World's Finest Comics #79, November/December 1955, was published around September 29, 1955. It contained 32 pages for the cover price of a dime. The editor was Jack Schiff, and the cover was drawn by Win Mortimer.
The Superman/Batman story in this issue was the 12 page tale The Three Magicians Of Bagdad, written by Edmond Hamilton, pencilled by Dick Sprang and inked by Stan Kaye. It was reprinted in World's Finest Comics Archive vol. I and Showcase Presents: World's Finest vol. I. (Today the city's name is spelled Baghdad. I will use the spelling of the city as it appeared in this story from the 1950's.)
Dr. Carter Nichols waved his hands in the air, but was unable to bring Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson from the past. Nichols' hypnotic time force had failed to bring them back to the present.
At the Daily Planet newsroom, Clark and Lois read a news item about Gotham City's Dr. Nichols asking for Superman's help. Superman flew to Dr. Nichols' lab in Gotham City, and learned that Bruce and Dick were stuck 1,000 years in the past in Bagdad of the Arabian Nights. Dr. Nichols was unaware that Bruce and Dick were Batman and Robin. The Man of Steel flew through the time barrier to retrieve his friends.
In a flashback, we saw Bruce and Dick volunteering to help Dr. Nichols solve the scientific mystery of a magnetic mountain of ancient Bagdad. The doctor hypnotized them, and Bruce and Dick vanished into the past.
When they arrived in Bagdad, they changed into their identities of Batman and Robin. They asked sailors for the location of the local Magnetic Mountain. They hired a boat and sailed to that location. As they approached the mountain, the metal in their utility belts was attracted to the mountain. The Dynamic Duo were snatched out of their sailboat and pinned to the mountain. To keep from being crushed by the impact, they held the ends of their capes as parachutes to slow their flight.
A rope descended from the mountaintop and Batman and Robin were rescued, after they got rid of the metal in their utility belts.The Dynamic Duo learned that their rescuer was none other than Aladdin. He did have a lamp, but it was not magical. Aladdin had been swindled out of his inheritance by Abdullah, the Great Magician of Bagdad, for the worthless lamp. Batman and Robin agreed to help him recover his inheritance.
Batman and Robin borrowed the lamp to attempt to fool Abdullah into thinking the lamp was magical after all. Later, in front of a crowd in Bagdad, Robin rubbled the lamp to make a pile of trash begin to smoke. Batman secretly threw a smoke pellet from his utility belt into the trash. Abdullah had his men seize the Dynamic Duo and present them before the Great Caliph, ruler of Bagdad. He accused Batman and Robin of being false magicians and working for the mysterious 40 thieves. The Caliph gave them a chance to prove that they were magicians.
With no hope, Robin rubbed the lamp and commanded it to prove his magic was real. The Dynamic Duo were surprised to hear a voice outside a window respond, I hear and obey, Master! Superman had arrived at ancient Bagdad and lifted the palace. The Man of Steel told Batman and Robin the whole story, but the Dynamic Duo refused to leave until they helped Aladdin.
Abdullah was convinced that Superman was a genie and the lamp was magical, and conspired to get it back. He promised Robin that he would return Aladdin's inheritance to him if the Boy Wonder would go to his palace.Batman left to track down the 40 thieves. To insure that the genie would obey him, Abdullah asked Robin to have the genie bring a block of ice from the far north to keep him cool. Superman obeyed. As soon as the Man of Steel disappeared in the sky, Abdullah's men seized Robin. He learned that Abdullah and his men were actually the 40 thieves, and they took their boy hostage to their hideout.
Abdullah remained in his palace with the lamp. When Superman returned Abdullah ordered him to bring him gold from the depths of the earth. Superman obeyed, but not in the way Abdullah intended. The Man of Steel brought a stone container of molten gold, too hot to be useful to his new master.
Abdullah then ordered his genie to bring him the most powerful weapon in the world. Superman took a very long iron chain into a storm cloud, and a streak of lightning hit the palace through the chain.
Batman found Robin's chest emblem on the ground. The Boy Wonder had ripped it off his costume with his teeth. Thank goodness he was on a good dental plan. It lead Batman to their hidden lair. He listened to one of Abdullah's men order all but two men ride to raid Bagdad. The two men would guard Robin.
Abdullah ordered his genie to bring a Roc, a mythical bird. With his bare hands, Superman chopped down trees and split enough wood to build a giant wooden bird. Superman flew it over Bagdad and drove the thieves away from the city. They rode back to their hideout.
Batman had helped Robin escape, only to see the thieves return from Bagdad. Superman then broke off a large piece of Magnetic Mountain and carried it over the thieves. Their swords were attracted to the magnetic rock, and Superman threw it into space.
For revealing the real thieves, the Caliph restored Aladdin's inheritance, and Superman carried Batman and Robin back to Gotham City of 1955 on a flying carpet.
