Superman Through the Ages! Forum

Or, Superman of the Weisinger Era, if you prefer.

When I was a young'un, still in short pants and never been kissed, I had a friend who was the only other comic book collector I knew of in our whole town. He had comics I wanted and I had comics he wanted. Occasionally we would do a swap, but not often, and the joy of getting a comic you wanted was offset by the pain of losing an old favourite.

Anyhow, one of the comics he always refused to swap was the story of Superman Red and Superman Blue from Superman No. 162. He would let me read it but I never had the opportunity to make it my own.

That was the last time I saw that story till I recently came across it on this website. I read it with great pleasure.

This story could be very easy to dismiss for all the obvious reasons, but it could actually be, if not the epitome of the Silver Age Superman, certainly the ultimate Superman story of the era, and the natural conclusion to every developing concept of the Superman mythos.

Leo Dorfman has carefully and thoughtfully dried every tear avid Superman readers ever shed over every rotten situation suffered by the Man of Steel by giving Superman everything he ever wanted.

Kal-El, always trapped in the Clark Kent-Superman dynamic, is now physically two independent people. What an ingenious resolution. He recreates and repopulates Krypton. He erases crime and evil, healing both Luthor's psychological and physical wounds (the latter being his baldness). The Phantom Zone prisoners are finally set free, their indefinite sentences reaching a natural conclusion. His confusion about love, marriage, Lois and Lana is resolved. How clever that he can marry both. Even his being torn between his Kryptonian heritage and his life on Earth is brought to a satisfying close: he doesn't have to choose anymore! He can live on both worlds.

Dorfman shamelessly and sincerely created a very clever story that lets us peek into Superman's daydreams.

By the time I was born, the Sliver Age of Superman was long gone, but the legend of this tale was still strong. The plot itself was the stuff of dreams, sadly I never got to read it until years later when I brought the TGSSET TPB. As strange as it may sound to some, this may have very well been the most realistic of Superman stories. Outsiders always said looking at Superman logically, that if Superman was really so powerful and so good then why wouldn't he do this or do that, and solve all of the world's problems. In this story he does just that. Of course the real reason why Superman never did any of these things in the official cannon was of course because then the comic would be over ;)

It was the happiest of happy endings, and just so happens to be one of my favorite imaginary tales of all time.

Indeed.  I would say that the "Red and Blue" tale forms a bookend of sorts with "Death Of Superman" on the opposite end.  The former wraps up the legend in the happiest way possible, the latter in the saddest way. Between them they represent the Alpha and Omega of the "Imaginary Story" genre, and any others are just pale shadows.



Yes, and note that while one Superman prefers life on Earth and the other a life on Krypton, neither considers for a moment living out his life as Clark Kent.  An interesting aspect of the Silver Age versus the Modern Age, eh?  

Here's a challenge to the current creative types at DC: How about an Elseworlds...just one, mind you...that explores, as this story did, the best things that could happen instead of the worst? Does anyone still remember how to write a happy ending? Or for that matter, how to look at the world with anything like optimism?

It took me awhile to find the above quote on the archived DCMB "Superman in the 70s" even using the index--the index for that old DCMB thread can be found on pages 26-28 of the thread, for those who don't know--I would probably revise the index if it were still active--but I did find it on page 7 of DCMB-70.  And I don't want to go fishing for more info, but I think that this story was connected in my mind in some way with the "Sad Superman" and the related "Saviour Superman."

It certainly shows Superman full of himself, thinking he knows what's best for humanity (and I do go on to talk about Maggin's Superman in this wise).

Anyway that Super-Spec was where I first read the "Superman Blue/Red" story.  And I did finally get my own copy of 162 about a year ago.

Somehow, though, as satisfying as it is, the story isn't quite complete enough.  I still have to provide my ultimate ending.  Which is--like the Invisible Man or the Werewolf, who revert to their original forms just before they're going to die--both Supermen at the end of their lives fuse back into one whole being.  Now they can share the mutual memories of the life they didn't live--the path that either did not take.  And so Superman dies happy--content with his memories of Lana AND Lois, Earth AND new Krypton.  I can just see Lois and Lana (both very old women, but still looking great) consoling each other over the grave of the men they both loved.

An intriguing thought, but unfortunately I cannot comment as I've never read or even seen Death of Superman.

I'm loath to ask for a synopsis. I would rather read the story afresh. Hopefully it may turn up here in the online comics section!

Actually, nightwing, I couldn't imagine any sadder wrap-up to the legend than my very favourite "Imaginary" story, Love is Blind, partly because the story leaves so many things maddeningly unresolved.

Is there anyway for you to get a copy of The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told TPB? Both stories and many others (It's 336 pages) are in that book. Here is the cover :
(http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0930289390.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg)

I'm sure there is.

I will add it to the loooong list of books I want.  :wink:

It's definitely something I would like to get.

Concerning The Super-Key to Fort Superman....

http://superman.nu/tales2/key/?page=1

....from Action Comics No. 241 (1958) by Jerry Coleman and Wayne Boring:

1. I've seen it written that this is considered by some to be the first "Silver Age" story. An article on this website seems to suggest this story is pre-Silver Age. Maybe those of you who have reasonably complete Action Comics collections can shed some light on this for me.

2. What's the exact date Weisinger took sole charge over all the Superman comic books? (I am assuming that the "Super-Key" story was edited by Weisinger.)

I know the issue of "Ages" of Superman is contentious, and I don't want to get into that argument here -- there's another thread on this board for that.

Is there too much significance given to the "Super-Key" story? This is obviously the first appearance of the Fortress of Solitude...?

Whilst "Red and Blue" was one of the all time Silver age greats albeit an imaginary story, my personal fave (not a dream, hoax or imaginary story)
was "The Last Days of Superman" circa early 60s with beautiful Swan/Klein illos and a heart pounding storyline where Superman is convinced that he's been exposed to Virus X and dying slowly whilst the super comrades attempt to carry out his last requests.

Pretty hard not to break down while reading this classic! :shock:

Not going to say more as I dont want to spoil the ending for those who haven't read it.

If it hasnt been reprinted. maybe Great Rao willing, it can appear here.
(Me got copy but no scanner)

That story appeared in Superman in the 60's TPB. Which you should be able to buy at any bookstore and comic book shop.

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Nice.  Thanks for the update.  Now I can reseal my original comic in bat guano. :wink:

Me?  I like to read mine  and boy are they dog eared!  Maybe they;re Krypto eared actually... :wink:

Me too. I didn't have a clue about "preserving" comic books. Of course I took all proper care when handling them, but basically I just read them to death. The most polite thing you could say about my old collection is that it's "well-loved".

Yup me too - whats left of them after variosu fire sales, girl friends etc

Some have survived thru the ages for various reasons and "The Last Days of Superman" is absolutely one of them!

The only flaws I could find in that story was that Superman red was Kal-el and married to lois while Blue was Clark and married to Lana, though it would probably be because of balancing out instead of the more preferable personalities taking one side, it's still sad :(. I can identify superman more with the color Blue than the red so I would like this dude to be the one that gets lois, be Clark, and live on earth. Let's not forget the term "Lois and Clark" almost like "Romeo and Juliet" it was harmony, they were a team, but here Kal ends up with Lois, and Clark with Lana.

>>ZEE-ZEE-ZEE<< I just wanted to alert everyone that there's a new "lost annual" of MORE SECRET ORIGINS, which includes the first Jimmy Olsen/Robin Team story from World's Finest, by Edmond Hamilton, Curt Swan, and George Klein.  Plus a whole host of sixties faves.

A very spiffy read.

Fortress of Solitude

No takers for my wonderings regarding "The Super-Key to Fort Superman"?

Anyway, moving on...

One thought I had about the Fortress...

Carved out of rock and ice in the Arctic, it's no stretch of the imagination to see that it must be VERY VERY COLD inside that Fortress. Except... visitors to the Fortress over the years are shown walking around comfortably in street clothes, often in different parts of the sanctum.

This would seem to indicate that Superman maintains parts of the Fortress at a temperature comfortable for ordinary human beings.

Not quite! Check out this real life Fortress of Solitude!

http://www.riverdeep.net/current/2001/01/013101_icehotels.jhtml

"Staying Warm    
How is it possible to stay warm in a hotel room built of ice? The secret is the fact that ice and snow are good insulators. An insulator is a material that prevents or slows the flow of energy in the form of heat, electricity, or sound. In contrast, a conductor is a material that allows the energy to flow. For example, feathers are a heat insulator; aluminum is a heat conductor.

Ice helps keep the Ice Hotel relatively warm. It traps the heat inside the hotel room and keeps the colder air outside. Even if the outside temperature drops to well below freezing, the temperature inside the hotel room remains just a few degrees below freezing.

The Ice Hotel is an oversized, complex Eskimo igloo. Igloos are built of snow. During construction, snowflakes that fall on the igloo melt and then quickly refreeze into ice. Once an igloo is complete, the Eskimos place a hot lamp inside and seal the entrance. As the snow begins to melt, it runs down the interior walls of the igloo. When the walls are all wet, the builders remove the lamp and leave the door open. The sudden exposure to the cold outside air freezes the water on the walls, creating a layer of ice. The igloo now has a triple layer of insulation: an ice coating on the interior of the snow walls, the snow walls themselves, and ice coating on the exterior of the snow walls.

Ice also gives structural strength to both igloos and the Ice Hotel. Legend has it that an igloo can withstand the weight of a polar bear, if one should decide to visit. Hotel guests do not have to worry that the building might collapse if a blizzard dumps several feet of snow on the roof.

Like an igloo, the Ice Hotel is temporary shelter. Once the outside temperatures climb above 0°C (32°F), the structure will begin to melt."

Glad to find this crowd still hanging out somewhere !

Aldous, my impression of the Fortress story is that its significance was found mostly in hindsight as the forerunner of all the Weisinger innovations that followed it.  The story itself, aside from being the first Fortress story, had one other milestone attached to it - it was a celebration of sorts of Superman's 20th anniversary - being published in June 1958.

I believe Weisinger began being credited in the indicia as editor as of issue 239, just 2 months prior (Whitney Ellsworth being listed beforehand), but that he was involved behind the scenes as editor on all of the Superman comics since the '40s.  What inspired this unprecedented burst of creativity in '58-'59 is a matter of debate I suppose, but I would conjecture that his getting full credit as editor for the first time was at least part of the explanation.

actually, Morty served in WW2 so he couldn't have been the editor during that time.

Osgood Peabody

Hi, Osgood!



You bet!

Thanks for the reply to the "Super-Key" post. You've covered everything I was wondering about.

As that is your first post here, let me say Welcome. These are great discussion boards. There are a few really knowledgeable comic book fans here, so you will fit right in. I am looking forward to learning from you all about Superman history and super hero comic books.

And let's not forget the odd heated debate! You know how I love to argue...  :wink:

How was Superman (and DC) been able to survive during the Marvel Age? what was weisinger's reaction, his views to the change of sudden fan mood (coz usually from what I've heard, Mort would get plots from kids next door)

I'm sure since Marvel was really becoming huge.. superman readers were being reduced into a cult ministry kind of thing.. ever had any thought of this.

From all I've read, Mort, and DC in general, were in denial about Marvel's success.  Having seen numerous companies come and go over the years while DC lumbered ever onward, the prevailing wisdom was that Marvel might enjoy a brief flash of popularity, but would ultimately fold.

The fact that DC actually *distributed* Marvel titles for the first few years proves they didn't consider them a huge threat.  And from interviews I've seen with Neal Adams, Carmine Infantino, Roy Thomas and others I gather that DC practically had an editorial policy of self-imposed obsolesence.  

I see things like the Schwartz-helmed revamp of Batman in 64, the appointment of Infantino to publisher and other developments as part of DC's effort to reinvent itself.  Unfortunately this often took the form of aping Marvel rather than forging their own path.  Doubly unfortunate since it's obvious the DC crowd didn't really understand the appeal of Marvel comics and so was only able to imitate certain attitudes and styles, but without the "sparkle" to make it really work.

I don't know that Superman was all that devastated by Marvel's rise at this point in time, at least not to the point of becoming a "for cultists only" title. I think he still appealed to the juvenile crowd even if Spidey and the Hulk were claiming college kids.  But it was almost certainly a lie when DC ran that banner that said, "World's Best-Selling Comics Magazine!"

Unless they meant it in an historical sense.

I wasn't even born when the FF, Hulk, and Spider-Man hit the marketplace, but I would love to hear from anyone who was around, and who actually remembers seeing the new Marvels on the newsstand, and what you honestly thought of them at the time.

I love early FF, Spidey and Dr. Strange, but I discovered them many many years after they originally appeared, so I have no feeling of "context" in terms of the marketplace. Actually, growing up in NZ in those days, I had no inkling of context anyway... I had no knowledge of the comics scene in the States. I only knew what I liked, and that's all I cared about. (Yes, I lived in an insular world where other people's opinions about comics didn't matter a d*amn. My, how times have changed.)

Apparently, I thinl DC thought Marvel would be another EC (Bill Gaines' comic shop), but what they didn't account for is that marvel lasted and remained on top for 8 years until 1970.

All i can respect about Stan Lee is that he writes most of his titles for numerous years, unlike the divided works in the weisinger era. But otherwise his contributions IMO are naught compared to Siegel and Shuster.

I agree that Siegel and Shuster had a more lasting impact on comics than Stan Lee but considering this is a Superman website and forum that should come as no great surprise but the shame of it is that the general view that people have would be that they actually recognize Stan Lee for his impact on comics.  Hopefully between the success of the Smallville Television show, the Superman Movie in developement and the character appearing in Justice League on the Cartoon Network that the media will give Siegel and Shuster their spotlight in the sun and make the general public aware of their impact.

When I first saw Marvels in their infancy I thought they were crap - cheap paper, hideously drawn characters and thought the Thing looked like a walking pile of mons-turd.  

I had been termendously spoiled by the Wesinger era at DC and bear in mind this was 61-62 (I was like 6).  I later picked up an issue of Spider-man thinking it was a re-boot of The Spider from the pulps that had been featured in a warren publication, Screen Thrills Illustrated.  I disliked immensely Ditko's artwork thinking it was populated by some strange ethnic group of wierd-os.

Later when the Marvel cartoons first premiered on TV with the ultra limited animation that was basically cut out panels with music - mostly by Kirby, I was intrigued. It wasnt until 67-68 that the Kirby FF was at their height did I make mine marvel but only for the Kirby/Steranko
material.  But while reading the marvels, I always felt like I was slumming
over at Brand I. (I for "ego" as they used to say in LOCs back in the day)

And nothing made my day more than when Kirby came to DC and was doing JO and the Fourth World saga.  His Olsens were worth the price of admission and I was not at all displeased to see an Anderson or Plastino head pasted on bridging a precraious continuity from Marvelizing beloved
DC characters.  But oh - those 4 armed terrors! :shock:

By the time, Kirby had left DC I was at art school and drawing myself and not paying attention.

But after all this time, the comics I want to buy and reread are the Wesinger era DCs- pure escapist entertainment wheras the Marvel's, particularly the FF are well done but with all the fighting and epic battles, they just give me eyestrain and a headache.

Of course, what has survived thruout the years...most of the Marvels
because if one wanted to still be a heroic cartoonist then one studied Kirby and not Swan...ha!  Im spending a small fortune just to get readable comics and I will accept them in the worst condition possible as long as the pages arent brittle just so I can escape all the tumult and angst of modern day life and the harrowing adventures of being an indie
filmmaker to settle down with "Jimmy Olsen's Monster Movie".

Ya dont get the ads and LOCs in the archive editions and Id rather READ my comics then collect. :D

I want to pick up on something touched on in another thread.

"The Strange Experiment of Dr. Erdel," the first John Jones: Manhunter from Mars story, is considered by some to be the first Silver Age super hero comic. The only other contender is Showcase No. 4 featuring the first adventure of Barry-Flash-Allen.

I've owned the first three John Jones adventures since I was a small kid, but I don't know much about his evolution from that point on. It's obvious he eventually turned into a Superman clone. (Yawn.) But he wasn't always like that.

In 1992 DC issued some facsimile editions of important Silver Age classics. I seem to have four of them (I don't know how many there were): Green Lantern No. 76, Action Comics No. 252, Showcase No. 4, and Detective Comics No. 225.

(Hey... One thing I re-learned from reading the notes at the back of the Flash comic... The first Silver Age Flash story was written by the great Robert Kanigher!)

Mark Waid has an interesting article at the back of the Detective comic. He talks about the enduring heroes being products of their time, John Jones' time being the age of prosperity, paranoia, McCarthy, SF movies like "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", and a keep-watching-the-skies mentality.

Waid gives Schiff credit for picking up on the mindset of a generation and creating a new science fiction series that "used the element of paranoia to terrific effect". He rightly points out that John Jones, who "was forced by his otherworldly appearance to work in secret, performing his deeds invisibly rather than risk exposing himself to a distrusting world", shared few similarities with Superman.

