IDW has released their latest round of solicitations, which includes reprints of material that has long been awaited by Superman fans.
“Wait,” you say. “Superman fans? IDW? The Man of Steel is owned by DC Comics!”
Be thankful for corporate partnerships! DC Entertainment is joining with IDW’s Library of American Comics for a new series that will, at long last, reprint the Superman newspaper serial, which ran from 1939 to 1966.
While the first four years of the Superman newspaper serial were reprinted by Kitchen Sink Press in the 1990s, more than two decades of the strip have not been reprinted en masse — or, in most cases, even seen the light of day since original publication.
According to the announcement, the serial will be released in four subsets Golden Age Dailies (1940s), Atomic Age Dailies (1950s), Silver Age Dailies (1960s) and Sundays.
The first volume, Superman: The Silver Age Newspaper Dailies, Vol. 1: 1958-1961, is slated for a July 10, 2013, release and will collect strips published from December 15, 1958, to July 1, 1961.
This is excellent news for fans of Jerry Siegel (and Joe Shuster). While I believe all of Shuster’s work on the strip has been reprinted via collections from Kitchen Sink Press in the mid-1990s, Siegel was the primary writer on the title until sometime 1943 — and some of his latter stories were not included in the Kitchen Sink volumes.
Additionally, by the time Siegel returned to DC in the ’60s, the company was in the practice of often repurposing comic book plots for use in the strip, frequently with story changes or new art. Likewise, in many cases, a story would first appear in the newspaper strip and later get repurposed for the comics, usually redrawn by a different artist. Some of Siegel’s stories were included in the repurposing — and he might have contributed new stories for the strip, as well. Most of these alternative versions of the stories have never been reprinted.
Siegel-written tales contained in this volume include:
“The Super-Clown of Metropolis!” originally published from September 7 to October 29, 1959, with art by Curt Swan; later repurposed in SUPERMAN #136, with art by Al Plastino.
“Captive of the Amazons” originally published October 30, 1959, to February 6, 1960, with art by Curt Swan; later repurposed in ACTION COMICS #266, with art by Wayne Boring.
“Superman’s Return to Krypton published August 14 to November 11, 1960, with art by Curt Swan; simultaneously used in SUPERMAN #141, with art by Wayne Boring.
“The Duel for Earth”. (published from February 6 to March 4, 1961, with art by Wayne Boring; repurposed from a Superboy story from ADVENTURE COMICS #277, with art by George Papp, which also has never been reprinted!)
Details about future volumes have been promised in the days to come. Key volumes for Siegel and Shuster fans will be the Golden Age volumes reprinting strips through 1943 and all of the Silver Age volumes. Keep and eye right here for more information and story breakdowns as they are announced.