The first time travel story I read from World's Finest Comics was a reprint of The Three Super-Musketeers, which we'll cover later this year. This was just as much fun, a wild adventure story.
Professor Nichols was a recurring character in silver age Batman stories. He would send his friends Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson back in time, and sometimes Batman and Robin, using his time travel hypnosis.
When Batman and Robin were stuck to the magnetic mountain because of the metal in their utility belts, I wondered why they wouldn't have had to remove their utility belts, instead of just remove the metallic objects in their belts. Wouldn't their buckles be metallic also? I was amused that no one in Bagdad thought Batman, Robin and Superman were dressed strangely. I guess Superman got a pass since he was a "genie". The Man of Steel was very clever to obey Abdullah in ways that were useless to his master. But then, the silver age Superman is very sneaky that way. Maybe he's been hanging around Mort Weisinger too much. I give this story 4 Superman Capes out of 5.
I was only able to read the reprint of the Superman/Batman story, and wasn't able to read the other two stories in the issue. The only information I was able to find was from Mike's Amazing World Of DC Comics.
Green Arrow appeared in the six page story Archer From Across The Sea, written by George Kashdan and drawn by George Papp.
Tomahawk starred in the six page story, Weapon Of Peace, written by France E. Herron, pencilled by Bruno Premiani and inked by Ray Burnley.
Elsewhere in DC Comics, 29 titles carried the November or November/December 1955 cover date.
Next episode: Superman Comic Books Cover Dated January 1959: Superman #126 & Action Comics #248!
In two weeks: Superman Family Comic Book Cover Dated December 1955: Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #9!
Join the Superman Fan Podcast and My Pull List groups or pages on facebook, and follow the podcast and blogs on twitter @supermanpodcast.
Superman Fan Podcast is a proud member of the League Of Comic Book Podcasters at http://www.comicbooknoise.com/league and the Comics Podcast Network! http://www.comicspodcasts.com/, and is now a proud member of the Superman WebRing of websites, and the Superman Podcast Network at http://www.fortressofbaileytude.com/supermanpodcastnetwork. Check it out to discover other fine Superman podcasts.
Superman Fan Podcast is at http://supermanfanpodcast.mypodcast.com/ . Send e-mail about this podcast to supermanfanpodcast@gmail.com.
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 cover art displayed with the show notes is done for entertainment and educational purposes only. I post these episodes to share my enjoyment of Superman comics and do not earn any money from this podcast.
Thanks for listening to the Superman Fan Podcast and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
Action Comics #247, December 1958, was published around October 30, 1958. It contained 32 pages and sold for a dime. Mort Weisinger was the editor, and the cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye.
Superman's Lost Parents was written by Otto Binder and drawn by Al Plastino. The 13 page story was reprinted in Superman: The Man Of Tomorrow Archive vol. I and Showcase Presents: Superman vol. I.
While relaxing at home after a day of work at the Daily Planet, Clark saw a sphere appear outside his apartment building. Inside the large bubble were Ma and Pa Kent. They had traveled from the past to visit their now adult son. They had taken a vacation without Clark once, and visited a family friend, Professor Clyde, who had invented a time machine in a transparent sphere. They told their son Clark that the machine would return them to their own time at midnight.
Thrilled to see his parents again, Clark changed into Superman and took them to his Fortress of Solitude. Ma and Pa Kent watched their super son swim in a lava filled pool, ride a dinosaur like creature from another world and play tug of war with a group of robots. They saw a room dedicated to Superman's parents, but found statues of their adopted son's Kryptonian parents. Superman quickly led them to another room, which was dedicated to his Earth parents. Inside they found statues of themselves at the dinner table with Superboy.
Superman took his parents back to Metropolis, where, dressed as Clark Kent once again, he enjoyed a home cooked meal by Ma Kent one more time. Clark gave them a trophy, which was presented to Superman by the city of Metropolis. Pa Kent told his son that they couldn't take anything back from the future back to their time.
Lois came to Clark's apartment, bringing a pie, which everyone shared for desert. Pa Kent expressed his approval to Clark, but Lois mentioned that she preferred Superman over Clark, which I would think would bring the mood in the room down.
When Clark used his telescopic vision and super hearing to spot a runaway circus train, Pa Kent helped cover his son by "accidentally" spilling a cup of coffee on Lois's dress. Personally I think that Pa just wanted to get a little revenge for Lois spurning his boy. After Lois went home, Clark changed into Superman and flew away to save the circus train.
After he left it was revealed that Ma and Pa Kent were impostors. Their names were really Millicent and Cedric. They had researched Smallville's records to find the most likely candidates for Superman's foster parents, and then wore disguises as Ma and Pa Kent. Clark had confirmed their suspicions, and now they planned to sell the secret of his secret identity to the underworld.
