World's Finest Comics #86, January/February 1957, was published around November 29, 1956. It contained 32 pages for the cover price of a dime. The editor was Jack Schiff, and the cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye.
The Superman and Batman story was titled The Super Show Of Gotham City, written by Edmond Hamilton, pencilled by Dick Sprang and inked by Stan Kaye. This 12 page story was reprinted in World's Finest Archive vol. II and Showcase Presents: World's Finest vol. I.
Batman and Robin answered Commissioner Gordon's summons via the Batsignal. Instead of being alerted to the latest villain escaping from prison, they were invited to participate in the Gotham Police charity show.
After returning to the Batcave, the Dynamic Duo began picking their trophies which they thought would most interest the public. They were soon joined by Superman, who volunteered to participate. Batman had the idea of the heroes re-enacting some of their super deeds, and Superman planned to arrange for Clark to have a few days off in order to make time for the show (Clark's 4th silver age vacation).
The charity show even made front page headlines in Metropolis, but Clark informed Lois that he wasn't going to be there (at least in that identity he told himself). Lois met Commissioner Gordon outside Gotham City, where the charity show would take place. They were soon joined by Batman and Robin, and Lois noticed that there was nothing set up for the public to sit and watch the show. Superman appeared and chiseled a stadium out of a rock cliff.
The charity show began with the Gotham Police Motorcycle Corps riding in various formations. Superman carried a giant platform which was filled with many of Batman's trophies. While the public observed the Bat trophies, Mr. Bartles, who had been contracted to film the show, thought to himself that Superman and Batman wouldn't like his plans for his film of their show.
After Superman borrowed two buildings from Gotham City, Batman and Robin re-enacted their defeat of a spider like machine robbers used to scale a building. But Batman's aim was thrown off when the flagpole his batrope was tied to bent. Robin helped him recover and they stopped the machine.
Superman's first stunt was to catch the rocket originally used by the Rocket Rocketeers to rob banks. The Man of Steel misjudged the trajectory, and had to catch up with the rocket. Bartle's cameraman commented that both scenes were spoiled, but Bartle wasn't worried. There would be more stunts to film.
Lois, however, was concerned. She suspected someone was sabotaging the show.
The World's Finest Heroes next re-enacted the case where Batman and Robin found and defused a bomb that had been hidden in a merry go round. Superman lifted it above the crowd for safety. Batman and Robin were successful, but had to hold on for dear life when the merry go round began to spin at a high speed. Commissioner Gordon declared the show would be over until tomorrow.
Superman and Batman dismissed Lois' concerns, but she was determined to fund the culprit. She asked Bartle if she could look at the film of the crowd observing the Bat trophies, but he informed her that he had only filmed the stunts.
After dark, Lois snuck into the rocket, but someone's hand shut the door. She banged on the door, and Superman and Batman let her out, but they continued to dismiss her concerns.
The first act on the next day was recreating when Batman and Robin used the Batplane to catch a gang that wore diving suits to reach their underwater hideout. After flying the Batplane low over the water, Batman retracted the Batplane's wings so that the craft could operate as a submarine. But they didn't emerge, and bubbles surfaced. Superman rescued the submerged Batplane, and Batman and Robin were unhurt.
Superman struggled to overcome a tank disguised as a fire breathing dragon, but finally won.
As he retrieved a giant bow from Batman's trophies, Superman adjusted the bowstring. Lois had hidden in a lead box used by criminals to hide from Superman, and had seen the Man of Steel sabotage the bow. She was convinced that he must have locked her in the rocket.
Superman and Batman reenacted when Superman shot an arrow, carrying Batman, to catch some crooks who had sabotaged a bridge. The Man of Steel had remained behind in case he had to make emergency repairs. Superman undershot the plane, but Batman had worn his parachute cape, and floated safely to the ground.
Before Lois could inform Gordon what she had seen, Bartle demanded his check back, because his film was worthless. Batman and Superman convinced Gordon to agree to Bartle's demand. The heroes informed Bartle that they knew of his plan to market the film as an actual documentary of their real exploits and not re-enactments. They had purposefully botched their stunts, and now they would perform for real, and the film from the show would make a lot of money, all for charity. They began with Superman juggling Batman and Robin as he flew over the crowd.
First of all, I can't picture Batman participating in any charity show. That's a job for Bruce Wayne. While I didn't feel sorry for Bartle being scammed, I had to wonder about the crowd. Why would they want to return for a second day if Superman and Batman performed so badly. It was never made clear if Superman did lock Lois in the rocket. I wonder if the producers of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight got the idea for the glider cape from Batman's parachute cape in this story. I give it 2 Superman Capes out of 5.
Elsewhere in DC Comics, 34 titles carried the January or January/February 1957 cover date.
Next Episode: Superman Comic Book Cover Dated March 1960: Action Comics #262! In 2 Weeks: Superman Family Comic Book Cover Dated February 1957: Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #18!
Check out SLIPSTREAM, a new web comic book written by jeffrey Taylor, co-host of the FROM CRISIS TO CRISIS podcast, and drawn by yours truly. Thanks to SUPERMAN HOMEPAGE .com contributor Adam Deschanel for putting the website together. http://www.clockworkcomics.co.uk/. It will begin November 2011.
Also, if you know the original publication information for a Superman story involving his alien zoo at his Fortress of Solitude, reprinted in the 1970 SUPERMAN BUMPER BOOK, a UK Superman hardcover anthology, post it in comments or through the contact information below.
You can join the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and MY PULL LIST groups or pages on facebook, and follow both the podcast and blog on twitter @supermanpodcast.
The theme of this podcast is PLANS IN MOTION, composed by Kevin MacLeod, and part of the royalty free music library at http://incompetech.com.
MY PULL LIST is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com.
Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics. Any art shown on this podcast is for entertainment purposes only, and not for profit.
Thanks for listening to the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
This episode could be called The Jerry Siegel Show because he wrote all of the stories discussed in this episode. After these five stories, Siegel had written 13 silver age Superman related stories for DC Comics at this point. Before the stories discussed in this episode, he also wrote Prisoners Of The Super-Heroes for Adventure Comics #267, December 1959, and The Ghost Of Jor-El for Superboy #78, January 1960.
All of the Superman stories discussed in this episode have been reprinted in Showcase Presents: Superman vol. II.
Superman #135, February 1960, was published on December 17, 1959. It contained 32 pages for 10¢. Mort Weisinger was the editor, and the cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye.
The first story in this issue was titled When Lois Lane First Suspected Clark Was Superman, featured as An Untold Tale Of Superman, the 7th Superman story to carry this subhead.
At the Daily Planet offices, Lois Lane peered out the window and saw some robbers fleeing in a getaway car. Clark Kent went to the water fountain, claiming to feel faint. Lois thought it might be more than a coincidence that Clark disappeared every time Superman appeared. Clark was very aware of what Lois was thinking, and recalled when she didn't suspect he was Superman. Cue the flashback.
One day, sometime in the past, Lois saw Superman fly toward the Daily Planet building and grab the flagpole on the roof before disappearing behind it. That was when she first suspected that an employee of the Daily Planet might be Superman.
Once she arrived at her desk, Lois examined the hands of every man in the office for signs of wet paint, except for Clark Kent. She scoffed at the possibility that Clark could be Superman. As a matter of fact, Clark had already used his x-ray vision to melt the wet paint from his hands, but almost didn't know whether to be relieved or insulted that Lois found the possibility that he was the Man of Steel ridiculous.
