Whanganui Regional Museum images and manuscripts curator (kaihāpai taonga) Sandi Black will give a talk about a rare DC Action Comic 1973 issue set in Taranaki. Photo / Karen Hughes
Whanganui Regional Museum images and manuscripts curator (kaihāpai taonga) Sandi Black will give a talk about a rare DC Action Comic 1973 issue set in Taranaki. Photo / Karen Hughes
A 1970s DC Action Comic set in Taranaki will feature in the Whanganui Regional Museum’s Object of the Month talk series.
The Last Moa on Earth is a cautionary tale about species extinction told through the adventures of Superman and the story of New Zealand’s extinct giant bird species.
Museumimages and manuscripts curator (kaihāpai taonga) Sandi Black will give a short talk about the comic on Friday, April 17.
“I think maybe people don’t expect to see comic books in a museum,” Black said.
“And particularly something with such a local focus.”
Moa disappeared from New Zealand about 500 years ago, and their bones were first discovered by Europeans in the 1830s, according to Te Ara, sparking curiosity and pop-culture fascination.
The July 1973 issue written by Cary Bates is from DC Comics’ “Bronze Age”, an era featuring prominent social and political themes in many issues.
Environmental awareness was “rapidly growing” at the time, Black said.
“Beneath the action and spectacle is a clear warning about humanity’s impact on the natural world – a message that still resonates today.”
The comic follows hunter Jon Halaway, who accidentally kills the last moa on Earth, which he confirms after bringing the bird to an expert in Hāwera.
The Last Moa on Earth is a 1973 issue of DC Action Comics partly set in Hāwera, Taranaki, featuring Superman and New Zealand's extinct moa. Photo / DC Action Comics
He is filled with guilt and returns to the jungle (bush), where he discovers a surviving egg but is unaware of the mysterious gas that gives the fledgling extraordinary abilities.
He takes it to Metropolis in America, where journalist Clark Kent, AKA Superman, becomes involved in saving the moa once it hatches.
Black said she selected this artefact from the collection because of its unique character and timely message – humans cannot undo their damage to the natural world like Superman can.
