Posted By Dan Greenfield on Dec 10, 2024 | 3 comments

SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE premiered 46 years ago…

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UPDATED 12/10/24. Superman: The Movie premiered 46 years ago today in Washington. This excerpt from Back Issue #109 first ran in 2018 but it’s just as fascinating today. By the way, the print edition of this issue is sold out but it’s available digitally from publisher TwoMorrows for only $4.99. Click here to order. — Dan

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Back Issue #109 is out 11/7 and I’m gonna tell you right off — it’s easily one of the best issues that editor Michael Eury has put together to date (and that’s saying something).

Why so special? Well, the cover above gives it away — it’s an issue devoted to the 40th anniversary of the greatest superhero film of all time, Superman.

And what makes it so (ahem) super is that the mag dives into areas where few — if any — others have. Just check out this Table of Contents:

There’s a lot of great stuff there. I’m especially taken with the interviews with folks like Jeff East and Aaron Smolinski. And I myself always wondered about the guys who won the famous Superman movie contest that DC so breathlessly hyped in its comics.

Plus, there’s a dynamite cartoon by Karl Heitmueller Jr. and a look at Superman’s legacy in Hollywood, by podcaster and occasional 13th Dimension contributor Chris Franklin.

Now, as we typically do, we have an EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT from the issue for you, and I’ve selected Cary Bates’ THE SUPERMAN MOVIE YOU DIDN’T SEE, in which the Bronze Age Superwriter lays out his work on what could have become Superman V if only the fates had been kinder.

It’s a fascinating glimpse at what might have been…

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UPDATED 12/10/20: The print edition of Back Issue #109 is sold out but it’s available digitally from publisher TwoMorrows for only $4.99. Click here to order.

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MORE

— 13 QUICK THOUGHTS: Why CHRISTOPHER REEVE Was the Greatest SUPERMAN Ever. Click here.

— 13 QUICK THOUGHTS on SUPERMAN: THE EXTENDED CUT. Click here.