A DESPOP TUESDAYS 85th anniversary tribute to the Golden Age theatrical shorts… By DES TAYLOR As you know, I’m a massive Superman fan: Reeve, Fleischer, and Byrne, in that order, shaped my passion for the Man of Steel. One morning, back in the summer of 2019 before COVID, designer Alan Fisher approached me to devise Mezco’s Superman: The Mechanical Monsters Deluxe Boxed Set of action figures, based on the 1941 animated theatrical short that premiered 85 years ago this month, on Sept. 26, 1941. Initially, I didn’t want to do it. I was swamped with work. My exact words: “Apologies for my late reply but I’ve been stewing on this all weekend, trying to think with my head rather than my heart. You know I’m a massive Superman fan. Would LOVE to do this but I’m up to my eyeballs in work at the moment and technically won’t be free until July at the earliest. If you could give me a bit more information about how many background pieces and the sort of scenes you may be looking for I might be able to figure it all out.’ When I learned it was based on The Mechanical Monsters, one of my favourite episodes, I gave in and found the time, working late nights to recreate the classic cartoon style. One major part that was omitted from the final design was the skyline, which was placed on top of the playset — something that took me a week to replicate. So, here’s a peek at what that could have looked like: All in all, the final product looked amazing and has a special place in my collection. I was very proud of the outcome. — Want more DESPOP TUESDAYS? Come back next week! Want a commission? Buy prints? Buy Des’ comics? Check out his Despop Art website! — MORE — Visiting One of the World’s Great Pop-Culture Meccas — in DUBAI. Click here. — Little Known Fact: MISTY KNIGHT Has Great Taste In Hamburgers. Click here. — DES TAYLOR is the man behind creator-owned comic properties Scarlett Couture, The Vesha Valentine Story, The Trouble With Katie Rogers and a new property in the works The Blue Lotus Strikes. His client list includes DC Comics, La Perla, FHM, Cosmopolitan, Universal Music, ITV Studios America and many more. When he’s not working on his own properties or churning out commissions,...