On the following Saturday, during a beach party for the Daily Planet staff, Lois snooped through everyone's things for clues to Superman's secret identity. In a rare shirtless appearance, Clark buried himself in the sand so that Lois wouldn't suspect his too fit physique. He stuck a fake flabby arm on the outside if his mound, but Lois didn't notice as she passed by. She was listening to another woman talking about the possibility of finding Superman's secret identity at that evening's masquerade party. Clark was annoyed this time that Lois didn't notice him.
After the beach party ended, the Planet staff returned to the office to publish the paper's afternoon edition.Clark received a phone tip that Lex Luthor had just escaped from jail. In a flash of anger, Clark squeezed the phone receiver out of shape. Lois noticed it, and chastised Clark for switching his real phone for a fake one in order to play a trick on her.
Clark changed into Superman and began searching for Luthor. He found a truck carrying life sized was statues to a museum, and offered to melt the face of the Luthor statue in order to shape it more realistically. That blew Luthor's cover when he hid his face, and he was captured.
After returning to the Daily Planet office, Superman was changing into his Clark Kent clothes when Lois walked into the storeroom. She was annoyed at Clark for wearing the Superman costume in order to make her a laughingstock. After all, it's all about Lois.
Later, while plumbers were making repairs, Lois began to have second thoughts about dismissing the possibility that Clark could secretly be Superman. She decided to put him to the test by using a small piece of kryptonite that Perry had given her to photograph for a feature article she was writing. Lois placed the kryptonite in a pipe and showed it to Clark. He did a good enough job of hiding the agony he was under so that Lois tossed the pipe in the trash can. But after she reviewed the notes for her article, she noticed the one about lead shielding kryptonite radiation. Lois returned to Clark's office and retrieved the pipe, only to discover that it was made of aluminum, not lead. What she didn't know was that Clark had switched the pipes to throw her off.
Back in the present, as Clark stood at the water fountain, he used his x-ray vision to peer through the wall and see that a police car had stopped the crooks, and would not require Superman's assistance. To cover himself he placed his foot under the fountain's foot pedal, and "needed" Lois' help in getting unstuck. Lois scoffed at the notion that Clark could possibly be Superman. Or was it an act? The story ended before the circle could start all over again.
This was an okay, humorous story, but not great. There really wasn't a clear reason for Superman to touch the flagpole, unless wet paint is as irresistible to Superman as it is to the rest of us. Clark was very clever to always cover his tracks in this story. I did find Lois a little harsh in dismissing Clark, That weakling - Superman? Don't make me laugh. It would be a ridiculouswaste of time to study his hands! I liked that Clark didn't know whether to be relieved or annoyed. I've often thought the same thing. Lois was very nosy at the beach party, and it was smart of Clark to keep Lois from noticing his in shape physique. I couldn't help but think that wouldn't others notice Clark's build and suspect that he might be Superman. When Clark planted the fake arm, I wondered about what he would do if Lois picked up his "hand". His closest call was when Lois waved the kryptonite under his nose.
My favorite way that Superman has ever captured Lex Luthor was in this story. When the Man of Steel noticed Luthor posing as a wax statue in the back of the truck, I liked his comment, That wax face of Luthor doesn't do his ugly face justice. Superman caught Luthor off guard when he offered to use his x-ray vision to remold his face.
Jerry Siegel gave Clark and Superman more of a sense of humor than I've noticed in these silver age stories, especially when he captured Luthor. He showed more of an emotional response to Lois' scheme to discover Superman's secret identity.
I give this story 3 Superman Capes out of 5.
Superman's Mermaid Sweetheart was the second story of the issue. This 10 page story was pencilled by Wayne Boring and inked by Stan Kaye. It began as Clark was driving through a fishing village on his return trip to Metropolis after covering an out of town story, when he overheard a conversation about a mermaid.
Clark decided to check it out, and walked into a conversation between a group of fishermen. Hans Schmidt claimed a mermaid had freed his catch. Another fisherman told him that maybe he should stop fishing illegally in spawning waters.
After the other fishermen left, Clark asked Schmidt to describe the mermaid, and Kent knew that Hans was describing Lori Lemaris (who was introduced in Superman #129, May 1959, in The Girl In Superman's Past, which was discussed in Episode #158).
Clark rushed to the beach and telepathically called for Lori. After a false alarm that turned out to be only a dolphin, Clark, who had changed into Superman, found her on the beach. In a rare panel without a word balloon or narration caption, they shared a lingering kiss. Superman immediately proposed, but Lori declined. He did talk her into going on a date, but after dinner at a night club, Lori asked Clark to take her back to the beach.
Superman again proposed, and promised to leave the surface world and live with Lori in Atlantis. She swam back home to ask permission, which was granted. The Man of Steel didn't notice Schmidt eavesdropping on them, until Hans threw his harpoon at the dolphin Lori rode. She saved the animal from the harpoon but severely injured herself on the jagged rocks.
Schmidt fled a furious Superman, who rushed Lori to Atlantis. He first had to lead an atomic beast out of the water and into a volcano to its doom, after it began chasing them. Atlantian doctors saved her life, but informed Superman that she was paralyzed.
The Man of Steel searched outer space for someone with the medical knowledge to restore Lori, and found him on a water world. After Superman brought this merman to Earth, the alien physician cured Lori, but at the price of the two merpeople falling in love.
For a brief moment Superman was furious with jealousy, but was calmed by Lori, who told him that what he felt for her was pity, not love. After a final kiss, Superman returned to the surface world.
In the last panel, sometime later at the Daily Planet, Lois told Clark that he had been looking for a while as if he had lost his best friend. Clark thought to himself that it was more than a best friend, but it seemed as if he had awakened from a dream. Apparently, he had begun to bounce back, as he asked Lois for a date. The story ended before she responded.
This is my favorite of the few silver age Jerry Siegel stories we've covered so far. It was a sequel to the original Lori Lemaris story. Siegel gave Superman a range of emotions that has been rarely seen in one story, from love, rage to jealousy. While Lois has been Superman's main object of affection, here in the silver age it seems to have been Lori Lemaris, judging by the number of times he proposes to her in this single story.
If I were Schmidt, I would run for my life too, as well as a dry pair of pants, after causing Lori to be seriously injured, If the woman I love dies, there will be no corner in the universe where you can hide! Superman wasn't afraid to cause the death of a living being when he led the atomic sea creature out of the ocean, to fly into its own destruction in an active volcano.
Having read a little bit about the struggles of Siegel and Shuster in the late 1940's and '50's, I couldn't help but wonder if some of he poured his emotional turmoil into this story. I have to give it 5 Superman Capes out of 5.
The Trio Of Steel was the third and final story in this issue. This 8 page tale was drawn by Al Plastino. It began on a hot day, when Superman used his x-ray vision to evaporate a swimming hole, then melted the ice of a skating rink. Then he blocked the broadcast signal of a Metropolis TV station with his impenetrable body, causing a lot of interference.
A gleeful Superman changed into Clark Kent and returned to the Daily Planet offices. Perry White assigned him to write a story about Superman gone berserk. When Perry read the story he asked Clark if he thought he was Mr. Mxyzptlk, because he had written the story backwards. Clark asked if he could take the rest of the afternoon off, because he didn't feel well, and Perry granted his request, as long as Clark still attended Perry's testimonial dinner. Superman wouldn't be welcome, Perry added.
Superman attended the dinner anyway, and proceeded to humiliate Perry by making him dress as a rabbit, clown and bum. The Man of Steel then took Lois to Niagara Falls, where he proposed. Then his attention was drawn to a homely woman, and together they mocked Lois. After returning a furious Lois to Metropolis, Superman flew to an unnamed mountain where Mr. Mxyzptlk waited for him. After he snapped out of his hypnotic trance, a furious Superman made a deal with Mxy so he would return to the 5th Dimension. The Man of Steel would give him a Superman robot.
