Product details: - Hardcover: 192 pages
- Author: Les Daniels
- Publisher: Chronicle Books
- Publication Date: 1998-11-01
- Studio: Chronicle Books
- Manufacturer: Chronicle Books
- Package Dimensions: 10.33 x 60 x 75 inches
Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound! The first, the strongest, and the most enduringly popular super hero has been captivating audiences around the world for 60 years. Since his humble comic book beginnings in 1938, Superman has conquered every dimension of media entertainment, launching radio and television shows, major motion pictures, books, toys, ?and more. Now take a nostalgic, colorful, and entertaining look back at the first 60 years of this cultural icon—from his scrappy beginnings as a Depression-era champion of justice to the modern mega-hero of today. Designed by Chip Kidd and boasting hundreds of examples of rare comic book art, interviews with writers and artists, working sketches and original character designs, Superman: The Complete History will satisfy the collector and captivate fans of all ages.? © 1998 DC Comics. SUPERMAN, all titles, characters, their distinctive likenesses, and related indicia are trademarks of DC Comics. Customer reviews:  Beautiful visuals, company-approved history, 2005-10-04
As with Daniels's other comics histories, this is a beautiful coffee table book, thoroughly illustrated and full of much fascinating trivia about the medium. When reading it, though, it's important to remember that the book was fully approved and virtually coproduced by DC Comics, and so basically represents DC's PR department view of its history. For example, it mostly rationalizes or dismisses the company's appalling treatment of Superman's creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. For history, there are non-corporate approved books that do a much more realistic job. But for beautiful pictures and an overview of the comics themselves, this is great.
 COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE GREATEST HERO EVER!, 2005-07-26
He's the first, and greatest superhero ever, the man who not only was faster than a speeding bullet, but more importantly the man who was able to survive the golden age fallout of superhero comics and continue to thrive almost 70 years later. Les Daniels' magnificent book traces the history of Superman from his humble beginnings, to the major marketing franchise it is today. It's the story of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, a couple of young men from Cleveland who putting the ideas for this new and fantastic character down on paper as early as 1933, and then struggled for years to get the feature sold. We see a rare cover, the only page surviving from 1933, after Joe Shuster burned the rest of the pages in frustration. The spotlight reviewer contends that Daniels does not give credit to Siegel and Shuster and even takes stabs at the pair. Nothing could be further from the truth. The book details the pairs drive to get the character sold, and their diligence is well documented by Daniels. It's a tribute to their persistence that Superman is around today. Had they thrown in the towel after their many rejections Superman would never have seen the light of day. I think that pays them high tribute. There's no doubt that DC comics made millions...no billions off Superman and that Siegel and Shuster did not benefit much from this. Unfortunately, the pair, so desperate to get the idea in print, signed away their rights to the character. It may have been cheap on DCs part, no doubt, but creators simply did not own their characters back then.
Daniels goes onto to show how Superman was a smashing success right out of the gate and would go onto conquer virtually every form of media of the day including newspaper strips, animated shorts, movie serials, feature films, radio, TV, and incredible merchandising. Daniels traces Superman's adventures from the enemy-smashing efforts of WWII, to the ridiculous, often silly stories of the 1950's, to Superman's death and eventual resurrection in the 1990's. Daniels traces all those others who were key in making Superman the American Icon he has become, particularly the late Julius Schwartz who basically created the Silver Age of comics and guided superman for years and artists the late Wayne boring the primary superman artist after Shuster and through the mid-1950's, and the late Curt Swan who took over in the mid-1950's and was the primary artist on Superman for the next thirty years.
But the book isn't all about the comic books. We'll see Superman in the great Fleischer cartoons of the 1940's, his early film appearances by Kirk Alyn, and then on TV with George Reeves...Heck there was even a Superman musical in the 1960's. Superman would be re-vitalized in the 1970's when Christopher Reeves played the Man of Steel in four big-screen films before the character would return to TV in the romantic Lois and Clark, and the new look at Clark Kent as a young man in the smash hit "Smallville". Daniels covers it all including the wonderful animated series on WB, and the controversies surrounding Superman's "death" and resurrection and eventual marriage to Lois Lane. Daniels leaves no stone unturned, even providing great photos of vintage and current Superman toys and other collectibles.
Siegel and Shuster are given their proper due for the creation of Superman, but it was an entire host of talented writers, artists, actors, animators, and directors that have turned the character into the legend that he has become. This is a terrific book for any fan of the character. Well-written and researched.
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