I found this little gem in my local comics shop's bargain basement for $1. It's a 1997 reprint of a 1953 Superman in 3-D. The GCD says it was included as a freebie with Superman Red/Superman Blue. Sadly, the "Super Glasses" were no longer in evidence, but I have a spare pair of 3-D glasses I keep with our comics just in case.
I read part of this this morning and part of it in the evening. I discovered that, although the comic looked wonderful in natural light, incandescent lights and 3-D glasses make me kind of sick. Also, the effect was far weaker by light bulb.
The story is fun. Lex Luthor uses a space ship with a force field to blot out the sun and holds the world for ransom. Superman is at his god-like best, immediately flying into action to build underground cities where mankind will survive into the future (?). Superman does a lot of flying around and battling missiles and tidal waves. Lois Lane perfunctorily gets herself captured.
Once Superman discovers who is blocking the sun and how, The Man of Steel simply busts in and punches Lex in the face.
A little anti-climactic.
It was nice to see Lex Luthor doing some evil science. I much prefer this Lex Luthor to the evil businessman-cum-president of today's comics.
The second feature was a 3-D retelling of Superman's origin. A retro-rocket in 3-D is a beautiful thing, my friends.
How clever -- keeping 3D glasses handy. You never know when you might need them! I feel like I should do that, but then again, to my knowledge there aren't any 3D romance stories out there!
ReplyDeleteAaron: I'm waiting for the hologram comic. I can never get those 3d glasses to fit properly - any pair I have ever tried. They nearly cut my ears off; which is a shame - I love a good 3d effect. I was bonkers for my Viewmaster when I was a kid. -- Mykal
ReplyDeleteJaque: I think we had a movie-themed incentive at my office or something and I snagged them then? I have a 3-D Batman that came with a really cool Bat-shaped pair, but I could never bring myself to punch them out. BTW, there ARE 3-D romance comics, check out http://www.comics.org/publisher/2716/
ReplyDeleteMykal: I also have a large head. I can keep the glasses on okay, but they do give me a headache after a while. Viewmasters rock! We have quite a collection.
I have a 3-D St John's comic from the mid-1950s; the House of Evil or something similar.
ReplyDeleteACG experimented with a process called "TrueVision" in 1954. They colored the gutters and pipes in black, and had pastel backgrounds with the characters in bright colors to make them pop out. Here's an example:
http://www.comics.org/issue/215267/cover/4/?style=default
Not quite 3-D obviously, but they didn't require the glasses either. Unfortunately those issues tend to sell for a premium above the usual ACG fare of the time.
Well! Thanks for the link! I would have never guessed!!!
ReplyDelete