The Great Superman Movie Book

I grew up on the Christopher Reeve Superman movies.  Superman II, the one where Supes has to battle the three baddies from the Phantom Zone, is my favorite movie of all-time.  I've watched it at least 200 times in my life.

When I was a kid in the 80s, I stumbled across this little gem of a book in my public school's library.  The Great Superman Movie Book.  It covered the first three Superman films and it was awesome.

You've gotta remember, that this was long before the internet, and there were only so many blockbuster movies released each year.  Books like this weren't as common as they are today.  Go into your local bookstore today and you'll find a shelf with six or seven different books all about the current blockbuster movie (Guardians of the Galaxy, X-Men, Captain America... wow, Marvel has done a great job with their marketing department). 

There weren't very many books that focused on the classic Superman movies, so this one stands out - and is a quality little read too. Just from looking at the cover you can see we're treated to Confidential Close-Ups, A Fabulous Photo Collection, and a pull-out poster!

The two different versions of The Great Superman Movie Book.

Believe it or not, I loved this book so much as a kid that I borrowed it from the library enough times to fill up three of those sign-out cards that they stuck in the back.  It was destined to be mine.  But I could never find it anywhere for sale.  My mother even tried to have it specially ordered through the bookstores in town, but by 1988 it was out of print.

everyone needs someone to look up to.

This was clearly a job for Superman.

Or a super-lie.  The last time I borrowed the book from my school's library, I hid it in my room and didn't return it.  A week or so went by and the librarian sent me home with a note for my parents that I would have to reimburse the school's library for the lost book.

I think the fee was something like, $2.50... which for an eight year old kid in 1988 was a lot of money. 

My mother, who was no idiot, asked me where the book was.  I couldn't lie to her. 

Kids, don't lie to your mother.  It's wrong, and it's stupid, and it's just silly.

So my mother gave me the money to reimburse the school for the book, on the condition that I would work it off around the house.  This whole solution may seem strange because the actual issue at hand was never solved... the school never got their book back, I worked my debt off around the house, and in the end I got what I wanted all along - The Great Superman Movie Book.

Kids, don't go looking for a real moral in this story.  You won't find one. 

Unless you keep reading!

back cover

Many years later I was at a rummage sale outside my old public school.  People in the neighborhood and the community donated items for sale.  I forget what they were raising money for, and really, it doesn't matter to this story.  For the sake of argument, let's say they were raising money to build a super-computer for Gus Gorman. 

I was going through the books at the sale, and lo and behold was a copy of The Great Superman Movie Book!  However, this one was a little different.  It didn't have anything from Superman III in it.  Great Caesar's Ghost, I had found the original edition!  And I didn't even know it existed.

"How much for the book?" I asked.
"I dunno... fifty cents, I guess," said the rummage saleswoman.
"Here's twenty bucks," I said. "It's for a good cause."

And really, it was for a GREAT cause.  The Great Superman Movie Book!

- ryan