When Superman returned, he showed them his Superman robots. Each one duplicated one of his super powers, depending on the need. Pa then asked Clark for a piece of kryptonite because Professor Clyde had wanted to experiment with a possible antidote to kryptonite. Superman flew to the ocean and found a shipwreck in the ocean's depth with a load of lead. The Man of Steel created a lead submarine to retrieve a sample and place it in a lead box.
After Clark gave the lead box to Pa Kent, they returned to the time bubble and "returned" to their own time. Actually, the sphere released a smoke screen while Cedric and Millicent rolled the bubble out of sight. The next morning, as Clark placed the trophy back in its hiding place, he wondered why Pa Kent would ask for kryptonite if he couldn't take anything back to their time. A quick search outside revealed the time sphere, and Clark suspected that he had been a victim of a scam, and now his secret identity had been revealed.
His suspicion was confirmed when he received a phone call from Cedric and Millicent Carson. They bribed Clark for $5 million to keep his super identity secret, or they would sell his secret to the criminal underworld for $1 million.
Superman searched for buried treasures around the world until he had enough to meet their price tag. He had to drop the bribe using a small parachute, because Cedric held the open lead box of kryptonite. He watched the Carsons from afar until Millicent left to go shopping. As protection against the Man of Steel, Cedric had split the kryptonite into two pieces so each of them would have a piece. Then Superman put his plan into effect.
The Man of Steel had built robot duplicates of Ma and Pa Kent. He sent robot Ma to Cedric, and her robot eyes hypnotized Cedric to forget Superman's secret identity. Robot Pa found Millicent as she was shopping, and did the same to her. The Man of Steel operated both robots by remote control, and beamed "super hypnotic forces" from his eyes into the machine, which were then transmitted to the robots. They returned the lead boxes containing the kryptonite and returned them to the location that Superman controlled them from.
Superman spied on the Carsons, as they removed their disguises and wondered why they had put them on. The Man of Steel's secret was safe again. A melancholy Clark Kent decided to pretend that Ma and Pa Kent really had visited him from the past.
When Clark first saw who he thought were his parents, he said, Great Scott! Mom and Dad Kent, who were my former foster parents in my youth! I left Smallville when they died! But how - - ? I realize that this bit of information was necessary for someone who was reading their first Superman story, but I don't think that would be what someone would say if they saw their long dead parents return from the dead. This type of dialogue was common in the silver age of comic books.
The key to the Fortress of Solitude did not look like the giant key that would be familiar later in the silver and bronze ages. It resembled the version Wayne Boring drew in the first silver age Fortress story, The Key To Fort Superman, from Action Comics #241. This Fortress key didn't look like much of an airplane market, which it was supposed to be disguised as.
Has Superman discovered or developed a new super power, super hypnotism? It would be used later, if only briefly, to explain how no one noticed the similarity between Clark Kent and Superman. In this story, the Superman robots only had one super power each. In later silver age stories, they would have all of the Mano f Steel's powers. The panel of Superman swimming in a pool of lave reminded me of the characters Bar-El and Lilo from All-Star Superman. Maybe this was where writer Grant Morrison got the idea.
Normally, I would have thought Clark Kent would have been able to easily see through the disguises of the Carsons, but Clark probably saw what he wanted to see. This was an example Superman's heart not being invulnerable. It was sad to read about his affections for his late adopted parents being taken advantage of to this extent. For this reason, despite some of these silver age quirks, I have to give this story 4 Superman Capes out of 5.
Tommy Tomorrow appeared in the six page story, Tommy Tomorrow: Space Convict X-146-93, which was written by Otto Binder and drawn by Jim Mooney. Tommy was planted into Space Alcatraz as criminal "Changer" Holt, who had changed his features to resemble Tommy Tomorrow. His mission was to uncover how some convicts were escaping. He found that the convict known as The Brain, who was a disembodied brain in a fluid filled container, teleported a number of convicts to a place where they built a new robot body for Brain when he escaped himself. Tommy destroyed the robot body and recaptured the escapees. I've only read a few of these Tommy Tomorrow stories, and this is the best one so far. I enjoyed the whole aspect of being planted in a prison under an alias. I give it 4 Capes out of 5.
The third and final story of the issue starred Congo Bill, in the six page story The Riddle Of The Super Zoo, written by Jack Miller and drawn by Howard Sherman. This story was reprinted in World's Finest Comics #195.
Jungle Joe opened a store of trained wild game pets, which he sold to unsuspecting sportsmen. He scammed them out of their money, including Mr. Harper. He bought a group of acrobatic chimps, who were actually pygmys in costumes. Harper got real chimpanzees, who obviously were not trained. Congo Bill and his friend Janu met Harper and learned about Jungle Joe's scam. Janu, who had been raised by jungle animals like Tarzan, was able to communicate with the chimps so that they were able to perform acrobatic tricks for a jungle audience. Congo Bill then scammed Joe to buy a small meteorite that supposedly had the ability to make animals super smart, in order to get the money back to Joe's victims.