Instead of one robot, three robots flew to Mr. Mxyzptlk, a Superman, Superboy and Superbaby robot. None of the robots wanted to return to the 5th Dimension until Mxy talked them into competing against each other. The Superboy robot hit the mountain, breaking his arm, which was repaired by the Superman robot. He shook Mxy's hand until he made the imp dizzy. Superbaby began to cry, so the Superman robot carved some alphabet blocks. When Superbaby tried to spell the letters, Mxy helped the robot tot and unknowingly spelled his own name backwards. Before he vanished back to the 5th dimension, Mxy learned that the real Superman posed as a robot.
Clark Kent wrote an article exposing Mr. Mxyzptlyk's manipulations of the Man of Steel, much to the relief of Metropolis.
My first thought was that, early in the presidential campaign trail, how politicians wish they could blame Mr. Mxyzptlk for some of the dumb things they say. Siegel indulged his sense of humor writing a mischievous Man of Steel. This wasn't a bad story, but not a great one either. I can't give it a 2, so I'll give it a low 3 Superman Capes out of 5.
Action Comics #261, February 1960, was published around December 31, 1959. It contained 32 pages for the cover price of a dime. Mort Weisinger was the editor, and the cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye.
The first story of the issue was titled Superman's Fortress Of Solitude. This 12 page story was pencilled by Wayne Boring and inked by Stan Kaye.
It began when Superman had brought his Fortress of Solitude to Metropolis for people to tour, as a charity fundraiser. Superman and his robots used x-ray vision to ensure no criminals snuck anything into the Fortress to damage any of the displays, or tourists. Superman gave an oilman his autograph, and was gracious enough to allow a welder to eat lunch while he toured the Fortress during his lunch hour. Superman robots caught someone trying to sneak in a disguised homing beacon that would reveal the Fortress's secret location, and took him to jail.
The oilman and welder found a secluded spot, where the oilman emptied the ink from his fountain pen into the welder's coffee thermos. He wasn't laying a prank on the man, because it was revealed that the two men were members of the Anti-Superman Gang, and the two harmless chemicals individually, when combined, created a volatile mixture which would create a massive explosion in an hour.
Scientists in the bottle city of Kandor saw the exchange on their monitors, and attempted to warn Superman with a hyper sonic signal. They discovered that Superman's rainbow jewel was creating too much interference.
Someone asked Superman about a bust of Urko the Terrible. He declined to tell the story behind the bust, but we saw in a flashback how Urko, a cloud being, animated the statues of Superman's friends to attack him in his asteroid Fortress in space. Superman fled his Fortress and blew a star into Urko's path, which pulled Urko to his doom.
Another tourist asked Superman about a globe which displayed a flaming man. The Man of Steel again politely declined to explain this trophy, but we were given another flashback, showing Superman moving his Fortress from outer space and hiding it in the center of the Earth. He was attacked by flame beings, until he saved them from an underwater river their attack had broken through to.
Meanwhile, the "welder" had gloated about the soon to be destruction of the Fortress, when the "oilman" finally convinced him to leave with the departing tourists. The welder tossed to outer cap of his thermos on his way out.
After the tourists left the Fortress, the Mayor of Metropolis informed Superman that the display had earned Millions for charity. Then Superman returned the Fortress to its secret Arctic location.
The Anti-Superman gang waited at their hideout, watching a seismograph for a sign of the gigantic explosion. When they saw the needle move, they celebrated the destruction of the Fortress, until Superman smashed into the Fortress and arrested them. He wouldn't reveal how he foiled their plan.
After he returned to the Fortress, Superman communicated with the Kandorian scientists who had discovered the plot, and we learn that when the welder tossed the cap, it happened to cover the rainbow jewel and block its therapeutic radiations, and allow the Kandorians to alert Superman to the danger. That was because the cap was made of lead. The Man of Steel planned to destroy the Rainbow Jewel so that it wouldn't happen again.
The gang members had a clever plan to avoid Superman's security arrangements by bringing the two chemicals separately, but I don't know why Superman and his robots wouldn't sense the volatile liquid once they combined it. Maybe I gave his super powers too much credit.
I thought that it was poetic justice that the members of the gang brought about their own downfall. This was an interesting story about some of Superman's previous locations for his Fortress. I thought that he was a little unfriendly to some of the tourists when he refused to answer their questions about some of his trophies. If I had been one of the tourists, I would have felt disappointed. If Superman didn't want to answer questions about some of his trophies, I think it would have been better if he had sequestered those trophies from public view.
It was a clever way to create tension in the story with the jewel interfering with the Kandorians' signal. This story also had some of the over the top silver age touches of Superman stories, with the Man of Steel using his super breath in the vacuum of space to blow a star into Urko's path, causing the death of another being. This was rare for the silver age Superman, compared to his golden age roots.
This was another average, but fun, story, and I give it a low 3 out of 5 Superman Capes.
Congo Bill made his 13th appearance as Congorilla in the 7 page story, Congorilla's Last Stand, written by Robert Bernstein and drawn by Howard Sherman.
Supergirl's 8 page 11th story was titled Supergirl's Super Pet, drawn by Jim Mooney. This story has been reprinted in Supergirl Archives vol. I and Showcase Presents: Supergirl vol. I.
As some of the orphans watched a meteor shower, Linda Lee used her telescopic vision to notice a Kryptonite meteor. She secretly changed into Supergirl and traced its trajectory to where it landed, and retrieved it with a piece of lead. Back at the orphanage, after she returned to her Linda Lee identity, she experimented on the meteorite until she began to feel weakened by the rock. She used a pair of long tongs to toss it into the forest.
Later, Linda Lee finished an errand in Midvale, when she saw a dog growling at a cat. She used her super breath to pull the dog away from the cat in order to catch the attention of the dog catcher. Somehow, the cat followed her to the orphanage, and Linda was allowed to keep the stray cat as a pet. Because of the stripes on its sides, the cat was given the name of Streaky.
The cat explored the area, including the woods, when he came across the kryptonite that Linda had thrown away. In a narration box it was revealed that Linda's experimentation had created X Kryptonite, which gave Streaky super powers. The cat ran into a Superman doll, destroying it, but the cape looped around Streaky's neck.
He lifted the front of a milk truck, allowing a few milk cans to spill on the ground and feed a group of stray cats. When a big dog chased Streaky up a tree, he pelted the dog with apples. Supergirl heard Streaky's triumphant meow, and played with hew new super pet until his powers mysteriously vanished. They returned to the orphanage and Streaky dreamed of chasing dogs with his super powers. A narration caption asked readers to write in if they wanted to read more stories with a super powered Streaky.
This was an adorable silver age Supergirl story. I was glad that Supergirl, briefly, had a super powered pet, so that she wouldn't be quite so lonely. At first I thought she was careless to toss away the piece of kryptonite, but then I should have expected that it would play a part later in the story. While I have heard of dogs traveling long distances to return home, I've never heard about cats doing the same thing, but it didn't spoil this story. I thought that it was a coincidence that a discarded Superman doll was laying around, and when Streaky broke it, he happened to stick his head through the hole at the top of the cape. But of course a super pet needs a super cape.
Beyond seeing Supergirl getting a pet, I enjoyed watching Streaky's humorous super deeds and reading the animals' thought balloons, and I give it 3 Supergirl Capes out of 5.
Elsewhere in DC Comics, 31 titles carried the February or February/March 1960 cover date.
Next Episode: Superman Family Comic Book Cover Dated January/February 1956: World's Finest Comics #86!
