Superman Through the Ages! Forum

I just scored a nice haul of back issues a couple of weeks ago at Wizard World and I still haven't had time to read most of them even though I'm itching to do so.

The Superman oriented stuff looks like a lot of fun. Not necessarily the greatest stories ever, but a lot of cool explorations of the Super-mythos.

Anybody have fond memories of any of these?

ACTION COMICS # 352 (second part of the Zha-Vam trilogy- now it's complete!); 364, 365, 366 (the "Superman is dying from Virus X" mega-parter); 395 (another "lost love" of Superman's); 426; 489-490 (first two of a neat Brainiac trilogy by Cary Bates that I needed to complete).

ADVENTURE COMICS # 306 (The Substitute Legion debuts!), 314 (Superboy is mind-controlled by Hitler!), 351 (one of the weirdest Legion stories ever), 369 (MORDRU THE MERCILESS!!!); 387, 388, 389 (all Supergirl stories-- a nice Luthor two-parter featuring his nephew Val, and a Brainiac two-parter that is one of the most sexist stories I've ever seen), 397, 405, 423 (from the very odd Mike Sekowsky era of Supergirl).

ALL-STAR COMICS # 62, 65, 71 (the 1970s revival of the Justice Society, featuring a very cool version of Earth-Two's Superman by Paul Levitz, Keith Giffen and Wally Wood)

JIMMY OLSEN # 125 (oddball story- aren't ALL of Jimmy's oddball though? Even a cameo by the Joker); 138 (slowly acquiring ALL of the Kirby issues!)

LOIS LANE # 114; 118; 123 (bought these mainly because I'm trying to pick up most of the earlier 1970s appearances of Rose and the Thorn)

SHOWCASE #99 (Power Girl)

STRANGE SPORTS STORIES #1 (rare non-superhero art by Curt Swan in the 1970s)

SUPERBOY # 184; 236

NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERBOY # 27 (SuperBOY's meeting with President Kennedy)

SUPER FRIENDS # 21, 42, 43 (vastly underrated writer E. Nelson Bridwell keeping the spirit of the Silver Age JLA alive in the early 1980s)

SUPERMAN # 229 (one of the last hurrahs of Superman's Silver Age); 246; 357 (Vartox); 368 (conclusion of a Revenge Squad multi-parter with Superman brainwashing himself to go undercover as a lizard-alien)

SUPERMAN FAMILY # 198, 210 (bought these just for the "Mr. and Mrs. Superman" stories. Why did DC have to kill those two?)

WORLD'S FINEST COMICS # 131, 135 (awesome Dick Sprang art, plus appearances by Thor and the "Crimson Avenger"); 159 (yes, it's available on the website but I wanted a copy!); 274

Also picked up a nice batch of other great titles, but I'm finding it just too expensive to get the older stuff I want these days. Silver Age comics are reaching what used to be Golden Age prices when I started collecting years ago, and I just can't afford it anymore unless I find real bargains.

>>
ADVENTURE COMICS # 306 (The Substitute Legion debuts!), 314 (Superboy is mind-controlled by Hitler!)<<

How'd Hitler do that? Guessing not with an Earth-1 Spear of Destiny (though that was a 70's-era revelation anyway)...

>>351 (one of the weirdest Legion stories ever), 369 (MORDRU THE MERCILESS!!!); 387, 388, 389 (all Supergirl stories-- a nice Luthor two-parter featuring his nephew Val, and a Brainiac two-parter that is one of the most sexist stories I've ever seen), 397, 405, 423 (from the very odd Mike Sekowsky era of Supergirl).
<<

What was the Brainiac story about (and what made it so sexist)?

>>ALL-STAR COMICS # 62, 65, 71 (the 1970s revival of the Justice Society, featuring a very cool version of Earth-Two's Superman by Paul Levitz, Keith Giffen and Wally Wood)
<<

DC just released a TPB of the Justice Society that reprints most of the All-Star Comics run of the 70's plus DC SPeical #29 (their origin), which I plan on buying (though my local shop seems either unaware of this TPB or doesn't have it...).

