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Superman : Atomic Age Sunday Pages #1
Superman: The Atomic Age Sunday Pages, Volume 1
These never-before-reprinted 1950's Sundays are a special treat for Superman fans and comics historians worldwide. This first book of the Atomic Age Sundays features more than 175 full-color strips, from October 23, 1949 through March 15, 1953. In these tales, the impish Mr. Mxyztplk has returned to drive Superman crazy and the Man of Steel returns to Smallville for "Superboy Week" celebrations and ends up solving a case he never had a chance to as Superboy! The Man of Steel also travels back in time and gets embroiled in political intrigue in the court of King Arthur, and then fights off an alien invasion of Earth!
- GenresComics
180 pages, Hardcover
First published June 16, 2015
1 person is currently reading
27 people want to read
About the author
Alvin Schwartz
68 books4 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Alvin^^Schwartz
Born in NYC in 1916, Alvin Schwartz wrote his first comics for Fairy Tale Parade in 1939, and wrote extensively for Shelley Mayer, then an editor at Max Gaines’ All-American Publications (later purchased by National/DC in 1944). He had also done a short stint at Fawcett on Captain Marvel. Schwartz wrote his first Batman story in 1942, and his first Batman newspaper strip in Aug 1944 (an assignment he continued on until 1958) and his first Superman newspaper strip in Oct 1944. He had a long association with Superman as the writer of both the Man of Steel’s newspaper strip and many of his comic book appearances, and one of his many enduring contributions to the Superman mythology was the creation of Bizarro, a character who became a part of popular culture, quite apart from comics. While writing most of DC’s newspaper strips between 1944 and 1952, he also went on to do stories for many of their comics magazines, working on characters such as Aquaman, Vigilante, Slam Bradley, Date With Judy, Buzzy, House of Mystery, Tomahawk, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Newsboy Legion and numerous others.
After his 1958 departure from comics, Schwartz took on a whole new role in the corporate world, using the knowledge of plotting gained in comics to open new directions in market research, developing the now well-known techniques of psycho-graphics, typological identification and others, until as Research Director for the famed think tank of Dr Ernst Dichter, The Institute for Motivational Research, he provided structural and marketing advice to some of America’s largest corporations ranging from General Motors to General Foods. He was subsequently appointed to an advisory committee of the American Association of Advertising Agencies.
Schwartz also authored three novels for Arco Press, one of which, Sword of Desire, a detective story, won praise for its successful takeoff on Reichian orgone therapy, a popular psychotherapeutic technique during the 40s and 50s. His Beat generation novel, The Blowtop was published by Dial in 1948. Under the title Le Cinglé, it became a best seller in France. He also wrote and lectured on superheroes at various universities and received a prestigious Canada Council Grant for a study on the religious symbolism in popular culture, using Superman as a springboard.
Also in Canada, he wrote feature films and did numerous docu-dramas for The National Film Board for nearly 20 years and did a number of economic and social studies for the Canadian government.
His last two books, written in his eighties, were: An Unlikely Prophet: Revelations on the Path Without Form (published in 1997) — a memoir dealing with some very off-the-wall experiences generated by his years doing Superman which led him to a unique understanding of Superman’s significance as well as some life-enriching possibilities available to every one of us, and the sequel A Gathering of Selves: The Spiritual Journey of the Legendary Writer of Superman and Batman (published in 2006).
Schwartz received the first Bill Finger Award for his contributions to comics via writing in 2006. The Finger Award was created by the legendary creator Jerry Robinson to honour his friend Bill Finger (the uncredited co-creator of Batman) and is given to comic book writers as part of the Will Eisner Comic Book Industry Awards in July of each year.