In 2 Weeks: Superman Comic Book Cover Dated March 1960: Action Comics #262!
Check out SLIPSTREAM, a new web comic book written by jeffrey Taylor, co-host of the FROM CRISIS TO CRISIS podcast, and drawn by yours truly. Thanks to SUPERMAN HOMEPAGE .com contributor Adam Deschanel for putting the website together. http://www.clockworkcomics.co.uk/. It will begin November 2011.
Also, if you know the original publication information for a Superman story involving his alien zoo at his Fortress of Solitude, reprinted in the 1970 SUPERMAN BUMPER BOOK, a UK Superman hardcover anthology, post it in comments or through the contact information below.
You can join the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and MY PULL LIST groups or pages on facebook, and follow both the podcast and blog on twitter @supermanpodcast.
The theme of this podcast is PLANS IN MOTION, composed by Kevin MacLeod, and part of the royalty free music library at http://incompetech.com.
MY PULL LIST is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com.
Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics. Any art shown on this podcast is for entertainment purposes only, and not for profit.
Thanks for listening to the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #17, December 1956, was published around October 16, 1956. It contained 32 pages for the cover price of a dime. The editor was Mort Weisinger. Curt Swan pencilled the cover, which was inked by Ray Burnley. They were the art team for all three 8 page stories in this issue, which were written by Otto Binder. These stories have been reprinted in Showcase Presents: Superman Family vol. I.
Jimmy Olsen In The 50th Century began with Superman giving Jimmy a ride in a rocket the Man of Steel had repaired, so that Olsen could do a story about being the first reporter to fly in the stratosphere (about 6 - 30 miles high). A meteor shower began to fall into the atmosphere, and Superman protected the rocket with his fist. Unfortunately, the concussion from Superman's fist propelled Jimmy's rocket fast enough to break the time barrier.
When Jimmy's rocket reentered the atmosphere, he bailed out of the rocket with a parachute, before the spacecraft crashed into the Earth. As Jimmy glided to the ground, he saw a farmer in a field. After he landed, Jimmy approached the farmer to find that he was a robot farmer. Jimmy discovered that he had traveled 3,000 years into the future, to October 10, 4956, to be exact.
After receiving the directions to Metropolis, Jimmy walked to his hometown and discovered that it had a much different skyline. Even the Daily Planet building seemed a mile high. He was rubber necking as he explored this very different Metropolis, and accidentally fell into the open doors of an empty underground elevator that stretched 8,000 miles to China.
Jimmy activated his signal watch, but was saved by a large robot bird, which we never see in this story again. Once he was returned to street level, Jimmy introduced himself and said he was from the 20th Century. One of the pedestrians recognized his name as being Superman's secret identity, and directed him to the Superman Museum. Jimmy was introduced to Professor Xerxes, who introduced himself as an expert on the Man of Steel. He allowed Jimmy to use some of his devices to simulate Superman's powers in a number of rescues. The Professor gave his reasons as protecting the Man of Steel's reputation from a current bestseller, Superman Was A Hoax by John Smyth.
When Jimmy walked by a bookstore, he was exposed by author John Smyth, causing the pedestrians to rush into the bookstore to buy a copy.
In front of the same underground elevator he fell into, Jimmy activated the signal watch again, and the signal traveled through the time barrier, and Superman was able to follow the signal to Jimmy. As it turned out, the reason the signal watch didn't work at the beginning of the story was that the elevator had been lined with lead as a shield against underground radiation.
After demonstrating his super powers in different ways, Superman took Jimmy to the same bookstore, and exposed John Smyth as a disguised Professor Xerxes. The Professor had set up Jimmy in order to boost sales of his book.
With order restored in the 50th Century, Superman and Jimmy returned to the 20th Century, but unfortunately for Olsen, he didn't remember his adventure in the 50th Century, being mistaken for Superman.
This story reminded me a little bit of the Back To The Future movie trilogy that would be released 30 years later.
While it made sense in this silver age story for the concussion from Superman's hit on the meteor to propel the rocket, it would seem that Jimmy would have been crushed by the g-forces from the speed that it would take to break the time barrier.
It was cool to see the Daily Planet still in existence in the 50th Century, and the plot twist of Jimmy simulating the Man of Steel's powers was fun to read. And the Professor's plot to use Jimmy to boost sales of his book was different. It reminded me of the biggest literary hoax from the early 1970's. Writer Christopher Irving had used some forged letters allegedly from Howard Hughes to convince a publisher to release what turned out to be a fake Howard Hughes autobiography. When the reclusive billionaire denounced the book, the fraud was exposed and Irving would spend some time in jail.
This was a fun, futuristic Jimmy Olsen adventure, almost like he met the Jetsons, and I give it 3 Superman Capes out of 5.
The Case Of The Cartoon Scoops began as Jimmy read a letter from an anonymous admirer, who somehow knew that Jimmy had taken art classes in school. The letter writer encouraged Jimmy to use his talent and draw a series of Superman cartoons for the Daily Planet. Perry White looked at Jimmy's first effort for a good laugh, but liked it enough to make it a regular feature.
Jimmy began to get some phone calls from someone who suggested ideas for his Superman feature, which Jimmy used. The cartoons began to take on a pattern of things that would happen soon after that edition of the Daily Planet was published.
As it turned out, Clark was this anonymous "Swami", disguising his voice when he called Jimmy. Things backfired on Jimmy when the next cartoon "Swami" suggested was Superman smashing Jimmy's Superman souvenir collection. Sure enough, the Man of Steel showed up to destroy the collection, and Jimmy couldn't bear to watch. But much to his surprise, Superman only banged together some pans to create the noise. Then the Man of Steel revealed that he had been Jimmy's "Swami". Then Superman took Jimmy to the original admirer who had written Jimmy at the beginning of this story.
Jimmy's secret admirer had been none other than "Sly" Saunders, who was about to get out of jail. His purpose for suggesting the Superman cartoons was to gradually learn Superman's crime fighting tactics in order to foil the Man of Steel.
Jimmy learned a valuable lesson about checking out his sources, especially when they are anonymous.
Unlike past stories where Clark or Superman played a trick on Jimmy, I liked this one more, for the most part. Jimmy was once again falling into the trap of being gullible. This time, Clark and Superman were keeping a close eye on Jimmy, making sure he wasn't hurt while he learned the hard way not to let his sources manipulate him. The only time I thought that Superman went too far was to threaten to destroy Jimmy's collection. Putting Jimmy through the stress and shock of losing his collection was too much.
That is why I'm giving this story 3 Superman Capes out of 5 instead of 4.
The Radioactive Boy began as Jimmy put evidence for the next day's trial of the Barney Bolton gang in the Daily Planet's safe. Editor Perry White then assigned him to cover Metropolis' new Atomic Plant.
While outside the structure that shielded the atomic pile, Jimmy bumped into another person, which knocked him against the brick structure. Jimmy was worried about being contaminated with radioactivity.
As he walked back to the Daily Planet, some strange things happened that convinced Jimmy that he had become a radioactive menace. Plants wilted at a street vendor's cart, a bird died after flying too close to him, and Jimmy noticed that even his footprints glowed. He was convinced when he saw his glowing reflection in a storefront window.
Jimmy went straight to the roof of the Daily Planet building and flew to a remote area. After landing, Jimmy hid in a cave to wait out his doom. Superman quickly found him after using a geiger counter to follow his trail. The Man of Steel was despondent because there was nothing he could do for his Pal. He agreed to carry out Jimmy's final wishes, follow through on the Bolton Case, after Olsen gave the Man of Steel the combination to the Planet's safe. Then Superman agreed to tell Jimmy his secret identity, Clark Kent.
