A few days ago my lovely daughter AnnMarie handed me one of the most wonderful Fathers Day/Birthday gifts ever in the form of Superman: The Definitive History in hardcover.
It wasn’t supposed to be a gift from anyone but myself to me, but it didn’t work out that way.
I keep two wishlists for myself; one for family and friends to see what I would like and one private for me to remind me of something I’d like to get myself. I meant to put this item on my private list because of the price (it’s a large amount that I would not expect anyone else to spend on me) but I mistakenly put it on my public list in early June.
A few days after doing so, my Princess messaged me that she had ordered it for me as a combination Fathers Day/Birthday gift and I realized my error. I tried to talk her out of if, but she would have none of it. However, the publication date kept getting pushed back so it wasn’t ready anywhere near either of those events.
It was finally released on December 10th and shipped to her. She handed it to me last week when I stopped by.
What a monster this book is!
Its dimensions are 15 x 11 x 2.9 inches and, as you can see from the photo, it would make a great coffee table book. It has 486 color pages on glossy paper and weighs a tad over 15 pounds!
Here’s a portion of the book description; “Behold the most comprehensive book about Superman ever produced! From Krypton and Smallville to Metropolis and beyond, explore over eighty-five years of Superman’s history in radio, TV, film, animation, computer games, PSAs, advertising, merchandise and, of course, comics. This ultimate official book features a wealth of unpublished artwork, exclusive interviews, unique bonus inserts, and little-known facts detailing the long and extraordinary history of the world’s first, and greatest, costumed superhero.”
I met one of the authors, Edward Gross, 18 months ago at the 2023 Superman Celebration in Metropolis, Illinois and Cindy bought me his latest book (at the time), Voices From Krypton, which I thoroughly enjoyed! Now, teaming up with Robert Greenberger, author of The Essential Superman Encyclopedia (among others) they have produced this definitive history of The Man of Steel.
As of yet, I haven’t had the opportunity to even crack open this book yet. The holiday season is hectic and I want some quiet time to sit for a while and enjoy what I am sure will be an awesome book. But I’m sure that when I have finished I’ll be writing up a review for my other site, The Word of Jeff.
For now (though I have already done so in person), I give a “Super” thank you to my daughter for this magnificent gift!
Up, up and away!
Today would have been my dad’s 99th birthday, had he not passed away almost 25 years ago.
Not sure why this 1970 newspaper headline only mentions the next one as being in 2024, since there was one in 1979 and one in 2017. But it was pretty neat to see this year’s eclipse being predicted 54 years ago!
Superman officially appeared for the first time in Action Comics #1, cover dated June 1938 but released on the newsstands in April 1938. And he has always been portrayed as being 29 years old, as if preserved in amber since his debut. If we used that date as his “birthday” then Superman would be turning 115 years old this April.
P.S. Here’s one of my very favorite Superman books, collecting the 
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Back in 1953, a fledgling company named Rocket Chemical Company of San Diego with only 3 employees was attempting to develop a product that would prevent rust and corrosion on missile parts for the aerospace industry by displacing water on surfaces before it could cause oxidation to begin. Scientist Norm Larsen was experimenting with formulas to achieve that result, but kept failing to find one that would work.
Twelve days ago I wrote about my beard growth and included a photo. When I posted it, not only did the photo NOT appear but I noticed that ALL my post photos from the past were also not showing. They were in the media library, right where they should be, but weren’t posting.
I instituted a chat with tech support and the guy was no help so I asked to be moved up to a higher level. Wouldn’t do it. Said I had to do what he wanted me to do. I typed a few choice words, left him the lowest rating I could, then sent an email to the host explaining the issue and asking them to fix whatever the error was within a week; otherwise I’d be changing my hosting service.