I know this is usually when I put together a Best of Friday Night Fights, but scheduling means I didn’t get to do a Superman-related article yesterday, the Man of Steel’s 75th birthday. (And as some would point out, Lois Lane’s but I’ll get to that on Sunday.) Next week is the FNF Prize Fight, so I’ll do the next Best Of the week after, either in a big post, or making a Saturday posting. But now, the review.
Superman is my favorite DC superhero, possibly my favorite superhero period. It’s not just the amazing powers he has, but what he does with them. Despite what this cynical age (which sadly includes too many superhero writers) believes would or should happen, he helps people and then tries to lead a normal life. He’s someone who kids can admire and adults should try to be more like, and his adventures can be somewhat mundane or large and fantastic. Where Batman is versatile with how he can be portrayed, Superman is versatile with what kinds of stories he can part of.
I grew up in a very Superman-friendly period. Adventures Of Superman was in syndicated reruns, as were the Filmation cartoons, we had a series of theatrical releases, and even Superboy had his own series for a while…which went into some weird ideas in the later seasons. As far as comics, I had the Justice League of America comic I reviewed previously, a book & record where Superman fought a terrorist group, which is boring to review but a good read, and DC Comics Presents #50, a comic I once lost but happily found a back-issue of so I can still enjoy. And it’s just a good read now as it was then. This was Superman’s team-up book, and he teamed with many of the DC Universe’s best and newest and even traveled to Eternia to fight alongside He-Man. (Hint hint, Mr. Giffen) So who did he join forces with during the “50th Golden Jubilee Issue!”?
Greatest team-up ever?
DC Comics Presents Vol. 5 #50
Featuring Superman and Clark Kent
DC Comics (October, 1982)
WRITERS: Dan Mishkin & Gary Cohn ARTIST: Curt Swan & Kurt Shaffenberger COLORIST: Gene D’Angelo LETTERER: A. Kawecki EDITOR: Julius SchwartzThat’s right, Superman teams with his own alter-ego. And to quote an old cliche, “not a hoax, not an imaginary story”. This team-up is actual DC canon pre-Crisis. So how did this happen?