This was a weird story, but I liked how Congo Bill was able to turn Jungle Joe's trick back onto the swindler. I gave this story 3 Capes out of 5.
Elsewhere in DC Comics, 33 titles carried the December 1958 or December 1958/January 1959 cover date.
Next Episode: The Superman Family Cover Dated November/December 1955: World's Finest Comics #79!
In two weeks: The Superman Comic Books Cover Dated January 1959: Superman #126 & Action Comics #248!
Join the Superman Fan Podcast and My Pull List groups or pages on facebook, and follow the podcast and blogs on twitter @supermanpodcast.
Superman Fan Podcast is a proud member of the League Of Comic Book Podcasters at http://www.comicbooknoise.com/league and the Comics Podcast Network! http://www.comicspodcasts.com/, and is now a proud member of the Superman WebRing of websites, and the Superman Podcast Network at http://www.fortressofbaileytude.com/supermanpodcastnetwork. Check it out to discover other fine Superman podcasts.
Superman Fan Podcast is at http://supermanfanpodcast.mypodcast.com/ . Send e-mail about this podcast to supermanfanpodcast@gmail.com.
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 cover art displayed with the show notes is done for entertainment and educational purposes only. I post these episodes to share my enjoyment of Superman comics and do not earn any money from this podcast.
Thanks for listening to the Superman Fan Podcast and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #8, October 1955, was published around August 23, 1955. It contained 32 pages for the cover price of 10¢. Mort Weisinger was the editor, and the cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye. All three eight page stories were written by Otto Binder, pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Ray Burnley, and have been reprinted in Showcase Presents: Superman Family vol. I.
The Betrayal Of Superman was the first story of the issue. It began with Jimmy going to the office of his friend, Private Investigator Dick Crane. Jimmy found Crane almost doubled over in pain at his desk, and called for an ambulance. Before he left for the hospital, Crane gave Jimmy an envelope from his latest client, Bart Gordon, and asked Jimmy to help him close the case. Crane had a reputation of never failing to close a case, and Jimmy promised to keep his friend's perfect record.
Later, when Jimmy opened the letter, he regretted making that promise. Gordon had hired Crane for a missing person case: the secret identity of Superman. Jimmy paced the floor at his home, torn between having to betray the trust of one or the other of his friends. He decided he couldn't turn his back on a sick friend.
After making some preparations, Jimmy put on a traditional detective's disguise and introduced himself at Gordon's home as Jr. Inspector Cedric of Scotland Yard. Gordon refused to reveal his reason for wanting to know Superman's secret identity, but in a thought balloon we learned that he wanted to blackmail the Man of Steel in order to get rich. He also had "Cedric" sign a list of terms that had to be met before earning the $1,000 fee: bring Superman in the flesh, not wearing a disguise and not a dummy (or, I would add, a robot), not in a dark room, and the Man of Steel would have no means of escape except by using his superpowers.
Later, after Jimmy returned to the Daily Planet offices, Clark gave Jimmy a list of Superman's scheduled public appearances that the Man of Steel "handed" to him. Jimmy used them to gather clues about Superman's secret identity. He found the Man of Steel's fingerprints on the cornerstone of a Metropolis orphanage after a dedication ceremony. Jimmy planned to take plaster casts of Superman's footprints in the sand after the Man of Steel launched a new riverboat. He would figure Superman's weight by subtracting the weight of the individual rocks from a pile that the Man of Steel lifted during another public appearance. Jimmy measured Superman's height from a cutout from the Man of Steel's demolition of that building, when he crashed through a wall. At a charity drive, Jimmy took close up photographs of Superman's face, and later drew various disguises on prints he had made.One even showed Superman wearing a pair of glasses. Jimmy found his man among the altered photographs.
When Clark went to a glass house exhibit, Jimmy, as Cedric, followed him. After Clark entered the glass house, Cedric called Gordon, who rushed to the glass house as well. As Clark looked around the glass house, Gordon approached him from behind. To test his suspicion, Gordon shot Clark in the back, and the bullet bounced off of him. Clark admitted to Gordon that he was, indeed, Superman, but before Gordon could see his face, he flew through a wall and escaped. After changing into Superman, he met both "Cedric" and Gordon, who claimed that his terms were never met. Superman reminded him that Cedric did indeed meet his terms. The Man of Steel then revealed that Cedric was none other than Jimmy Olsen, and let Gordon go. It wasn't illegal to attempt to learn Superman's secret identity. Not only was Gordon very angry, he was out $1,000, which is still a lot of money, and definitely was back in 1955.