Outside the cave we were surprised to learn that the Man of Steel was actually crime leader Barney Bolton himself. He had spied on Perry and Jimmy from the Planet's fire escape, and Bolton's gang had been stationed along Jimmy's path, spraying him with a harmless phosphorescent powder to make him glow, as well as tricking Jimmy into thinking he was radioactive. Bolton had hidden aboard the Flying Newsroom, and flew the helicopter back to the Daily Planet building.
When Bolton, still disguised as Superman, approached the safe, he was surprised to find the real Superman waiting for him, along with Jimmy Olsen. Jimmy had summoned the real Superman with his signal watch after the disguised Bolton left. What tipped Jimmy off was when Bolton gave his secret identity as the most unlikely person to be Superman, Clark Kent. Also, as Jimmy's eyes adjusted to the dim light which back lit the fake Man of Steel, Olsen noticed the mask like look of Superman's face.
After Bolton had been taken to prison, Jimmy relayed the entire story to Clark, who was shocked that the revelation of his true identity had made Jimmy suspect the situation was a hoax. I guess Clark covered his tracks a little too well.
One thing I didn't understand about this story was that Superman was in the same room when Jimmy exposed Bolton's ruse by pulling off his mask. But Superman wasn't shown in the background when Olsen explained to Bolton how he deduced that the situation was a fake. It's not made clear if Superman left the building or not. If he didn't, I don't understand Clark's reaction. Also, I don't understand what Jimmy was doing with evidence for a trial the next day. Wouldn't the police have it already, for both the prosecution and defense to use in preparation for the trial?
These are minor quibbles with this story, which was my favorite of the issue. Jimmy was fooled in the beginning, but his quick wits allowed him to get to the bottom of the ruse. I like these stories better than Superman or Clark playing a trick on Jimmy. When Jimmy enters the cave, there's nothing to indicate that he isn't radioactive and waiting to die alone, without exposing anyone else to radiation. The ways that Bolton's gang went about convincing Jimmy he was a danger were cleverly done in a short amount of space.
I have to give this story 4 Superman Capes out of 5.
NOTE: The results of DC Comics' 5,000 Prize Slogan Contest will be revealed in the issues with the March 1957 cover date.
Elsewhere in DC Comics, 31 titles carried the December or December 1956/January 1957 cover date.
Next Episode: Superman Comic Books Cover Dated February 1960: Superman #135 & Action Comics #261!
In 2 Weeks: Superman Family Comic Book Cover Dated January/February 1957: World's Finest Comics #86!
Check out SLIPSTREAM, a new web comic book written by jeffrey Taylor, co-host of the FROM CRISIS TO CRISIS podcast, and drawn by yours truly. Thanks to SUPERMAN HOMEPAGE .com contributor Adam Deschanel for putting the website together. http://www.clockworkcomics.co.uk/. It will begin November 2011.
Also, if you know the original publication information for a Superman story involving his alien zoo at his Fortress of Solitude, reprinted in the 1970 SUPERMAN BUMPER BOOK, a UK Superman hardcover anthology, post it in comments or through the contact information below.
You can join the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and MY PULL LIST groups or pages on facebook, and follow both the podcast and blog on twitter @supermanpodcast.
The theme of this podcast is PLANS IN MOTION, composed by Kevin MacLeod, and part of the royalty free music library at http://incompetech.com.
MY PULL LIST is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com.
Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics. Any art shown on this podcast is for entertainment purposes only, and not for profit.
Thanks for listening to the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
Superman #134, January 1960, was published on November 5, 1959. It contained 32 pages for the cover price of a dime. The editor was Mort Weisinger, and the cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye. Rare for the silver age, this issue contained one three part story, or, as featured on the cover, A Great 3-Part Novel, titled The Super-Outlaw From Krypton. This 26 page story was written by Otto Binder, pencilled by Wayne Boring and inked by Stan Kaye.
The first chapter of the story was nine pages long and titled The Super-Menace Of Metropolis. It began with Superman rescuing a ship that had struck an iceberg. But instead of carrying the ship back to harbor, the Man of Steel ripped part of a cable from the bottom of the ocean, cutting off transatlantic communications. Superman used the cable to tow the ship back to safety.
Later, the Man of Steel smashed into a meteor. But instead of smashing it to bits, he only knocked a hole in it, allowing the meteor to strike a dam and flood farmland.
Superman saved some shipwrecked men from a sea monster, which looked like a dinosaur sized walrus. But instead of taking the castaways back to civilization, the Man of Steel carried the sea monster to Metropolis and walked it down the street. Its immense size caused property damage wherever it went. Superman raided a fish market to feed it, but he was not shown paying for it.
The leaders of Metropolis met and came to the conclusion that Superman needed to be captured and authorized a worldwide search for kryptonite, with which to subdue the Man of Steel.
A heartbroken Lois lured Superman to a super static device, in a desperate hope that this out of control Man of Steel was only a malfunctioning robot. Her theory was proved wrong when Superman was unaffected but the machine melted from the intense energy that was generated.
Afterwards, Superman flew to the top of a mountain, laughing maniacally and monologiung that his plan was working, but wasn't finished yet. To prove his point, he flew to a traffic tunnel, using his super breath to blow the vehicles out the other end. Superman followed it up by pulling a subway train up through the roof of the subway tunnel to street level, then pulling the subway train through the streets of Metropolis and leaving the train outside the city. This gave the Man of Steel a good belly laugh as he flew away.
Chapter Two was nine pages long and titled The Revenge Against Jor-El. Superman continued his mayhem by filling up the Grand Canyon with boulders. As he flew away, we learned through a thought balloon that he was not the real Man of Steel.
In the bottle city of Kandor the real Superman watched events unfold outside by watching a monitor. Through a flashback we saw that Superman flew to his Fortress of Solitude to check on the life support system of Kandor. Kull-Ex used a machine to activate an exchange ray, which switched the two men into each other's clothes. Using a life mask, Kull-Ex began his evil impersonation of Superman.
After continuing his campaign of mayhem, Kull-Ex continued his monologue, knowing Superman was watching on the Ultra Scanning Screen. Through a flashback in a flashback, we learned that Kull-Ex's father Zell-Ex, was a down on his luck scientist. His plans for an all purpose Kryptonian vehicle, which could drive on land, sea, underground, or fly in the air, were blown out of his window. By the time he could finish his plans and take them to the patent office, Superman's father Jor-El had been granted a patent for an almost identical vehicle. Zell-Ex fruitlessly accused Jor-El of stealing his invention.
Zell-Ex and his son happened to reside in Kandor, and that was how Kull-Ex happened to wind up in Superman's Fortress of Solitude. After his Father died, Kull-Ex vowed to carry out the family's revenge against the son of Jor-El.
Superman's greatest concern was the potential damage to Earth caused by a super battle between the two Kryptonians, if the Man of Steel somehow managed to escape.
The eight page third and final chapter was titled The Duel Of The Supermen. Linda Lee went into action as Supergirl out of concern for her super cousin. She learned that this Superman was an impostor when he did not recognize her. After giving him a brief summary of her origin, Kull-Ex disclosed his plan to Supergirl off panel.
Supergirl flew to the Fortress of Solitude and freed Kal-El from the bottle city of Kandor. Superman quickly whispered a plan into Supergirl's ear, then she dashed out of the Fortress. Kull-Ex quickly appeared, and Superman found that, even with super powers, he was no match for Kull-Ex, who eventually trapped the Man of Steel in a lead box containing a speck of kryptonite. A weakening Superman asked Kull-Ex to open the Fortress's observation dome, and he learned that Supergirl had lifted the mountain containing the Fortress into space.
