By now, most of this blog readers, know that my career in magazines started after falling in love with the ink and paper of the Lebanese first issue of the comic book Superman. Well, until recently, I did not how Superman made it to Lebanon in the 1960s of the last century. Howard Blue, the author of the new book The Man Who Sold Superman To The World, knew and documented how Superman made it to Lebanon and the rest of the world for that matter.
The Man Who Sold Superman To The World( front cover).
After reviewing the book, here is what I wrote and Howard thankfully used my review on the back of the book:
In the same manner DeWitt Wallace introduced Reader’s Digest and Helen Gurly Brown introduced Cosmopolitan to the world, Howard Blue’s book, The Man Who Sold Superman To The World, left no stone unturned and no kryptonite unearthed detailing the story of Carroll Rheinstrom, the man who introduced DC comics to the rest of the world.
Years of reporting, researching and fact-checking summed up in an informative and entertaining prose provide us with the life story of a man who took a comic superhero like Superman and introduced him to the world in a style worthy of being a superhero himself. Justice (with the help of the league) has finally been given to Mr. Rheinstrom.
Thank you, Howard Blue, for finally telling the story of how my (and millions of other folks) superhero Superman, who started my lifelong career in magazines after buying that very first Lebanese issue in 1964, made it all over the world. A job very well done.
Samir “Mr. Magazine™” Husni, Ph.D.
Founder and Director
Magazine Media Center
The Man Who Sold Superman To The World (back cover).
And here is part of what Mr. Blue wrote about my fascination with Superman in the book:
In Tripoli, Lebanon in 1964, ten-year old Samir Husni who became a dedicated fan of IP’s version of Superman (and who would in his professional life become known as Mr. Magazine) heard of it for the first time in a TV commercial when the famous phrase, “Look up in the air. It’s a bird it’s a plane, it’s Superman,” caught his attention. Saving up his weekly forty cents allowance, Samir crossed the street in front of his apartment and bought a copy in the neighborhood grocery store. Walking back home he had an almost magical experience, mesmerized as he read about the man from another planet…
The Man Who Sold Superman To The World is available on amazon.com by typing “Howard Blue Superman” you will land on the page to order the book. Highly recommended if you are a DC Comics fan and even more recommended if you are a Marvel Comics fan (as in know your enemy)… Enjoy
This is a story about what many consider the first two gay magazines in America. It is a bicoastal story for one (no pun intended) was born on the west coast and the other in the Midwest only to move at the ripe age of two to the east coast. Both died before they reached the age of 20 but the impact they left on the publishing industry and on their audience is unforgettable. One was out, and Tomorrow’s Man was in the closet.Onelaunched in January 1953 in Los Angeles and TM launched in December 1952 in Chicago. Onesold out of the 500 copies that it printed and TM skyrocketed to the largest selling bodybuilding magazine on the nation’s newsstands selling 100,000 a month. One labeled itself first as “The Homosexual Magazine,” and later as “The Homosexual Viewpoint,” andTM was labeled as “America’s first homosexual directed photo magazine.” One was published from 1953 to 1967 and TM was published from 1952 to 1971.
The genesis behind the idea for this blog (think of it as a preface to a possible book) is an article written by the editor of Drum magazine in 1965. What follows are excerpts of the aforementioned article:
The Story Behind Physique Photography
From Drum, October 1965, Volume V, Number 8
By Clark P. Polak
“The first issue had a scant 32 pages and measured a tiny 3-3/4 inches by 5-3/4 inches, selling at the then high price of 20¢. Today it has 48 pages and sells at the now low price of 35¢. Then was almost 14 years ago, the magazine was Tomorrow’s Man.
Conceived by Irvin Johnson in his Chicago Health Studio gym as an additional medium for promotion of his already successful high protein tablets, vitamin supplements and other so-called body building products, the first book was mailed to a few hundred enthusiasts.
But Johnson had bigger ideas for his little book. He managed to convince the monolithic American News Co. (now disbanded) that TM was really a body builder’s handbook and within two years his dream came to fruition with TM selling an amazing 100,000 copies per month.
The current best sellers, Strength and Health, plus many more of the ilk, were no competition to America’s first homosexual directed photo magazine, though TM has now dropped from its hey-day top. Others have now joined the bandwagon, but TM sales, always respectable, are again rising.”
