New Fun - The Big Comic Magazine was the first title ever published by DC Comics, at that time known as National Allied Publications. The first issue came out with a cover date of February 1935 and it lasted just six issues before becoming New Comics. Each of those comics are, of course, very rare and highly collectable. Issue six, the final issue, is thought to be the rarest of the set, but is also more highly sought after than the others (except for the first issue) as it features the first comic strips ever published by Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to find a copy of New Fun #6 in a nearby junk shop, hidden in a stack of comics and I picked it up for £5. However, this particular copy was the 'British Empire Edition'. Dated a month later and with a price tag of one shilling, this is the only known copy to surface since it was published - you will find nothing online or in the history books.
Aside from the above edits, nothing else was changed in the comic. It still has U.S. prices and addresses inside, and you'll even notice on the cover it says 'color' instead of 'colour'.
I don't know if 'British Empire Editions' of any of the other six issues were produced, or if they were made for other early DC Comics, but I doubt we will ever find out.
Superman was ever popular in the U.S.A and still is today, with the latest Superman film piling up over $650,000,000 USD, so it seemed obvious for comic publishers in the U.K to try his strips out over here, using American reprints. His first appearance in Britain was in 1939 when he appeared in Triumph. Although he was kicked from the paper after only a short run in 1940, it wasn't the last time he would be seen.
He appeared again almost two decades later in 1959 when he braced the pages of Radio Fun. Here he would enjoy a much more popular run and would continue right up until the title folded in 1961 when Radio Fun merged into Buster, and Superman went with it. However, despite his success with Radio Fun readers he didn't fit in with the Buster fans and his strip was cancelled that same year.
He would appear again in 1969 in the now-scarce Super DC comics, which lasted for less than a year - producing just 14 issues and one annual.
London Editions would try their hand with the character by featuring him in Super Heroes, but he was there for just two years.
All the scans featured here are from Superman's short run in Buster comic. I am personally not too keen on the Superman strips myself, I prefer the humorous British super heroes such as Super Dad, Super Mum and Full O' Beans, to name three, but I'm sure they appeal to many others.
