Super Heroes Go Postal!

To see the entire set, click above!

The release date doesn't seem to be firm but some time next year, the U.S. Postal Service will be issuing a sheet of stamps of heroes from DC Comics. Above are ten of the 20 stamps on the sheet. The other ten are comic book covers and you can see the entire lot by clicking here. Most likely, I'm told, they'll come out to coincide with the Comic-Con International in San Diego and there'll be some sort of ceremony there involving First Day Issues and some of the folks whose artwork adorns the stamps.

The drawings are all from old covers and panels. The Superman and Supergirl drawings were done by Curt Swan. The Wonder Woman drawing is by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito. I don't recognize the Batman drawing but the Flash is by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson, the Plastic Man is (I think) a drawing Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez did for the DC style guide in the eighties, the Aquaman is by Jim Aparo, and the Hawkman is by Murphy Anderson. My first thought on seeing them was that some of the creators had been slighted but many of them are represented by the covers on the other twelve stamps. The Batman cover is by Bob Kane with assistance from Jerry Robinson, for instance. I don't think the Superman cover chosen, which is from Superman #11, was by Joe Shuster, though. I believe it's by Fred Ray.

This may sound trivial but I'm sorry they didn't pick a Paul Norris drawing for the Aquaman stamp. Paul designed Aquaman and drew his first stories, and is still with us. But I'm delighted to report that my old pal Jack Kirby is represented. That's sort-of a Kirby drawing on the Green Arrow stamp. Jack drew the Green Arrow feature for a year or two in the fifties and DC recently released a collected edition of all the stories he produced back then. For its cover, they had Jack's longtime inker Mike Royer trace and adjust a drawing of Bullseye, a western hero Jack did in the fifties, and turn it into Green Arrow. That's the drawing that's on the stamp. (I just phoned Mike and told him and he was amazed and, I think, happy. How often does an artist find out that he's drawn a U.S. postage stamp?) A Marvel series will follow shortly so perhaps Kirby will get on a couple more stamps.

By the way: This isn't Superman's first time on a stamp. As I noted here, the Man of Steel — as drawn by Joe Shuster — was on a Canadian stamp in 1995. Shuster didn't live to see it but his partner, Jerry Siegel, did and a first day issue, framed with a congratulatory letter from Bill Clinton, was one of Jerry's proudest trophies in life. Sorry he didn't get to see this one, too.