It turned out that Superman was in on Jimmy's plans all along. Part of Jimmy's preparations was planning with the Man of Steel himself. Superman took Jimmy to the hospital so that he could give a recovering Crane his $1,000 fee. Crane was as happy with the fact that his perfect record was still intact as he was with the money. Jimmy gave Superman all the credit for solving his dilemma.
The next day Jimmy showed Clark one Superman photo that he had drawn a pair of glasses on, then ripped it up because he had drawn them so crooked. That gave Clark a lot of relief. Apparently a crooked pair of glasses on the Superman photo was enough to keep Jimmy from learning Superman's secret identity. As Jimmy wondered if he would ever learn the Man of Steel's secret identity, Clark winked at the reader.
This story presented a tough problem for Jimmy to solve, and he found a clever way to keep from betraying either friend. It was a pleasure to see the greedy Gordon foiled in his attempt to get rich quick. The only thing that didn't make sense was how Jimmy didn't learn that Clark was really Superman after he walked into the glass house. Or did he? I still give this story 4 Superman Capes out of 5.
Superboy For A Day began with Jimmy joining Clark Kent at Smallville's Superboy Day. Jimmy met the parents of one of Clark's high school friends, Henry Crane. Clark learned that Henry had been missing since he left Smallville. Jimmy left Clark alone at the graves of his parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent. Jimmy toured Smallville's Hall of Superboy Trophies, and watched the residents admire the Superboy exhibits as much as he enjoyed the trophies themselves. That gave Jimmy an idea.
When Superman met the Mayor at the Hall of Superboy Trophies, Jimmy appeared in a Superboy costume. He talked Superman into reenacting some of his Superboy exploits, such as saving a man from falling from the Smallville clock tower (using a dummy of course) and saving a bank teller who had accidentally gotten locked in the bank safe.
A mysterious person started a fire in a junkyard. After Superman extinguished it with his super breath, he and Jimmy reenacted Superboy's plowing a long ditch to save the local neighborhood from flooding. On the site of the old Crane residence, they unearthed a giant tin cup that Superboy had used to catch hailstones during a severe storm. Cal Trent thought that Superboy's identity was now exposed, because he assumed that Superboy's fingerprints had been embedded in the metal. He thought that Superboy had been Henry Crane. Superman explained to Trent that he buried the cup upside down to cap an underground spring to keep the Crane property from becoming soggy.
Trent was still unconvinced until Mr. Crane brought news that they had received a letter from their son Henry, who had suffered from amnesia all these years, and had recently recovered his memory. Cal felt like a fool for keeping secret the wrong secret identity of Superman, but the Man of Steel appreciated how he had kept it a secret all these years, and felt that Trent could be trusted with the secret if he ever revealed it to him (which Superman didn't).
At the end, Jimmy got a Superboy costume to add to his Superman souvenir collection. If he expected to keep his collection in his home after he got married, I hope he found a wife who liked the Man of Steel as much as he did.
This was a fun, nostalgic story with a few quirks. When Superman reenacted the flood, he broke open a water main. I think damaging Smallville's infrastructure was a bit extreme for a reenactment. I'm sure Superman repaired it afterwards, but I wonder if he boiled everyone's water until it was safe to drink again? The story had its fill of typically weird super stunts, but it was touching to see Cal Trent keep Superboy's (Superman's) secret all those years. I also give this story 4 Capes out of 5.
Jimmy Olsen, Crooner was the third and final story of the issue, and was featured on the cover. It began with Jimmy getting over a cold as he worked on the story of the manhunt of Charles Gordon, bank embezzler. After a fruitless day of searching for Jimmy, Clark treated him to dinner at the Scoop Coop, a dinner club for reporters and their families paid for by the publishers of the city's newspapers. Diners "payed" for their meals in another way. They received a note (I assume from their waiter) to perform an act or skit.
Jimmy's payment was to sing like a crooner. He balked at first because his voice was still a little hoarse, but Clark encouraged him. Kent said that talent didn't matter, it was all in fun. So Jimmy got on stage and was an instant hit, especially with the teen aged girls in the audience.
The next week, Jimmy made a number of singing performances around Metropolis, followed by girls wherever he went. When he practiced his singing at work instead of working on the embezzler story, Perry White chewed him out. Jimmy quit his job because he felt he could be more successful as a singer.
When Jimmy arrived at a TV studio later that day for an audition, he was mobbed by admirers. Jimmy had to use his signal watch to call the Man of Steel to save him. After his TV performance, Jimmy wore a disguise to sneak out of the studio past his fans. As he passed the Daily Planet building, Jimmy began to have second thoughts about changing careers. When he bought a paper from a newsstand, he noticed a man walk by as if he was sneaking away from someone. Jimmy walked toward him and discovered that it was Charles Gordon in disguise. Gordon pushed Jimmy in a ditch, who was saved by Superman. The Man of Steel captured Gordon, and Jimmy decided he preferred life as a reporter.
