man The Movie (1978, Christopher Reeve) were all
popular at the time. As a result they launched multiple
new reprint series: DC Comics’ Superman, with short
runs of Superboy and Wonder Woman following a few
years later. Marvel Comics’ The Amazing SpiderMan, The Incredible Hulk, The Mighty Thor and Captain America.
Republican Press’ Photo
Story Magazine “Ruiter in
Swart” # 119
Supercomix The Amazing
Spider-Man # 1
(first series 1976)
In 1978 Republican Press responded to the popularity of the superhero films shown on the big screen in
South Africa. Batman: The Movie (1966, Adam West),
The Amazing Spider-Man (1977, Nicholas Hammond),
The Incredible Hulk (1977, Lou Ferrigno) and Super-
Numerous Humour Titles were also reprinted:
Charlton Comics’ Blondie, Popeye. Harvey Comics’
Richie Rich, Little Lotta. Dell Comics’ Mighty Mouse.
Gold Key Comics’ Tom & Jerry, Pink Panther, Mickey
Mouse, Donald Duck.
The glossy covers were re-coloured for Supercomix.
My blog has numerous covers from this series, with
the original American covers added for comparison.
An added incentive for kids to buy these comics was
the pull-out glossy Pop-Star Poster. An old Republican
Press insider related a story to me, where they used
to take this opportunity to promote local rock bands
from Durban in these posters, until their managers
woke up ... and posters returned to featuring international stars!
Neal Adams’ iconic Superman image from Action Comics # 419 is given a new background for
Supercomix Superman # 1 in 1978
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