WHEN THE FIRST ISSUE IS NOT NECESSARILY NUMBER ONE (AND VICE VERSA)...

Copyright DC COMICS

I recently acquired the above 1964 80 Page Giant Superman Annual Issue #1, which raises an interesting question.  You see, there was an earlier Giant Superman Annual in 1960 which is nowadays retroactively referred to as #1, though I don't know if that was stated in the indicia at the time.  What I do know is that it's listed that way in the indicia of the 1998 Replica Edition, but that may or may not have been its intended status in 1960 - it certainly wasn't numbered that way on the cover.

So the 1960 Giant is definitely the first Superman Annual, but until I can discover what it says in the indicia, it might not be '#1' and could well have been produced as a one-shot.  The 1964 Annual was obviously conceived as the first in an occasional series, hence it being numbered on the cover, but another possibility is that it was only #1 of the 80 Page Giant series, the featured star of which could be any hero, not solely Superman.  In other words, #2 could've been Batman or The Flash, for example.

The latter scenario is made the more likely when one considers that the indicia lists it as '80 Page Giant No. 1', with no mention of Superman.  It also says it's published 8 times a year, so it's unlikely that every issue would be described as an Annual, probably just an 80 Page Giant.  So what's the actual explanation?  Don't know, to be honest, so if anyone who owns the 1960 Annual would take a look at the indicia and let me know what it says, I'd be much obliged.

In the meantime, enjoy the piccies.

Blowing my own trumpet Department: Below is the seller's photo of my recent acquisition.  Far from pristine, but I did a little remedial work on the actual mag before scanning to enhance its condition.  Look again at first pic to see how it looked at the 'after' stage.  (Tears repaired, creases less obvious, cover now far more secure.)

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