John Jones was unique. Was he a "super hero"? I'm not sure. I think so. If he wasn't, he can't lay claim to being the first Silver Age super hero. But, as I said, I only have his earliest three or four adventures. For me, he was a really cool science fiction character, sort of a Bogey-type detective with secret powers.

There's not much to suggest John Jones was Golden Age, even though he appears in what is obviously still a Golden Age Batman comic book. Not with those Silver Age -- or, more correctly, Weisinger-era -- angles of science fiction and tragedy.

So... his first appearance credits (from the '92 facsimile edition):
EDITOR: Jack Schiff
WRITER: Joe Samachson
ARTIST: Joe Certa

There is one curiosity... In my ancient Australian reprint of the original John Jones appearance, the splash panel very clearly displays this credit:

ART: JOE CERTA

But in the DC replica edition, which boasts, "...comics as they were originally presented", the artist credit has been removed! I can't think of a reason why.

It's worth pointing out that Krypto, who everyone ALWAYS calls a "Silver Age" character and NEVER  a "Golden Age" character, actually preceded BOTH J'onn J'onzz and the second Flash. But the poor dog never gets the credit for starting the Silver Age.

I know that some people would object to using the concept of comics "ages" at all, saying that comics are comics. But I think the Krypto/J'onn/Flash example shows that you can't really point to one specific issue of one title as truly ushering in a new "Age" of comics. That's just something speculators do to raise prices. An "Age" to me is defined more by the general tone and subject matter and story/art trends in comics at a particular time.

If you want to confuse yourself, read some of the science-fiction and Justice Society stories edited by Julius Schwartz around 1950, and then read some of the science-fiction and Justice LEAGUE stories he edited around 1960. THey are supposedly separate "Ages" but do they really seem that different? Superman stories in 1957 and in 1967 were both part of the "Weisinger Era" or "Silver Age" but they are very different. (The general consensus seems to be that Superman's S.A. mythos really started cooking in 1960 and that newer writers circa 1966 changed the tone again.)

Personally, I think that comics in general have a different "feel" every 3-5 years no matter what. You can't always pinpoint it but they just do. Of course, that probably has as much to do with me changing as a reader as it does with the comics, but I think comics do settle into a particular "groove" for a few years and then the market starts to shift its tastes.

Aldous-- in the 70s, DC often added artist credits to the splash pages of reprinted stories when the artist (or sometimes writer) was known. There were no credits given at DC in the Fifties (or pretty much anywhere in comics). The best an artist could usually hope for was signing his name in the splash somewhere, and hope the editor wouldn't remove it. Some creators like Simon and Kirby or Bob Kane had the clout to add their names to the splash in the 40s, but that tradition was mostly gone by then.

It was Stan Lee in the mid-60s at Marvel who really began the idea of using credit boxes. DC was slow to follow, although the editors at DC would sometimes mention the name of the writer or artist in the letter columns. DC didn't really start listing writers or artists as a general rule until the late 60s, and the letterers and colorists didn't get listed at all until about 1978.

So that uncredited splash really was "as originally presented". (Although I'm sure the story was recolored and retouched even then. Even the best "reprints" of old stories, like DC's Archive series, are usually more reproductions than reprints.)

C-Op, you are quite right about "trend", "feel" and "groove", but the beginning of the Silver Age seems more significant than that. Even if you don't put a name to it, even if you don't call it a new "Age", something big started to happen.

Super hero comics as an industry were pretty much in the doldrums, in the truest sense of the word.

It may be cheeky to call John Jones the first comic of the "revival", but there's no doubt that when Showcase No. 4 hit the stands, something new and fresh and clever had happened to super hero comics. Then along came Broome's Green Lantern.

I have no problem seeing the creative and popular heights of the first great era of super heroes as a "Golden Age". Then super heroes seemed to have had their heyday, and, in fact, looked to be going the way of the dinosaur.

Then they rose again. The dawning of a new "Age"? I think so!

For Superman's 30th birthday celebration, Curt Swan and Neal Adams whipped up a big cake (decorated with these frosted details: "1938-1968; CLASSIC TALES featuring SUPERMAN'S FRIENDS and FOES!).  Superman--not one for fancy table manners--decided to get up ontop of the cake, stand right on top of it with a big "30th Anniversary Issue" on his burly shoulders (I don't care if he is Superman, I'm not eating that cake after he's gone and stepped in it).

Whoever organized the party--nevermind that it was a bit late with the cover date being July-August 1968 (surely the proper date would have been June 1968, and in Action Comics not Superman)--I hear it was E. Nelson Bridwell who sent out the invitations--whoever it was who organized it was good enough to invite his friends and family (Perry White, blowing cigar smoke everywhere, for sure I'm not going to eat that cake now, Lois Lane, broke out her best fishnets for the occasion, gentlemanly of Swan to give her some drop shadow or else you could look right up her dress, Supergirl, Jimmy Olsen, good thing Supergirl is invulnerable because when Olsen is excited his hands are flying everywhere, hit her right in the face, and broke his fingers, his fingers are stuck like that now, such an accident-prone kid), but whoever organized the party was stupid enough to invite his top three foes (Mxyzptlk, Brainiac, and Luthor--Supergirl made sure to break their thumbs as they came in the room, and they were still grimacing in horrible pain when Adams snapped the cover photograph).

Enough with the bad comedic quips--what Classic Tales did Bridwell arrange for this special anniversary celebration? Here's the Table of Contents run-down (from the inside front cover);

80pg. Giant SUPERMAN Featuring Prize Stories from the SUPERMAN LIBRARY!

THE SUPERMAN FROM OUTER SPACE.....................1
From another world comes Hyper-Man, to ask his exact double,
Superman, to help him preserve his secret identity! So why does
the Man of Might deliberately EXPOSE H-Man's alter ego,
instead?

THE TRIO OF STEEL................................................15
Superman, Superboy and Superbaby existing at the same time
...when they're all one person at different ages?  That's only one
of the impossible things that happen before this wild tale comes
to its kookie conclusion!

THE CAPTIVE OF THE AMAZONS.............................24
Jena, an Amazon princess from another planet, decides to make
Clark (Superman) Kent her husband!  And what Jena wants Jena
gets . . . even if it takes kidnapping, blackmail and a wierd love
potion!

SUPERMAN'S NEW UNIFORM..................................38
What does the Man of Steel do when his super-costume loses
its indestructibility? He gets hold of a new, improved outfit! But
one of the "improvements" turns out to be a fiendish death-trap!

THE SUPER-FAMILY OF STEEL................................51
Here it is . . . a genuine super-wedding!  The bride is a beauti-
ful brunette . . . the groom a gallant gladiator in red-and-blue!
Come along . . . you're invited to the festivities!

THE BRIDE GETS SUPER-POWERS.........................59
What's more trouble than twins? Super-twins . . . to a non-super
mother!  So the Husband of Steel comes to the rescue and en-
dows his wife with all his powers!

THE SECRET OF THE SUPER-FAMILY......................70
We won't tell you a thing about this chapter! Sharpen your wits
and see if you can guess the surprise ending!

SPECIAL FEATURE

30TH ANNIVERSARY SUPERMAN QUIZ....................14


*********************************

I enthused enough about the wonderful "Super-Family of Steel" on the old DCMBs.  Suffice to say I love this "Lois Lane" story written by Edmond Hamilton and illustrated by the inimitable Kurt Schaffenberger.  But that wasn't the only treasure to be found in this Giant.

I'm surprised to find that "The Superman From Outer Space" is just 13 pages long.  Having now read it yet again I still find myself thinking it must be 24 pages.  Without question this story has influenced Alan Moore in many of his stories--most obviously in the concept of Terra Obscura (from Tom Strong), as well as in his Supreme stories.  And it probably served as an inspiration for the first Vartox story by Cary Bates, as it proposes the old parallel world concept--but a world not in a parallel dimension or universe, but simply a world given astronomical chances that happens to develop in another part of the universe along remarkably similar lines as Earth.

"One day in Metropolis"--begins the story, as with so many other Superman stories--finds Lois and Clark interviewing a reknowned scientist who has created a robot that is uncannily similar to himself--and a "robot detector" that allows Lois to distinguish the difference.  Lois pockets the detector and intends to use it on Clark when he joins her for lunch--as she knows that Superman will be at a hospital function at the same time.  From the hospital, the Man of Might uses his X-Ray vision to activate his Clark Kent robot (in the secret closet of his apartment) to take his place at lunch.

This story intriguingly uses several scenes of X-Ray/telescopic vision shots.  Four alone on the third page, where this whole Clark Kent robot scenario unfolds via Superman's vision powers.  The thing that bugged me about those scenes back in 1968 and still bugs me today is that we also see thought balloons for the people that Superman is peeping in on.  Comic books have their own internal logic, and for me this breaks one of the rules of that logic.  While it's possible to take a lot of liberties with visual depictions--and these X-Ray shots are a good example of that--there are rules that accompany such artistic license--such as not showing things that Superman himself can't witness.  He can "see" dialogue because he can read lips, but he can't hear thoughts.

But enough aesthetic theory--on with the story...

  Before the robot can report for lunch and be found out by Lois, a gaudy costumed figure smashes the robot's head (we see "Clark's" head blown apart, glasses flying) and this same person dresses in Clark Kent's duds and takes his place at lunch with Lois.

"Later at the Daily Planet office..."  Superman flies in the window and escorts "Clark" back out the window in front of Lois.  On a mountain top, Superman confronts the impostor, now divested of Clark Kent's suit of clothes and standing in his super outfit (this guy must be colour blind as he matches a basic fuchsia costume with orange cape, yellow "H" on green chest emblem, yellow belt, green trunks, and yellow boots).

Turns out this guy is "Hyper-Man" and he's been using his telescopic vision to spy on Superman for years.  Back home on Oceania, his adopted planet, Lydia Long (Girl TV Reporter) is convinced "Chester King" is in reality Hyper-Man, and now H-Man hopes to recruit Superman to save his secret identity the way he just saved the Man of Tomorrow's.

Hyper-Man was born on the planet Zoron, under a red sun, and when that planet blew up his scientist father managed to send him away in a rocket ship at the last possible moment...

"Landing on a smaller planet which had a yellow sun, I gained super-powers! I was found and adopted by Dad and Mom King in a small town!  I assumed a secret identity as Chester King, their son, and began a crime-fighting career as Hyper-Boy!

"After my foster parents died, I took a job in Macropolis as a roving television reporter for the Oceania Network!"

Superman remarks, "Your history is a repetition of mine, Hyper-Man!"  But he's not so surprised as Hyper-Man by the similarity, for as he explains as he feeds data cards into his Super-Univac computer, inside the Fortress of Solitude: "Each of the 100 million galaxies in the universe contains more than 200 billion stars!  Out of their trillions of planets, by sheer chance alone, it follows that at least one world would be a close duplicate of Earth!

Like Superman, Hyper-Man is susceptible to the radiations of a surviving chunk of his homeworld, called Zoronite, a yellow piece of space rock.

After Superman privately consults his Super-Univac computer, the two Men of Steel leave our Earth and apparently arrive on Oceania in no time.  There they visit H-Man's underwater "Fortress of Secrecy" where Oceania's champion takes Superman on a tour.  A diagram compares Oceania culture with Earth--curled point toe shoes vs. rounded straight toe shoes, three wheeled cars vs. four wheeled cars, odd shaped coins and bills vs round coins and rectangular bills.  Hyper-Man also shows Superman a replica of Zoronite (here un-coloured white) and a mysterious blue meteorite he's been analyzing.

Superman asks why Hyper-Man doesn't use a robot to fool Lydia Long.  The Last Son of Zoron has been experimenting with robots but an element in Oceania's atmosphere, Zillium, "short-circuits any delicate electronic brain." [Note: this may have provided the idea used a couple years later--after this story's Giant reprint--in World's Finest 202 where Superman has to junk his robots because of environmental pollutants in the atmosphere that play havoc with their programming.]  Likewise, Hyper-Man hasn't developed a Super-Univac type computer with its predictive and analytic capabilities.

As a demonstration, when Hyper-Man asks Robot # 3 what's two plus two, the stiff automaton (shown in the panel trying to fit a round peg in a square hole) responds: "Uh duhhh...2 plus 2?...That's hard, Master! Uh duhhh...I know...five!"

Superman tells his doppelganger that he'll see what he can do about shielding the robots against the effects of Zillium, but when the Zoronian Champion flies out of the Fortress of Secrecy, Superman's private thoughts reveal that he intends to expose Chester King as in reality Hyper-Man!

At the O.N. office, Lydia (a Lois Lane double) is harassing Clark Kent-like Chester King (more proof that Hyper-Man was colour-blind, as Chet wears a black and red striped tie with an orange suit), when "Hyper-Man" flies in the window.  Lydia is just about to retract her accusations when the robot cracks apart in front of her--convincing the Girl TV Reporter all the more that King is the Man of Bronze.

Later, as it's July Fifth, independence day in the O.S.A. nation, there's to be festivities which both King and Long are supposed to attend.

You have to wonder if the Oceanians had any sense at all.  To celebrate the independence of the O.S.A., they ascend in a long tube to a large satellite which is then rocketed into orbit, from which they witness their hero, Hyper-Man, igniting an enormous nuclear cloud of ATOMIC firecrackers fired into space right before them.  After this display of stupidity, they then mildly watch as the Man of the Future carries an over-sized radioactive flag pole and flag, luminous with the light of the atomic reactor that sits at the top of the flagplole.

On this July Fifth, it's actually Superman in the gaudy garb of Hyper-Man.  And he uses this opportunity to deflect a yellow Zoronite meteor toward the satellite observation window.  The window is meteor-proof (so the Zoronite simply bounces off of it), but apparently not radiation proof (which begs the question--why did the Oceanians willingly expose themselves to atomic radiation for the sake of some fireworks and a flag display?) as Chester King gasps in pain from his exposure to the Zoronite radiation.

Now Chester King has to give it up.  He's been found out as Hyper-Man, there's no use pretending to Lydia or the rest of the crowd on the satellite, and he introduces Superman as the Hyper-Man-pretender.  However when the real Hyper-Man tries to use his powers again he finds that his extraordinary abilities have left him and he's just like any other ordinary Oceanian.

Among the gathered spectators is a scientist who offers the theory that the radiations of the atomic fireworks combined with the radiations of the Zoronite meteor to permanently rob the Macropolis Marvel of his amazing powers.

As it seems that Superman unwittingly neutered their champion, he's now persona non grata on Oceania and takes his leave, returning to Earth.

A year later, Supergirl finds her cousin in their Fortress of Solitude using his super-vision to watch Oceania.  Together they sit and lip-read the far distant scene.

Turns out Superman knew (thanks to his Super-Univac) that that blue meteor was really some kind of red Kryptonite equivalent, which in this case had the ability to slowly kill Hyper-Man.  Losing his super-powers was just the first stage in the progressive radiations that would eventually lead to the Zoronian's demise.

Superman decided that it was best to keep the truth from Hyper-Man, but also decided to make it seem that Chester had lost his powers by accident, so that he and Lydia would finally be free to admit their true love for each other and live in wedded bliss for the remaining time that the Active Ace had left.

Together, the Kryptonian cousins witness the sombre scene between Mr. and Mrs. King.  Chester (as I'll call him, since that's who he truly is now, even wearing glasses which would now seem to be necessary rather than a mere disguise), Chester tells his wife that "Last week at my Fortress I checked that blue meteor and found out that its rays had been poisoning me all along!  That's what took my powers away a year ago! It wasn't Superman's fault!"

As King gasps his last goodbye to the lovely Lydia, Supergirl sheds a tear and exclaims,  "What a heart of gold you have, Superman!  You gave them a priceless gift even you have never had--a happy year of marriage!"

THE END

"The Superman From Outer Space" originally appeared in Action Comics 265, June 1960.
story:Otto Binder  art: Curt Swan and Stan Kaye

Another boon from that 30th anniversary issue (Superman 207, 80 Page Giant G-48, June (July) 1968), was a Wayne Boring illustrated story called "The Captive of the Amazons" which originally appeared in the issue of Action immediately after the one that featured "The Superman from Outer Space," and also by Otto Binder with Stan Kaye inks--no. 266, July 1960.

This one is not to be confused with "The Super-Prisoner of Amazon Island," also pencilled by Boring, which Aldous can be found describing on page 10 of the old DCMB "Superman in the Seventies," originally from Action no. 235, December 1957. I haven't tracked down that story myself, although I understand it can be found in both Superman Annual no. 3 and Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane no. 104.  I hold out little hope of ever getting that Annual, unless DC releases it as a replica edition, but I'm optimistic that I might someday soon get a copy of LL 104.

Anyhow, on the old 70s thread, Aldous offered up "Super-Prisoner" as a fine example of Boring's talents for drawing glamorous and beautiful women.  Having never seen it I can't speak to that, but "Captive" seems to be yet another example of Boring's gifts for rendering lovely ladies.