So here are the facts about Tomorrow’s Man magazine (the older of the two by one month) and One magazine…
Tomorrow’s Man magazine:
Tomorrow’s Man magazine from the collection of Samir “Mr. Magazine™” Husni
Tomorrow’s Man
Dec. 1952
Vol. 1, No. 1
20 Cents
32 pages
3-3/4 inches by 5-3/4 inches
A New Approach To Bodybuilding
Published in Chicago, IL
Tomorrow is yours… pages 2 and 3
“You are standing on the threshold of a new life… a happier healthier existence. The men who cross this threshold will be stronger, more efficient men, ready to assume roles in the world of tomorrow. In a world torn by strife, the demand for greater strength of mind and body is not only pressing, it is vital.
Whether you take the challenge… whether you open the door or pass it by… depends on you. Tomorrow can be yours, but the choice is up to you.
This magazine is dedicated to that better tomorrow. It is dedicated to the young in spirit who will be tomorrow’s men. It is dedicated to men willing to accept something new and revolutionary…
Thus we dedicate this magazine to Tomorrow’s Man. In these pages you will find new ideas on building mental and physical strength. They are “new” only because they are just now coming into use. Actually, they are as old as common sense. But “old men” have refused to accept them since they do not conform to old teachings.
We think you will enjoy TOMORROW’S MAN. We hope it will help you find increased physical and mental strength. We know it can… if you’re young enough to accept a “young idea.”
AN OPEN LETTER
PAGE 5
THE Before and After pictures on pages 12 and 13 speak for themselves. They prove that the Johnson System really works.
The training program you undertake now will determine what you will be two or three months from now.
If you are really sincere, you can start your training now. Just send me a note saying “Send me full information about Johnson’s Scientific Body Building and Nutrition Course.”
IRVIN JOHNSON
22 E. Van Buren
Chicago, 5, Ill.
Table of contents is on page 7 with Irvin Johnson listed as editor and publisher. The magazine is published monthly with a subscription price of $2.00. Cover price 20¢.
One magazine:
One magazine from the collection of Samir “Mr. Magazine™” Husni collection
One magazine
“… a mystic bond of brotherhood makes all men one.” — Carlyle
Vol. 1, No. 1
January 1953
Published monthly.
20 Cents per issue, two dollars a year.
6 inches by 7 inches
28 pages
Published in Los Angeles, CA
Editorial Board: Martin Block, Dale Jennings, Don Slater. Contributing Editor: Donald Webster Corey. Business Manager: William Lambert. Circulation Manager: Guy Rousseau.
Letter to you:
ONE is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the service of humanity. Its hopes are high. Its plans ae big, but the moral support and practical backing of ONE’s readers must be had, if it is to go forward and achieve great things. There must be many and substantial financial contributions for supplies, for printing, for legal counsel, for equipment needed. The subscription rate cannot cover the cost of production, and advertisers brave enough to support such a publication may be few for some time to come.
If you cannot personally with us working side by side, your check or money order will put you into the front line. Let us show the world what we can do. It is now up to you, ONE’s readers, for this magazine will continue to go forward as fast you permit.
THE EDITORS
Page 3
In the June 1953 issue of One the price became 25¢ by now and the total pages still at 28 and the subscription is $2 a year.
On the inside front cover this was written:
“Everyday come orders for those two historic issues, One’s first and second, January and February 1953.
Everyday we regret we had only enough cash to print five hundred copies each.
Everyday we say, “The minute we get a little ahead, let’s reprint those two.” Then the printer, paper-supplier, binder and plate-maker all gleam with high-priced delight….”
On the last page of the June 1953 issue One identifies itself as such:
“ONE is a non-profit California corporation formed, “to publish and disseminate a magazine dealing primarily with homosexuality from the scientific, historical and critical point of view, and to aid in the social integration and rehabilitation of the sexual variant.” It is also “concerned with medical, social, pathological, psychological and therapeutic research of every kind and description pertaining to socio-sexual behavior,” and aims “to promote among the general public an interest, knowledge and understanding of the problems of such persons.”
One: The Homosexual Magazine tag line appeared for the first time on the cover of the January 1954 issue and was later changed in 1957 to The Homosexual Viewpoint.
Tomorrow’s Man was heavily driven by photography, largely semi-nude man posing in different forms of bodybuilding. One, on the other hand, was text heavy with very little photography used.
To be continued…
Comments, ideas, responses, feel free to email me at samir.husni@gmail.com or comment in the space below.
Samir “Mr. Magazine™” Husni, Ph.D.
Founder and Director
Magazine Media Center
Preserving the past, present, and future of magazine media.
Mr. Magazine