>>SHOWCASE #99 (Power Girl)

I have this one (and the other Power Girl Showcase issues)...

>>NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERBOY # 27 (SuperBOY's meeting with President Kennedy)

I have this one too (plus the lead-in story for it in #26)...

>>SUPERMAN FAMILY # 198, 210 (bought these just for the "Mr. and Mrs. Superman" stories. Why did DC have to kill those two?)

Good question... :-\

>>Also picked up a nice batch of other great titles, but I'm finding it just too expensive to get the older stuff I want these days. Silver Age comics are reaching what used to be Golden Age prices when I started collecting years ago, and I just can't afford it anymore unless I find real bargains.<<

THink it depends on the Silver Age comics in question, but yes, they're getting more expensive (as it retreats further into the past). Though the 70's/80's stuff is often still fairly cheap (I got a lot of my "New Adventures of Superboy" run for $1-$1.50 per issue at a used bookstore downtown that sells old comics for cheap...).

Oh, now that was a great Legion story! You just can't go wrong with the Shooter/Swan Legion. My all time favorite moment was when they were trapped in a metal cage created by a robot's fingers, and Matter Eater Lad EATS his way out, saying "Those ROBOT FINGERS were just as tasty as ladyfingers!"

And of course, we have the "arm" puns with Lightning Lad. His artificial arm is melted, but he gets zapped in the other and says "No! I've been totally DISARMED!"

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...get it? It's funny because he's handicapped!

The greatest line ever written was in that story: "That energizer has given me a special power!" "Jumping Jupiter, he's growing horns!" "Yes, and not ordinary horns, either! They can shoot out BLASTS OF DARKNESS!"

I did love the foreshortening about the upcoming death of Ferro Lad. My question is, though...we didn't get to see what the Hag predicted was going to be Cosmic Boy's fate, that was supposedly "so horrible it can never be seen!"

QUESTION: why do parents name their children "Evilo?" What, did the King and Queen of Tartarus already name their first born Hitler-Hussein?

This story also features the only occasions where Color Kid's astonishingly useless ability (even by the low, low standards of the Substitute Legion) comes in handy: he turns the earth's Green K to Red K.

Though surely Superboy's powers can be put to better use than surreptitiously erasing caricatures of his teacher. Someone drew a humorous drawing of a teacher? SUPERBOY MUST STOP THIS!

Also: is it just me, or is Night Girl the best looking chick in the 30th Century? Hotcha-cha!




Hear-hear! E. Nelson Bridwell was a talent, that's for sure. His greatest work, I think, was SUPERMAN SPECIAL #3 (1985), which features Superman battling against Amazo (perhaps the definitive Superman/Amazo fight), and the Elongated Man backup stories in DETECTIVE COMICS (much better than the John Jones backups, which felt like Superman tales...but the ones in JIMMY OLSEN or LOIS LANE instead of Edmond Hamilton's). Nelson Bridwell's Elongated Man stories had a mystery, AND they had things like Elongated Man stretching his finger around a villain several times, saying "I just caught this guy with ONE FINGER!" Unlike other girlfriends, Sue was a legitimate part of the Elongated Man story, sort of his sidekick, playing the "Doctor Watson" role when mysteries strike.

E. Nelson Bridwell's SUPER FRIENDS was a lot of fun. It feels strange to say this, but my favorite part were the Wonder Twins and their monkey. On the television show, they were nitwits whose general job was interfering with natural selection. On the other hand, in the cartoon, they were treated more like the less-powerful members of the Legion of Super-Heroes: as a surprising and undervalued part of the team, that unlikely circumstances make their otherwise limited powers the most valuable of all.

The space monkey, too, was treated more like an animal under E. Nelson Bridwell. It reminded me less of the cute talking animals from Disney films, more like the animal heroes from things like WHITE FANG and THE CALL OF THE WILD. There was one story where the monkey performed robberies for a superfoe, but even after the enemy was caught, he still demanded to be fed for stealing, because "he's just a monkey that's learned a trick...he doesn't know what he did was wrong."