They were far enough into deep space to overtake light rays that had reflected from long lost Krypton. In a very unique type of flashback, Kull-Ex learned that he had accidentally picked up his Father's plan and had colored on the back. Then he tossed it into the feed trough of a junk eating animal (about the size of a hippo). Kull-Ex realized that Jor-El had told the truth and his Father had been mistaken. To make things up for Superman, he used his super vision to find another nugget of the element of zenium. Kull-Ex returned Superman to Kandor with the zenium, which the Man of Steel used to power the exchange device one last time, returning both Kryptonians where they belonged, and reuniting them with their own clothes.
Kull Ex then broadcast a television signal worldwide, confessing his deeds and exonerating Superman. He vowed to Superman that he would dedicate the rest of his life to scientific study. Superman returned to Metropolis and his life as Clark Kent, as Superman statues were restored and Metropolis once again loved the Man of Steel.
This was a good average silver age Superman story about Superman going berserk. His exploits were more goofy than menacing, with no toppled governments or mass casualties. Kull Ex's plot reminded me of the story covered in Episode #192 from Superman #130, The Town That Hated Superman, except this time it was a Kandorian, not a human obsessed for revenge against Superman.
Lois was heartbroken, grasping for straws in the hope that the superhero she loved had not gone berserk. Supergirl quickly realized that Superman was an impostor when he didn't recognize her, and played a key role in making Superman's plan succeed.
I couldn't help but think that maybe Clark was a little selfish to lay low as Superman, with all the clean up that needed to be done after Kull-Ex's mayhem. The Man of Steel's reputation may have been restored, but it would have helped for Superman to help clean up after Kull-Ex, who, even though he repented of his evil, had not made restitution for the damage he called.
Wayne Boring's art did a great job of conveying the emotions on the various faces of the characters in this story, and I give this story 3 Superman Capes out of 5.
Action Comics #260, January 1960, was published around November 25, 1959. It contained 32 pages for the cover price of a dime. The editor was Mort Weisinger, and the cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye.
The twelve page Superman story in this issue was Mighty Maid, written by Otto Binder and drawn by Al Plastino. This story has been reprinted in Showcase Presents: Superman vol. II and Showcase Presents: Supergirl vol. I.
When Lois Lane got caught in a tornado while covering Tornado Alley, she was surprised to learn that it was a super powered female, not Superman, who rescued her. She introduced herself as Mighty Maid, and had traveled from another dimension to meet Superman, who was very famous there.
Superman and Mighty Maid fell in love and began a whirlwind romance. Superman showed her the wonders of the world. Perry assigned Lois to cover the story, and the heartbroken reporter witnessed Mighty Maid accepting Superman's proposal. She still managed to deliver the big scoop that the Man of Steel planned to leave Earth and live in Might Maid's dimension.
After a goodbye tour around the world, Superman and Mighty Maid appeared before TV and news cameras to say goodbye, then vanished in the blink of an eye.
Two figures splashed into the ocean at super speed, and Superman and Mighty Maid emerged in an underwater cavern. Mighty Maid removed her disguise and revealed her true identity of -- Supergirl!?
We learned that Superman created the ruse when he discovered an alien ship was approaching Earth to destroy it. Their motive was revenge for an attack on their fleet of migrating ships by Kryptonian forces, who mistook the fleet as an invading force. The alien survivors vowed to recover and send ships to destroy Krypton. When they later saw, through their telescopes, that Krypton exploded, they followed Kal-El's rocket and vowed to take out their revenge on his adopted world. Superman also learned that their monitors couldn't penetrate the oceans, hence their hiding in the underwater cavern.
Superman used his x-ray vision to see that the aliens had called off their attack since they were fooled into thinking that the Man of Steel had left Earth. On board the alien ship, the crew had gone into suspended animation for their long voyage home. Superman left a note explaining the misunderstanding, thanks to the memory of some Kandorians who remembered the incident. The Man of Steel hoped it would defuse the situation when the aliens reached their home world.
The Man of Steel returned to Metropolis, and explained to a surprised Lois that he returned because he found out that Mighty Maid's people aged differently. and she was only 15 years old. That was true, since Supergirl was only 15.
This had to be the creepiest Superman story I ever read. It was a clever ruse Superman pulled off, but did he have to pick his own 15 year old cousin to be a part of it? why not pick Wonder Woman (although crossovers were rare in this part of the silver age), or give Lois a temporary super power serum.
I could have just as easily believed that the aliens could have destroyed Earth out of spite, just to make sure that Superman wouldn't return.
Also, once again, to save Earth, Superman has to fool Lois as well. It was sad to watch a heartbroken Lois have to set aside her emotions to cover the story of the Century.
I give this story 5 out of 5 for being the creepiest Superman story ever. For a clever plot to fool the aliens, I would give the story a 3, but for picking his own 15 year old cousin to play his love interest, I have to drop the rating to 2 Superman Capes out of 5.
The eight page Supergirl story of this issue was titled The Girl Super Baby, written by Otto Binder and drawn by Al Plastino. This story has been reprinted in Showcase Presents: Supergirl vol. I.
Linda Lee was using her telescopic vision to watch life on a tropical island, when she saw a man about to drown. Keeping her promise not to reveal her super powers yet, she changed into Supergirl and burrowed underground until she emerged in the water under the drowning man. Supergirl pushed him onto dry land, making it look like a geyser pushed him out of the water. She noticed that he was younger than when she first saw him. As she flew through her tunnel back home, she began to de-age. Using her telescopic vision and super hearing she saw the man say he had discovered the Fountain of Youth.
When Supergirl returned home, she had become a Super Tot. She chased a butterfly until it flew into the trunk of a car. A jewel thief closed it, not knowing she had flown inside. Super Tot took a nap until the two jewel thieves arrived at an abandoned Indian camp, which had a legend that an Indian spirit would cause the downfall of evildoers. When the crooks opened the trunk, Super Tot squirted them in the eyes with their shaving cream before they could see her, then she flew away.
After changing clothes and hanging their wet clothes to dry, they used a scarecrow for target practice. Super Tot was behind it, and caught the lead bullets. She pressed them into a ball, which she threw.The lead ball melted because of the air friction, and happened to cover a kryptonite meteorite that Superman had accidentally dug up while unearthing fossils. Superman was able to recover and fly off, grateful for the happy coincidence, and unaware of his super cousin's involvement.
Super Tot's actions continued to plague the crooks, although they never saw her. When she was hungry, she ate everything in their pantry, and flew away before she was discovered. When she flew into a pipe, she accidentally discovered the crooks' hiding place for their stolen jewels. she used her x-ray vision to peek inside, but generated too much heat, igniting the bag. Smoke coming out of the pipe prevented the thieves from retrieving their loot, but attracted the attention of some forest rangers, who captured the crooks.
As she flew back home, Supergirl returned to her normal age as the effects of the Fountain of Youth wore off.
After the creepy previous story, this was a nice change. It was an average silver age Supergirl story, and the humorous antics involving the jewel thieves reminded me of the movie Home Alone. I give it 3 Superman Capes out of 5.
The final six page story starred Congo Bill, making his 12th appearance as Congorilla in The Gladiator Of The Jungle, written by Robert Bernstein and drawn by Howard Sherman.
Elsewhere in DC Comics, 26 titles carried the January or January/February 1960 cover date.
Next Episode: Superman Family Comic Book Cover Dated December 1956, Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #17!
In 2 Weeks: Superman Comic Books Cover Dated February 1960: Superman #135 & Action Comics #261!