The prime Amazon in this tale is Jena, lovely blonde Amazon Princess of the planet Adoria, resplendent in a green body suit which curiously has these sparkly gleamings as inked by Kaye bouncing off Jena's form.  But it's actually the glimpses of her Amazon attendants which most capture my fancy. Somewhat like Zamarons, these young ladies are outfitted in quasi-Roman armour chainmail vests, with curious helmets that seem like a cross between Roman Legion helmets and miner's hard hats, with wierd promontories on the top that seem to have no functional purpose.  The ladies have little abutments on their vests that cover their shoulders, but their arms are bare.  While the nearly knee-high metallic boots cover their otherwise bare legs--together with a frilly device upon their better parts which seems hardly to qualify as a skirt as it covers nothing and seems entirely see-through.  Even Jena's queenly mother, despite her advancing age and generous girth, does not demure from wearing this same outfit, but for the fact that the Legion helmet/miner's hardhat is replaced by a coronet.

Apparently these Amazons have no shame about their bodies because their bald, little men-folk are so lacking in aggression that the strong women have slight fear of inviting unwanted male attentions, and may happily expose their bodies in public without danger of molestation from any quarter.

Ah, but yes there is a story here I should give some passing reference to.  Well, Jena is a mysterious movie star on Earth who in actuality has been searching for her Ben Affleck--which happens to be Superman.  Unbenounced to the general public or Superman or the reader, Jena has manipulated circumstances so that Clark Kent will be cast in her new movie.  When they are on board the supposedly mock spaceship for this new movie production, Clark is taken captive, exposed to Green K, and transported to Adoria, where Jena intends to make the Man of Steel her sex slave--I mean--husband.

Threatening to blow up the Earth with a death-ray, Jena induces Superman to agree to be her consort (the sixth, her other five husbands having perished in battle with robots).  And to ensure his fidelity she offers him a drink laced with a magic love potion.  As he downs the cup of desirous liquid, Superman becomes an ardent suitor and actually is too demonstrative.  Clumsily wrecking the subway tube under the city as he retrieves a big diamond for his bride, breaking the king's crown and a priceless urn with the loud vibrations of his singing {"I'M SO WILD ABOUT JENA, I'M CHASIN' COMETS ALL THE TIME!!")

Apparently men do have some purpose on Adoria, and her father presides over the wedding. But at the banquet reception, the boorish Superman shows no table manners, acts a perfect glutton, and burps so loudly that the force of his belch sends the wedding guests careening across the room.

When the rebel robots (who occupy the hills surrounding the royal city) launch a raid, Superman pushes them back with little effort and then deposits them in the planet's main reservoir--poisoning the prime water-supply on this water deprived world.

Jena bitterly regrets her choice in a mate, and asks her father to "get me out of this nightmare."  And he does just that by declaring the marriage annulled and tearing up the license.

But Superman (who was pretending all the time to be in love and to be boorish--as the love potion had no effect on him) flies away from the Amazon world into space and then sends an ice planet into orbit around Adoria so that the Adorians will have plenty of fresh water raining down upon them for years to come.

After which, Jena returns the favour by revealing the location of her deathray so that he may destroy it.

*****

By the way, reading the review of "The Super-Prisoner of Amazon Island," on the old DCMB, I noticed that Aldous never quite got to the conclusion of this story, and now it's bothering me--just how did it all turn out in the end?

To refresh our memories here's the review by Aldous from that thread:




---

(http://www.comics.org/graphics/covers/116/400/116_4_207.jpg)

[note: GCD credits this all to Neal Adams--which it might seem to be looking at this scan--but studying the cover on my copy I decided that Curt Swan must have had a hand in it, at least on the faces of some like Lois and Supergirl.]

That cover looks like a real hodgepodge.

Yes, the basic figures do look like Adams. But the inks sure don't look like Adams... not even early Adams. The Perry, Luthor, Brainiac and maybe Jimmy faces sure do look as if they were "fixed"  by Swan. And the inking, especially on the villain bodies, is quite a bit more crude than Adams usaully would be. It looks more like Joe Giella, perhaps Jack Abel or even George Roussos to me.

And of course, almost all of the DC covers in the late Sixties were apparently drawn from loose sketches designed by Carmine Infantino, so you could credit him as designer.


<<Ah, but yes there is a story here I should give some passing reference to. Well, Jena is a mysterious movie star on Earth who in actuality has been searching for her Ben Affleck--which happens to be Superman. Unbenounced to the general public or Superman or the reader, Jena has manipulated circumstances so that Clark Kent will be cast in her new movie. When they are on board the supposedly mock spaceship for this new movie production, Clark is taken captive, exposed to Green K, and transported to Adoria, where Jena intends to make the Man of Steel her sex slave--I mean--husband. >>

It occurs to me that this story definitely inspired the post-reboot character of Maxima. In the original Stern /Perez Maxima story, I believe she even masqueraded as a fashion supermodel while seeking out Superman, to transport him back to planet Almerac and be her mate... whether he liked it or not. (Why oh why wouldn't he??)

Actually I caught an error in my original post on this Giant--an error which I meant to delete from my draft, but forgot to, and so it ended up in the post when I knew better.  I could use the edit function to re-edit the whole thing, but instead I'll just explain that the actual cover date on the issue was a bit confusing.  Not July-Aug as I originally said, and not really June (July) as I stated in the second Jena-related post.  Really it was July inside a box on the cover (which would usually indicate June-July--not July-August as I originally guessed), but on the indicia the date is given as simply June.  Which would make this really a 30th anniversary issue exactly (and not off in dates as I suggested earlier).  However I think the 30th anniversary celebration was arrived at later as a theme for the Giant--as the Giant doesn't seem to celebrate that so much as another theme of confused identities and twisty endings.  The thing is I remember reading this comic when the PNE was on (think I bought it at Kootenay Loop after we'd been to the PNE) and the PNE (the local fair) has always been on in the last two weeks of August, ending on Labor Day--which would mean my copy had been in the spinner rack for a good three months before I bought it.

Far from it, my friend. I loved it. It’s one of the best Superman-Luthor stories; of that there is no doubt.

The cover always intrigued me, with me being a lifelong aficionado of the old time bareknuckle boxing and the manly art in general. Many would disagree, but there’s something primal, honest and honorable about two willing men stripping to the waist and battling it out with their fists...

It’s odd, in a way, to see the supreme inventor and intellectual, Luthor, and the most gentle and peace-loving of all the super heroes, Superman, engaging in fisticuffs.

Edmond Hamilton has reduced them to the most elemental of battles.

This comic is great!

I think the first few pages are the most interesting, and, as in most good novels, the main character (Luthor, not Superman) is a changed man by the end.

On the first page Luthor’s thoughts reveal that he thinks Superman is always on his case because Superman is jealous of Luthor’s scientific genius. Once Luthor breaks out of jail, he cuts in on the broadcast of a TV Western, in which two men are about to have it out with their fists, to dare Superman to meet him in a fair fight without his super powers. (Is it fair that Lex is allowed to use his fantastic intellect?) In case we missed the point, Luthor later runs a clip of two heavyweight boxers during a bout. Superman’s supporters think it’s silly, but Superman is too honorable to let the challenge slide. He thinks his supporters will lose faith in him if he declines Luthor’s challenge! This says a lot about Superman’s ingenuousness and Luthor’s cunning. It’s amazing how easily the Man of Steel can be manipulated.

There’s a curious moment on page 5 when Superman thinks:

“I super-compressed my Clark Kent clothes and hid them in the pouch of my cape when I went back into the ship for the shoes!”

This is puzzling, for surely the Clark Kent clothes were already in the pouch of the cape.

I love the spattering of fight-language throughout this story. We have phrases such as “showdown battle”, “man-to-man”, “have it out with him”, “self-defense”, “black eye”, “combat”, and “only the first round”. There is a wonderfully gritty theme to this adventure, and it ain’t hard to spot!

The other outstanding thing for me in this great story was the subtle change in Luthor as the story progressed. Starting out as his usual cunning, manipulative self, he wanted to help the people of the desert planet only so they would co-operate with him in his hunt for Superman. But by story’s end he had genuinely taken their welfare to heart, and seemed to have disadvantaged himself to help them.

One scene that I also liked, and which reinforced the strength of character of Superman, was when he took some water for his own use from the water-carrying beasts. “I won’t take too much from them,” he thinks, “just enough to keep me going until I can find more...” You know, the Man of Steel’s own life is in danger, yet he won’t endanger the lives of these creatures to save himself. His compassion, innocent kindness and strength of character are, as demonstrated again in this tale, the attributes that set him apart as the greatest of the super heroes, and not his super powers.

India, that cover was always build-up enough, and I wasn’t disappointed. I was very glad to finally have the opportunity to read this great and curious adventure!

Not to mention the old question; what happened to the glasses?  Trust me, I've learned from bitter experience that eyeglasses don't fold or compress.  Or to be more precise, they aren't much good after they do!



Of course this just validates Superman's belief that somewhere deep down Luthor really is a decent man.  A wonderful subplot of the old mythos was that the Lex-Supes rivalry had two sides: there was Lex's hatred, yes, but on the other side there was Superman's guilt -- justified or not -- over having robbed the world of a great genius.  Superman believed that if not for Luthor's obsession with revenge, he might have contributed great things to the world.  I always thought he saw it as one of his life's challenges to balance that account by reforming Luthor someday.  And from time to time, as here, we got little hints that he just might pull it off.

In a larger sense, this kind of optimism is what draws me to Superman when other characters lose my interest.  Batman, depending on how you write him, can be about survivor's guilt, revenge or a crusade, but in any event he's tilting at windmills...crimes may be foiled, but crime itself will endure. Other heroes...like all of Marvel, for instance...operate in a world where things just get worse and worse and the temptation is powerful for heroes to adopt the methods of the villains.  But in the world of the pre-Crisis Superman, the good guys won more than they lost, virtue was rewarded and vice punished, and in the end even the biggest villain around was capable of redemption.  You can't get a much more upbeat mythos than that.

Does this make Superman more childish, unsophisticated and "unrealistic" than other heroes?  Maybe so, maybe no.  I generally find that attitudes about the world can be like self-fulfilling prophecies...if you look for the bad in the world, you will definitely find it, but if you look for the good, you'll find that, too.  Superman is the original icon for the power of positive thinking.  He sees the best in people, and it's contagious.  We all knew that one day, even Lex would come around.

Too bad we'll never live to see it now.  :(

Good to see Aldous on this board after all this time.  I began to despair we'd ever see his name here again.

What does Superman do with his shoes and glasses.  This is like Tarzan being able to spell "Tarzan" in the first novel (for certain reasons owing to his self-education he shouldn't be able to) or Cinderella's slipper remaining glass after everything has turned back to its original state after midnight.

Thanks, India. That's nice to know.

My feelings on the shoes-and-glasses issue are related, I guess, to my post from about three months ago, Superman was pretty dumb to live in Metropolis. The Superman of this era was so fast, he had absolutely no need to carry his Clark Kent clothing around with him. He could have stored those clothes at anyplace on Earth and retrieved them at any time in less than half-a-second. He's so fast (faster than light) he could have stashed the clothing down a crater on the moon and still collected them and been back at the Planet newsdesk dressed as Clark Kent in less time that it takes someone to spill their coffee.

some questions.. do you have to pay to be a member of the GCD?? I envy all those covers you can post here..

Do you guys have ANY info about the contents of the various available Superman Digests?? (same size as those of archie)

any help would be nice.

Did I ever reply to this? I don't think I did.

The story actually did end right there, although there was a one-panel denouement I didn't mention. After the adventure, Lois and Clark are back at the Daily Planet office and Lois is pensive.

Lois: "Superman failed in my task and I could have married him! Was I a fool to let him go, Clark?"

Clark: "Er... Perhaps you were, Lois!" Clark thinks: "...Luckily for me!"

I mentioned this on another thread just the other day, but so many of the greatest Superman stories begin with, "One day in the offices of the Daily Planet..."

Writing of the conclusion to the Amazon story reminded me that they often end in the offices of the Daily Planet as well. In this way they are so like a TV series, like, for instance, Star Trek. (There are plenty of other examples.) Each new adventure begins with Jim Kirk and Spock on the bridge, on just another routine day, when something out of the ordinary kicks off the episode. Then, at the conclusion of the episode, the status quo is restored: there they are, back on the bridge, as they were. Nothing about the characters or their personal situation has changed... and they are ready for the next adventure to begin.

Many of my favourite Superman stories are like this.

Hi - thought I'd drop in - haven't visited in a while.

Apropos to this thread, I just finished an interesting story entitled "The Super-Menace of Metropolis", by Binder, Boring & Kaye from Superman #134, Jan. 1960.  I don't believe I've ever come across it before, and it's one of those early SA stories from Binder that seems to consolidate elements previously introduced in the past year and a half - sort of a "stepping-stone" if you will.  I find these types of stories fascinating in retrospect, as we see elements like the Fortress, the Kryptonian heritage, and Supergirl begin to emerge in a new light.

But perhaps the biggest milestone in this tale is the name "Kandor" is first uttered, at the start of part 2 of this full-length story.  Going back through all of the earlier appearances of the bottled city, many which are viewable now on the web, it is referred to as the Krypton city, or the city from Krypton, etc.  In fact, in World's Finest 100, "the Dictator of Krypton City" (Mar. 1959), its citizens are even referred to by Luthor as "Kryptonites"!?!

When I have some more time, I'd like to review this story in more detail as it's quite a doozy.

Hi, Osgood.



I take it you mean Otto Binder...?



Are you sure? ...because I thought Otto Binder first named Kandor in the original Brainiac story from Action #242 (1958).

In any case...



Please do, as I'd be very interested to read your review.

Aldous - I stand corrected - I didn't remember seeing Kandor named in the first story "The Super-Duel in Space" , but I went back and viewed it on this site, and sure enough, there it is on page 10.  Strangely, the name doesn't come up again in the story - even when Superman is tucking it away in his Fortress, he refers to it as the "miniature Krypton city".

In fact, I don't think the name is ever mentioned again until the "Super-Menace" story a year and a half later.  I believe I've read all of the other Kandor stories in between, which are:

"The Shrinking Superman" from Action #245 (Oct. 1958)

"The Dictator of Krypton City" from World's Finest #100 (Mar. 1959)

"The War Between Superman and Jimmy Olsen" from Action #253 (Jun. 1959)

There's also a brief Kandor appearance at the end of "The Lady and the Lion" from Action #243 (Aug. 1958), but I don't have it handy, so I'm not sure if Kandor is named in that story.

It almost seems like they forgot they had given it a name during this time.

Anyway, I hope to get back to "Super-Menace" later this week, and yes, the story is indeed credited to the great Otto Binder.

Most peculiar! I think you're onto something, Osgood, as this panel (http://www.geocities.com/aldous_comics/the_lady_and_the_lion) from The Lady and the Lion shows. The Bottle City appears a couple of times in the story, but there is no mention of the name Kandor. This is the very next issue to the one in which Kandor first appeared.

Would there be an editorial reason for not using the name Kandor? Were they hoping to play it down, minimise the significance of the Bottle City? The Bottle City seemed to form an integral part of the plot in The Lady and the Lion, but no Kryptonian citizens are shown, and Superman doesn't enter the city; it's presented almost as an oddity, an "artifact" or a curio. It's not really given a human dimension. Was the Bottle City thought of as a useful plot device and little else? Maybe playing down the name was part of the process of making the city more "impersonal" and presenting it on less familiar terms.

Then again, could it just be, as you say, forgetfulness on the part of the creative team...? Unlikely? Remember Stan Lee writing about Peter Palmer and Bob Banner!

I think Weisinger might have realized that, like the Legion, Bizarro, and the many forms of Kryptonite, the bottle city had the potential to be an important element in the expanding Superman mythology.

All of these items were tweaked in their early stages before settling into a definitive version (even the bottle city is a tweak of the ealier Wizard City).

Maybe Weisinger didn't like the name "Kandor" or maybe he realized that the trademark Krypton name should be used to assert ownership of the concept as well as to remind kids, reading about it for the first time, that this city was from Krypton.

(http://www.comics.org/graphics/covers/116/400/116_4_134.jpg)

"The Super-Outlaw from Krypton"

From Superman #134 (Jan. 1960).  Cover by Curt Swan & Stan Kaye.  Story by Otto Binder.  Art by Wayne Boring & Stan Kaye. Edited by Mort Weisinger

As you can see, the title on the cover is "The Super-Outlaw from Krypton" so the splash page "Super-Menace" must be just the heading for Chapter 1.  

One other little oddity about this tale - it is the only Superman issue from 120 to 150 that has never had any of its contents reprinted.  Since this spans about a 4-year run from the prime Weisinger years of 1958 to 1962, I find it rather odd that Mort never saw fit to include it in any of the numerous annuals and giants of the Sixties.


Our story begins with a disturbing splash page of our hero dislodging an entire skyscraper and hurtling upward with it while laughing mockingly, while its inhabitants peer out of their windows and question the Man of Steel's sanity.  On the next page, we see Superman answering an SOS from an ocean liner about to strike an iceberg.  He makes an unorthodox rescue by ripping the Transatlantic cable from the ocean's bottom and using it to tow the liner in to port.  The ship's captain is grateful, but puzzled by Superman's method, observing that the Man of Tomorrow has callously disregarded the fact that it will cost millions to repair the cable.

