Other Miscellaneous Superman Stuff

1999 Superman Festival

Alex Ross was a guest on Saturday, June 12th 1999 for the Superman Celebration in Metropolis, Illinois. He was be happy to autograph any and all items that fans brought, but will only did one original piece for a raffle at the end of the day on Saturday. Justine Whalin (Jimmy Olsen on "Lois & Clark") was signed on to appear, but he cancelled. Former DC Comics artist Kerry Gammill was also a guest. Advertisements for the Superman Festival appeared in both Comic Buyer's Guide and Toy Shop publications for the celebration.

Alex Ross decided to donate some of his original Superman pieces, including the original "origin" panel from PEACE ON EARTH that was lithographed for the Warner Bros. studio stores. He also attended the auction and dinner beforehand. This year's auction had the most extensive selection ever of Superman memorabilia. The prices ranged from $20.00 to over $11,000. Some of the highlighted items (in addition to Ross' art) were some original Joe Shuster artwork and an original Christopher Reeve Superman costume. Artist Kerry Gammill and Rick Stasi (artist who did the Superman 60th birthday Comic Buyer's Guide cover last year) also signed autographs and created sketches for fans. Rick attended in 1998 and is a real crowd pleaser.

People who attended saw the extended version of Superman II in the Merv Griffin Theater, met the stars, and talked with lots of other Superman fans! On June 11 and 12 (Friday and Saturday) the guests appeared and most of the major events took place. Friday night saw the screening of Superman II and many of the best George Reeves episodes (on 16mm film) in the Merv Griffin Theater. Jim Bowers gave a short slide show on the Pinewood Studios Superman movie photos he recently acquired before the films were shown. Saturday night there was a dinner and invitation-only auction of Superman memorabilia. Many of the items submitted came directly from the Super Museum in Metropolis.