There's something to be said for the classics. That applies to just about everything in life--cars, music, literature, and of course, comic books. DC Comics has been a bit behind Marvel's lead in getting reprints of their classic library into the hands of readers. Although DC has had higher-end collections and trade paperbacks available for decades, Marvel has also had a lower-end black and white newsprint series of books available for just as long...getting the classic Spider-Man, X-Men and Fantastic Four stories into the eager hands of readers in their "Essential Marvel" library.

DC's finally catching on to that idea, with their "Showcase Presents" series, which debuted in 2006 with seven titles, including Superman, Green Lantern, Jonah Hex, Metamorpho, Teen Titans, and Justice League of America. Each volume is over 500 pages long, printed in black and white on cheaper newsprint pages, and retails for $9.99. This particular review is for "Showcase Presents: Superman Volume 1."

The stories in Superman Volume 1 date from 1958-1959, and represent a particularly fertile creative period for the Man of Steel's writers and artists. Superman was moving into the Silver Age of Comics, which lasted into the mid-1970's. This is the Superman a lot of us think we remember, with the Fortress of Solitude opened by a giant key, Krypto the Superdog, and more cheese than Wisconsin can produce in a bumper year. Reading these stories for the first time, I was surprised how many of Superman's classic villains and situations came up in this collection, and despite the corniness from time to time, how much I enjoyed them on the whole.

There are approximately fifty stories collected in this 560 pages, and they include work by writers Jerry Siegel, Otto Binder and Bill Finger--each a household name for the True Geeks among us. Curt Swan and Wayne Boring head up the artists, whose work is more crisp in black and white, but misses that dimension of color. I was surprised at how much I missed the bright colors of the comic books, and even though the scripts are word-heavy and explain some of what you miss in color--well, these were meant to be enjoyed in color.

These stories were written after Superman had already been around for more than twenty years, so his supporting cast and history and personality were already long established. Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen and Perry White of the Daily Planet are all used in nearly every story. Jimmy and Perry are fairly consistent with versions we'd know today, but Lois Lane is pretty much driven by one goal--marrying Superman. She cries (with a hankie up to her eyes, turning away from the reader bravely) in almost every story, saying something like "Someday--someday, I'll be Mrs. Superman!" It's surprising and I found myself relieved that Lois' character has progressed some past that earlier incarnation. Even Ma and Pa Kent, who died back in Smallville before Clark moved to Metropolis, show up a few times. One surprise for me as a new reader of these older stories is how often Krypton comes up in the book. Through various convenient literary devices, Superman ends up knowing more and more about his homeworld, and in the course of these stories, he also ends up with his cousin, Supergirl, as part of his life. There are several stories that have reference to Kal-El's Kryptonian parents, and they end up in these pages almost as regularly as Jimmy Olsen. Another surprise is the lack of "guest star superheroes" in the book--these days there's a lot more crossover, with other heroes popping into Metropolis several times per year. In this collection we see Batman twice--and that's it.

The villains in comic books are frequently more interesting than the heroes they're fighting against, and this book is no exception. As entertaining as it is to see the Man of Steel in action, without the bad guys he doesn't have as much to do. And the bad guys are all over the place in this book. Lex Luthor turns up the most, fittingly enough, and we get visits from bad guys Superman has battled before, like Mxyzptlk and Bizarro. Most interesting to me were the first appearances in these pages--both Brainiac and Metallo both have their debuts here, and I'm surprised at how fully-formed both of these (now) classic villains were. Brainiac shrinks cities and steals them from their homeworlds, siphoning off energy and brain power as he travels through space...one of the cities he captured is the Kryptonian City of Kandor, which Superman eventually adopts, bottle and all, into his Fortress of Solitude. The villains are enjoyable, and although many of the storylines have quick endings that are a little too pat, it's a fun read.

If you're a fan of Superman, you really can't go wrong with this collection. You do need to suspend your disbelief, and put yourself back into an era when "Someday, Man Will Live On the Moon," X-Ray spectacles, and Charles Atlas ads...but it's a lot of fun to do that. Some of the stories are better than others, but this 500 pages is more hit than miss. If you've never read the comics, or if it's been a while since you have, you'll enjoy "Showcase Presents: Superman Volume 1."

Recommended: Yes