Wow! Superman! 1 Million Dollars Comic

[Lady Day]

Well, Batman is more awesome

LD

 

[Doctor Strange]

Batman is certainly more awesome to the adult mind, for his brilliance, incredible spirit, wounded psyche, and physical vulnerabilty. But Superman is more awesome to a kid feeling powerless in a mystifying world, and dying to get some of the power that grown-ups seemingly control.

I have spent my life loving both characters, and while Batman has been my preferred favorite for a long time now, I still dig the Big Blue Boy Scout too. There have been some times when I have related more to the optimism and clear-cut morality of Superman, but more often I relate to the pessimism and realistically complex morality of Batman.

They're really just two sides of the same coin, the light and dark heroes of modern mythology - our super-strong Hercules and crafty Odysseus.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Well, Batman is more awesome

LD

I KNEW there was a reason that I liked you!!!

 

[Bruce Wayne]

The thing about Batman vs. Superman to me is, no matter what you do, you can never be a super-powered alien from another planet. However, if you train hard enough & have the drive to keep you going, you (or anyone for that matter) can be Batman. No one has a magical ring that can give you near limitless power. You can't splash yourself with chemicals & get struck by lightning & expect to get super-speed. There is no such thing as a magical lasso. However, everything that Batman has can, or already has been created.

Thanx!!!
Charlie

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

My father had this comic. My grandmother threw it out.

That's why it's worth a million! Not to mention the fact that probably quite a few kids themselves patriotically sacrificed their copies to wartime paper drives.

And we all thought the recycling concept originated in the '70s!

Batman is certainly more awesome to the adult mind, for his brilliance, incredible spirit, wounded psyche, and physical vulnerabilty. But Superman is more awesome to a kid feeling powerless in a mystifying world, and dying to get some of the power that grown-ups seemingly control

They're really just two sides of the same coin, the light and dark heroes of modern mythology - our super-strong Hercules and crafty Odysseus.

A very profound observation. I never really thought of it that way until now. I can see where Batman is basically the Superman for adults. Another high-tech superhero (though I don't know if you can really call him that) is Dick Tracy because it seems that he had anticipated such things as the cell phone (his iconic wrist radio) and the camcorder some 50 years before they became a reality.

I often wonder if Dick Tracy was in some way the inspiration for Batman -- at least embryonically. Because originally Dick Tracy, like Bruce Wayne (the character), was a wealthy man about town who embarks on a crimefighting crusade to avenge the murder of the father of his fiance Tess Trueheart.

 

[Lady Day]

The beauty of Batman is that he was a creature of his own making. Sure, there were some catalytic life experiences, but he wasnt a hero by physical default. He wasnt bit by a spider, or from another planet, hit by gamma rays or what have you. He became a hero through the choices made in life's journey (not all good), not by default because he physically could.

Basically what Bruce Wayne said.

LD

 

[Lady Day]

I have spent my life loving both characters, and while Batman has been my preferred favorite for a long time now, I still dig the Big Blue Boy Scout too. There have been some times when I have related more to the optimism and clear-cut morality of Superman, but more often I relate to the pessimism and realistically complex morality of Batman.

They're really just two sides of the same coin, the light and dark heroes of modern mythology - our super-strong Hercules and crafty Odysseus.

When I think boy scout, I think Captain America. Hes cool! But I guess he has a more Batman-ish quality in that most of the choices he made in life made him what his is.

LD

 

[Doctor Strange]

Yeah, but the difference is that Captain America was created by the government and has often worked closely with them, while Bats is a lone avenger who sometimes teams up with others, but is ultimately the keeper of his own conscience. And don't forget that Cap was 97-pound weakling before getting the super solider treatment, so he didn't develop himself to the peak of human perfection on his own with enormous effort and dedication like Bruce did.

Nothing against Cap, he's a very cool character too... But he's no Batman.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Yeah, but the difference is that Captain America was created by the government and has often worked closely with them, while Bats is a lone avenger who sometimes teams up with others, but is ultimately the keeper of his own conscience. And don't forget that Cap was 97-pound weakling before getting the super solider treatment, so he didn't develop himself to the peak of human perfection on his own with enormous effort and dedication like Bruce did.

Nothing against Cap, he's a very cool character too... But he's no Batman.

Plus, in the graphic novel The dark Knight Returns, Superman is also working for the government.

 

[Lady Day]

Nothing against Cap, he's a very cool character too... But he's no Batman.

I wasnt comparing him to Bats, but to Superman.

LD

 

[Doctor Strange]

Ah, right... Duh!

Well, all three of them were brought up with strong American values and retain primary connections to the US... though Superman especially has had to learn to think more globally over the years. Apart from in The Dark Knight (as bruce wayne mentioned), he's rarely shown as being in bed with the US Gov. Cap of course, has a long history of working for the Gov, though he has also distanced himself at times (e.g., when disgusted with corruption, he became Nomad: The Man Without A Country in the post-Watergate Captain America and Falcon comics I bought back in college in the mid-70s).

