2014 Merchandise & Miscellaneous News Archives

November 4, 2014: Superman Homepage Celebrates 20 Years Online!

Superman Homepage November 2014 marks 20 years since the Superman Homepage was created!

While I, Steve Younis, have been running the website for 18 of those 20 years, I wasn't the one who started it. Here's the story behind the Superman Homepage...

I've always been a Superman fan, having watched the Superman and SuperFriends cartoons on TV as a child. However it wasn't until mid-1995 when I found, bought and read a novel called "The Death and Life of Superman" by Roger Stern that I really began to seriously become a Superman fan/collector.

After reading the novel, an ad at the back of the book for Superman comic books attracted my attention and had me searching out my local Comic Shop to get my first taste of Superman comic books... and so began a humble little hobby that would grow into something beyond my wildest dreams.

It was also around the same time that I first accessed the growing world of the Internet, and I naturally sought out websites dedicated to Superman and related information.

Superman Homepage in 1996 I came across what to me was the most informative and up-to-date Superman web page called the Superman Homepage. This page was maintained by an American guy called Andrew J Gould. Andrew and I quickly became friends via email, discussing the latest Superman comics, TV show episodes, etc... It wasn't till mid-1996 that Andrew told me that he was ill... in fact dying. Andrew suffered from a rare genetic skin disease, dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, which causes the skin to blister and scar in response to minor injuries, and predisposed him to skin cancer. Sadly Andrew passed away in November 1996 but leading up to his death the two of us organised for Andrew's computer files to be transferred to me so I could continue on his work at the Superman Homepage.

Being a Graphic Designer by profession, I set about updating the website to have a more user-friendly look and feel, adding more content and a wider range of information on top of what Andrew had done, including adding information which Andrew had planned to do but had never been able to get around to.

In early 1999 the Superman Homepage had been built up to be rated as one of the premier Superman websites on the World Wide Web, averaging over 200 unique visitors a day. I was joined by up to 8 volunteers from around the world in keeping the website's content as current as possible, with regular reviews of the weekly Superman comics, Episode Guides of the TV shows, latest news and rumors, interactive Trivia Quiz, to name just a few of the areas being updated regularly. Contacts had been made with Superman-related stars and creative people, such as writers on the Superman Comics, committee members who organise the Superman Celebration in Metropolis, Illinois... and the ultimate experience... contact with Christopher Reeve through a mutual friend!

Superman Homepage in 1999 In early June 1999 I was contacted by a man named Chip Meyers. He and his company were setting up a major website called Fandom.com which would be the central place for people to come to who were interested in Science Fiction/Horror/Fantasy, and he wanted me to take control of the Superman section. There were a lot of fine details to work out, but what it came down to was that he wanted to pay me to do my hobby!

After much discussions, the deal was done. The Fandom website (of which my Superman Homepage was to be one of 12 other sections in the initial set-up) was to be launched on the 1st of November 1999. Fandom was a big success, and reaction to my move had been positive. The Superman Homepage did really well with traffic building to over 1,600 unique visitors a day on average, with a growing community involved in the Superman Message Board and Chat Room. My site's reputation as one of the premier online Superman destinations resulted in exclusive interviews with "Superman: The Movie" Director Richard Donner, Producer and Editor on the restoration of "Superman: The Movie" Michael Thau. Both myself and the Superman Homepage received mentions in DC Comics' "Superman" comic books, with interviews conducted with the editor, writers, and artists working on the Superman comics.

Superman Homepage in 2004 Sadly, due to economic difficulties, Fandom Inc. closed its doors in mid-2001. However the Superman Homepage continued to live on, moving to a new location at www.SupermanHomepage.com, returning to an independant existence as a fan-run website. And we've never looked back since.

The Superman Homepage has continued to move with the times, creating an immersive fan experience, with different interactive and multimedia features, including a monthly podcast, weekly news video reports, weekly live internet radio show, as well as having a presence on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus and other Social Media avenues. We even have our own iOS and Android app!

Over the years this website has been a resource for many Superman projects, including the movie "Superman Returns", the "Look, Up in the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman" documentary, "The Essential Superman Encyclopedia" publication, "Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics" documentary, and many more.

In 2013 the Superman Homepage was invited to attend the World Premiere of "Man of Steel" in New York, where I was able to chat with Henry Cavill and Zack Snyder at the After Party. Both were familiar with the Superman Homepage, with Henry Cavill thanking me for all the hard work we do, telling me it was the only Superman fan site he visited.

Today the site boasts around 6,000 unique visitors daily, and continues to grow in size and content, with more news, more reviews, more interviews and... well... more Superman!

And we won't stop there. I'm really looking forward to continuing this adventure in my affiliation with the world of Superman.

Up, up and away!

Steve Younis



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