Alvin^^Schwartz
Born in NYC in 1916, Alvin Schwartz wrote his first comics for Fairy Tale Parade in 1939, and wrote extensively for Shelley Mayer, then an editor at Max Gaines’ All-American Publications (later purchased by National/DC in 1944). He had also done a short stint at Fawcett on Captain Marvel. Schwartz wrote his first Batman story in 1942, and his first Batman newspaper strip in Aug 1944 (an assignment he continued on until 1958) and his first Superman newspaper strip in Oct 1944. He had a long association with Superman as the writer of both the Man of Steel’s newspaper strip and many of his comic book appearances, and one of his many enduring contributions to the Superman mythology was the creation of Bizarro, a character who became a part of popular culture, quite apart from comics. While writing most of DC’s newspaper strips between 1944 and 1952, he also went on to do stories for many of their comics magazines, working on characters such as Aquaman, Vigilante, Slam Bradley, Date With Judy, Buzzy, House of Mystery, Tomahawk, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Newsboy Legion and numerous others.
After his 1958 departure from comics, Schwartz took on a whole new role in the corporate world, using the knowledge of plotting gained in comics to open new directions in market research, developing the now well-known techniques of psycho-graphics, typological identification and others, until as Research Director for the famed think tank of Dr Ernst Dichter, The Institute for Motivational Research, he provided structural and marketing advice to some of America’s largest corporations ranging from General Motors to General Foods. He was subsequently appointed to an advisory committee of the American Association of Advertising Agencies.
Schwartz also authored three novels for Arco Press, one of which, Sword of Desire, a detective story, won praise for its successful takeoff on Reichian orgone therapy, a popular psychotherapeutic technique during the 40s and 50s. His Beat generation novel, The Blowtop was published by Dial in 1948. Under the title Le Cinglé, it became a best seller in France. He also wrote and lectured on superheroes at various universities and received a prestigious Canada Council Grant for a study on the religious symbolism in popular culture, using Superman as a springboard.
Also in Canada, he wrote feature films and did numerous docu-dramas for The National Film Board for nearly 20 years and did a number of economic and social studies for the Canadian government.
His last two books, written in his eighties, were: An Unlikely Prophet: Revelations on the Path Without Form (published in 1997) — a memoir dealing with some very off-the-wall experiences generated by his years doing Superman which led him to a unique understanding of Superman’s significance as well as some life-enriching possibilities available to every one of us, and the sequel A Gathering of Selves: The Spiritual Journey of the Legendary Writer of Superman and Batman (published in 2006).
Schwartz received the first Bill Finger Award for his contributions to comics via writing in 2006. The Finger Award was created by the legendary creator Jerry Robinson to honour his friend Bill Finger (the uncredited co-creator of Batman) and is given to comic book writers as part of the Will Eisner Comic Book Industry Awards in July of each year.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 13, 2017
I like Wayne Boring artwork and I like the just-plain-weirdness of old Superman antics. This book is certainly not for everybody, but if you like Wayne Boring and you like just-plain-weirdness, you should definitely check it out.
January 1, 2025
The comics are neat to see in full color. I enjoyed the stories but they were very similar in their content.
July 22, 2015
by VJ Miller, Sr.
When I heard two weeks ago that this book was going to be released on July 20, I knew I had to have it for my collection of reprint books.
I started reading books in 1952 at the age of four. Ahead of my time, maybe? I don't know where I acquired that first Superman book but it sparked an interest in me to read more and more.
These reprints are from the Sunday pages of the comics from 1949-1953; written by Alvin Schwartz and drawn by Wayne Boring (June 5, 1905-Fedruary 20, 1987). Mr. Boring was my favorite artist; the one I grew up reading. His Superman was barrel chested and every bit the hero. His signature view of Superman in flight was to show him striding through the air toward the viewer. Along with penciling the Sundays he was the chief penciler on the Superman comics in the 1950s.
Alvin Schwartz (November 17, 1916-October 28, 2011) wrote for various other comic book heroes as well. He is also confused with another Alvin Schwartz who made a career out of writing children's books.
The papers where I grew up in New Jersey, did not run Superman in the Sunday Comics so I had no idea they ever existed until many years later.