Check out SLIPSTREAM, a new web comic book written by jeffrey Taylor, co-host of the FROM CRISIS TO CRISIS podcast, and drawn by yours truly. Thanks to SUPERMAN HOMEPAGE .com contributor Adam Deschanel for putting the website together. http://www.clockworkcomics.co.uk/. It will begin November 2011.
Also, if you know the original publication information for a Superman story involving his alien zoo at his Fortress of Solitude, reprinted in the 1970 SUPERMAN BUMPER BOOK, a UK Superman hardcover anthology, post it in comments or through the contact information below.
You can join the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and MY PULL LIST groups or pages on facebook, and follow both the podcast and blog on twitter @supermanpodcast.
The theme of this podcast is PLANS IN MOTION, composed by Kevin MacLeod, and part of the royalty free music library at http://incompetech.com.
MY PULL LIST is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com.
Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics. Any art shown on this podcast is for entertainment purposes only, and not for profit.
Thanks for listening to the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
World's Finest Comics #85, November/December 1956, was published around September 27, 1956 (which, four years later would be the day I was born). The editor was Jack Schiff, and the cover was pencilled by Dick Sprang and inked by Stan Kaye, who were the art team for the Superman/Batman story in this issue. The title was The Super-Rivals, written by Edmond Hamilton. This story was reprinted in World's Finest Comics Archive vol. I and Showcase Presents: World's Finest vol. I.
In the kingdom of Balkania, ruler Princess Varina decided to visit America, over the objections of her Prime Minister. On the next day, Perry White assigned Clark Kent and Lois Lane to cover the arrival of the Princess's ocean liner in Metropolis Bay. In Gotham City, Commissoner Gordon asked Batman and Robin to greet her as well.
When Princess Varina arrived in her ocean liner to Metropolis Bay, Batman and Robin used the Batplane to sky write Welcome Princess Varina while Superman played tugboat in bringing her ship into the harbor. Waiting on the dock was Lois Lane and Vicki Vale, of Vue Magazine in Gotham City. They both agreed that their respective heroes would bored welcoming a girl. Lois and Vicki got a surprise when Batman and Superman ignored them as they escorted the Princess off of her ship.
During the Metropolis ticker tape parade which greeted Princess Varina, Superman and Batman impressed her when they kept an overcrowded balcony from collapsing. At City Hall, the two heroes argued over who would protect her, and brushed off Captain Stefan, Princess Varina's Aide, when he insisted on watching over Her Majesty. He joined Lois and Vicki in being jealous of the World's Finest Heroes, but for different reasons. At a press conference, Lois asked Princess Varina if she had a fiance in her home country. Her Majesty answered cryptically that she might marry someone in the United States.
Superman and Batman competed against each other to see who could top the other in granting her every whim. When Batman escorted the Princess around Metropolis in the Batmobile, driven by Robin, Superman carved S & V in a heart on the side of cliff in the countryside as they drove by.
On the next day, when the Princess and her party boarded a train bound for Gotham City, joined by Lois and Vicki, Superman flew the entire train to its destination. During Gotham City's parade which greeted the Princess, Commissioner Gordon warned Batman about a rumor some gangsters would try to rob the Royal Jewels. Princess Varina and her delegation settled into a mansion outside of Gotham.
While Superman and Batman escorted the Princess to her temporary home, Lois and Vicki plotted to find out which hero the Princess would marry. When they got the opportunity to speak with Princess Varina privately, she revealed to them that she was in love with Captain Stefan, but the Balkanian Parliament forbid her to marry a commoner. Of course, Lois and Vicki promised to help the two lovers elope.
Unknown to them, their conversation was heard by Superman and Batman, who shared the news with Princess Varina's Prime Minister. This was very bad news, because if the Princess abdicated, her country would plunge into civil war. We also discover that Superman and Batman had feigned romantic interest in the Princess to create an obstacle to her elopement at the Prime Minister's request.
Superman and Batman played along when Princess Varina requested a hat just like the one worn by Lois Lane, which was only available in Metropolis. They appeared to leave, Superman following Batman who flew the Batplane, but it was actually flown by Robin, who towed a Superman dummy behind the Batplane. Batman and Superman stayed hidden, and observed Captain Stefan and Princess Varina driving away to elope.
While Batman followed the eloping lovers in the Batmobile, Superman carved a roller out of stone wide enough for a two lane road. With it, the Man of Steel rolled a detour through the countryside, which the lovers took, and led back to the mansion.
Pete Kaney's mob had kept the mansion under surveillance, and used the opportunity to attempt to rob the Princess while she was outside the security of the mansion. But while Superman and Batman secretly took out the gang's two gunmen, the outnumbered Captain Stefan took care of the remaining gangsters. Superman and Batman let the Captain take the entire credit for saving Princess Varina, and her country's grateful Parliament granted permission for the two lovers to wed in appreciation for Stefan's bravery.
As Princess Varina and her fiance returned to Balkania by ocean liner, Lois hoped the two heroes had learned their lesson.
Dick Sprang's art as usual was great. It turned out that Lois Lane wasn't the only one jealous of her superhero. Vicki Vale was just as jealous of Batman.
I wasn't a great fan of Superman and Batman almost fighting over the affections of Princess Varina, but I couldn't think of an alternate solution for keeping her country from falling into civil war. First of all, they were fighting over the affections of a foreign dignitary. And what if their plan worked and she fell in love with Superman or Batman? The heroes risked wrecking her relationship with Captain Stefan. The ending of the story made it better for me, when Batman saw the opportunity to allow Stefan take the credit for saving the Princess. Of course, it involved placing both of them at risk, but the two heroes were ready to jump in at a moment's notice. And the Balkanian Parliament could also have awarded Captain Stefan a title for his bravery.
Thanks to the twist at the end, I give this story 3 Superman Capes out of 5, instead of 2, as I otherwise would have.
Tomahawk starred in the six page second story of the issue, The Frontier Destroyer, drawn by Fred Ray.
This issue's final story starred Green Arrow in the six page tale, The Dangers From Tomorrow, drawn by George Papp.
Elsewhere in DC Comics, 30 titles carried the November, or November/December 1956 cover date.
Next Episode: Superman Comic Books Cover Dated January 1960: Superman #134 & Action Comics #260!
In 2 Weeks: Superman Family Comic Book Cover Dated December 1956: Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #17!
Check out SLIPSTREAM, a new web comic book written by jeffrey Taylor, co-host of the FROM CRISIS TO CRISIS podcast, and drawn by yours truly. Thanks to SUPERMAN HOMEPAGE .com contributor Adam Deschanel for putting the website together. http://www.clockworkcomics.co.uk/. It will begin November 2011.
Also, if you know the original publication information for a Superman story involving his alien zoo at his Fortress of Solitude, reprinted in the 1970 SUPERMAN BUMPER BOOK, a UK Superman hardcover anthology, post it in comments or through the contact information below.
You can join the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and MY PULL LIST groups or pages on facebook, and follow both the podcast and blog on twitter @supermanpodcast.
The theme of this podcast is PLANS IN MOTION, composed by Kevin MacLeod, and part of the royalty free music library at http://incompetech.com.
MY PULL LIST is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com.
Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics. Any art shown on this podcast is for entertainment purposes only, and not for profit.
Thanks for listening to the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
Action Comics #259, December 1959, was published around October 29, 1959. It contained 32 pages for the cover price of a dime. Mort Weisinger was the editor, and the cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye.
The Revenge Of Luthor was the thirteen page Superman story in the issue, written by Jerry Siegel (his 5th silver age comic book story) and drawn by Al Plastino. It was reprinted in Showcase Presents: Superman vol. II.
Superman caught a meteor that was heading toward an airliner, only to discover that it was red kryptonite. It made the Man of Steel dizzy enough to make him fall out of the sky and crash into the ground. He had a nightmare of the swirling faces of Lex Luthor, Lois Lane, Lana Lang and Superboy.
The Man of Steel awoke to find that he wasn't alone. He was joined by Superboy, his younger self. After using their x-ray vision to check their fingerprints, the Twins of Steel flexed their superpowers and realized they were the same person.
Superman changed into his Clark Kent identity, and so did Superboy. The elder Clark reminded his younger self that if people saw Superboy and Superman together, and then a younger and older Clark Kent, it would expose their secret identity. A very annoyed elder Clark Kent ordered his younger self to go the Fortress of Solitude and await his call by supersonic whistle.
Back in Metropolis, Clark worried about a dumb Superboy getting in the way of his Superman work, as Perry White assigned him to interview a bank president. As he neared the bank, a helicopter disguised as a flying saucer landed, and a gang of robbers disguised as aliens robbed the bank. Superman went into action, but Superboy collided with the Man of Steel. The robbers made their escape, and Superman took out his anger on Superboy, accusing him of being made stupid by the red kryptonite. Superboy accused Superman of becoming a grouch because of the red kryptonite.
Superman apologized to Superboy, and suggested they try to work together. They found a counterfeiter, but when Superboy examined a box with fake bills, his x-ray vision was too strong and ignited the evidence.
After they flew away, Superboy was distracted by a rodeo, and flew to the arena. Superman had to swoop in and corral the bulls which were driven berserk by Superboy's red cape. In front of the rodeo crowd Superman and Superboy made their disagreement public by arguing in front of the rodeo audience. The news flashed around the world, and caught the attention of Lex Luthor.
Superboy found a cage that had a sign posted above it, Luthor Trap To Capture Superboy! Enter Here, Please. Luthor may be an arch fiend, but at least he's polite. Superboy didn't think it could be a serious trap, so he entered it, only to discover that the bars of the sage were made of kryptonite.
Later, Superman was challenged to a fight by Superboy, only to discover that the Boy of Steel was a robot containing kryptonite, and was knocked out.
Superman and Superboy awoke to find themselves in Luthor's cave. Enclosed in a protective sphere, Lex had kidnapped Lois Lane and Lana Lang, to watch the two heroes fight to the death. Unfortunately for Luthor, they fought to a stalemate. Changing plans, Luthor made Superman lay face down on the ground. When he allowed the Man of Steel to stand, Luthor showed two lead cabinets. One contained Superboy, the other held kryptonite. If Superman opened Superboy's locker, Luthor would kill Superboy with the kryptonite. If the Man of Steel opened the kryptonite cabinet, he would die.
Superboy tapped the door to his cabinet, letting Superman know which one he was in. The Man of Steel was faced with an impossible choice.
Superman awoke to find himself alone. It had all been a dream. The story ended with the Man of Steel wondering what his choice would have been.
Of these early silver age Jerry Siegel stories, this has been my favorite so far. When I first read this story, I felt a little cheated by the cliffhanger ending. But after re-reading it and thinking about it, I decided to consider the story as a look into Superman's greatest fear: not being smart or powerful enough to save someone. Usually in stories that are mostly dream sequences, I can usually spot when the dream begins. This time I didn't. With the introduction of red kryptonite in the story, I accepted the appearance of Superboy as a believable result of red K exposure. Well done, Jerry, that was a good bit of storytelling.
Knowing some of the Siegel and Siegel story after Superman, I wonder how much, if any, of his own anger Jerry gave to Superman. In covering the Man of Steel's silver age stories, I don't think that I've seen him this angry in the stories we've covered so far. I admired Superboy for standing up to Superman, but he also showed himself to be an easily distracted teen. But then in dreams we don't always act as we do in reality. I wonder if Superman's treatment of Superboy was a reflection of how Mort Weisinger treated the talent working for him. But then, maybe I'm reading too much into the story.
Not only was Superman a grouch, he seemed to be a little full of himself when he thought of when he was Superboy, thinking that he wasn't this dumb. While Superboy stories showed him able to control his powers well, he didn't have the experience he's gained as an adult superhero.
After reading the story a few times, I decided that it really wouldn't have been a tough choice for Superman. I think that he would be willing to sacrifice himself to save others. He wouldn't want his adopted parents to suffer the loss of their son.
I give this story 4 Superman Capes out of 5.
Congo Bill made his 11th appearance as Congorilla in The One Ape Circus, written by Robert Bernstein and drawn by Howard Sherman.
Supergirl's 7th story was titled The Cave Girl Of Steel, written by Otto Binder and drawn by Jim Mooney. It was reprinted in Supergirl Archives vol. I and Showcase Presents: Supergirl vol. I.
Linda Lee secretly used her x-ray vision to save a toddler that had crawled into a plastic bag. While she was happy to use her superpowers in any way she could, she felt her super deeds were trivial when compared to Superman's.
As Supergirl, she decided to travel into the prehistoric past to have some exciting adventures without breaking Superman's ban on revealing herself to the world. (Leave it to a teenager to find a loophole.)
When she emerged in the prehistoric past, she saved a baby that had been snatched by a pterodactyl. She then tamed a brontosaurus (now called an apatosaurus) and rode it to explore her surroundings. Supergirl then used her pet brontosaurus to help some cavemen back across a river, after their crude bridge collapsed. The tribe's Chief invited Supergirl to dine with them, but she had second thoughts when she discovered that they ate everything raw.
A bolt of lightning struck a tree and began a fire, and so Supergirl showed the cave tribe how to keep the fire going. Their bonfire was doused by a wave from the river, caused by a fire breathing sea serpent. Supergirl saved the tribe from the serpent, and goaded it into using its fire breath to ignite the tribe's fire. She then returned to modern times.
The next day, the orphans toured a museum, and saw a stone carving from the stone age, which depicted a flying girl. Linda Lee saw that, as Supergirl, she had made history. I just hope Superman never sees this stone carving.
Obviously, cavemen and dinosaurs never existed together, but this was still a fun story, and better than the previous Supergirl story. It was quite a coincidence when she saved two young children in two different eras. She had a fun adventure, taming a dinosaur and interacting with cavemen. It was funny when she discovered they ate raw fish.
This was a fun, lighthearted prehistoric adventure, and I give it 4 Superman Capes out of 5, instead of 3, because it was such an improvement from the last Supergirl story.
Elsewhere in DC Comics, 32 titles carried the December or December 1959/January 1960 cover date.
Next Episode: Superman Family Comic Book Cover Dated November/December 1956: World's Finest Comics #85!
In 2 Weeks: Superman Comic Books Cover Dated January 1960: Superman #134 & Action Comics #260!
Check out SLIPSTREAM, a new web comic book written by jeffrey Taylor, co-host of the FROM CRISIS TO CRISIS podcast, and drawn by yours truly. Thanks to SUPERMAN HOMEPAGE .com contributor Adam Deschanel for putting the website together. http://www.clockworkcomics.co.uk/. It will begin November 2011.
Also, if you know the original publication information for a Superman story involving his alien zoo at his Fortress of Solitude, reprinted in the 1970 SUPERMAN BUMPER BOOK, a UK Superman hardcover anthology, post it in comments or through the contact information below.
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The theme of this podcast is PLANS IN MOTION, composed by Kevin MacLeod, and part of the royalty free music library at http://incompetech.com.
MY PULL LIST is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com.
Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics. Any art shown on this podcast is for entertainment purposes only, and not for profit.
Thanks for listening to the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
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