Superman vs Muhammad Ali

[ChadH]

Hey guys,

I've recently wanted to grab this book. I've found a few on eBay but was wondering if this thing really is that hard to find? Does CGC grade these? I read it's a treasury size comic? Sorry, not up to date on that term but didn't know if it was that much different than a magazine type.

[kidcolt]

It is a Treasury bigger size comic. I think there is a lot burried in PC, they aren't really that hard to find except in higher grade. It is a great book, every collections should have one.

[ChadH]

Gotcha, can it be slabbed? I have found a few but they are pretty banged up. It seems that like you said it's hard to find in high grade.

[greggy]

No, it can't be slabbed.

[Maccai3]

Gotcha, can it be slabbed? I have found a few but they are pretty banged up. It seems that like you said it's hard to find in high grade.

 

never seen one slabbed

[gojira]

You should check out the census

[ChadH]

Honestly that's the problem. I can't even begin to look up what the book is called. I would assume by Superman vs Muhammad Ali but I can't tell.

[Maccai3]

DC Treasury Edition 56A

[ChadH]

I couldn't find it in the census. Only found 2 copies on eBay.

[Maccai3]

just type Superman vs Muhammad Ali

 

most people use that over the actual comic title/issue

[jgallo]

cgc does not grade treasury books which is a shame, so there is no census on it. IT is one of the few tougher ones, but I would guess that it has just as much to do with the cool cover and the sports crossover then the rarity.

 

James G

[kidcolt]

The size is the problem, they are big and hard to store so most get banged up. I don't think CGC grades these books but I could be wrong, never seen any treasury comics graded.

 

Gotcha, can it be slabbed? I have found a few but they are pretty banged up. It seems that like you said it's hard to find in high grade.

[Zonker]

DC Treasury Edition 56A

 

Actually, All-New Collectors Edition C-56

 

 

[MK Ultra]

There's a reprint that is normal size. Well, the one that I bought anyways. I think it's hardback too.

[Maccai3]

There's a reprint that is normal size. Well, the one that I bought anyways. I think it's hardback too.

 

i have it in hardback too, it's bigger than standard size though

[7eleven-migration]

IT is one of the few tougher ones, but I would guess that it has just as much to do with the cool cover and the sports crossover then the rarity.

 

I'd say it's the Neal Adams art!

[jools&jim]

 

The Supes vs. Ali "treasury" is Adams' peak achievement in his classic BA style.

 

By 1978, Adams was more active behind the scenes in comics--and with creating and staffing his own studio/production company (Continuity Associates)--than as an artist, and had stopped doing interior artwork completely.

 

He did a handful of excellent covers for DC during the latter half of the '70s, plus illustrations for some of their licensed merchandise (calendars, toy box illos, etc.). But those one-offs barely hinted at the bravura performance he would turn in on this 72-page tour de force, in which his strengths as a graphic storyteller are strongly complemented by the hyper-realism of his settings and his exceptionally fine figure work. He even wrote the thing, from a plot by frequent collaborator Denny O'Neil.

 

I read it again last year, and was surprised by how well the story held up. It may be a little goofy by today's standards, but it's still fast-paced and entertaining, with a few nice SF touches (e.g., Superman setting up a "mini red sun" to negate his powers so he can spar fairly with Ali). It's a winner!

 

 

[Mike's Rack]

The Supes vs. Ali "treasury" is Adams' peak achievement in his classic BA style.

 

By 1978, Adams was more active behind the scenes in comics--and with creating and staffing his own studio/production company (Continuity Associates)--than as an artist, and had stopped doing interior artwork completely.

 

He did a handful of excellent covers for DC during the latter half of the '70s, plus illustrations for some of their licensed merchandise (calendars, toy box illos, etc.). But those one-offs barely hinted at the bravura performance he would turn in on this 72-page tour de force, in which his strengths as a graphic storyteller are strongly complemented by the hyper-realism of his settings and his exceptionally fine figure work. He even wrote the thing, from a plot by frequent collaborator Denny O'Neil.

 

I read it again last year, and was surprised by how well the story held up. It may be a little goofy by today's standards, but it's still fast-paced and entertaining, with a few nice SF touches (e.g., Superman setting up a "mini red sun" to negate his powers so he can spar fairly with Ali). It's a winner!

 

The celebrities on the cover help this book too. Man, this one has everything

[Maccai3]

The Supes vs. Ali "treasury" is Adams' peak achievement in his classic BA style.

 

By 1978, Adams was more active behind the scenes in comics--and with creating and staffing his own studio/production company (Continuity Associates)--than as an artist, and had stopped doing interior artwork completely.

 

He did a handful of excellent covers for DC during the latter half of the '70s, plus illustrations for some of their licensed merchandise (calendars, toy box illos, etc.). But those one-offs barely hinted at the bravura performance he would turn in on this 72-page tour de force, in which his strengths as a graphic storyteller are strongly complemented by the hyper-realism of his settings and his exceptionally fine figure work. He even wrote the thing, from a plot by frequent collaborator Denny O'Neil.

 

I read it again last year, and was surprised by how well the story held up. It may be a little goofy by today's standards, but it's still fast-paced and entertaining, with a few nice SF touches (e.g., Superman setting up a "mini red sun" to negate his powers so he can spar fairly with Ali). It's a winner!

 

 

its a great book, when you say "peak achievement" do you feel it was his best work on a book as an artist up to that point?

[jools&jim]

 

its a great book, when you say "peak achievement" do you feel it was his best work on a book as an artist up to that point?

 

Not sure about it being his "best" work (although it is certainly his longest in a single comic); I think it's a very strong contender, but there are of course plenty of deserving alternatives.

 

What it most certainly is, though, is the full-flowering of, and also the swan song for, his signature '70s style (commercial art-bred photo-realism as applied to the exaggerated and fantastical worlds of superhero comics): it's the work of a master comic book artist and storyteller at the absolute top of his game.

 

He went on to produce--and still produces--excellent stuff. But his style changed (somewhat dramatically) over time. In particular, his figure work today isn't quite as lean and lyrical as it used to be. He would also avoid working on the top mainstream comics characters and titles with which he had been most closely associated, ca. 1968 - 1978.

 

This book, on the other hand, amply displays all of Adams' best qualities as an artist and a storyteller; it features THE iconic mainstream super-hero of the GA-BA period; and combines elements of the '70s sci-fi/space opera craze with Rocky just in case it wasn't clear from Adams' spot-on caricatures on the cover that it was a firmly-rooted product of its era. It's also one helluva lot of fun, too!

 

"Best" or not, ya just gotta love it! I still have my OO copy, bought new off the stand at Drug Fair in '78. I'd love to have Neal sign some day (if he'd be willing to do it in ballpoint, and on the bottom margin of the splash page...)