In the following days, we see this pattern repeated - Superman diverts a meteor from a town, but it crashes into a dam, causing massive floods.  He rescues some castaways from a giant sea creature, but leaves them marooned on an island.  His behavior becomes increasingly more bizarre, as he seemingly adopts the sea-creature as a pet and takes him through Metropolis, leaving behind a trail of destruction.  

The officials of Metropolis are becoming concerned.  Although there has been no injury or loss of life from these incidents, they are nonetheless alarmed by Superman's behavior.  They call upon an expert named Dr. Peabody (no relation, to my knowledge  :wink: ), and it is his opinion that the Man of Steel has lost his marbles and must be subdued immediately!  They call out for a world-wide kryptonite search, as they know that is the only way he can be captured.

Back at the Daily Planet, Lois is convinced that Superman can't be behaving this way, and that it must be one of his robots malfunctioning, while he's away on a mission.  She sets out to prove her theory, and with the help of Jimmy's signal-watch, lures the Man (or robot?) of Steel to a lab, where he is bombarded by "100 billion volts of man-made lightning", enough to short out any electronic device.  But alas, Superman shrugs off the fireworks, and mocks Lois, "Did you think I was a robot?  Now you know the truth!  I'm real!"

Our hero then flies to a mountaintop, and yells "My plan is working ... I'll keep on smashing, destroying, until I've achieved my goal!"  He then creates even more havoc - using his super-breath to blow hurricane winds through a tunnel, creating a massive car pile-up - yanking a subway off the tracks and swinging it wildly through the air.  Again, there are no fatalities, but the world is left wondering what Superman will do next.  

Has the Man of Steel gone off the deep end?  We'll find out in Chapter 2!

To be continued...

As we begin Chapter 2, Superman continues running amok - now filling in the Grand Canyon with gigantic boulders (!!).  But at last, an explanation comes for his bizarre behavior - this Superman is an imposter!  As we read on, we find that the real Superman has been observing what's been happening from Kandor via an "ultra-scanning screen".  He then recalls the events leading up to his current predicament.

A week before, Superman visited his Fortress to make a routine check of the bottle city, and during his inspection of the air hoses, was surprised to pick up via super-hearing a voice screaming to him for help from within Kandor itself!  As the Man of Steel trained his microscopic vision on the stranger, he revealed himself to be a scientist named Kull-Ex.  Keeping Superman distracted with his story, Kull-Ex then trained his "exchange ray" on the Man of Steel, and the two instantly traded places!  In fact - their costumes were exchanged also, as Kull-Ex gloated to Superman, who now watched via the screen in dismay as he realized his super-powers are gone under the influence of the Kryptonian city's gravity (the red sun angle having not been introduced yet!).

Kull-Ex then completed his impersonation by molding a life-like Superman mask in the Fortress "chem-lab", and takes off on his mission of destroying the Man of Steel's reputation.  Now the big question puzzling Superman - why does Mr. Ex have it in for him?   Thanks to a pre-recorded tape left by the Kandorian scientist, Superman hears of the origin of Mr. Ex's vendetta against the El clan.  Back on Krypton, years before Kandor's abduction by Brainiac, Kull-Ex's dad, Zell-Ex, was working on an invention that would revolutionize transportation - an all-purpose vehicle capable of land, sea, air, or underground travel.  But before he can finish the project, fate intervenes - an artificial wind generate by one of Krypton's weather-control blows his blueprints out into the streets!

Some time later, Zell-Ex finished the invention, but as he entered the patent office, much to his dismay he finds that another scientist named Jor-El beat him to the punch.  Zell-Ex is convinced that Jor-El quickly put together his model after finding the wind-blown blueprints and accuses Jor-El of thievery, but Jor-El insists he came up with it on his own.  To compound the injustice in Zell-Ex's eyes, the product is mass-produced and became so commonly used on Krypton, it became known simply as "the Jor-El", just as the Ford car on earth was named after its inventor!

Zell-Ex swore revenge on his nemesis, but was never able to carry it out.  Brainiac shrank Kandor and its inhabitants, and Jor-El perished when Krypton exploded.  But then, by a strange twist of fate, it is none other than Jor-El's son that rescues the bottle city and brings it back to his Fortress.  Shortly thereafter, Zell-Ex, on his death-bed, solemnly commissions his son to carry out his revenge against the hated El survivor.

Superman, having now been filled on Kull-Ex's motive, is convinced that his father is innocent, but is baffled as to how to prove it.  He finds a "Jor-El" vehicle handy and attempts to break through the bottle to escape, but finds that Brainiac's glass is impervious to the drill.  He next attempts to use the vehicle to fly through the air tube that pumps in the city's air supply, but is blown backwards as the inward flow is too powerful.  Dejected, Superman returns to Kull-Ex's apartment and observes to his horror that angry mobs have broken into the Superman museum and are in the process of bringing down his statue!  The Man of Steel has become so villified that, at his approach, mothers now carry their children inside to hide in storm cellars!  And, perhaps the final blow, even Lois, Jimmy, and Perry at the Daily Planet are convinced that Superman is now evil and must be avoided.

At an isolated mountaintop, Kull-Ex brags of his victory, and as Superman helplessly watches from Kandor, he now realizes his reputation has been shattered, and he'll now be remembered as history's blackest villain.  And even if the Man of Steel could somehow escape, how could he avoid a world-wrecking battle with his super-powered opponent?

How will Superman get out of this one?  Stay tuned for the final chapter!


Bonus trivia challenge for you Silver Age Superman fans:

Since Superman's Kryptonian family name was El, Uncle Mort cooked up a few other Kryptonians with alphabetic surnames such as Kull-Ex in this story.  There were at least 4 others - 2 pretty prominent, 2 fairly obscure that appeared in the "Superman family" mags during the Weisinger era.  Just for kicks, let's see if there's anyone who can up with them, or maybe even others that I'm not recalling!

read this:

http://superman.nu/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=221&highlight=list+kryptonians

Shouldn't Van-Zee's name really be Van-Zed???

I think they spelled it a few different ways depending on the story, DC does that sometimes.

I think India was pulling our leg, your monkeyness -- the letter "zee" in the States goes by "zed" in every other English-speaking part of the world.

And yes, Van-Zee was one of the easy ones I was thinking of - in fact, he debuted in Lois Lane only a month after Kull-Ex did.

Hopefully, I'll finish off that story later this week (can't leave everyone in suspense like that, right?  :wink: )

Ah I see, remind me to ban him :twisted:

<<Shouldn't Van-Zee's name really be Van-Zed???>>

That was the name of his counterpart from the Earth-BBC universe.

Little known trivia:

Before the Crisis, in the Earth-SCTV universe, Brewniac (their counterpart to Brainiac) came to Earth and started shrinking Canadian cities. Two inhabitants of the Bottle City of Toronto, the Mahken-Zee brothers, adopted the identities of Nightwing and Flamebird to help Hyperman (the Canadian Kryptonian) rescue the cities and return them to Earth... except for Quebec. They preferred to stay in the bottle, as the ultimate "separatists"...

And now, finally, the long-awaited conclusion to "The Super-Outlaw from Krypton"...

As Chapter 3 begins, Superman glumly sits in Kull-Ex's lab on Kandor, watching on the screen a group of workers boarding up the Superman Museum in Metropolis with big signs reading "Closed Permanently"!  But meanwhile, a new player emerges on the scene... in Midvale, orphan Linda Lee listens in disbelief to the radio bulletins from Metropolis, and decides to take matters into her own hands ... "I'll change to my Supergirl costume and find out the truth!"

Using her telescopic vision, the Maid of Steel tracks the faux Superman to Egypt, where he's in the process of stacking the pyramids and the Sphinx like toy blocks.  She urges him to come to his senses, but Kull-Ex is caught off-guard by this super-powered female upstart.  Apparently, Supergirl was a secret even to Kandor during this phase of her career, and Mr. Ex mistakes her for a fellow Kandorian escapee.  Supergirl immediately realizes that this fellow is an imposter.  After a brief recap of her true origin (presumably to accomodate the reader, this being her first appearance in the Superman title), Kull-Ex, underestimating the super-powered teen, in turn fills her in as to his true origin.  Supergirl immediately takes off for the Fortress to rescue her cousin, but Kull-Ex taunts her "Go ahead, silly girl!  You'll find out it won't do you any good!"

Having been previously filled in by Superman as to its location, Supergirl quickly gains entry to the Fortress and attempts to pluck the Man of Steel out of Kandor with a pair of tweezers(!!) (Rather humorous when you think of how routine going in and out of the bottle became later).  With the aid of her microscopic vision, she pinpoints him and gently picks him up, remembering that he is no longer invulnerable.  Once outside the bottle, Superman regains his powers, but being the size of a gnat realizes he is still at a huge disadvantage.  However, he hits upon a plan and whispers it to his cousin.  Supergirl leaves the Fortress to carry out her part, while Superman remains behind, sure that Kull-Ex will soon come to gloat over him.

Sure enough, the super-imposter arrives, and mocks the "super-bug", pointing out that the exchange ray won't work without the element "Zenium", which doesn't exist on earth.  Superman is swatted away by Kull-Ex, but spying that Supergirl is about to put his plan into action he begins distracting his foe by momentarily weakening him with kryptonite stored in a lead box for experiments.  Kull quickly turns the tables by trapping the Man of Steel inside the lead box, and Superman realizes his life is now in the hands of his young cousin.

Suddenly the observation dome of the Fortress slowly begins to open (Yes, I don't remember the Fortress having one of these either, but we'll let it slide).  Kull-Ex is stunned to see the Earth receding in the sky above him!  While he was distracted, Supergirl, with an assist from Krypto, dug out the whole blamed Fortress of Solitude and flew it out into space!  The object of this super-excavation soon becomes evident as Superman weakly observes to Kull-Ex that they've overtaken light-rays from Krypton, and he can now observe what really happened before its destruction (!!) (OK - not sure of what time/space principle we're working under here, so let's let that one slide, too).

Kull-Ex observes to his astonishment that while most of his father's blueprints did get blown out the window, the most important page unknowingly wound up in his young hands, which he proceeded to then doodle on and later feed to an animal at the zoo!   Jor-El having been exonerated, Kull-Ex immediately revives Superman and vows to set things right upon their return to Earth.  He also spots some Zenium in a passing meteor, and grabs it to power the exchange ray back in Kandor.

Amazingly, in the space of 4 panels, all is once again set right in the Weisingerverse.  The entire world watches a telecast of Kull-Ex confessing his impersonation, and we see a shadowy figure in the White House (an obvious silhouette of President Eisenhower), saying, "What a relief!  Kull-Ex's confession clears Superman's name!"  Superman carries a nugget of the Zenium back to Kandor, and the exchange ray returns he and Kull-Ex to their proper sizes.  Kull-Ex swears to Superman he'll devote his life from now on to scientific research, and the Man of Steel rather compassionately, given the circumstances, lets it go at that.  The final panel shows Clark Kent watching as the Superman statue is being uprighted, and all is once again right with the world.  (And though it's not mentioned, I can personally vouch that the Grand Canyon is once again free of boulders, so presumably the Man of Steel cleaned up the mess left by the misguided Mr. Ex!)


That's it - a rather wacky story, even by Weisingerian standards, but one of those hidden stepping-stones of the Silver Age.  The Fortress and Kandor - now referred to repeatedly by its proper name, given a prominent role.  Supergirl, just 8 months removed from her debut, gets her first guest appearance in the flagship title.  Superman gets some new insight as to his father's past in another flashback to Krypton.  Even Krypto, who had just a couple of previous appearances as an "adult", gets in on the action here.  And I believe this may be the first and last time someone was extricated from Kandor by a pair of tweezers!


Oh, and just for the record, the other alphabetic Kryptonians I was thinking of:  Van-Zee (or Van-Zed for our friends abroad), Dev-Em, Reg-En, and Klax-Ar.

That review was a lot of fun. Thanks, Osgood. As always, I wish I could see the actual comic, but you have described the story so well!

I have always mentally pronounced Van-Zee as it's written, of course, as India well knows. Now, even though z is pronounced zed in English, and that's the way I always said it, I am well-versed in the zee pronunciation. Why? Because of Sesame Street! I grew up watching Sesame Street [I don't know how Sesame Street is regarded in the States, but when I was a little kid it was by far the best young children's educational programme on NZ television, and nothing has ever come close to it] and I took note every time some character tacked that plainly incorrect zee onto the end of the alphabet!



It sure is. Is that the first time the idea of overtaking light rays from Krypton to view the past was ever used?

In the wonderful story of Superman Returns to Krypton in SUPERMAN #61, it's true that Superman breaks the time barrier and appears as a wraith in the distant past. He observes his parents on Krypton, but they cannot see him. He is merely an insubstantial observer.



In SUPERMAN #134, Supergirl has overtaken light rays from Krypton so Kull-Ex can watch what really happened to his father's notes. This is a very different idea than the one presented in Superman Returns to Krypton. In Osgood's review, Superman, Supergirl and Kull-Ex are merely letting the reflected light of the distant past enter their eyeballs. But in the older story, Superman is actually on Krypton, physically in the past.

Aldous - I can think of only 2 other previous instances where Krypton was glimpsed (other than the 1949 story you cited )- via time machine by Jimmy Olsen (JO #36, Apr. 59) and via "magic totem" by Superman in the first "return to Krypton" as part of the "3 wishes" story (Superman #123, Aug. 58).  So I do believe the Kull-ex story was the first instance that viewing Krypton's past by overtaking its light rays was employed.

One other thing I meant to make note of - the "Super-Outlaw" tale is probably the last time that Superman's powers are attributed solely to the lesser gravity of earth.   I would suspect that even the 8 to 10 year olds writing in to Mort would be skeptical that gravity alone could cause the Man of Steel to be totally powerless in Kandor.

2 months later, in Action #262 (Mar. 1960), a story called "When Superman Lost His Powers" had Clark and his pals transported to another world where the Man of Steel is powerless - but now it is pointed out that this power loss is due to the planet having a red sun, like Krypton, adding yet one more element to the mythos!

“Superman’s Neighbors” is a little gem from SUPERMAN #112 (1957), written, I believe, by the sensitive Bill Finger, and drawn by Wayne Boring.

We are introduced to 344 Clinton Street as Clark Kent comes home one evening. It’s clear Clark sees his apartment as a sanctuary of sorts: “It’ll be a relief to relax at home tonight.”

Alexander Ross, one of Clark’s neighbours in the apartment building, is spying on Clark with the aid of binoculars, and notes that Clark is returning, as usual, close on six o’clock.

In his apartment, Clark relaxes in an armchair and, with telescopic vision, reads a book which is still at the public library! He is distracted by the smell of burning paper and uses his super-vision to check on his neighbour, Joe Rollins, who is deliberately burning a sheet of his own artwork. According to a letter Clark sees, Joe Rollins’ job is on the line because he cannot come up with fresh ideas for a cover. Clark is clearly familiar with Joe’s work, thinking that Joe “usually has wonderful ideas”.

Clark “can’t relax” with Rollins’ career at stake, and decides to give the artist a little help. Minutes later we see a warning light activated in the apartment of the spy, Alexander Ross, signalling to Ross that Kent has opened his window. “It’s too cold,” says Ross, “to have opened a window merely for ventilation.” Ross believes Clark must have left his apartment via the fire escape, and notes that the time is 7:03pm.

In a nearby junkyard, we join Superman as he “kneads ton-heavy lengths of metal like putty”. As he manipulates the scrap metals with super-strength, Superman says to himself, “My super imagination should be able to cook up some good science-fiction notions...”

Superman’s metallic creations, all sorts of weird alien creatures and space ships, are thrown so they pass right by Joe Rollins’ window. Joe’s imagination is now fired up by the “terrific ideas,” which he thinks are a vision brought on by so much concentration on his part.

With Joe’s problem solved, night falls and everyone in the apartment house sleeps peacefully except our spy, Mr Ross. He is now examining a chart on his wall headed, “The Strange Case of Clark Kent.” It is a meticulous record of Clark’s comings and goings. “Kent returned less than an hour after he left,” says Ross. “I’ll have to check tomorrow’s papers...”

The next morning, as Clark leaves for work, he pauses at the sight of another of his neighbours, Tommy Snead, a boy who is lame. Tommy looks miserable, wishing he could play ball, jump and run like other kids. Tommy has been on Clark’s mind: “If only I could get him to stop feeling sorry for himself, he might be able to help himself.”

We now begin to see just how much of a guardian angel Superman is to the people of 344 Clinton Street. “Yes, unknown to themselves,” the narration goes, “the people of 344 Clinton Street lead strangely enriched lives -- for a special kind of magic weaves a kinder fate for them...”

A young housewife is busy in her kitchen, but what she can’t see is that her neighbour is sending beams of heat vision from his apartment into hers. “Mrs Higgins’ heart will be broken if that defective stove prevents her from cooking dinner for her company,” thinks Clark, “but the rays of my heat vision can cook better than gas!”

