1973 National Periodical Publications Map of Krypton (Superman's Home Planet)

This is a 1973 National Periodical Publications double hemisphere map of Krypton, Superman's home world. Separated into the 'Old World' hemisphere and the 'New World' hemisphere, continents, islands, and other landmasses appear. Urrika appears in the 'Old World' hemisphere, along with Twenex, Mioz, and Tuvu. Ten locations are numerically identified across the hemisphere and correspond with vignettes situated around the central map, including Erkol, the Striped River, the Glass Forest, and Antarctic City. An inset of Vathlo Island states that it is the 'home of highly developed black race'. Lurvan dominates the 'New World' hemisphere. Fifteen locations are numerically identified with corresponding vignettes, including Kryptonopolis (Superman's birthplace), Atomic town, Rainbow Canyon, and Argo City (Supergirl's birthplace).

The 'Amazing World of Superman' Amusement Park

In 1972, Metropolis, Illinois became the official 'Hometown of Superman' as decreed by the Illinois House of Representatives. The 'Amazing World of Superman' museum opened the next year, and the town started making plans to open a thousand-acre, $50 million Superman theme park. Unfortunately for Metropolis, the OPEC oil embargo began, which ended the town's dream of operating a Superman themed park. It took Metropolis ten years to recover from this blow. Today, the town boasts a twelve-foot-tall bronze Superman statue and the Super Museum. The Metropolis Chamber of Commerce used to hand out 'kryptonite' to kids, but DC Comics heard about it and made the town stop (plus the 'kryptonite' also posed a choking hazard). The present map, and the 'Amazing World of Superman' tabloid it accompanied, were originally published to promote Metropolis and the (never built) theme park.

Publication History and Census

This map was published by National Periodical Publications with 'Amazing World of Superman' in 1973. We note two examples of the separate map cataloged in OCLC which are part of the collections at the Osher Map Library at the University of Southern Maine, and Texas A and M University. 'Amazing World of Superman' is part of twenty-one institutional collections worldwide.