Plus, it was worth reading these to hear Superman shout "STRIKE, SUPER FRIENDS!"



What was especially funny is that this isn't the first time Hitler's tried to put his brain in a member of the Superman family. There was a Legion story where Hitler was able to place his mind into Supergirl. Man, sometimes Supergirl's stories feel like a submarine, travelling into the unconscious mind of a sex deviant.



Well, it all depends. I was able to complete my run on early-seventies gem SON OF SATAN for less than a dollar an issue. And most of my Silver Age Legion stuff barely set me back $2 or less a book, though I was willing to take them a little "loved" (e.g. beat up).

Yes, I really like those comics as well.



Which makes me wonder when and where you read your comics, because for me reading a comic is a way to relax with something undemanding, maybe with a coffee on a weekend afternoon if I have some spare time, and if I'm not in the mood for the newspaper or a book.

Or do you sit down with a stack of comics determined to get through them all because they need to be read?

"Blast of darkness", eh? Isn't that a Joseph Conrad novel?

I love that Prince Evilo felt the need to explain that they weren't ORDINARY horns, either. That in and of itself really just gives you a feel for how messed up the 30th Century is, that in order for a grown man with horns to stand out, the horns have to fire BLASTS OF DARKNESS!

"And not just ordinary horns! I can gore people with these!"

<laughs>  That overrationalization (maybe there's a better word for it?) was part of lots of Silver Age DC.  Perhaps the most notable example of this is Superman explaining why he can't marry Supergirl.  It's an aspect you don't find in most Silver Age homages.  


I rarely know how addicted I'll be to a particular work until I start doing it, so I try to slate off a decent block of free time.  "Addiction" isn't always a function of quality, either.  Some stuff is quite good and enjoyable, but I don't get addicted and can read (or watch) in nibbles and bits.  Other stuff is mediocre or downright bad but irresistable, and I must know how it ends once I pick it up.

I've noticed that when I'm reading a comic with an artist whose work I enjoy, it takes much longer because I spend so much time looking at the pictures. I usually buy a stack of new comics every week and try to save the best for last, something I've done since kidhood, so I do tend to sit down with them determined to get through them all, so that I can get to the best ones. A bit childish, I know.

I do the same thing. If I hit a comic con, and come back with a stack of silver age 'readers' I spread them all out on the floor and pick the ones I want to read first and then restack them in order of preferred readability.

I am just like you, I read comics to relax, and only when the mood hits me. That's why it takes me months to read through a Showcase book, since I read one story at a time, maybe once a day, sometimes once a week, or even just 3 times a month, somtimes I may go through a few months without picking it up, if I am too busy.

What's the rush?

It's just pure joy when I am doing it.

Oh, and by the time I am done, I can read it again, as if it was the 1st time ;)

Well, it's complicated... basically, this evil scientist type from the Legion's era travels back in time to recruit the three most evil villains in history: Hitler, Emperor Nero, and John Dillinger. (Yes, John Dillinger came in third. That makes no sense to me at all. I mean, Dillinger was evil, yes, and he killed people, but does a guy who robbed banks really rank up there with genocidal dictators?)

Then he uses a mind-transfer device to project their minds into the bodies of Superboy, Mon-El and Ultra Boy so they can enslave the universe with their new super-powers. This guy is, of course, SURPRISED when the three worst villains in history (as HE described them) turn on him and don't want to share the universe with him...

Everything turns out okay in the end, since the villains are easily tricked into turning against themselves and knocking each other out so that the Legion can reverse the process and send them back to their own times.


The Brainiac story is also a bit complicated.... well, Brainiac recruits a sort of outer-space juvenile delinquent who has a history of seducing women throughout the galaxy, because he wants a pawn to use against Supergirl... he uses this handsome but obnoxious kid as the template for an android which he sends to break Supergirl's heart. Soon she is smitten with the guy, in both her Supergirl and Linda Danvers identities, because he treats them both like dirt.