The stories in this book are fun and somewhat whimsical, but that was the Superman of the first two decades. The writing did play fast and loose with the laws of physics at that time. No way Superman could rush all around at super speed and not kick up a whirlwind and not be noticed. Heroes were likeable and approachable back then. Today they are troubled and full of angst. Supposedly to make them more relatable.
These early stories are fun and give the true history of Superman; a return to what his roots were like. He wasn't the all powerful, God-like interpretation of today but rather an individual who tried to do the right thing even if it made more trouble that he had to get out of. And he usually made some super-sized machines or objects to get the job done.
The book is 9 3/4 x 12 1/4 bound in a hardback cover.
When I heard two weeks ago that this book was going to be released on July 20, I knew I had to have it for my collection of reprint books.
I started reading books in 1952 at the age of four. Ahead of my time, maybe? I don't know where I acquired that first Superman book but it sparked an interest in me to read more and more.
These reprints are from the Sunday pages of the comics from 1949-1953; written by Alvin Schwartz and drawn by Wayne Boring (June 5, 1905-Fedruary 20, 1987). Mr. Boring was my favorite artist; the one I grew up reading. His Superman was barrel chested and every bit the hero. His signature view of Superman in flight was to show him striding through the air toward the viewer. Along with penciling the Sundays he was the chief penciler on the Superman comics in the 1950s.
Alvin Schwartz (November 17, 1916-October 28, 2011) wrote for various other comic book heroes as well. He is also confused with another Alvin Schwartz who made a career out of writing children's books.
The papers where I grew up in New Jersey, did not run Superman in the Sunday Comics so I had no idea they ever existed until many years later.
The stories in this book are fun and somewhat whimsical, but that was the Superman of the first two decades. The writing did play fast and loose with the laws of physics at that time. No way Superman could rush all around at super speed and not kick up a whirlwind and not be noticed. Heroes were likeable and approachable back then. Today they are troubled and full of angst. Supposedly to make them more relatable.
These early stories are fun and give the true history of Superman; a return to what his roots were like. He wasn't the all powerful, God-like interpretation of today but rather an individual who tried to do the right thing even if it made more trouble that he had to get out of. And he usually made some super-sized machines or objects to get the job done.
The book is 9 3/4 x 12 1/4 bound in a hardback cover.
April 21, 2016
This volume of Superman stories from 1949-53, while written before the Silver Age of Comics, reflect many of the sensibilities and types of stories that would become dominant in Superman's world in the 1950s.
The stories are fantastic fun, with Superman travelling back in time to King Arthur, Clark Kent starring in a film, and Clark Kent being hit by a ray that's supposed to give him superpowers so he has to pretend they gave him superpowers even though he already had them, Lois quits the Planet to become a Private Eye's assistant, and Superman has to save a publicity-prone man from losing his inheritance by appearing in the paper. The stories are all very light and fun.
The only big Superman rogue to appear in this book is Mister Mxyzptlk, a villain perfect for the tone of this book. I will confess that I do miss the occasional touches of seriousness that added a certain earnestness to the Superman comics of the prior era, but there's no deny that these comics are very fun and Wayne Boring's art looks wonderful.
Overall, for those who are fans of the lighter side of Superman, this is a great read.
The stories are fantastic fun, with Superman travelling back in time to King Arthur, Clark Kent starring in a film, and Clark Kent being hit by a ray that's supposed to give him superpowers so he has to pretend they gave him superpowers even though he already had them, Lois quits the Planet to become a Private Eye's assistant, and Superman has to save a publicity-prone man from losing his inheritance by appearing in the paper. The stories are all very light and fun.
The only big Superman rogue to appear in this book is Mister Mxyzptlk, a villain perfect for the tone of this book. I will confess that I do miss the occasional touches of seriousness that added a certain earnestness to the Superman comics of the prior era, but there's no deny that these comics are very fun and Wayne Boring's art looks wonderful.
Overall, for those who are fans of the lighter side of Superman, this is a great read.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews