Truitt on Green Wake

'Green Wake' introduces a colorfully creepy town
By Brian Truitt, USA TODAY March 18 2011
http://www.usatoday.com/life/comics/2011-03-18-GreenWake_N.htm

Zadzooks on Walking Dead, All-Star Superman animation and Yogi Bear

Zadzooks: The Walking Dead and All-Star Superman
'Walking Dead' gratifyingly grotesque
By Joseph Szadkowski
The Washington Times March 18, 2011
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/mar/18/zadzooks-walking-dead-all-star-superman-yogi/

Kids comics reviewed in Post

Graphic novels for young readers
By Douglas Wolk, Washington Post March 20, 2011
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/graphic-novels-for-young-readers/2011/03/11/AB0aebr_story.html

Herblock oral history begun by Penn State professor

To Herblock and to Spring Flowers: Postcard from Washington
by Russell Frank
March 11, 2011
http://www.statecollege.com/news/columns/to-herblock-and-to-spring-flowers-postcard-from-washington-682171/

and

Herblock in the Hosbog: Musings on the Political Cartoonist with the 'Saber-Toothed' Pen
by Russell Frank
March 18, 2011
http://www.statecollege.com/news/columns/herblock-in-the-hosbog-musings-on-the-political-cartoonist-with-the-sabertoothed-pen-689343/

Children's comic strips in tomorrow's Kids Post

The Kid's Post insert runs four comic strips by young cartoonists tomorrow, based on their recent Jef Mallett article.

Post on Calder 'carticatures'

Tomorrow's paper has a review that explicitly uses the word carticature for these wire sculptures.

The National Portrait Gallery opens 'Calder's Portraits: A New Language'
By Stephanie Merry, Thursday, March 10, 2011
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/the-national-portrait-gallery-opens-calders-portraits-a-new-language/2011/03/07/ABahHAQ_story.html

Wimpy Kid profile in Post's Parade Magazine insert tomorrow

The Wonderful World of Wimpy
David Browne
Parade Magazine March 20, 2011
http://www.parade.com/celebrity/2011/03/the-wonderful-world-of-wimpy.html

Is Cul de Sac a repeat in March 20th's Washington Post?

Inquiring minds want to know - is Cul de Sac a repeat in March 20th's post from the previous week?

Yes, and no. The paper ran the wrong strip on March 13th actually publishing March 20th's a week early, but here's the correct one.

Coming soon - a great Shawn Belschwender interview

Shawn Belschwender's comic strip Clowntime Comics has returned to the City Paper, and he sent me some great interview answers today. Look for it on the City Paper's website hopefully on Monday morning.

New Flugennock: Bank of America and Japan

http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=799

I was up late Sunday night, following the Al Jazeera feed, keeping up with Libya, Bahrain and Japan -- especially Japan -- when a tweet came in announcing Anonymous' "Black Monday" plan to release the trove of emails detailing mortgage and other fraud at Bank Of America, and my brain started bouncing back and forth: "Bank Of America...Japan...Bank Of America...Japan..." ...and I knew it was time for another one of my parodies of iconic art and imagery.

Mike Flugennock, flugennock at sinkers dot org
Political Cartoons: dubya dubya dubya dot sinkers dot org

New Flugennock: The New Flag Of Bahrain

http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=802

___________________________________________________________
Mike Flugennock, flugennock at sinkers dot org
Political Cartoons: dubya dubya dubya dot sinkers dot org

David Malki! interview online at City Paper

When Comics Return: A Chat With David Malki!
by Mike Rhode on Mar. 18, 2011
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/books/2011/03/18/when-comics-return-a-chat-with-david-malki/

Cavna's Breathed interview in today's Post

This ran on Comic Riffs a few days ago, but is in the print Style section today.

Launching 'Mars Needs Moms' into 3-D
By Michael Cavna
Washington Post March 17 2011
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/mars-needs-moms-launches-into-3-d/2011/03/13/ABIdUvg_story.html

March 18: Super Art Fight

The City Paper has the details of tomorrow night's Super Art Fight, but nobody seems to have listed who the cartoonists are.

Derf's return to the City Paper

When Comics Return: A Chat With Derf

by Mike Rhode on Mar. 17, 2011

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/books/2011/03/17/when-comics-return-a-chat-with-derf/

PR: Graphic Arts Galleries at Library of Congress Open March 18

March 17, 2011

Graphic Arts Galleries at Library of Congress Open on March 18                            

The Library of Congress announces the opening of the Swann Gallery and the Herblock Gallery on Friday, March 18, 2011.  The galleries are two of three exhibition spaces located within the new Graphic Arts Galleries on the ground level of the Library's Thomas Jefferson Building. 

The third exhibition space in the Graphic Arts Galleries will open in September 2011.  The galleries will focus on the Library's cartoon collections and offer visitors a rich sampling of caricatures, comic strips, political drawings, artwork created for magazines and graphic-novel illustrations.

The galleries will be open to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and admission is free.

The Herblock Gallery celebrates the work of editorial cartoonist Herbert L. Block—better known as "Herblock"— with an ongoing display of 10 original drawings, to change every six months.  A four-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, who spent more than 55 years at the Washington Post, Herblock took on political corruption wherever he saw it, and championed the rights of  "the little guy."  The inaugural exhibition, "Herblock Looks at Communism," presents a selection of his 1951 cartoons about the Korean War.  A new display in September will explore the Khrushchev-Kennedy confrontation in 1961.  The Herb Block Foundation donated the collection of more than 14,000 original cartoon drawings and 50,000 rough sketches, as well as manuscripts, to the Library of Congress in 2002, and has generously continued to provide funds to support ongoing programming.

The Swann Gallery introduces visitors to the fascinating world of caricatures, political cartoons, comics, animation art, graphic novels and illustrations.  A permanent memorial exhibition will feature 15 facsimiles of treasured cartoons from the Swann and other cartoon collections, which represent the broad range of holdings in the Library of Congress.  This exhibition is made possible by the Swann Foundation, which was established by Erwin Swann (1906–1973) in 1967 to support ongoing exhibitions, related programming, preservation and development of collections and to encourage appreciation for the dynamic, evolving field of cartoon and illustration arts.

In September 2011, the third gallery will open with a changing-exhibition program that showcases the graphic arts collections in the Prints and Photographs Division at the Library of Congress.  Its inaugural exhibition will be "Timely and Timeless: New Comic Art Acquisitions," featuring treasures of original cartoon art that were added to the Library's collections during the past decade.  On display will be political commentaries, comic-strip and comic-book drawings, New Yorker magazine illustrations and examples of graphic narratives.

The Library has a long history of exhibiting cartoon and caricature art, with the first Swann Gallery—known as the Oval Gallery—opening in 1982 in the James Madison Building.  The Swann Gallery moved to the Thomas Jefferson Building in 1998 and remained open until 2004, when preparations started for construction of the Library's tunnel to the Capitol Visitors Center.  In subsequent years, large-scale cartoon art exhibitions—"Humor's Edge: Cartoons by Ann Telnaes" (2004); "Enduring Outrage: Editorial Cartoons by Herblock" (2006); "Cartoon America" (2006); and "Herblock!" (2009)—were held in various exhibition spaces in the Jefferson Building.

The Library has been collecting original cartoon art for more than 140 years.  It is a major center for cartoon research with holdings of more than 100,000 original cartoon drawings and prints. These works, housed in the Prints and Photographs Division, span five centuries and range from 17th-century Dutch political prints to 21st-century contemporary comic strips.

The Prints and Photographs Division holds the largest-known collection of American political prints, the finest assemblage of British satirical prints outside Great Britain and holdings of original drawings by generations of America's best cartoonists and illustrators that are unequaled in breadth and depth.  Extensive runs of rare satirical and comic journals from Europe and the United States represent another distinguishing facet. The Library acquired these materials through a variety of sources including artists' gifts, donations by private collectors, selective purchases and copyright registration.

Sample images from the Swann Gallery:
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/91705247/
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2008661676/
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/96508418/

Truitt on Superman's mom

Woman of steel: Diane Lane speaks on playing Superman's mom in new movie
Brian Truitt
USA Weekend's Who's News blog March 16th, 2011
http://whosnews.usaweekend.com/2011/03/woman-of-steel-diane-lane-speaks-on-playing-supermans-mom-in-new-movie/

Cavna on Iranian cartoons and Kill Shakespeare

POLITICAL HUMOR: New Iranian cartoon site launched
By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Comic Riffs blog March 15 2011

The ‘Riffs Interview: Hark, inspired ‘KILL SHAKESPEARE’ creators strike again with soul, wit
By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Comic Riffs blog March 15 2011

Carla Speed McNeil up for 3 Stumptown Comics Fest awards

Carla Speed McNeil's Finder: Voice (which I read last night and quite enjoyed) is up for 3 Stumptown Comics Fest Arts awards for Best Writer, Best Cartoonist and Best Letterer.

"Judges for the 2011 Stumptown Comics Awards are: Michael Allred (Madman), Brandon Graham (King City), Laura Hudson (Editor, ComicsAlliance.com), Michael Ring (Owner, Bridge City Comics), and Jason Leivian (Owner, Floating World Comics)."

The Commercialization of Comics: A Broad Historical Overview (1999) part 3 of 3

Click here for part 1.

Click here for part 2.

Merchandising types

           

            The amount and types of comics merchandising are literally innumerable.  Over the 100 year lifespan of comics,  books, sheet music, plays, rings, greeting cards, postcards, trading cards, keychains, banks, radio shows, television shows, movies, novels, Big Little Books, buttons, watches, jewelry, children's books, dishes, toothbrushes, record albums, plates, dartboards, coloring books, T-shirts, hats, food products, puzzles, toys, games, posters, dolls, action figures, statues, busts, models, books-on-tape, cups, mugs, video games... anything that one could imagine have been made.  A few major forms are worth examining.

 

            Reprint book collections were among the first merchandise, with one of the Yellow Kid by early 1897. These book collections, now frequently called "platinum age comic books¹⁶," were very popular and even sold through the Sears, Roebuck catalogue.  Major publishers such as Embee and Cupples & Leon reprinted books of most successful strips like Bringing up Father, Buster Brown, Mutt and Jeff, the Gumps, Happy Hooligan, the Katzenjammer Kids, Little Orphan Annie, and many others (Beerbohm, 1997).  The practice continues today with Andrews McMeel of Kansas City being the dominant publisher.  Other early forms of merchandise continue to be popular until today.

 

           




Figure 8 Postcards with holiday messages were popular in the early years of the comics as this 1904 Happy Hooligan Valentine Greetings shows.

Many types of merchandise might seem to be modern inventions, but  arose around the time of the comics.  Postcards and greeting cards, as common in 1900 as today, featured comics figures including Happy Hooligan, Maggie and Jiggs, Little Nemo and Buster Brown (Figure 8).  Dolls and action figures date back to the Yellow Kid as well.  Children in the 1940s played with a carved-wood Superman, while in the 1960s, Captain Action could be dressed as one's favorite DC or Marvel hero and in the 1970s, Mego sold poorly-dressed superheroes.  But the golden age of the action figure began in the 1980s.  No longer marketed as dolls, most of DC's characters were issued for their Superpowers line and Jack Kirby wrote and drew two comics miniseries promoting the toys.  Marvel followed suit with a Secret Wars toy line and  miniseries (DeFalco, 1992). The trend has continued in the 1990s with more than 200 different Batman figures created.  Trading cards, another popular item, also date to the Yellow Kid.  The first superhero card set, of Superman, was produced in 1940, two years after his creation (Wells, 1994: iv).

 

            Newly-created media use old cartoon standbys for inspiration.  When video games became popular in the 1980s, Atari produced a Spider-Man version, and linked with DC to have five Atari Force comic books (1982-1983) which were given away with the games.  The story began in the miniature comic book and continued in the game -- a new hybrid form of entertainment¹⁷.  Video games remain popular, although usually tied in with a movie such as Batman & Robin.  Acclaim has failed three times as a comic book publisher, but their Turok game was a hit while the comic was cancelled.  

 

            As with video games, a new sport or hobby brings new opportunities for licensing tie-ins.  Since NASCAR racing has grown in popularity, comics characters have been applied to race cars.  Batman, Joker, Alfred E. Neuman and four Superman cars are circling race tracks¹⁸ ("Nine", 1999). 



Figure 9 Superman did not actually appear at the Palisades Amusement Park, but one can find many comics characters in amusement parks now. From World's Finest #161, DC Comics, October, 1966.

Theme parks based on cartoon characters date at least to the establishment of Disneyland in 1955.  In the 1990s, these parks have proliferated (Figure 9).  Six Flags amusement parks have Batman and Superman rollercoasters.  Spider-Man and Popyeye rides opened in 1999 as did Camp Snoopy at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio.  The Ripley's Believe It or Not! strip spawned twenty-six "museums" in the U.S., Korea, Australia, Canada, China (Hong Kong), Thailand, Mexico, the Philippines, Denmark and England (Ripley's, 1999).  Metreon - "A Sony Entertainment Center" opening in San Francisco has a game area designed by Moebius based on his Airtight Garage (Metreon, 1999). 

 

            Comics' penetration of culture means that characters sometimes become more than just a licensing opportunity and become part of society, an example being composer Michael Daugherty's Metropolis Symphony (1996), based on the Superman mythos.  Charles Schulz recounted one of his experiences with people wishing to use his characters in a non-commercial way:

 

[NASA's] Al Chop came to me and they had just had that tragic fire where the astronauts were killed and so they wanted to start a new safety program and he had an idea to build the program around a cartoon character and he asked me if Snoopy could be the character and I said, "Sure, I'm very flattered." So they made posters and all sorts of things.  They made beautiful little metal things which were really nice pieces of jewelry and if a person on the assembly line has a good safety record, one of the astronauts would present him or her with the pin and of course, those pins were taken to the moon and the moon landing" (Marschall & Groth, 1992: 22). 

 

Superman was the subject of a Smithsonian Institution exhibit, Superman: Many Lives, Many Worlds, on his fiftieth anniversary in 1987 (Patton, 1987) and in 1999, he appeared on a postage stamp in the USPS's Celebrate the Century series as one of the 15 major highlights of the 1930s¹⁹. The United States was a latecomer in honoring cartoon characters on stamps, as Canada had an earlier Superman stamp and many other countries have pictured their native characters.  (Rhode, 1999).

 

            Jane Gaines (1991: 208-227) has theorized, especially in regard to Superman, that the high levels of popularity will eventually work against the ownership of popular characters as they will move into the public domain through their universality, as the term "aspirin" did.  Given the spirited defense of copyright and trademarks mounted by major companies, this seems doubtful, but may be possible. Copyright  is limited, although it now lasts longer partly due to lobbying by Disney which had feared Mickey Mouse cartoons would enter the public domain in 2003, although Mickey would still have had trademark protection.  Chairman Michael Eisner's appearance on Capitol Hill helped convince Congress to extend copyright's duration (McAllister, 1998).   Metropolitan Life's website includes the warning, "No part of the PEANUTS materials may be copied, reproduced, used or performed in any form (graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or information storage and retrieval systems) for any purpose without the express written permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc.," which would seem to ignore the fair use clause in copyright law.  In contrast, a trademark can last forever as long as it is actually being used.  Expansion of both copyright and trademark to protect intellectual property has benefited the owners of cartoon characters, creating a very different situation from what Outcault encountered.

 

            Some comics characters are undoubtedly created to be merchandised in a more lucrative medium.  Rom, Spaceknight hit the toy and comic book stores simultaneously, but the comic survived the toy by years.  Oddly enough, there is an example of a cartoonist being created and then merchandised - television's Caroline in the City.  Cartoonist Bonnie Timmons provided the artwork purportedly done by Caroline on the show, and a line of Caroline greeting cards soon followed.

 

            Commercialism of comics is certainly not unique to the United States.  Mauricio de Sousa in Brazil has built a multi-million dollar business based on his character Monica (Vergueiro, 1999: 178-181) and in Europe, Tintin and Asterix are icons in a manner perhaps surprising when one realizes how few graphic novels of each were published.  (There were only 23 Tintin graphic novels, the last new one in 1976).  Asterix, recently the star of a live-action movie, has had a theme park outside of Paris since 1989 (White, 1995; Tagliabue, 1995).  Merchandise based on the Tintin and Asterix is so prevalent that specialty stores have opened in the United States in San Francisco, New York and most recently, in Washington, D.C. 

 

            Japan has taken the commercialism trend to its highest level, as Schodt (1986: 147) noted:

 

In 1980, there were over 150 'animation' and 'comics' albums released in Japan.  Records linked with comics in Japan can be music or poems composed or performed by popular comic artists; dramatizations or musical interpretations of popular comic stories; or theme songs and background music from television animation, theatrical feature animation, and live action films based on comics.

 

Presumably the number has only increased since then, and Japan's experience has been repeated throughout Southeast Asia.  Lent (1998: 33) reporting on Korea, said, "Dai Won is the dominant part of a five-pronged corporation by the same name, which specializes in the production of animation, comics, video and 'fancy' (cartoon-related merchandise) ...Comics magazines appear first, which are spun off into comic books and animation, and later, video"  (Lent, 1998: 33).  Elsewhere Russia has recently seen the opening of a restaurant based on Andrei Bilzho's strip character Petrovich (Kaiser, 1999).  Frequently, European and Asian  companies try to export their characters to the U.S.; Peyo's Smurfs was one of the most successful in this regard, although its popularity in the 1980s was a result of an animated television show, and not the original comics albums.  Not all attempts by foreign companies to breach the American market are successful though; for example, the attempt by DIC Productions to bring Sailor Moon to the U.S. failed (Grigsby, 1998).  In the other direction, Disney recently was unsuccessful in marketing Franquin's comic strip Marsupilami in America and lost almost 10 million dollars in court decisions based on that failure (Deutsch, 1999; "Disney", 1999).

 

            It is worth noting that merchandising probably cannot sustain a company without new original material.  In 1982, Disney was widely believed to be moribund, while it moved to making three-fourths of its income on merchandising and theme parks instead of films and animation (Mills, 1982: 53).  With the revival of its animation tradition and the success of The Little Mermaid, the company grew prodigiously but recent experiences suggest that it might need to review its merchandising policies (Bates and Eller, 1999).

 

            Comics have been used for advertising and licensed and sold as merchandise since their creation in the last century.  An uncountable number and types of products linked to comics have been sold, and some adaptations have proved artistically fruitful.  The commercialization of comics has been historically extensive and probably will not lessen in the foreseeable future. 

 

Acknowledgements

 

            I would like to thank my wife, Cathy Hunter, both for letting me collect the materials that this paper is built on, and then editing it for me  Also, my colleagues Anne Clair Goodman, Charles Hatfield, Gene Kannenberg, Heather Lindsay and Robert Montgomery for suggesting ideas, providing technical assistance and editing the final draft.

 

 

References

 

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Bibliography

 

-Armour, Robert A. 1987. "Comic Strips, Theatre, and Early Narrative Films: 1895-1904." Studies in Popular Culture 10(1):14-26.

 -Bifulco, Michael. 1989. Heroes and Villains: Movie Serial Classics. Woodland Hills, CA: Bifulco Books.

 -Borden, Bill.  1997.  The Big Book of Big Little Books.  San Francisco: Chronicle Books.

 -Braun, Debra S. 1998.  Garfield Collectibles. Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.

-Bruegman, Bill.  1996.  Superhero Collectibles: A Pictorial Price Guide.  Akron: Toy Scouts, Inc. 

-Crouch, William and Lawrence Doucet.  1990.  The Authorized Guide to Dick Tracy Collectibles.  Radnor, PA: Wallace-Homestead.

 -Daniels, Les and Chip Kidd.  1998.  Superman, the Complete History: The Life and Times of the Man of Steel.  San Francisco:  Chronicle Books.

 -de Klerk, L. Ronald. 1999.  Record Covers Drawn by Comic Artists. http://people.a2000.nl/ldeklerk/index2.html.

-Dini, Paul & Chip Kidd. 1998.  Batman: Animated. New York: HarperCollins.

 -Geissman, Grant.  1995.  Collectibly Mad: The Mad and EC Collectibles Guide. Northampton, MA: Kitchen Sink Press.

 -Grandinetti, Fred. 1990.  Popeye the Collectible.  Iola, WI: Krause Publications.

 -Grossman, Gary. 1976. Superman: Serial To Cereal. New York: Popular.

 -Hake, Ted. 1993. Hake's Guide to Comic Character Collectibles: An Illustrated Price Guide to 100 Years of Comic Strip Characters.  Radnor, PA: Wallace-Homestead.

 -Hake, Ted. 1996. Hake's Price Guide to Character Toy Premiums. Timonium, MD: Gemstone Publishing.

 -Hershenson, Bruce. 1998?  Cartoon Movie Posters.  West Plains, MO: Bruce Hershenson.

 -Hofstede, David. 1991.  Hollywood and the Comics.  Zanne-3.

 -Jacobs, Larry.  1996.  Big Little Books : A Collector's Reference & Value Guide.  Collector Books.

 -Kidd, Chip.  1996.  Batman Collected.  Boston: Bulfinch Press.

 -Lesser, Robert. 1975.   A Celebration of Comic Art and Memorabilia.   New York: Hawthorn Books.  

 -Lindenberger, Jan.  1998.  More Smurf Collectibles: An Unauthorized Handbook & Price Guide.  Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.

 -Lindenberger, Jan.  1998.  The Unauthorized Guide to Snoopy Collectibles, revised edition. Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.

 -Lindenberger, Jan and Cher Porges.  1997.  More Snoopy Collectibles: An Unauthorized Guide. Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.

 -Lindenberger, Jan and Cher Porges.  1998.  Peanuts Gang Collectibles: An Unauthorized Handbook and Price Guide. Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.

 -Lindenberger, Jan and Cher Porges.  1999.  More Peanuts Gang Collectibles.  Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.

 -Lindenberger, Jan and Joel Martone. 1996.  Smurf Collectibles: A Handbook & Price Guide.  Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.

 -Markowski, Carol and Gene. 1990.  Tomart's Price Guide to Character and Promotional Glasses.  Radnor, PA: Wallace-Homestead.

 -Margolin, Freddi and  Sandra Cramer. 1997.  The Ultimate Peanuts Price Guide [foreword by Charles M. Schulz].  Landmark Specialty Publications.

 -Matetsky, Harry and Amanda Murrah Matetsky.  1988.  The Adventures of Superman Collecting.  West Plains, MO: Russ Cochran.

 -Nicholson, Susan Brown.  1994.  Encyclopedia of Antique Postcards.  Radnor, PA: Wallace-Homestead.

 -Overstreet, Robert M. 1996. The Overstreeet Toy Ring Price Guide, 2nd ed.  Timonium, MD: Gemstone Publishing.

 -Reiley, Sean.  1999.  Seanbaby's Hostess Fruit Pie Page. http://www.oldmanmurray.com/seanbaby/hostess.htm.

 -Roberts, Garyn G.  1993.  Dick Tracy and American Culture: Morality and Mythology, Text and Context.  Jefferson, NC: McFarland.

 -Santi, Steve. 1998.  Collecting Little Golden Books : A Collector's Identification and Price Guide,  3rd edition.   Iola, WI: Krause Publications.

 -Schoell, William. 1991.  Comic Book Heroes of the Screen. New York: Citadel Press.

 -Todd McFarlane Productions, Inc.  1998.  McFarlane Toys 1998 Catalog. 

 -Todd McFarlane Productions, Inc.  1999.  McFarlane Toys Catalog. 

 -Wells, Stuart W. III and Alex G. Malloy. 1996. Comics Collectible and Their Values. Radnor, PA: Wallace-Homestead.

 -Wiater, Stanley.  1991.  The Official Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Treasury.  New York: Villard Books.

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16.  In 1997, the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide began listing "platinum" age comic strip collections and is probably the best single bibliography for them.

17.  DC also published a newsstand issue Atari Force comic book.

18.  Of course, the NASCAR promotion leads to additional licensing including a comic book.  "To commemorate the drivers, their vehicles and the unique Superman-themed promotion, DC Comics created a custom comic book featuring all nine drivers as characters in an action adventure story with Superman. The limited-edition custom comic will be sold exclusively by Kmart in its mass retail stores. Action will design, market and distribute a variety of exclusively designed collectible die-cast replica cars, adult and children's apparel items and other merchandise to fans and collectors. Superman Racing memorabilia will be available trackside and through Action's established distribution channels. Related Hasbro Winner's Circle (R) products will be available through mass retail outlets" ("Nine", 1999).

19.  There was, of course, merchandise besides the postage stamp available from the U.S. Post Office.  It included a magnet ($5.99), magnetic greeting card ($2.99), puzzle postcard ($2.49), key chain ($4.99), pin ($4.99), memo pad ($3.99), shipping labels ($2.99), gift tag/magnet ($3.99), foil notecards ($6.99), color clings ($2.49), shipping envelope ($2.99), gift bag ($3.99) and a limited-edition reprint of Action Comics #1 with a first day cancellation.  The Post Office and DC Comics also issued ten comic books, one for each decade, featuring characters explaining the significance of the stamps.