For example, he orders (not asks) Linda to go on a date with him, and then pay for their meal herself:

"Shut up about the check! You know you'd pay TRIPLE that to go out with ME! Now you can walk YOURSELF home! I'll call you TOMORROW-- if you're LUCKY!"

Or how about this classic bit of romantic dialogue:

"How can I get through to you, Linda-- anything to do with you DISGUSTS me!"

Linda / Supergirl is anguished by this shabby treatment but is also turned on by it. She thinks things like "I've fallen for him like a ton of bricks" and "every second I'm away from him is agony!"

The story makes it clear that in no way is  he is using any kind of super-power or technology to make her feel this way; it is just his "charm" and "personality" attracting her so. Which means that the writer (Cary Bates) seems to think that women secretly love to be insulted, humiliated and verbally abused. Hope that Cary never married.

I just bought this one. It is nice to look at but, as a purist, I am disappointed with the way they chose to reprint the issues. To me, a reprint should be exactly that... a RE-printing of what was printed before, as close to the original material as possible. In the trade paperback, they chopped out bits of the original stories, like all of the credit boxes, footnoted captions and next-issue blurbs. I know it seems excessively picky, but that removes part of the experience of revisiting the old comics.

As a youngster, I generally read  a comic book lying stomach-down on the bed or, usually, the floor. Sometimes I would bring them outside but I learned not to do this as it was too easy for them to get wet, lost or stolen. Sometimes I would lay the comic down on the cushions of our couch and read it while kneeling on the floor in front of it... now it occurs to me that this must have looked somewhat idolatrous, as if I was praying to the shrine of the Comic Gods...

Often I would read a new comic in the back seat of our car, as my parents drove back home from the store where it was bought. When I did manage to buy a large stack of comics from Redig's Books, a bookstore that had a big selection (most groceries and drugstores didn't), my parents would never let me read them all at once. They would give me one or two at a time, sort of as "treats" when I got bored. My father would hide them in a closet and although I figured out where they were, they were too high to safely reach, so I had to wait. I quickly learned to place the comics that I was most eager to read at the top of the stack when I handed them over to him, so that I would get them first... but he seemed to figure this out and eventually he would mix them up at random.

Today I tend to read them leaning over a flat surface like a kitchen table or my writing desk. The bed or floor is too uncomfortable for my geezerous adult self...

I'd usually read a new comic in my mother's car on the way home and then in a chair, then it went into the pile of my previous comics and those from about 1962-1965 that my oldest brother gave to me (well, abandoned to me)...I'd go through this pile a lot, usually on Saturday mornings before breakfast.

When I was a kid, buying between 2-10 comics books on a weekly or monthly basis, I would read the comics in order of least preference, saving the best for last.  Often with a beverage (hot chocolate during those Canadian winter months, Tahiti Treat/Cream Soda /Kool-Aid in the heat of summer).  Usually at a table or sitting up on my bed.  Rereading could take place anywhere and with less ritual.

When I was in university and getting lots of minicomics in the mail, I loved to sit on the porch of my apartment or (later) in the backyard of my house with a beer or glass of wine and open up the weird envelopes full of zines and comics.

Now that I buy only one or 2 graphic novels or classic collections per month, along with the occasional tiny horde of ancient back issues, all bets are off.

Now, my comics reading takes all forms.  Sometimes I need booze to get through a comic (like a modern superhero comic) and sometimes it just adds to the experience (Jimmy Olsen, Doug Allen's Steven, Bushmiller's Nancy).  Surprisingly some comics are more enjoyable sober!  Some comics need lots of concentration!  Some need hardly any.   Sometimes I read comics on the toilet, sometimes over breakfast, sometimes in semi-darkness, sometimes on the net.  Sometimes I curl them up and fold back the covers, other times I lay them out like relics, poring over them like Wimbledon Green with a magnifying glass.  Sometimes I laugh out loud, sharing the text with whoever's around.  Sometimes I throw the things across the room in disgust or toss them in the trash.

Wow. You sure get your money's worth!