joe's after restoration - just to complete the reunion and allow you to compare both of them.  Click to enlarge, then click again for optimum size.