And Batman has been written every possible way regarding his connections to the Gotham Police and the Military/Feds in various different approaches over the years. I of course, always come back to B:TAS (*), where he's very much an independent agent who's mostly merely tolerated by the authorities because he gets results.

(* As we've discussed here endlessly, surely the best combination of all the different aspects of the character over his long history was the brilliant synthesis of Batman: The Animated Series.)

 

[John in Covina]

Kill Bill II - Bill's look on Superman

If you recall from Kill Bill, Bill reminds us that the real identity of Superman is Superman and Clark Kent is his alter ego as a dsiguise that he may live among us.

With few exceptions, most super heros were regular people that became super and the super hero is their alter ego.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I think of it this way --

Superman's jaw takes up approximately 1/5th of his face.

Whereas --

Batman's jaw takes up approximately 1/3 of his face.

Therefore, Batman is that much more manly. It's just that simple.

 

[get_atomized]

I think of it this way --

Superman's jaw takes up approximately 1/5th of his face.

Whereas --

Batman's jaw takes up approximately 1/3 of his face.

Therefore, Batman is that much more manly. It's just that simple.

Lizzie, this is math that I can get behind! You crack me up

 

[jamespowers]

The thing about Batman vs. Superman to me is, no matter what you do, you can never be a super-powered alien from another planet. However, if you train hard enough & have the drive to keep you going, you (or anyone for that matter) can be Batman. No one has a magical ring that can give you near limitless power. You can't splash yourself with chemicals & get struck by lightning & expect to get super-speed. There is no such thing as a magical lasso. However, everything that Batman has can, or already has been created.

Thanx!!!
Charlie

Exactly my reason for preferring Batman. I suppose that is the reason why I liked the comic where Batman beat down Superman.

 

[MPicciotto]

I've always been a fan of the "gadgets" or even just "regular guys" Like The Crimson Avenger (first appearance in Detective Comics was before Flying Mammal Man) who unfortunately only got four of his own comics.

As for paper degradation that is where grading comes in and the wild differences in prices from a G to a NM At the very least comics are typically stored in archival bags with backer boards, I prefer mylar sleeves and the really expensive ones are usually what's called "slabbed" where they are officially graded then locked into a rigid plastic sleeve that could resist some smaller handgun rounds The really hard core will store their comics in walk in freezers...

Matt

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Does not any of these collectors notice that comic book paper stock has a life somewhat less than a paperback? The one-million-dollar comic is from - what - 1939? Someone will receive an unpleasant surprise. . . . Maybe it's not a surprise. Within a relatively short time this item need be kept in special conditions that will not arrest its inherent deterioration; it will retard it. As I think about it, I see similarity between this collector's item and a bottle of [fill in the blank] wine that will never be opened, and if it were opened an drunk, it would be a horrible experience.

I believe Isaac Asimov's first Black Widowers short story, "The Acquisitive Chuckle," places collecting in its proper place.

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.


Right you are. The paper was simply pulp paper, wood shavings digested with sulfuric acid squished together under pressure and allowed to dry to a solid state. They never foresaw,(or cared about) the ongoing effects of the acid, which will continue to digest the wood fibers until there is nothing left.
There is a buffering agent that could be applied to every page,...but I wonder if it would be enough to stop the acid? [huh]
After that, then what? Hermetically seal it? No one would be able to actually thumb through it and enjoy it as it was meant to be enjoyed ever again.
I'd trade it for the million new sheets of green paper in a second.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

No one would be able to actually thumb through it and enjoy it as it was meant to be enjoyed ever again.

You are not supposed to thumb thru it. It is supposed to be a status symbol more than a comic to be read. If you want to read Superman #1, DC has reprinted it in various forms over the years.

 

[Brian Sheridan]

Superman's jaw takes up approximately 1/5th of his face.

Whereas --

Batman's jaw takes up approximately 1/3 of his face.

Therefore, Batman is that much more manly. It's just that simple.

If this is the case, then Jay Leno is the manliest man's man to ever manwalk on this manly planet.

 

[Atomic]

Right you are. The paper was simply pulp paper, wood shavings digested with sulfuric acid squished together under pressure and allowed to dry to a solid state. They never foresaw,(or cared about) the ongoing effects of the acid, which will continue to digest the wood fibers until there is nothing left.
There is a buffering agent that could be applied to every page,...but I wonder if it would be enough to stop the acid? [huh]
After that, then what? Hermetically seal it? No one would be able to actually thumb through it and enjoy it as it was meant to be enjoyed ever again.
I'd trade it for the million new sheets of green paper in a second.

Not to turn this into a science debate, but the acid used eventually fades out and loses steam as the hydrogen molecules which make it acid are release when reacting to bases in the pulp. Then is just becomes neutral. I'm sure there was an amount of corrosion that happened post print, but after 70 years I'm sure those little hydrogen molecules are pretty well done...

But I could be totally wrong.