For whatever reason in 1978 I did not buy a copy of DC's one-of-a-kind opus Superman Vs. Muhammad Ali. This tabloid-size masterwork was only known to me from online sources. I've seen a few copies over the intervening years, but never one I could afford. I let one slip through my fingers several years ago that wasn't priced too badly, and I've regretted it since.
Then yesterday I visit my local store. They were running a 25% off sale across the whole of the store and for a host of personal reasons, I'd not been able to get in there until the waning hours of the sale yesterday. I plumbed the racks of trades looking for a bargain, but found nothing. I picked up a few cheap Charlton Hot Rod books I've been eyeing for a few weeks, and was prepared to walk out.
But I took a moment to check the healthy stack of tabloid books they have, and there it was -- Muhammad Ali in all his Adamsesque glory facing off against the Man of Steel as an armada of familiar faces looked on. The price was a measly $15 bucks and after the sales adjustment I got the Charltons and this magnificent tome for less than that. It's not a perfect copy , but it's a very good to fine one at the very least.
I've read the story scripted by Denny O'Neil, and here's a link were some of the pages for this masterwork are available. Neal Adams was at the peak of this power when he did this book. You can find an interview with Adams about this book here.
The folks at DC are going to reprint it later this year, and the facsimile will be much more than I paid for the original, so I'm a happy camper indeed.
This is a real jewel, a classy addition to the collection. I'm happy to add this classic artifact starring two such All-American heroes on the 4th of July.
Rip Off
i remember having a real dilemma when this came out: do i buy this book for $2.50-----or 10 regular comics for 25cent apiece?
ReplyDeleteIn the end I opted to buy this great book, and persuaded my brother to loan me enough to buy the other books i had my eye on! A total victory for me that day!
And that's what is so easy to forget. $2.50 seems tiny money for a comic book today, but in 1978 even it was a pretty big investment. As you point out it was 8 to 10 times the cost of a regular book. To buy an equivalent book today you'd have to spend $30-$40 and as it turns out that's about what the facsimile costs.
ReplyDeleteRip Off
yes, Rip....and after 32 years----i can tell you that my copy is worse for the wear...it was oversized and not exactly made for storage.
ReplyDeletestill............that artwork gets me every time i open it up. kudos to you for finding a copy for next to nothing.
i dont't even buy new comics anymore.....why waste money on 20 pages of what could be told in 5?