Celebrating Super-Heroic Artist Mike Grell

Celebrating the birthday of writer/artist Mike Grell (September, 13, 1947).

Mike was a big talent, especially in the 1970s, making a name for himself drawing the Legion of Super-Heroes (as the LSH was taking over the Superboy title)...

...but two of his most iconic covers did not appear there.

Below, are the full covers and a little on what was inside these oversized treasury editions!

Limited Collectors' Edition #C-49 (October-November, 1976)

With this iconic cover, Mike Grell made sure he'd be remembered by Legion fans for decades to come.

But, Mike was only represented sporadically on the inside of book...

...with the main part of the issue containing reprints of debut of Mordru from Adventure Comics #369 and #370 (June and July, 1968), some fact pages about the Legion Headquarters, and the great Dave Cockrum had his two page diagram of the wedding of Duo Damsel and Bouncing Boy provided (with a guide to the characters in back!).

All-New Collectors' Edition #C-55 (March, 1978)

Here, Mike did the illustrations for the main story, where Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl finally get married (and he and writer Paul Levitz made it to the wedding as well, Paul on the far left, Mike on the far right), in an odd story influenced by the Time Trapper, who changed the past...and, there are some wonderful fact files on the Legion in the back (though they were drawn by Jim Sherman and Jack Abel).

Bits of wonderful Legion history, cementing Mike Grell's place as an artist in it!

Celebrating Superman The Movie

45 years ago, you could go to a movie theater and believe a man could fly.

That was when Superman the Movie was released to the general public...

...with Christopher Reeve as Superman, looking quite heroic as the title character (and amusing as his alter ego, Clark Kent, mild mannered reporter for the Daily Planet).  

Supported by Margot Kidder as Lois Lane, Marc McClure as Jimmy Olsen and Jackie Cooper as Perry White, and facing Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor, as well as Marlon Brando as Jor-El and Glenn Ford as Pa Kent, this well loved movie, directed by Richard Donner, with music by John Williams, defined the big budget super hero movie for generations.

DC Comics celebrated this release with a special treasury sized comic, the All-New Collectors' Edition #C-62 (March, 1979), with features encapsulating the history of Superman's comic cast, as well as behind the scenes pictures of the movie covering cast as well as locations such as Krypton, the Phantom Zone, Smallville, the Fortress Of Solitude and Metropolis.

One of the most important parts of the movie was how much (especially Christopher Reeve) captured the look of the comic, with his costume...or, to quote a character from the movie: "Say, Jim...That's a bad outfit".