My history with pre-Crisis Superman stories is spotty, to say the least. While I owned a few individual comics in the 1980s and count Superman: The Secret Years as the official “start” of my comics collection, I haven’t owned or read a heck of a lot. In recent years, I’ve picked up some individual issues or trades, mostly stuff I’ve found interesting or have always wanted to read.

Hence, my purchase of a slightly water-damaged copy of Superman in the Seventies from my LCS. It was real cheap, which justified my purchase, especially since it’s a slim volume filled with a number of stories I either have in other trades or can read on DC Infinite. But it is a decent celebration of the Man of Steel during that particular decade.

The stories in it are mostly written by Elliott S! Maggin and feature art by the era’s most venerable team, the “Swanderson” of Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson. But there’s also stuff featuring inks by Bob Oskner as well as art by Jack Kirby and a few others. They’re not 100% gems, but getting to read “Make Way for Captain Thunder” and “Superman Breaks Loose” (aka “Kryptonite Nevermore!”) were a real treat and I was finally able to read the infamous “I Am Curious (Black)” Lois Lane story. Among the rest are a couple of solid Luthor stories as well as appearances by other villains like Terra Man and Parasite, whom I am more familiar with in their post-Crisis versions.

If there’s a sweet spot for me and the Man of Steel, it’s around 1990-1991 when I started reading comics and finishing with the Death and Return. But another one, because it lines up with my childhood and daily Super Friends viewings, is The Bronze Age. This is a fun collection to own and I’m looking forward to seeing what else I can find on DC Infinite.

Keep, Sell, Donate, or Trash?

Keep.