We here at Biff Bam Pop! absolutely love world records, limited editions and exclamation marks. Well, at least I think we do.
Anyway, mingle those three flights of fancy together alongside a healthy dose of comic book movers-and-shakers and you can’t help but have something supremely interesting on your hands – definitely something motivating enough to make you run to the local comic book shop on a Wednesday afternoon and check out, at any rate! (See? Exclamations!)
Earlier this year, acclaimed Scottish comic book writer, Mark Millar (the man whose sequential work has birthed the films Wanted and Kick-Ass), teamed up with a host of over sixty big-name industry pencillers, inkers and letterers and attempted to break into the Guinness Book of World Records.
On April 9th, the Kapow! convention in London, England bore witness to these creative overachievers succeeding in their goal: creating a comic book that goes down in history as one with the fastest production and – more importantly, more interestingly – most contributors!
Superior: Kapow! Guinness World Record Special #1
Written by: Mark Millar
Illustrated by: Many. A World-Record Number, In Fact
Marvel Comics
Featuring Superior, the superhero character Millar created alongside artist Leinil Yu (who also features here), the 20-page, black and white book titled Superior: Kapow! Guinness World Record Special #1 took 11 hours, 19 minutes and 38 seconds to make. Every contributing artist added one panel each, including: Dave Gibbons (Watchmen), Frank Quitely (All-Star Superman), John Romita Jr. (industry legend), Jock (The Losers), Sean Phillips (Criminal), Duncan Fegredo (Hellboy), Olivier Coipel (Thor) and many, many others!
I haven’t followed the regular, ongoing monthly series of Superior but it basically details the story of a young boy suffering from multiple sclerosis who can choose to become a Superman-like hero with the ability to save the world in exchange for his soul.
Superior: Kapow! Guinness World Record Special #1 is a veritable who’s who of comic book talent! Don’t shy away from the “#1” labelling either, thinking that this thing is going to continue on a periodic basis. There’s only one issue being published. But you’ll have to run really fast this Wednesday – there are only 10,000 copies being printed, meaning Superior! will be in pretty scarce supply.
As I’ve already mentioned, “limited editions” are a fancy we here at Biff Bam Pop! simply adore! That and the fact that the entire $2.99 price tag will go to the Yorkhill Sick Children’s Hospital in Scotland – making for a great feeling this time of year.
Make the Wednesday run today…and make it a snappy one! (See? There’s that exclamation again!)
Every Wednesday, JP makes the after-work run to his local downtown comic book shop. Comics arrive on Wednesdays you see and JP, fearful that the latest issue will sell out, rushes out to purchase his copy. This regular, weekly column will highlight a particularly interesting release, written in short order, of course, because JP has to get his – before someone else does!