The life of Ethel Cane’s beloved dog is saved when her neighbour surreptitiously uses his super-strength right outside the entrance to 344 Clinton Street to halt a big truck about to run it down.

Even as Superman performs his super-feats for an admiring public, like driving railroad spikes into the tracks of a special new railway (with his fist instead of a sledgehammer), his mind is busy thinking over the problems of the people he lives close to at home. The lame boy, Tommy Snead, is on Superman’s mind. “If only, just once, Tommy could do what other boys do...”

That evening, the Man of Steel flies into Tommy’s room. “Come with me,” he tells Tommy, “and you’ll have what you’ve been wishing for!”

Within seconds they are flying, with Tommy protected by a space-suit and helmet. Minutes later, on the moon, the boy is exhilarated to find his lame leg does not hold him back from running and leaping. “Wow!” exclaims Tommy, “I can jump farther and higher here than anybody!”

This extraordinary adventure is already having a lasting effect on Tommy. “Gosh -- I’ll never feel sorry for myself after this! Now I can forget about being jealous of other kids!”

“And,” says Superman, “you’ll be able to concentrate on developing your talents and living a normal life -- instead of brooding!”

A happy Man of Steel, with the delighted (and now radiant) boy in his arms, flies in for a landing at 344 Clinton Street, but is disturbed to catch sight of his neighbour, Alexander Ross, on Clark Kent’s fire escape.

Leaving Tommy to his own devices, Superman manages to get into his own apartment without the spy on the fire escape seeing him, then he makes an examination of Ross’s apartment with his x-ray vision to find out why Ross is so interested in Clark Kent. Clearly, Superman is unsettled by what he sees: “Incredible! He doesn’t suspect that I’m Superman, but I’d better do something about what he does think, before he stumbles on the truth!”

Superman changes into Clark Kent and decides to wait till Ross leaves the fire escape so he can “start planning a counter-move”.

In listening for the movements of Alexander Ross with his super-hearing, Clark now stumbles upon a new problem with another of his neighbours. The pretty girl in apartment 3-E is rejecting a marriage proposal because, as she explains to poor Harry, she is in love with Superman. Clark now begins mulling over this predicament. “I don’t want her wasting her life pining for me.”

Another evening ends at 344 Clinton Street, with Clark lying sleepless in his bed, trying to think of a way to stop the girl loving Superman. The next morning, the Man of Steel has come up with a solution, and Clark Kent calls at the girl’s door. “Miss Wentworth,” says Clark, “would you like to accompany me to a dance tonight. Superman will be there, and...” At the mention of Superman, Miss Wentworth jumps at the chance to go to the dance. That evening, however, it is not Clark who calls for her, but the Man of Steel.

“My friend Clark Kent,” explains Superman, “was supposed to take you to the dance tonight, and couldn’t make it! He asked me if...”

“If I could go with you?” squeals the girl. “Oh, yes! Yes!”

And so Miss Wentworth’s companion for the evening proceeds to give her a somewhat cruel lesson in what life with a Superman could be like. They haven’t even left the apartment when Superman dashes off. Miss Wentworth is confused, and Superman explains as he flies out the window: “Runaway truck... other side of town...”

He returns, and now they have only just stepped into the street outside 344 Clinton Street when Superman takes to the air, interrupting Miss Wentworth in mid-sentence. “Giant meteor... off in space...” Superman tells her before disappearing.

When he gets back, Miss Wentworth informs him they are late for the dance, but, to make matters worse, she suffers a coughing fit. “Meteor dust,” says Superman. “I came back so fast, I forgot to brush it off!”

They finally arrive at the venue, but before they can go in, Superman, although apologetic, is forced to fly off once again to another emergency. Miss Wentworth doesn’t forget her manners, telling him, “It’s -- er -- all right.” But inwardly she is far from pleased: “Hmph! He’d probably leave me alone, in the middle of the floor, to stop an elephant stampede in Borneo!”

A little later, Superman observes Miss Wentworth on the dance floor having a good time with Harry. “I’m glad I sent a ticket anonymously to her boy friend,” he thinks. “Without Superman on her mind, she certainly seems to see him in a new light.”

No doubt relieved to have that problem off his mind, Clark now decides to deal with Alexander Ross before his “fantastic idea becomes embarrassing to me”. Clark decides to catch Mr Ross in his own trap, and crawls down the fire escape from his apartment making sure Ross can hear him. Clark pretends to sneak away, and Ross gleefully follows, tailing him through the streets of the darkened city. Clark makes a show of breaking into a warehouse, fully aware that Ross is observing him. Clark enters the warehouse, and is momentarily out of sight. When Ross enters the warehouse, it is no longer Clark Kent but Superman he has to contend with. Superman makes a startling appearance by smashing through the wall of the building (“this warehouse is scheduled to be torn down tomorrow, so the little damage I cause with this spectacular entrance won’t matter”), and Ross nearly jumps out of his skin.

Superman lays it on thick: “I spotted you breaking in here... I’m taking you to jail!”

“No! No!” screeches Ross. “I’m on your side -- the side of law and order!”

Ross tells Superman that he followed a desperate criminal here. He shows Superman his card, from the “Eagle-Eye Correspondence School for Detectives”. The card is hardly a surprise for Superman, as he had spotted it earlier with his x-ray vision. “Kent is always coming and going mysteriously,” the amateur detective explains. “I’m positive he’s a crook disguised as a reporter!”

Superman admits it is an interesting deduction, but he suggests another possibility, that he and Clark are close friends -- and Ross is only too eager to grasp at the idea. “I get it!” grins Ross. “He gets tips on his job, and you don’t want anyone to suspect how close you are -- so you meet secretly!”

The Man of Steel puts his hand on Mr Ross’s shoulder in a gesture of camaraderie. “Fine. Now you’re in on a secret -- but I’m sure you can be trusted with it!”

“So that night,” the narration goes, “the people of 344 Clinton Street sleep well again, unaware that they live in something very like an enchanted castle -- because of the occupant of apartment 3-B.”

Our closing scene is the occasion of a residents’ party in the basement of 344 Clinton Street, with Miss Wentworth introducing her fiancé to Clark. Alexander Ross is regaling another neighbour with news of his new correspondence course, “How to become an African Explorer by mail.”

But Clark is not giving the gathering his full attention. He has another of his neighbours on his mind: “Bill Waters doesn’t know it -- but the company he works for will fail in a few days! He has a large family... I must think of a way to help!”

Over near the piano, a lady is whispering to a gentleman, “Hmm... Everyone is happy -- except poor Mr Kent! I wonder -- ? Why does he always look as if he has the troubles of the world on his shoulders?”

 :s:

One of the reasons I wrote such a detailed review of "Superman's Neighbors" is that I have a lot of enthusiam for the story (you could have guessed). But there are other reasons, one of which is because it relates very strongly to a current debate about the shortcomings of the modern version of the Man of Steel... but I'll come back to that.

It's no exaggeration to say that this, like so many of the Silver Age Superman/Lois Lane comics, is a well written story. I feel quite confident in handing this story to any literate person with only a rudimentary knowledge of Superman, and knowing that they will enjoy and understand the comic, even if they have never read a Superman comic before in their lives. It (1) stands alone, but also (2) fits with everything that has gone before, and (3) adds a little something new and clever to the world of Superman, ie. his interaction with his civilian neighbours. We learn much, feel satisfied with a tale well told, and look forward to exploration of this new element of the mythos in future stories.

Now I'll come back to how it relates to the debate over the shortcomings of the modern version of Superman:

There is much humour in this comic. I think the ending, with the final comment by the lady, is particularly clever. The writer (whom I believe is Bill Finger) pokes a little fun at and eliminates any future threat from the amateur private eye with one very clever remark. Everything is so neatly tied up that you close the comic quite satisfied. The only hanging thread, if I may be so bold as to say, is Clark Kent's "angst".

It's not really angst, but maybe a tiny cloud, dark in hue and hanging over him, composed of equal parts worry, anxiety, and -- here's the clincher -- genuine altruistic concern.

At a quick glance, you may spot superficial similarities between the Superman of this story and the Superman of the modern era. After all, they both spend a lot of their time worrying about things.

The difference, to my mind, is that the Silver Age Superman, when faced with something that worries him, makes a decision and acts, and, although he worries, he never worries about himself.

That is a milestone story, Aldous, and I recall reading it when it was reprinted in the back of Superman #241 (the penultimate "Sand-Creature" issue).  I think it is the first time Clark's home address is mentioned, and almost certainly inspired the '70s "Private Life of Clark Kent" feature.

It's interesting that "Superman's Neighbors" was probably the inspiration for "The Private Life of Clark Kent". I've been a little remiss, as there are at least a couple of "Private Life" stories that I really like, but I've never posted about them.

I don't own that penultimate "Sand-Creature" issue, Osgood. I have the "Ultimate Battle" of course, but so much of the saga is missing from my collection. A high-quality, unaltered reprint, trade paperback is -- as we have said before -- LONG OVERDUE!

I had a feeling I'd once commented on Len Wein's 1970s update of "Superman's Neighbors," and I was right -- on page 9 (http://superman.nu/dcmb/seventies/?part=9) of the DCMB SUPERMAN IN THE 70s thread.



Did the "Private Life of Clark Kent" feature begin after Len Wein's story?

That page of the old 70s thread is quite interesting, with posts from India Ink, BuddyBlank, and Osgood Peabody.

Yes, Aldous - the Private Life of Clark Kent series began in the very next issue - #247 - with a story by Denny O'Neil called "When on Earth...".   It would then begin alternating as the back-up with "Fabulous World of Krypton" for many years.

From the first page of the series: "For the first time...a glimpse at the man behind the mild-mannered facade of the gentleman reporter!  When he's not being the mighty Superman -- what is he being?  For an answer, treat yourself to this initial tale in a new series that shows the drama...the excitement...and the humanity of The Private Life of Clark Kent."

The sequence of events seems too close together to be coincidental -- "Superman's Neighbors" reprinted in #241 -- Len Wein introduces some of Clark's neighbors in #246, and the series begins in #247.

Did you know that Superman once married a woman who WAS NOT Lois Lane… and that they had a son? That his adopted homeworld was devastated by nuclear holocaust, after he was sent there from Krypton? It’s all true… NOT a hoax, or a dream, or an “imaginary story”… like it or not! Why don’t I tell you about his...


"100 Years... Lost, Strayed or Stolen!"

ACTION COMICS #370 (December, 1968)

Writer: Cary Bates
Penciller: Curt Swan
Inker: Jack Abel
Cover: Carmine Infantino (layouts) and Neal Adams (inks)

*******

Over the course of four straight nights, our hero suffers through a mysterious nightmare… whether he’s sleeping in his apartment as Clark Kent, or in his Fortress of Solitude as Superman. This nightmare is always the same, and though he remembers its strangely alien surroundings only vaguely, it always begins AND ends with a very familiar object: the miniature rocket ship which carried him to Earth as a baby from the planet Krypton. Determined to learn the source of his recurring torment, Superman journeys again to the Fortress, to analyze the preserved remains of the rocket with his ultra-advanced scientific equipment. He feels an odd compulsion to test the age of its Kryptonian metal… and is astonished to learn that the rocket is actually more than one full century old!

“I was in that rocket during the entire journey from KRYPTON to Earth… yet I’M not a hundred years old!”, states the super-master of the obvious. “And my nightmares of people and events of another world—how are THEY tied in with this? Will I ever solve this mystery?”

The narrator of this tale helpfully provides us with a response to this query:

“NO-- there is no way for SUPERMAN to find the answer! But YOU will, reader! Sit  back, as we unravel the most baffling, fantastic story ever told about the MAN OF STEEL-- a story HE will NEVER know!”

Decades in the past, we see baby Kal-El launched from the exploding planet Krypton in his tiny rocket. Somehow, the shockwaves generated by the planetary cataclysm affect the properties of a nearby space-warp, which pulls in the miniature spacecraft, depositing  it instead into another, much different universe than the one where Krypton had existed.

The rocket streaks down to the surface of a planet, where it is witnessed by a group of primitive but human-like people, who see it as a bolt of fire from the sky. Gliding down onto the waters of a nearby lake, the rocket and its young passenger float for hours, until several of the cave-dwelling people fashion a crude raft and paddle out to investigate. Taking the alien child’s arrival as an omen from their gods, one of these tribesmen brings it to his mate, who lovingly takes it in her arms. Thus, the young Kal-El is adopted by the couple, Thol and Krya, to be raised as one of the tribe.

Somehow, due to the properties of this other universe, the baby has no super-powers, and is as vulnerable to harm as an ordinary mortal. The cave-couple’s natural daughter, Ruoa, is nonetheless very jealous of this new baby from the stars and the attention he receives from her parents. Soon, at a tribal ceremony, the Elder-Prophet of the tribe proclaims that the baby will be named Sonn… the Star-Child!

Years pass, and Sonn is now ten years of age. Incredibly, his environment now resembles the ancient Roman Empire of Earth. Sonn and his adoptive father now wear togas instead of animal-skins, and stride down wide avenues with columned temples and majestic statues. Thol marvels at how much progress his people have made in the eight short years since Sonn arrived.  But just then…

GODZILLA ATTACKS!!

Uh, not exactly Godzilla. But it is a huge, rampaging reptile-creature, firing beams of energy from its eyes at the crowds below! “By the moons of VISI!”, cries Thol. “A DEVIL-DRAGON is loose in the streets! Its dreaded EYE-BLASTS can turn a person evil for LIFE!”

The adventurous young Sonn reasons that he makes a smaller target, and tries to distract the beast by running past it, dodging its ocular energy attacks. Sonn has great agility, and manages to climb right up the creature’s scaly back, until he reaches the one weak spot it has, at the very top of its head. Putting all his strength into one blow, he manages to strike it dead, and survive as it collapses to the street below. A grateful crowd gathers around to praise him, relieved that no one was struck by the dragon’s evil-beams. But someone WAS!

Unseen by all, Sonn’s now-teenaged sister, Ruoa, was struck by the evil-enhancing energy. Her jealousy has been magnified into sheer hatred of her adoptive brother. Now she swears to devote all her life to tormenting and eventually killing him.

As time continues to pass, the inhabitants of this world begin to master machinery, and before long, early 20th Century-style automobiles are putting away down streets lined with gaslit lamps. Eventually, the world passes modern day Earth in its technology, and huge skyscrapers are built across the now-futuristic planet.  

The Star-Child has become a young adult.  By this time, he even wears an outfit that is similar to the one he is destined to wear as Superman, right down to the red cape and a symbol resembling the English letter “S” (for “Sonn”) worn across the chest of his blue shirt. (His orange-striped pants keep the coincidence from being complete, though still pretty hard to swallow.)

His secretly-evil sister still remains determined to humiliate him. One day, she presents her brother with a new pair of boots as a gift, and demands that he try them on ...right out in the middle of the street. Once he has them on, she whips out a remote activation device, and the boots emit jet-propelled force that sends him soaring uncontrollably into the sky. Sonn zooms through the air, between the skyscrapers of the futuristic metropolis, unable to direct the path of the jet-boots. But suddenly, he sees a young boy fall out of a nearby window and plunge towards the street. Concentrating all his willpower and amazing coordination, the flying Kryptonian manages to take over the direction of the jet-boots, and swoop beneath the boy to catch him in his arms... just in time. He even gains enough control to perch the kid on top of his shoulders and take him for a fun sky-ride over the city! As she spots her hated brother and the overjoyed child flying overhead, Ruoa is enraged. Instead of making her brother look like a fool, she has made him into a super-hero!

Later, Sonn visits his father, Thol (apparently now the leading scientist of this world), in his laboratory. After finishing a thorough scientific examination of his adopted son, the aged Thol has a startling revelation. He tells Sonn that he has found “a field of unique radiation emanating from your body! This proves my theory!”

“25 years ago, when we found you, we were a primitive, barbaric people! Now, just a generation later, our civilization has advanced to the brink of MANNED SPACE TRAVEL!”

“You CAUSED it! The unknown energy your body keeps radiating has permeated our WHOLE WORLD! It has speeded up our MENTAL EVOLUTION to an INCREDIBLE extent! As long as you live, son, we’ll keep on advancing! Who knows how far we’ll progress!”

Once the rest of the world learns that it was Sonn who made all their technological wonders possible, he becomes a world-wide celebrity. Crowds cheer him on as a ticker tape parade is thrown in his honor. Soon after, he marries a beautiful young woman named Lasil, in an elaborate ceremony where the priest joins them symbolically with a linked golden chain. The former Star-Child only gets more and more popular, until years later, he runs for Proctoror of his nation, and is elected in a landslide. Sonn, Lasil and their young son Vol go to live the White Estate as their new official home.

Through it all, Ruoa is still obsessed with destroying her brother. In a hidden laboratory, she manages to isolate a “living element, based on the energy emitted by the devil-dragons”. She plans to use it in gaseous form to infect the entire planet, turning it from a paradise of Sonn’s making into a world of hellish evil.

Almost as if it were alive, the element suddenly ruptures its storage tank and flows out before she is ready to release it. With no time to escape, Ruoa is saturated by its full power, and collapses to the floor. Even as she lies dying, she is content that the world will soon grow wicked, and Sonn will be the one to suffer worst.

The vile element spreads across the entire planet, bringing greed, aggression and strife wherever there had been none before. Neighbors fight with neighbors, criminal gangs form to prey on merchants, and the leaders of the military declare wars.

Finally, the living evil has done its work so well that a horrible nuclear holocaust erupts, and whole cities are vaporized by atomic fire.

Sonn goes on television to broadcast to the wounded dregs of society that are still left, appealing for an end to the senseless violence. But no one will listen… the people now resent him as a meddling alien, and hate him for making possible the weapons that caused so much death. A crazed mob chases Sonn through the ruins, and he realizes that trying to reason with anyone is useless. When he tries to sneak back to the White Estate, he is horrified to see his wife and son captured by a vigilante mob.

Truly alone, Sonn is forced to wander the world as the ultimate outcast, hunted day and night as a fugitive by greedy mobs with attack dogs. He spends more than forty long years on the run, becoming a decrepit, starving old man. His colorful costume is in tatters, and he clings feebly to life, until one day he has no more strength to go on.

Trying to make his way in search of food, Sonn collapses to the ground in the desolate wilderness. But then a hovering search-craft appears overhead and lands nearby. The man who emerges and runs up to him is not an enemy… instead, it is his now middle-aged son, Vol, who lifts him tenderly into the hovercraft and brings him back to a secret laboratory.

Sonn awakens to find Vol strapping him into a strange glass-enclosed chamber. He recognizes Vol and calls out to his offspring.

“Yes, dad! Don’t try to talk!”, answers Vol. “If my apparatus functions properly, you and our civilization will get a second chance! Because I’m your son, I was IMMUNE to the evil that overran the world! My scientific know-how has advanced enough for me to create this REJUVENATION BOOTH! It will make you YOUNGER! And as it does so, our civilization will DEVOLVE at the same time!”

Vol activates the machine, and within moments Sonn has been reduced to a crying infant. “Don’t cry, Dad! I haven’t much time!” says Vol, knowing that his mind will soon devolve as well. He brings the Kryptonian infant into the next room, where the miniature rocket that brought him to this world is ready to be launched again. It had been saved all these years, including the blankets within, and Vol has restored and refueled it. He places his de-aged father within, and says his final goodbyes as he sends it roaring into the night sky outside. Vol hopes that it will reach its original destination, as those left behind on this world can evolve again, at their own rate.

The rocket flies back through the space-warp and emerges into its native universe. But Vol has already all but lost his once great intelligence. He stares out of his crumbling laboratory and mumbles “Father gone! He ride to sky in great metal arrow!”

The child who was once called  both Kal-El and Sonn, the Star-Child, descends to the planet earth in his rocket, as his true father Jor-El had planned. But how can this be, after a lifetime has passed him?

“Simple… time is DIFFERENT in the other universe… a YEAR there is roughly equivalent to a MINUTE here… so, after less than TWO hours in the space-warp, little KAL lands near SMALLVILLE… to be found by the Kents…”

As these two passing motorists see the rocket crash to Earth nearby, we learn that for Superman this is…

THE END… AND THE BEGINNING!

I can't put my finger on exactly why, but that seems like an unusual story for Cary Bates to write. I have never read the comic, but I enjoyed your review. I'm trying to picture the Swan/Abel art... I'm not such a great fan of Jack Abel, and I'm trying to think of other examples of when he inked Swan.

But it's an interesting adventure, and it does beg the question:

Once the Man of Steel has tired of a long career here, and Lois has lost her youthful attractiveness, should he move on to yet another dimensional world where he can make a fresh start? You know, he figured that world was his true home... He thinks the same of Earth, of course. But maybe he's still not quite where he's meant to be, and he's simply marking time (without knowing it) on this primitive, warlike little globe...

There's also a continuity blip to consider... Why did the rocket age more than a hundred years...? By rights it should have aged an extra couple of hours at most...

I have read that story--not when it was published, but more recently, having gotten a back issue of it.

It's a grand failure.  You can see Bates pushing himself, trying to come up with a way to tell stories about Superman that go beyond the regular set of Metropolis stories.

It's more like a trial run for some of the better Bates stories.

The retro, post-Krypton/pre-Earth origin stories are tricky to pull off. You can't just dash them off willy-nilly.

You've touched on a reason why I think I like "Super-Showdown at Buzzard Gulch" so much. It's Cary Bates going "beyond the regular set" of Metropolis, but in such a way that Superman retains his entire supporting cast, cleverly transposed, in pretty much their traditional roles.

In a lot of ways Cary Bates was like Alan Moore--but without the fannish adulation of millions.  Like Moore he wanted to push the concept, to see how far he could stretch it and what he could do with it.  He didn't totally tear it apart--the way a Frank Miller of John Byrne might do--he just wanted to open up the possibilities.

In doing so he sometimes broke the rules.  There are rules that can be broken and there are rules that can't be broken.

A rule that shouldn't be broken for Superman: violating the basic structure of the origin story.  The origin depends on its simple structure--easily understood and related.  It can be added to at both ends--what happened before the fateful Krypton day/night when Jor-El sent Kal-El off in a rocket ship from the exploding planet (stories of Jor and Lara as young lovers are okay--Jor flying off the planet and visiting Earth between his visit to the Science Council and actually launching the rocket wouldn't be okay)--or what happened after the rocket landed on Earth (Einstein getting a message from Jor-El is okay, but Kal-El's rocket being discovered by Russian scientists and the baby being studied in a secret lab before the rocket and child are returned to that farmer's field for Ma and Pa to find wouldn't be okay).

There were stories which added to the reasons why Krypton exploded--like some renegade scientist planted a bomb at the planet's core.  In my view these were wrong because, the essence of the origin is that Jor-El is a wise and noble scientist who knows the truth, though everyone else but Lara doubts him.  If the reasons for Krypton exploding are not as Jor-El thought, then Jor-El isn't so wise--he isn't the guardian of truth.

I believe there were one or two stories that fiddled with why Barry got his Flash powers--like the thunderbolt was actually some extraterrestrial imp.  This also is wrong.  Some embellishments to origins are okay--Batman's father wearing a bat costume to a masquerade party--others are wrong--Batman having a mentally challenged brother who was put in an institution by his parents.

One of the reasons why the Bates addition to Kal-El's journey is wrong is that it must never be mentioned again.  If every time a writer thereafter had to relate the Superman origin by mentioning the fact that on its way the rocket went to this other planet, yada yada, it would violate the simplicity of the origin.  Therefore it can't be mentioned--therefore the story is apocryphal and trivial.

That's the odd thing... normally, Weisinger would have hedged his bets before making something like this official, and slipped in a caption warning that the events of the flashback "may or may not have been what really happened". But no, right on the splash page, we are told that it isn't a hoax, dream or imaginary tale, it "really" happened to the same Superman we read about every month... and it therefore had Uncle Morty's seal of approval as part of the Kryptonian  Kanon.

Strangely, I think the story reads more like the kind of story that would have appeared a few years LATER, when Murray Boltinoff took over as editor of ACTION COMICS. Of course by then, the story would have had Murphy Anderson inks in its "plus" column.

This one belongs to that subset of "wrong" stories you touched on. There's no reason it necessarily CAN'T be what happened, but like the Black Zero story, or the Pasko story where Clark super-hypnotizes everyone with his glasses to make them see him differently... it was never mentioned again, because everyone automatically  knew it just "felt wrong". There didn't need to be any actual evidence against it for it to be rejected from the canon.

(As for the age of the metal... I guess I wasn't clear enough in my summary about what happened... the rocket was aging along with everything else in the other universe, and it stayed there the whole time Kal-El did. When his son sent him back through the warp, Kal was a baby again only because Vol purposely "de-aged" him with his invention. Otherwise, he would have remained a dying old man when he returned to Earth's universe. )



.

I would venture to say that Mort would not have allowed this story to slip through a few years earlier, but by 1968 seemed more lackadaisical about changes to the canon.  

There was at least one other serious lapse of editorial judgement that I can recall around this time.

There's a story in Superboy 158 (July 1969) that even more flagrantly flouts the accepted origin -- "Superboy's Darkest Secret" by Frank Robbins, Bob Brown and Wally Wood.  In this one, I believe Superboy stumbles across Jor-El and Lara's bodies floating in space in suspended animation.  I don't remember all the details, but there was some convoluted explanation as to how they were preserved, and why they couldn't be revived, and Superboy must leave their bodies to roam space through eternity.

Needless to say, this was another tale wisely and quickly forgotten.

 here are the details  thanks to darkmarks site (http://darkmark6.tripod.com/superboyind3.htm)

Superboy No. 158
July 1969
Cover: Superboy looking at space capsule bearing bodies of Jor-El and Lara //Neal Adams
Story: “Superboy’s Darkest Secret” (24 pages)
Editor: Mort Weisinger
Writer: Frank Robbins
Penciller: Bob Brown
Inker, colorist: Wally Wood
Feature Character: Superboy
Supporting Characters: Jor-El, Lara (as bodies and in flashback; last chronological appearance; see Comment under MORE FUN COMICS #101 for chronology), Jonathan Kent, Martha Kent
Intro: Dr. Krylo (dies in this story)
Villains: Xonar (formerly Khai-Zor; last appearance in ACTION COMICS #223; dies in this story), Val-Arn (in flashback; last appearance in ACTION COMICS #223; dies in this story)
Comment: This is one of the most controversial Superboy stories of all, in terms of its “canonicity”.  Since the bodies of Jor-El and Lara are shown in this story, with the implication they could someday be revived, many Superman Family scholars deny its inclusion in the Superman canon.  Also, Krylo’s presence during the launching of Kal-El’s rocket has never been confirmed in any other text.  However, we have chosen to include it as a possibly canonical story, especially in view of the presence of Val-Arn and Xonar, who also appear in a canonical Superman Family story.
 Jor-El, in this story, says his transmission will start 15 years after the destruction of Krypton.  This is probably inaccurate, as Superboy is probably not yet 18 years old; most likely, it is 12 or 13 years since Krypton’s destruction.  (Also, no notation is made about the differences between the Kryptonian and Terran years’ length.)
Synopsis: Superboy receives a radio message which comes from a recording made by his father Jor-El.  He gets a fix on its location in outer space, discovers the bodies of his parents, Jor-El and Lara, in a floating space-capsule “coffin” radiating Green Kryptonite rays.  A Kryptonian villain named Xonar, formerly Khai-Zor, an enemy of Jor-El’s, almost knocks him into the Kryptonite with shaped charges, but another Kryptonian, Dr. Krylo, rescues him.
 Krylo explains that he had believed Jor-El’s prophecies of doom for Krypton, developed a form of suspended animation which he hoped would preserve himself and Jor-El’s family in space “coffins” to be flung into space by the explosion, with tape-recorded instructions on revival procedures included.   After Kal-El’s rocket was sent into space and Jor-El finished his last journal entry, Krylo ray-gunned both Jor-El and Lara down, subjected them to suspended animation treatment, and placed them in a space capsule equipped with a taped message for Kal-El, to be activated when he came of age.   Seconds later, Krylo’s robots did the same procedure for him and placed him in another space capsule.  Both capsules were rocketed into space only minutes before Krypton exploded.
 Both capsules were found by Xonar, formerly Khai-Zor, whose partner Val-Arn had perished in the cataclysm; Xonar himself survived Krypton’s destruction in a rocket he had built similar to Jor-El’s plans.   Xonar revived Krylo and used the taped message of Jor-El’s to lure Superboy, son of his old enemy, into a trap.  In the conflict that follows, both Xonar and Krylo die, but Superboy manages to get Jor-El’s and Lara’s capsule back to Earth with the help of a space-suited Jonathan Kent.
 But Jor-El’s tape is activated shortly thereafter and plays all the way through.  The voice of Jor-El tells his son and his son’s foster father that Jor-El had been irradiated with killing radiation while on an expedition into Krypton’s interior, which radiation he passed along to Lara, inadvertently, but not to Kal-El.  Since the incurable radiation would doom them both to a slow, lingering, painful death if they were revived, Jor-El asks that Superboy leave them both lifeless in space, should Krylo achieve his objective of preserving them against his will.  Sadly, Superboy and Jonathan Kent return the capsule to outer space.

Thanks for filling in the blanks - boy that one was a doozy!

When the story's synopsis has to be nearly as long as the story itself, that doesn't bode well.  :wink:

I read both Superboy #158 and Action #370 as a kid. Superboy's encounter with Jor-el and Lara  probably bothered me more because it violated all the Superman stories where Supes remembered his parents as having died on Krypton. Didn't he recall that their bodies were still floating around in space? While intriguing, it's a story that should be considered non-canonical. But I wonder how many other tales from that era would fall under the same designation.

Don’t sell the comic short, though. I was going to do a brief review of “Superboy’s Darkest Secret” for Osgood... I probably could have done a little better than that synopsis because it leaves out important and very interesting conflicts, the most intriguing of which is undoubtedly the encounter involving Superboy and a distraught Ma and Pa Kent (http://www.geocities.com/aldous_comics/darkestsecretpanels.html), who, deep down, are not happy at all that Jor-El and Lara are alive. I mean, let’s not skip over this encounter... There is enough fodder right there for much pondering. Is it only natural for Ma and Pa to feel ambivalent over the discovery of Superboy’s biological parents?

I must say, I always liked this adventure when I was a young kid. It had buckets of poignancy. I always wished like crazy, with every re-reading, that Superboy would ignore his natural father’s directive and awaken Jor-El and Lara. I could never quite grasp how he could just leave the capsule floating in outer space and return to Earth with Pa Kent. (Was Pa secretly relieved??!!!)

Here is the cover (http://www.geocities.com/aldous_comics/giantsuperboyalbum10.html) to GIANT SUPERBOY ALBUM No. 10, with “Darkest Secret” being the cover story and lead feature.

The art is by Bob Brown and the great Wally Wood, and the story is by Frank Robbins. I, too, wonder how this story made it past the editor, but I never thought it was “canon”. I don’t mind playing a little fast-and-loose with continuity, but even when I was young I never figured this for “real life”. It’s plainly a one-off adventure from the Bob Haney Universe. Is it my imagination, or did Frank Robbins (who I like very much as a writer and an artist) have a bit of carte blanche at DC Comics?

“Wisely and quickly forgotten”? Let’s not be too hasty, Osgood....  :wink:

Aldous - feel free to review it - I don't have that issue at hand and haven't read it in years, so maybe you can give it a good spin.   :wink:

I agree this is an editorial lapse, and don't blame Frank Robbins in the least.  He wrote some fine Superboy stories around this time.  I tend to give Boltinoff more of a pass, only because he was consistent in his blatant disregard of continuity.  Weisinger, on the other hand, was more stringent at least within the Superman titles (up until 1968, anyway).  He had already established the convention of the imaginary story, and within that framework this story could still have had the same emotional impact IMO.

I didn't mean to imply that I disliked the story. It was actually quite well done. It's just too bad that no attempt was made to follow up on Superboy's discovery; it was never mentioned again. Of course, it often seemed that Superboy and Superman were treated as separate characters rather than as the same person at different ages.

Oh, yes. I was always intending to do an examination of that Robbins story also...

I do clearly remember that the splash page of that story said something to the effect of "Now it can be revealed... for the first and ONLY time"! In other words, while it wasn't necessarily "imaginary", the story acknowledged that Jor-El and Lara surviving was NOT going to be brought up ever again, and was just for the purposes of telling one particular story.... which meant that, if anyone ever wrote a story CONTRADICTING it explicitly (which many did), it would be out of the canon. Just the opposite of the "canonical" additions that the editors eventually locked up in the attic like the comic-story equivalent of Boo Radley.

Sparked by this discussion it occurs to me that there is a significant difference between most tellings of Superman's origin in the sixties and the telling of Superman's origin in Man of Steel in 1986.

When Otto Binder retells Superman's origin in Superman #146
( July 1961) --"The Story of Superman's Life"--with art by Al Plastino-- for sure Binder and Plastino must have been looking at earlier versions of the origin, and Weisinger probably spun the story idea off of those earlier origins--but while these DC staffers are in the know, they do not presume we are, and probably have built the origin on the presumption that we don't know the origin.  99% of the audience at that time would be too young to remember the older origins from the thirties and forties.

So if they are revitalizing the origin they are doing so in an un-self-conscious manner.
 

On the other hand, Byrne and Helfer know that their audience knows the Superman origin as well as they do.  The definitive origin of Superman is set in stone.  So what they are doing is subverting our expectations--turning the definitve origin inside out.  It's entirely a self-conscious effort--and the new origin draws all its strength from this.  But the underlying message in that is this:  the Man of Steel origin can't be the definitive origin, it can't be genuine or authentic.  It's the inaunthenticity of the story which is so shocking.  And if Byrne or Helfer pretended surprise that their origin wasn't taken as the new definitive origin, then who were they trying to kid?

It's funny (deliberate?--a self-conscious stunt on Weisinger's part?) that the second story in 146--by Siegel and Plastino-- is "Superman's Greatest Feats"--a story which does draw a lot of its strength from the readers' knowledge of "the rules."  The rules about time travel are that Superman can't change history.  When he does, the reader is shocked.  This isn't the way the story is supposed to happen.  Leaving the end when Superman realizes he was in a parallel reality--thus the story can work out differently because the rules in this other universe are not the same.

Hey, I.I.

Can you give "Great Rao", that story, "Superman's
Greatest Feast". I think I read about that on "Check
The Wonder Toy" home page, but it's been long time
since that page had pictures?

One could argue that it is kal-El that loves lois. Where it was the still learning and youth/Earth minded Clark that loved Lana. In those older stories Kal-El was very much the adult alien that Clark Kent grew to become.

Just my opinion.

-Ray

I dig your outlook Klar. I think I might finally have found a cool group of fans that I have some great things in common with.

-Ray

If by "give" you mean scan and transmit, I can't do that because I don't have a scanner (yes, I am a primitive animal, I know).

I did briefly discuss it way back on the old DCMB on the Superman in the Seventies thread (as it was reprinted in a Super-Spec), and you can find my opinions there, but it may be worth a longer and probing review on this thread.

This was posted on page 7 (http://superman.nu/dcmb/seventies/?part=7) of the DCMB SUPERMAN IN THE 70s thread on 14 January 2002:



There's a wealth of material on page 7 alone.

Village Idiot was prompted to ask: "As you're writing this stuff, you are saving it, right? When you 'finish,' your contributions to this thread should be re-edited into a single document and submitted to Superman homepage. I'm not kidding."

And India replied: "Actually I'm not saving it. In fact I have no idea how I would go about that. I may decide to print out a few pages for some easy reference one day. But I imagine eventually this thread will die and delete."

That last comment must surely be the quote of the week, for the SUPERMAN IN THE 70s thread is still going strong at 42 pages!  :wink:  Although, I must say that those DCMB contributions by India are something special, and valuable reading for anyone interested in the era, including the older stories reprinted in the giants.

So thank you once again to Rao and STTA for giving that material a much-needed home.

Apparently, we are getting the long-awaited Silver Age Superman archives we've been pining for this fall:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1401201563/qid=1085836315/sr=1-19/ref=sr_1_19/002-3049203-0066413?v=glance&s=books

Great news for fans of the Weisinger era - this series has been long overdue!

It should contain Action 241-247, Superman 122-126 - I will try to get some confirmation next week.

Thanks, Osgood.

Is there any chance you (or somebody) who has those original issues could list what the stories are?

This is not listed on the DC site yet, so this will not be release until at the earliest September.

Well, I tried to get the scoop from Bob Greenberger, one of the editors in the know, and while he cannot divulge the contents yet, he did confirm that Man of Tomorrow is the start of the Silver Age Superman archive series and that my issue listing was in the ballpark.

So, I remain hopeful that we'll get a 240-page volume, that will contain the following:

Action 241 (June 1958)
“The Super-Key To Fort Superman”
Writer: Jerry Coleman
Artist:  Wayne Boring
[First appearance of Arctic Fortress of Solitude; generally considered to mark the beginning of Superman’s “Silver Age”]
- reprinted in the Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told, and Superman Annual 1, among other places

Superman 122 (July 1958)
“The Secret of the Space Souvenirs”
Writer: Otto Binder?
Artist: Al Plastino
- reprinted in Best of DC digest 12

“Superman In the White House”  
Writer:  ?
Artist: Al Plastino
[Semi-imaginary story – Jimmy Olsen dreams of Superman becoming President]
- reprinted in Superman Annual 7

“The Super-Sergeant”
Writer:  ?
Penciller:  Wayne Boring
Inker: Stan Kaye

Action 242 (July 1958)
“The Super-Duel In Space”
Writer: Otto Binder
Artist: Al Plastino
[First appearance of Brainiac; first appearance of Kandor]
- reprinted in Superman Annual 2, and Superman 217 giant

Superman 123 (August 1958)
“The Girl of Steel”
Writer: Otto Binder
Penciller: Dick Sprang
Inker: Stan Kaye
[Prototype "Super-Girl" appears in this story]
-Reprinted in Supergirl Archives volume 1, Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told, among other places

 Action 243 (August 1958)
 “The Lady and the Lion”  
Writer: Otto Binder
Penciller: Wayne Boring
Inker: Stan Kaye
[Superman vs. Circe – Kandor cameo appearance]
- reprinted in Superman Annual 3

Superman 124 (September 1958)
“The Super-Sword”
Writer: Jerry Coleman?
Artist: Al Plastino
- reprinted in Superman Annual 7

“Mrs. Superman”
Writer: Otto Binder
Artist: Kurt Schaffenberger
[Clark & Lois are trapped on a desert isle.  Believing his powers permanently gone, Clark reveals his identity and proposes marriage (!!)]
- reprinted in 80-page giant 14 from 1965

“The Steeplejack of Steel”  
Writer: Otto Binder
Penciller: Wayne Boring
Inker: Stan Kaye

Action 244  (September 1958)
“The Super-Merman of the Sea”
Writer: Otto Binder
Penciller: Curt Swan
Inker: George Klein
[Introduction of undersea Fortress of Solitude]
- reprinted in Superman 187 giant

Action 245  (October 1958)
“The Shrinking Superman”  
Writer:   ?
Penciller: Wayne Boring
Inker: Stan Kaye
[First Kandorian villain (Zak-kul), first use of an “enlarging” ray by a Kandorian]

Superman 125 (November 1958)
“Lois Lane’s Super-Dream”
Writer: Jerry Coleman
Artist: Kurt Schaffenberger
[semi-imaginary story in which Lois dreams she acquires super-powers]
- reprinted in Lois Lane Annual 1

“Clark Kent’s College Days”  
Writer: Jerry Coleman
Artist: Al Plastino
[Flashback relates when “Superboy” became “Superman” during Clark’s college years]
- reprinted in Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told, Superman 183 giant

“Superman’s Mystery Power”
Writer: Jerry Coleman?
Penciller: Wayne Boring
Inker: Stan Kaye
- reprinted in Superman Annual 7

Action 246 (November 1958)
“Krypton On Earth”
Writer:   ?
Penciller: Wayne Boring
Inker: Stan Kaye

Action 247 (December 1958)
“Superman’s Lost Parents”  
Writer: Otto Binder
Artist: Al Plastino
- reprinted in Superman 193 giant

Superman 126 (January 1959)
“Superman’s Hunt For Clark Kent”  
Writer:   ?
Penciller: Wayne Boring
Inker: Stan Kaye
 
“The Spell of the Shandu Clock”  
Writer: Jerry Coleman
Penciller: Wayne Boring
Inker: Stan Kaye
- reprinted in Best of DC digest 38

“The Two Faces of Superman”
 Writer: Jerry Coleman
Artist: Kurt Schaffenberger
[Superman masquerades as Alfred E. Neuman (!!)]
- reprinted in Superman Annual 3


I think Curt Swan fans may be disappointed that he'll have only 1 story represented in the first Silver Age archive, but in '58, Boring and Plastino were still shouldering the load.  Just for the record, here's a complete breakdown of these stories by artist:  Wayne Boring -  9, Al Plastino – 6, Kurt Schaffenberger – 3, Dick Sprang – 1, Curt Swan - 1.

It would be another 3 years before Swan became the principal artist on the main Superman titles, which means another 5 or 6 volumes before we get to that point.

OK... This is the material that really captures my interest. The DC Archives in NZ are pretty much priced out of the range of most people, but for this series I would make every effort to get hold of the books. This is the beginning of probably the longest and richest vein from DC's history.

Superman's Silver Age, I believe, has the potential to grab a whole new generation of fans who weren't alive when the comics were first issued.

While Swan may only have one interior job in this archive, it's worth noting that he was the cover artist for all these comics at the time (with Stan Kaye inking).

I clicked over to the dcindexes to check this out--which anyone else can do if they want to glimpse the stories we'll be getting in this volume, at Mike's Amazing World of DC Comics (www.dcindexes.com).

But looking at the covers at Mike's site, I saw the covers of those comics that come before Action 241--made me kinda sad to know that those stories will be prevented from seeing print for many years to come.

Oh well, you can't have everything.  I think I'll go look at my old "Lost Decade" topic to console myself.

I should be retired and in a wheelchair by then ;)

Pity poor King Krypton--cut off from archive glory by scant months.

Fingers crossed he gets a reprint in some future "DC Goes Ape" trade paperback.

Also known as the hottest selling TPB in history ;)

http://members.shaw.ca/comicbookgorillarama/cbgindex.htm

India - good point, I should have mentioned that Swan was already entrenched as the cover artist, having begun those duties starting with Action 232 (Sept. 1957), beginning an incredible run that would last, with very few interruptions, for nearly 30 years!

I feel your pain re: King Krypton - unfortunately, no matter where they draw the line, someone's favorite Superman story is bound to fall on the wrong side of the fence.  I recall we had the same phenomenon with the Aquaman archive, with many bemoaning that their favorite Sea King tale occurred just months prior to Adventure 260.

Aldous - I agree 100% - the SA Superman market has been virtually untapped (aside from a couple of TPBs, and if you really stretch it, the 2 Supergirl volumes).  I'd love to see them market this in a more mainstream way, but that's probably a pipe dream.

But - geez, when you've got Jerry Seinfeld in those AmEx ads rubbing elbows with "the Curt Swan Superman" (by his own description), you'd think DC could figure out some way to get some mileage out of this.

Even with their conventional marketing, I think this archive will out-sell their expectations, which will hopefully lead to an annual Silver Age volume, and pave the way for the rest of the Weisinger parade - Silver Age Superboy, Lois, and Jimmy - to get their own archives.

Well - I was curious, so I found a copy of this story and reread it.  Imagine my surprise when I read the indicia and see "Murray Boltinoff, Editor" in the fine print!  This certainly explains a lot.  I owe a big apology to Mort.  I didn't realize he had handed Superboy off as early as mid-1968.

I have to say though, Aldous, my appraisal of the story did not change much.  When I have some more time I'll go into more detail as to why.  But one thing about this story still bugs me.  Why would Boltinoff blatantly disregard one of the central tenets of the origin story, while at the same time create a tale that revolves around events and characters that appeared only in one obscure Superman story from 1956?

Continuity and consistency is one thing that doesn't seemed to have bothered Murray Boltinoff too much (much like colleague Bob Kanigher on Wonder Woman). After all, Boltinoff seemed to give Bob Haney free rein to occasionally throw DC history out the window in The Brave and the Bold. Remember all the Wildcat (Earth-2) and Batman (Earth-1) teamups, for instance?

Having said that, the Frank Robbins/Leo Dorfman/Bob Brown era of Superboy is my favorite. The stories were often much more noirish than previous Superboy tales, and while Brown is not my favorite penciller, and certainly no Curt Swan, he is at least quite adequate, and had great inkers - Wally Wood and Murphy Anderson - apart from the dreadful Vince Colletta right at the very end of Brown's tenure on the book.

Yes - I've enjoyed many Boltinoff stories, and I can't say it ever really bothered me when Bruce Wayne has a long-lost brother, or Bruce's parents ashes are displayed in an urn - I even learned to tolerate the "Super-Sons".  But in this particular Superboy story, Boltinoff inexplicably gets bogged down in the continuity of an obscure Superman story ("The First Superman of Krypton" from Action #223 by Hamilton, Boring & Kaye).  As if Jor-El's journal and Khai-Zor (both introduced in that story) are central to the Superman mythos, while Jor-El and Lara perishing in Krypton's destruction is not.  If he had thrown everything out the window, there's at least some internal consistency.

The funny thing is, even if readers were familiar with the reference to that Superman story (it had been reprinted in a Superman giant about 2 years earlier), they would've also remembered it was the adult Superman who found Jor-El's journal, and so they still would be scratching their heads as to how Superboy would know of its existence!

There are some good bits in the story - the conflict of Ma and Pa Kent, Superboy's choice of his foster father in retrieving the capsule - but I found the lengthy explanations of the Kryptonian back-story too distracting for my tastes.  And the scene where Jor-El is fussing with his will, his journal, his place in history(?), while Krypton is disintegrating around him is absurd even by Boltinoff's standards.  Besides, the Jor-El we know and love would see this fatal disease as another challenge - surely the brilliant scientist, given time, would've tried to develop a cure, rather than resign himself to a quick death!


Maybe I'm being too harsh - I recently read a couple of classic Silver Age Superboy tales where Weisinger dealt with the scenario of Jor-El and Lara living on, so part of my perspective may be this one suffers too much in the comparison.

bump test

By way of bumping this thread, I thought I'd post this house ad I recently came across from Oct. 1958.  It sheds some new light on the dawn of Superman's "Silver Age".

This is the same month that editor Mort Weisinger starting running the "Metropolis Mailbag" letter columns in issues of Action and Superman.

It seems that this was part of a concerted effort on Mort's part to repackage the Man of Steel to a new generation of fans:


(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/Osgood39/Oct1958LegendofSuperman.jpg)

That's a great fine!

Continuing along with this theme, I've been trying to nail down when exactly Mort introduced the letter columns.  

I'm not 100% certain, but I now believe this is the first one, from Superman 124 (Sept. 1958) (of course if I'm incorrect, any of the board historians feel free to correct me):

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/Osgood39/Superman124LC.jpg)

Would that DC has the good sense to do something like this for the current generation. This would be a great idea to reuse.

I thought I'd bump this thread in honor of this week's release of the Showcase presents Superman volume 2.  This volume contains Action #258-275 and Superman #134-145, so it includes the delightfully wacky "Super-Outlaw from Krypton" that I reviewed on pages 7-8 of this thread.  Now you can see it for yourselves, in all its glory!

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a176/StatMan1/45158_ful.jpg)

[/img]

This thread was started by our old pal Aldous.  It occured to me I haven't seen him in these parts for a while, so I checked his profile and saw his last post was in August of '05!   :shock:

Aldous, if you're out there, we miss you.

Gosh, nightwing -- you'll make me blush.

Thank you... I'm still around. I've looked in on the website (briefly) a couple of times since August last year. Just by chance I saw the Silver Age thread was still alive and kicking, so I had a quick look and saw your post.

Mr Peabody, I bought Volume 2 of Showcase Presents Superman today, so I will keep an eye out for "Super-Outlaw".

Got mine as well and curently reeading it! Next Ill get the Siuperman Family JO Spectacular!

Wow, Aldous, nice to see you again!

I often use your discussions here and in the archived DCMBs to help me with Supermanica entries...

Cheers. :s:

Nice to hear from you again, Aldous.

I've missed your (and India Ink's and Osgood's) insights on these boards.

From the looks of your location it seems as though you're back in the land across the Tasman.

Thanks, MatterEaterLad. Glad to be of some help regarding the Supermanica. And thank you, Lee... Yes, I'm Downunder again.

Speaking of India Ink, where does he hang out these days? I haven't read anything new by him for a long time.



I finally got to read it, and, yes, "wacky" is right. As you said on page 8 of this thread, the people of Kandor don't know about Supergirl, which is peculiar; even if just for Supergirl's sake, surely the bottle city would be the place most like her ol' hometown where she could go to chill out.

The Kull-Ex situation, being the first time the people of Kandor have seen or heard of Supergirl, would surely put Superman in an awkward position. "So, Kal-El, you have had this beautiful young cousin living on Earth with you all this time, but you've kept her existence a secret from all of us." I'd like to hear his reason. And was Supergirl ever as voluptuous as in this saga? You did say this was her first appearance in the "Superman" title -- so does this mean it's the first time Wayne Boring drew her?

She could use some super-training in tactics, however. Having identified the super-man as an imposter and a fiend, she immediately shows all her cards and tells him everything about herself and her relationship with Superman. She even blabs her plans for rescuing Superman. Nice one, Supergirl.

Of course, the most telling scene in the whole comic is when Superman is watching on the viewing screen as the Superman Museum is being closed, and he thinks: "Impersonating me, Kull-Ex has made the name of Superman hated everywhere! All my years of service to the world -- for nothing!" Oh really? Why don't you ask some of the people whose lives you saved. "For nothing"? It goes to show, as many Silver Age stories do, that Superman has always been more interested in personal glory than he lets on.

Well, I need the help when it comes to Bronze Age stories, and you guys wrote synposes of a lot...believe it or not, the last comic I ever bought was "The Starry-Eyed Siren of Space"...LOL... 8)

I don't hang on too many comics message boards, but I did notice India Ink registered at the forum at "Mike's Amazing World of DC Comics" around last October, but since that forum never built much traffic, Mike closed it a couple of months ago...

I had a quick look back at my insensitive review of "Siren" on page 8 of DCMB 70s... I seem to have been quite concerned I would offend India Ink!

I avidly read anything by India Ink (and I go back and re-read things he wrote). His posts had soul.

You know, its a very personal thing when you grow up with these comics...a LOT different than analyzing them as an adult many years later.

For me, I agree that most of the story was a vague rip-off of "The Gamesters of Triskelion"...

But what affected me the most as a Silver Age kid was Superman flying to a "break out at Metropolis prison" in the very end, flying through the Earth's polluted skies...for me, that was real world reality a little like the Denny O'Neil Green Lantern/Green Arrow, a new era of "realism" I didn't like my childhood heroes to have to deal with (not that it wasn't real)...but that was just me and why I didn't read the Bronze Age...

Aldous, India Ink still posts on the DC message boards, if you know where that is.

I don't know of anywhere else he hangs out these days, though.

Hey Aldous - great to hear from you again!

I'm glad you got a chance to read the Kull-Ex tale, and I think you're correct that it's the first time Wayne Boring drew Supergirl.  I always thought he drew gorgeous females as well - his Lois was always a delight.

And yes, as far as I know, the DC MB are the only place where India still posts.  In fact, he and I have been posting on this thread dealing with the "New Look" Batman:

http://dcboards.warnerbros.com/web/thread.jspa?threadID=2000070696&tstart=0

**SPOILERS** Showcase Vol. 2

Many of the stories in Showcase 2 I'm reading for the first time. The "Mighty Maid" adventure has to be one of the most screwy stories in the book... If you ask me, Supergirl is a little too proficient at super-flirting, and at times has some curious private thoughts about Superman, eg. "His eyes are beautiful." And all that super-smooching... Well, as a plan, it ranks right up there with Superman's most nutty -- and what's with the Man of Steel calling Supergirl "Linda" when they're alone together??

In the Bizarro story, Superman thinks, "It's against my code to defy authority," as he submits to ridiculous laws and gets thrown in the slammer. My my, how he changed over twenty years, now capitulating before anyone with a badge and a truncheon.

Speaking of Superman's evolution, I note a large number of the stories in this volume are written by none other than Jerry Siegel, yet he doesn't appear in the selection of writers and artists mentioned on the back of the book. Maybe he should be at the head of the list.



I agree.

Showcase Vol. 2 is nearly twice as expensive as Vol. 1.
<mild grumble>

Not if you buy it through http://www.amazon.com

They have it for $11.04  Brand new. If you buy more than $25 you will get free shipping.

This is horrible!

He defintiely SHOULD be at the top!

The Superman/Supergirl relationship definitely took some strange turns during the Silver Age, didn't it?  Probably the strangest of all is the story where Superman tells Supergirl that he could only marry a beautiful superwoman like her, but he's out of luck because Kryptonian law forbids marriage between cousins(!)  So Kara searches space and finds her exact adult double (named Luma Lynai, naturally), who Superman falls madly in love with!  Of course, the romance is tragically cut short when Luma finds Earth's yellow sun would kill her.  

This, I kid you not,  is from the Supergirl story entitled "Superman's Super Courtship" from Action #289 (June 1962) by Jerry Siegel and Jim Mooney:

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/Osgood39/Action289.jpg)

Isn't it likely that the very idea of that story was Mort Weisinger's? The basic idea of Superman dating a women that looks exactly like an adult Supergirl is setup right on the cover. Often Weisinger came up with cover ideas which he gave to the writers.

Hello everyone,

All funds from  purchases made through the following links will go to the Chris Reeve paralysis foundation:

Showcase Presents: Superman - Volume 2, the second Sliver Age Superman collection!

Price: $11.04

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1401210414/theamalgamatronA/

Showcase Presents: Superman Family, Vol. 1 Sliver Age Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane!

Price: $11.04

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1401207871/theamalgamatronA/

Superman in the Forties! Classic Golden Age tales in full color!

Price:  $12.99
 
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1401204570/theamalgamatronA/

Superman: Daily Planet
Includes many Sliver Age tales and modern ones as well.

Price:  $13.59

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1401209394/theamalgamatronA/


also don't forget to Pre-Order the following!

Superman: Up, Up, And Away!
Best Superman story in over a nearly 20 years!
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Showcase Presents: Shazam!
560 pages!!!
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I know I said something slightly disparaging back there about Superman submitting to authority, but I read "The Jolly Jailhouse" in the same volume, and I quite liked it.

According to the credits at the front of the book, it comes to us from the pen of Jerry Coleman, and it's a good example of how the Silver Age writers used their noggins when creating problems for the Man of Steel -- who was by now a few degrees short of being a god -- when it would seem the easiest thing in the world for him to resolve any situation in the blink of an eye.

The story could have been two panels long.... Superman grabs the ambitious Colonel Stradi in his iron grip and drops him down an active volcano. By now Superman can do anything. But by having Superman submit to authority, as is his "code" (his own words in the Bizarro story), Jerry C. is forced to come up with inventive ways for the Man of Steel to use his powers.

First of all, Kent is going to be searched by the guards. He can't be found to be wearing his super-suit, so he removes it, rolls it into a tiny ball, and claps it between his hands to create what looks like an A4-sized sheet of indestructible paper; this he inserts between the pages of a magazine. Very clever, Kent. I saw him do something similar many years later in a Private Life of Clark Kent story... I don't have the issue to hand, but some of you (Osgood?) will remember it: Kent rolls his costume into a tiny ball and swallows it, as the fastest and surest way to get it out of the picture. I didn't realise that trick had a precedent.

Superman/Kent begins a campaign to make the colonel look like a bumbling fool by using his super powers in secret to sabotage the colonel's attempts to run the perfect prison. It was a common lament a few years ago that Superman had become too powerful, that he was difficult to write for. But as Mr Coleman proves in this story, if Superman has a simple code against defying authority (wouldn't Pa and Ma Kent be proud!), it opens up an opportunity for a clever writer to create a light-hearted story in which Superman can use his brains to stir up a little "super-mischief".

Yes - I do remember getting a good laugh out of that!  Didn't they end that story with Clark's quip "As for my costume...well, I'm sure things will come out all right in the end!"

Unfortunately, I can't pinpoint the issue - sometime in the mid-70s I would guess.   I'll have to try and find it when I get a chance.

That's the one. I remember the tagline.

And I found the comic.

It's "The Tattoo Switcheroo" (1975), a Martin Pasko story drawn by Garcia Lopez & Colletta.

Clark is forced into a car at gunpoint by Snake-Eyes who wants to swap clothes with him -- Snake-Eyes wants to impersonate Clark. Clark creates a momentary distraction during which he removes his super-suit and rolls it into a tiny ball which he then swallows.

This is another of those stories in which someone happens to be a double of Clark/Superman.

This comic also reminds us that Clark/Superman keeps a diary. The last entry for this story reads: "And as for my super-costume... Well, I'm confident everything will come out all right..."

Yep - that's the one!  That line was pretty memorable after all - I had it almost word for word.

It originally appeared in Superman #294 (Dec. 1975).

As far as the diary goes, in the Silver Age, I can remember some instances where he kept a journal in the Fortress, but he wrote it in Kryptonese to preserve his secrets!

Still with Volume 2 of Showcase, Otto Binder has Superman come up with what seems to me a very peculiar way of getting out of a trap. It could have all been so much simpler. The comic is "Voyage to Dimension X," and involves the Man of Steel tracking an alien space ship (which looks like a weather satellite) as it frightens then helps our people. Eventually he volunteers to enter the ship which will take him to Dimension X. The ship, basically a globe, is made out of "solid lead," cutting off Superman's view of the outside world.

It's not the first time our hero proves himself to be super-gullible -- and I can understand why, in later years, Batman found it so easy to get one over on Superman in the great and quirky Bob Haney stories.

Superman finds himself trapped inside the lead globe, and as it rests on the ground in the Sahara desert, he uses his super-hearing to deduce he is still on Earth and not in an alien dimension at all. The globe is booby-trapped and if Superman smashes through its walls it will send a signal to a hidden bomb under Metropolis.

The Man of Steel figures a way out of his predicament by whirling around inside the globe which apparently creates so much heat that the lead globe expands like a balloon as the air trapped with him expands. This causes the lead globe to rise high up into the sky (how, don't ask me!) where a lightning bolt takes out the booby trap.

The physicists amongst you can debate the likelihood of a veritable lead balloon floating into the upper atmosphere (let's not forget the lead globe retains its mass no matter how much it is stretched), but my question is why didn't Superman simply fly the globe up into the sky? He could have done so quite easily of course.

A question about super-hearing arises with this story as well. I've never read "Dimension X" before now, but I have read and enjoyed a 70s tale in which Superman cannot hear what is happening inside a space ship because its hull is lined with lead. I'm not going to dig out the mag, but I'm pretty sure the comic is "The Secrets of Superman's Fortress" from 1970. So it would appear Superman cannot make his mind up. Can he hear "through lead" or not? Personally I can't see why not.

Superman and Otto Binder were obviously the inspiration for 70s rock greats, Led Zeppelin.

Some inconsistencies with Superman's powers actually intrigued me as a kid, and long before the Iron Age's attempt to "de-power" him, there were devices that made outcomes be in doubt...Amalak de-powered him by hitting him with solar radiation by mistake, Eterno knocked him around like a rag doll, etc.  And I always wondered how someone so strong and fast as Superman could be surpassed by something strong and fast but bigger, like the Flame Dragon...the hearing through lead makes no sense, if the lead can transmit the tiniest vibration to the air around it...I suppose I just liked the individual story to have some consistency and to be good, rather than compare it to every story that came before, and when things didn't make complete sense, well that was fun to talk about...

Was the ship in outerspace at the time?  If so, the "not hearing through lead" thing would have been an attempt to solve a plot-point problem that didn't even exist, since sound can't carry through a vacuum.

:s:

Intriguingly, this is not the first Silver Age reference to a "Dimension X." The first was in a Jack Kirby-drawn ADVENTURE COMICS #252-253 (1958) which features a Dimension X inhabited by a race of colossal giants, whose greatest hero is an immense Green Arrow-type alien. From a portal in Dimension X, colossal trick arrows were sent hurtling onto the earth.

A Justice League of America comic from the early 60's has a JLAer mention that SUperman and Batman are off on an adventure together to Dimension X, and thus couldn't be at the monthly meeting to help out...

Dimension X is not a proper name, but rather a generic name for any unknown dimension.

Is Dimension X, Dimension 10 or X?  :wink:

Planet 10 in the 8th Dimension, buckaroo...

Well, I finally started reading Showcase Superman Vol.2. I am about 100 pages into it, without giving away story details, so no real spoilers here folks, here are my thoughts thus far:

The Cosmic Man tale was pretty cool, in that I got to see a character I never knew even existed. Bill Finger is always good for packing in a TON of story into a few pages.

The Revenge of Luthor was a really wacky tale! I mean if Post-Iron Age fanboys actually read these books I can see this story becoming an Internet cult hit. Countless funny quotes. Jerry Siegel said he liked to write humor tales and which he could include them more into Superman, I am glad he finally got the chance. (They wouldn't let him during the Golden Age)

The famous Super-Menace epic certainly lived up to the hype! Otto Binder made Captain Marvel the greatest Golden Age hero of them all, and he works his magic here.

The Mighty Maid tale was just more freaky Silver Age kink to be place in that rather large pile. Otto Binder has issues ;)

The Lois Lane/Clark Kent tale was a neat little tale which was pretty funny. Jerry Siegel  shows off his humor once again.

Superman's Mermaid Sweetheart featured great sweeping artwork by Wayne Boring, he was really at his best with these types of tales. Jerry Siegel is also good at darker tales as well.

The Trio of Steel seems to be one of those stories that started as a cover 1st and poor Jerry Siegel had to figure out how to turn it into a story, at least that's the way it reads.

And that's where I left off.

I'm still enjoying this book. As with any volume this size, there are a few duds, but not many. To balance that out, there are some really top tales from the era. One of my favourite stories has always been "Superman vs. Super-Menace" (The Super-Brat From Krypton) by Jerry Siegel at his black and white best, and I was glad to see it in the book.

SPOILER for "The Reversed Super-Powers" in Showcase Vol. 2, although I won't give away the ending...

Jerry Siegel gives his thoughts on Lois Lane's infatuation with Superman in "The Reversed Super-Powers", and Kurt Schaffenberger is the right choice of artist for a simple story that shows Lois in a bad light -- to my mind anyway.

The Man of Steel loses his powers in an experiment with Kryptonite, and becomes an ordinary man. Of all the things now running through the powerless Superman's mind, the uppermost seems to be his desire for Lois, and not a minute after he has ceased to be super, he is proposing to Lois; with his career as a super-hero now over, his future wife will no longer be in danger from his enemies. (I'm not so sure about the logic of that.)

"At last!" thinks Lois. "Superman is proposing marriage! This is what I've wanted to hear for years, and years, and years..."

Our romantic story could end right there on page 4, but Lois shows her true colours, thinking: "Wait! I... I mustn't accept so quickly! Will I remain in love with a Superman who has no mighty powers? I... I don't know...!"

Not a good showing by Lois? It's not an Imaginary story either. I suppose the question is, How much of Superman's personality, courage, and character is dependent upon super-power. Stripped of super-power, what exactly would be left? -- who would that man be, and what would he be. Obviously Lois isn't sure.

BTW, doesn't Wayne Boring artwork look so much better in B&W?

How many times have Superman's Silver Age power levels come up for discussion, and how many times has someone wheeled out the old "juggling planets" device, rusting and squeaking?

Still with Showcase Vol. 2, in "The World of Mr. Mxyzptlk," the imp drops a load of sneezing powder on the city and Superman vacuums all of it up by inhaling it through his nostrils. Unfortunately, it's "magical" sneezing powder, and Superman is susceptible to it just like anyone else.

About to sneeze, he flies up and away from Earth as fast as he can, then, "far, far out into the cosmos," in a distant solar system, Superman sneezes, and his sneeze destroys the entire solar system -- to the extent that each and every planet is blown to bits!

Off the top of my head I can't think of any super-feat more powerful than that, so it must be the new gold standard.

Especially, since...

"In Space...No One can Hear You Sneeze"... 8)

That super-sneeze story made a big impression on Denny O'Neil. I have read several interviews with him and, whenever he was asked about his days writing Superman, he always seemed to mention that story as the reason he reduced Superman's powers in the Sandman saga. As if he couldn't just consider that scene an anomaly, and Superman was destroying galaxies with his magic super-sneeze every month.

Its funny how single incidents make such an impression on people, to the point of wanting to go in a very different direction...the difference in taking over a comic title I suppose is that you are building on what many others have done, rather than starting out with something new that you have created.

Sounds like the complaints about Lois being "a snoopy marriage-obsessed woman" until Byrne came along, despite this characterization of Lois not having been valid since the late 60's/early 70's...

Having just re-read that story a couple of days ago, I thought that scene was just about the funniest in Showcase Presents: Superman Volume 2.

I guess you could explain the extra destructiveness of Superman's sneeze as being accentuated by the magical cause.

I would be interested to see a survey of Superman's more impressive, if not downright impossible feats, like the time he was towing a solar system or planet on a chain.

I still think the most ridiculously impossible feat Superman performed was in a Golden Age story (in one of the archives - which one I can't remember), where he carried out a number of duties all over the world, all in the space of less than a second, if I recall correctly.

By way of bumping this venerable thread, here's a few vintage house ads I've recently come across which I think you'll enjoy:

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/Osgood39/Superman1561962.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/Osgood39/SupermanFamily1961.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/Osgood39/Supermanfamily1963.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/Osgood39/Supermanfamily1964.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/Osgood39/Supermanfamily1965.jpg)


Looking back on this thread, I see a lot of references to the first 2 Superman showcases.  A 3rd Superman showcase is now out there - they've reached what I'd call "high Silver Age" - the classic Swan/Klein team now at the reins.  The next couple of volumes will be as good as it gets!

Dig those "Schnapp-Weisinger" ads. Aren't they great!

They certainly have the desired effect. I think I'll rush out and buy those mags with my pocket money. That "Composite Superman" sure looks super-keen (and a little scary).... If you could be any super-type, you'd be him, of course.

And yes, Osgood, time to put the 3rd Showcase on the shopping list.

Worked well enough, my brother bought "The Last Days of Superman", "Composite Superman" and "Weakest Man in the World" and handed them on down to me.

I bought them all when they hit the stands-- making me a real Silver Ager! ;)

You have a little on me, I personally bought all my comics from 1966-1972 (not a one since then)...but, along with two of my older brothers' 1961-65 collection, I read then all 'till the covers fell off... ;D

Wow! I really want to read "Lois Lane's Outlaw Son" now.

Reading them until the covers come off is the best - now when I replace the ones Ive lost or sold through the years, I just go for 'readers'.  As long as the stories are complete, who cares?


Permanus, IIRC correctly "LL's Outlaw Son" is a two-parter!  Just a head's up there.

Yeah, Supes wasn't exactly doing his best James Dean that day. 

I think supes sets up his own rules just so he doesn't beat up everyone at once. Like its just one big game to him.