Hey Folks, Tom here. I'm a fan of older books. (30's - 80's basically) One of my favorite "series" from DC came out in the 1970's. The 100-Page Super Spectacular books. I've got a question someone out there might have an answer to, or at least some good theories about. So here it is: Why, of all the various characters that got spotlighted in these books would Superboy be given 3 of the original 19 issues?? I mean I have nothing against Superboy, but I would think a more popular superhero like Flash, Green Lantern or the JLA would get more play!
There is already 1 Flash but only 1. There are 3 Superman and 3 Batman issues (understandable). I've got two theories on why this might be: Perhaps Superboy was much bigger in the 70's than I recall? I mean he WAS the boy version of the Big Guy. Or were they trying to push him on the readers because there was an upcoming new book or TV series on the horizon or something. Anyway thanks for reading!
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10-20-2015, 04:31 PM #1StratomanGuest
Question on 70's DC 100 Pg Super Spectaculars - Superboy
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10-20-2015, 04:54 PM #2Son of Satan
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I can't say for sure but, I'd say it was because Superboy was pretty popular in the 70's.
Superboy and The Legion was one of DC's more popular books at the time and Superboy himself seemed pretty popular also. I know I liked him better than SuperMAN even though they were the same character. Something about Superman as a Teenage superhero just seemed cool to me.
I miss that Superboy and I miss a Superman that was already a famous and seasoned hero when he moved to Metropolis. Modern Superboy just kinda sucks.
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10-20-2015, 04:55 PM #3Ultimate Member
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It could be because he was still riding on the popularity of the '60s Superboy cartoons.
Originally Posted by Stratoman
And I think being the boy version of Superman was a real boost, because it was Superman. Just younger and more relatable to kids.
So you had two sets of audiences that would be interested- regular Superman fans who saw it as backstory for their fave hero and kids who were drawn to Superboy and teen life in Smallville but not to Superman and his adult problems in Metropolis."There's magic in the sound of analog audio." - CNET.
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10-20-2015, 04:56 PM #4Son of Satan
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Also, what Lee Stone said.
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10-20-2015, 05:12 PM #5Uncanny Member
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Well, the 100-Page Super Spectaculars are a quirky bunch of books. There were some that were just numbered as 100-Page Super Spectaculars, then there were others that were part of the character's regular title as well. Originally Posted by Stratoman
This site: http://www.metropolisplus.com/dc100page/ lists a bunch of them.
Plus, after being all-reprint books for a while, they also had issues with new stories as well as the reprints.
And in Flash's case, I can think of more than one issue:
As well as some issues of Flash that had a new lead story as well as reprints, like Flash #229 and Flash #232.
Another site that discusses these is: http://dc100pagesuperspectacular.blogspot.com/
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10-21-2015, 04:36 AM #6DC/Collected Editions Mod
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Superboy was indeed popular during the '70s. In fact, he probably sold more comics than anybody else for that decade, except adult Clark, Batman, and maybe Flash.
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10-21-2015, 07:27 AM #7Extraordinary Member
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Well it was Superboy and the Legion of Superheroes and the Legion was really starting to catch on more and more back then. Plus it was a perfect way to reprint some really good Legion/Superboy stories people might have missed before.
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