Reviewing Superman 411 (1:28) and New Teen Titans Annual 1 (21:03), as well as minor Superman appearances in Red Tornado 3 (35:33) and Super Powers 1 (37:51), before turning to your feedback (47:43)!
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SiC 19 — Happy Birthday, Mr. Editor (06:13:1985)
3 replies on “SiC 19 — Happy Birthday, Mr. Editor (06:13:1985)”
Superman #411 was a fun “change of pace”, celebrating longtime editor Julius Schwartz’ 70th birthday, and I enjoyed it. The ending, with the two Julies merging, and the explanation of that seeming to point toward some of the deaths that might happen in the Crisis. That is something that, reading this issue back in 1985, I didn’t really pay much attention to, but takes on a bigger meaning now in hindsight.
The busts of Weisinger and Scwartz in this story seem obvious nods to the bust that Clark Kent had by the front door of his apartment in the George Reeves Adventures of Superman TV series from the ’50s. It wasn’t shown all the time, but sometimes, when Clark walked into the apartment, he’d drop his hat onto the bust and say, “Hiya, Sam!” No in-show explanation of who “Sam” was supposed to be was ever given, I think.
As for the story of the Naval Intelligence “killing” Julie’s story of the atomic bomb during World War II, I remember hearing something like that when I was a kid in the early ’60s. There was a story that was set to be published in 1945 (in Superman #34)Here’s a link to an article about it:
https://www.cbr.com/superman-atomic-bomb-censored-united-states-government/
Looking forward to your next episode. Thank you.
I forgot to note that the “atomic” story was “Battle of the Atoms”, and it did later appear in Superman #38, several months later, after the U. S. did use atomic bombs on Japan. As far as I can tell, Julius Schwartz was not actually involved in publishing the story.
A few thoughts on Superman #411. I don’t think we’d get an issue like this nowadays, and it’s a darn shame. Letting the creators interact positively with the characters they love, such a joy to see.
Now did this issue just spoil how Crisis is going end? It’s just thrown in here, about Earths merging, and we’re still 5 issues away from that in the mini-series. Wow, that’s crazy!
In spite of this story’s title, there’s still a notable Earth-Prime story coming soon in DCCP, with some unfortunate long-term consequences. Ah well.
When I was 7 or 8 and first learned the concept “comic writers get their stories subliminally from other universes” struck such a chord with me, I accepted it as really possible, because it let me think my heroes were truly real somewhere. It’s a little baked into my reading DNA, which is a problem because prevents some critical reviewing of the stories. After all, if the story “happened”, then the writer is simply reporting it, not creating it, and what’s there to be critical of? It’s a weird problem I have, but also, it frees me to enjoy stories for what they are, and just have fun reading rather than “analyzing” them. And the concept of Earth-Prime always makes me think of that, because of course, it’s the world closest to ours. Welcome to the scary landscape of Tim’s psyche.
As for the Titans annual, I remember it but don’t feel much need to reread it. The Vanguard are so forgettable, but I am slightly tempted for the Titans and Brainiac parts, because those did sound interesting. Also notable since Marv Wolfman helps with the post-Crisis Superman launch, and I might enjoy revisiting his take on pre-C Supes.
Keep on Cris-ing! Whatever that is.