Superman took Jimmy to one more singing engagement. His voice had finally cleared, but the tone that had attracted his fans was now gone, and he flopped. Thus ended Jimmy Olsen's career as the first American Idol.
The next day, when Jimmy went to the Daily Planet office to beg for his job, he was congratulated by Perry White for capturing the embezzler. Perry told Jimmy that he knew that quitting his job was only an act, and Jimmy was lucky to get his job back.
This was a fun, humorous, light hearted story about Jimmy's unexpected brush with fame, and how it went to his head for a while. In the panel near the end of the story where we first saw the disguise embezzler, he was in the foreground of the panel very prominently. In the next few panels we found out the reason why he earned such a close up. Jimmy showed some sharp instincts to pick up on his mannerisms to expose Gordon. I give this story 4 Capes out of 5.
Elsewhere in DC Comics, there were 31 titles that carried the October or October/November 1955 cover date.
Next Episode: The Superman Comic Book Cover Dated December 1958: Action Comics #247!
In two weeks: The Superman Family Comic Book Cover Dated November/December 1955: World's Finest Comics #79!
Join the Superman Fan Podcast and My Pull List groups or pages on facebook, and follow the podcast and blogs on twitter @supermanpodcast.
Superman Fan Podcast is a proud member of the League Of Comic Book Podcasters at http://www.comicbooknoise.com/league and the Comics Podcast Network! http://www.comicspodcasts.com/, and is now a proud member of the Superman WebRing of websites, and the Superman Podcast Network at http://www.fortressofbaileytude.com/supermanpodcastnetwork. Check it out to discover other fine Superman podcasts.
Superman Fan Podcast is at http://supermanfanpodcast.mypodcast.com/ . Send e-mail about this podcast to supermanfanpodcast@gmail.com.
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 cover art displayed with the show notes is done for entertainment and educational purposes only. I post these episodes to share my enjoyment of Superman comics and do not earn any money from this podcast.
Thanks for listening to the Superman Fan Podcast and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
Superman #125, November 1958, was published around September 18, 1958. It contained 32 pages and sold for 10¢. Mort Weisinger was the editor, and the cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye. This issue was originally discussed back in Episode #126: Action Comics #125 & Superman #125 for May 12, 2010.
The stories in this issue were all written by Jerry Coleman, and reprinted in Superman: The Man Of Tomorrow Archives vol. I and Showcase Presents: Superman vol. I. Individually, they also appeared in other reprints, which I will list as we get to each story.
Lois Lane's Super Dream, eight pages long,was drawn by Kurt Schaffenberger. It was also reprinted in Lois Lane Annual #1, Summer 1962, June 7, 1962.
Superman flew Lois to the hospital, after she fell off the second floor ledge of the building housing the Metropolis Science Fair, in pursuit of a story about it. I don't know what would have been at the Science Fair that Lois would risk her life to get a scoop on other reporters, and it's never mentioned again.
Barely conscious, Lois heard Superman discuss her blood transfusion with a doctor. She thought the Man of Steel was giving her a transfusion of his own blood, using his fingernail to puncture his own skin. Actually he had flown a pint of her rare blood type from a Chicago blood bank. That fact didn't stop her from dreaming about what might happen if she received Superman's blood.
In her dream, Lois instantly recovered, and flew out the hospital window because cool superheroes never use the door. She created a yellow and green costume, with a red wig, and called herself Power Girl, a few decades before the character premiered as the Earth-2 daughter of Superman. She then teamed up with Superman to protect Metropolis, and performed several super deeds in the line of duty.
When Clark was injured in an explosion at a power plant, Power Girl took him to hospital. She passed it on by giving Clark a pint of her own super blood, giving him super powers. Lois created a costume, complete with a mustache, and gave him the name of Power Man. Just as a pair of glasses protected Clark's secret identity, a mustache would keep anyone from realizing he was really Power Man.
However, Clark being Clark, he didn't relish having powers with the same enthusiasm Lois did. Afraid of planes crashing into him, Power Man wore a flashing light to warn any nearby pilots. When an excursion boat began to sink, Power Man squeezed enough rubber out of rubber trees to create a giant life preserver for the passengers. He saved a house from having a baseball crash through a window, but crashed into the ground. The shock wave demolished the home. Power Girl berated him for finding complicated ways to use his powers, instead of finding simple solutions like she did. For instance, to save the boat passengers, she used her x-ray vision to evaporate the water in the lake so that the passengers could leave the boat on the dry lake bed.
Later, as Clark covered a story at a department store, his super senses noticed a nearby fire. He ducked into what he thought was a changing room, and took off his civilian clothes to reveal his Power Man costume. What he didn't know was that the mirrors were part of a storefront window display, showing one way mirrors. The pedestrians were able to discover his secret identity of Power Man.
Lois awoke from her dream to find Superman at her bedside. He had listened to her talk in her sleep about her dream. When Clark visited her later she told him about her dream, wondering how she could have ever suspected him of really being Superman.
For someone who fell off a second story ledge onto her back, Lois never had her head bandaged, much less shaved. I guess she had her health insurance with the Comics Code Authority. It did seem a little creepy for Superman to listen to Lois talk in her sleep about her dream. Her dream seemed to reveal Lois' opinion of Clark as both brainless and spineless. It was funny to read Power Girl berate Power Man for being so clumsy with his superpowers, when she got it right by evaporating the lake. Beyond the environmental damage she caused, to evaporate the water quickly enough, the boat passengers would have been boiled alive before they drowned. Some of Power Man's oddball solutions were no stranger than any other super deeds by the Man of Steel during the silver age.
This dream story was a fun, if strange in places, imaginary story which I enjoyed very much, and give it 4 Superman Capes out of 5.
Clark Kent's College Days was drawn by Al Plastino. The ten page story carried the subtitle Untold Tales Of Superman #1 and has also been reprinted in The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told.
When Clark Kent received an invitation to his college class reunion at Metropolis University, it brought back memories of his college years. It began with the freshman hazing that was common in the era. I'm glad I didn't have to deal with it when I went to community college in the late 1970's, and especially glad my daughter didn't have to endure it during her freshman year at university.
College life gave Clark new challenges to his secret identity as Superman. When he noticed a car fire, he used his super breath to flip the light switch off so that he could douse the fire as the Boy of Steel and return to his dorm room in time.
During his sophomore year he was concerned that one of his instructors, Professor Maxwell, was brilliant enough to discover his secret identity. Clark's fears were well founded when Clark used his x-ray vision to seal a crack on an internal combustion powered robot in class one day. Prof. Maxwell noticed the crack being sealed, and the next day performed a demonstration on the class by testing them with a lie detector machine. He asked them one question, Are you Superboy? Class time ended before he could get to Clark.
Kent was so worried about the Professor discovering his secret identity, that during the Metropolis U football game, he jumped too high during a cheer as a member of the cheer leading squad. He grabbed a bunch of nearby helium balloons to cover himself, but he used his telescopic vision to see Prof. Maxwell watching him with a pair of binoculars.
For the next class, Professor Maxwell took his class to a natural gas cave to study geological formations. Maxwell cornered Clark alone and exposed him to a piece of kryptonite he had kept in a lead box. To protect his secret identity Clark stuck his fingers in a rock wall behind him, allowing natural gas to seep into the cave and render the class unconscious. He changed to Superman and carried the class out of the cave to recover. After dumping the lead box of kryptonite in a deep underground lake he carried the bus back to
campus.
Prof. Maxwell had gotten off the bus and asked Superboy about Clark. The Boy of Steel replied that Clark must still be asleep at the back of the bus. Sure enough, Clark finally got off the bus, after Superboy flew away of course. Professor Maxwell took Clark back to his class to complete his experiment. After hooking up Clark to the lie detector machine, Maxwell asked Clark if he was Superboy. Clark answered, "No," and passed the test. Just before the test, Clark had begun thinking of himself as Superman instead of Superboy for the first time. Later, Professor Maxwell signed Clark's yearbook, Best wishes to the one boy I an sure is not Superboy.
I liked how Al Plastino drew the college aged Clark and Superboy as older than the traditional Superboy, but younger than the traditional Superman. I found the internal combustion robot amusing. How could the robot be anything other than noisy, and wouldn't it fill the classroom with carbon monoxide? I just hope the room was well ventilated. It was clever how the Professor tried to trap Clark and how Kent avoided them. I had to wonder how grabbing the balloons would cover Clark's jumping too high with his super powers when they didn't appear to be within arm's reach in the panel. In the cavern, it would seem that the amount of gas it would take to render the class unconscious would at least pose some danger to everyone. Finally, when the Professor got off the bus, wouldn't the first thing he would do be to check if Clark was on the bus before talking with Superboy? And Clark began thinking of himself as Superman in the knick of time, didn't he?
Regardless of these reservations, I found this to be a fun story, and give it 4 Capes out of 5.
Superman's New Powers was pencilled by Wayne Boring and inked by Stan Kaye. This eight page story was also reprinted in Superman Annual #7, Summer 1963, June 13, 1963, which celebrated the Silver Anniversary of the Man of Steel.
When tremors shake Metropolis, Superman burrows underground to Earth's molten core. He plugged a weak spot of the bedrock under the city with a large piece of flame proof chrysolite. As he burrowed upward to the service Superman discovered a small rocket that had been buried for an unknown length of time. It suddenly exploded, but the Man of Steel was unaffected, or so he thought.
Later, after returning to Metropolis, Superman attempted to stop some crooks who were speeding in their getaway car. The Man of Steel was shocked when the car knocked him out of the way. While he was unhurt, Superman discovered that his powers were gone. Light began to shine from his fingers, and the gang surrendered because of what they saw. After the criminals were taken to jail, Superman announced to reporters that he had developed a new super power. A flashback revealed that a mini-me Superman emerged from the light which shone from the Man of Steel's fingers. It had knocked the gang into submission.
Everyone was amazed about Superman's powers except for the Man of Steel himself. He felt like he was a second stringer, and was becoming a little jealous, I thought. Mini-me Superman detonated a shell before it prematurely shot out of a cannon, saved the Eiffel Tower from a guided missile, extinguished a ship fire, saved a man from being robbed. He even saved the Man of Steel from a kyrptonite meteor that was falling toward Metropolis, by using another meteor to knock it harmlessly into the country.
A gang discovered it before Superman could find it and alert authorities to dispose of it. The gang used a catapult to launch it back at the Man of Steel. Mini-me Superman emerged and sacrificed himself to save the Man of Steel. Superman's powers returned, and he held a better opinion of his small duplicate, and wondered if he was only responding to his thought, or had a mind of its own and sacrificed himself.
This has been the weirdest Superman story I ever read. Now I know where Grant Morrison got some of his ideas from. Or maybe Jerry Coleman was ahead of his time by experimenting with mind altering drugs before he wrote this story. The threat to Metropolis seemed dubious geological science, and I had to wonder why someone would haul a cannon with a live round loaded into it. Superman seemed a little unsympathetic in this story, jealous, moping and feeling sorry for himself. Also, Wayne Boring drew Superman flying in weird ways. The Man of Steel would appear to be jogging in the air or else sliding into base like a baseball player, flying feet first. As strange as this story was, I can't say that I really hate it, and give it 3 Capes out of 5.
Action Comics #246, November 1958, was published around September 30, 1958. It contained 32 pages and also sold for a dime. The editor was Mort Weisinger, and the cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye.The thirteen page Superman story titled Krypton ON Earth, written by Otto Binder, pencilled by Wayne Boring and inked by Stan Kaye. It was reprinted in Superman: The Man Of Tomorrow Archives vol. I and Showcase Presents: Superman vol. I.
After some unusual advertisements around Metropolis advertised a housing development called Krypton Island, Perry White assigned Clark to write a story about it. Clark visited Krypton Island first as Superman. He was surprised to discover that the development was an exact replica of a Kryptonian city. After changing back into Clark Kent, he visiting the main office of the development. Clark met Thor-Kol, head of the development and dressed in authentic Kryptonian fashions, who was actually Jonas Smith, real estate broker. Clark mentioned that Thor-Kol was a wise ruler from Kryptonian history. Smith took Clark on a helicopter tour of the development. It was powered by an atomic power station, and Clark noticed that there were no slums or jails.
That was because prospective residents had to submit their fingerprints for security checks before they could be allowed to buy a home in the development. Smith had a thought balloon which revealed he was actually criminal "Swindler" Smith, and his fingerprints were not part of the development's files. As Clark was about to return to the Daily Planet, Smith asked him to invite Superman to appear the next day to participate in their Krypton Pageant.
Later, Smith and his gang had a good laugh about how Superman was going to make them rich, illegally of course.
The next day Superman arrived at Krypton Island and was greeted by the flag of Krypton, which was floated above the development by balloons. Smith crowned Superman as Honorary King of Krypton on Earth, who later turned on a lighthouse shaped like his heroic self. A moving sidewalk, used on Krypton, took Superman to a special shrine to his Kryptonian parents, Jor-El and Lara. At Krypton Stadium, Superman entertained the sellout crowd by performing a number of super feats. One of them was to squeeze pieces of coal to diamonds. Later Smith asked him to melt them. As a finale, actors reenacted Jor-El and Lara placing baby Kal-El in the rocket to escape Krypton's doom. When the rocket lifted off, Superman thought the young toddler who played baby Kal-El was inside. Smith encouraged the Man of Steel to use his x-ray vision to find that a dummy was placed there instead.
What Superman didn't know was that the rocket was remote controlled by other members of Smith's gang, who retrieved the lead dummy, which had the superman created diamonds inside. Smith had exchanged them for fakes when the Man of Steel wasn't looking.
At the end of the festivities Smith asked Superman to sign his autograph book. Smith's pen leaked, and Superman noticed the fingerprint smudge. His super memory recalled "Swindler" Smith's FBI fingerprint file. With his true identity exposed, Smith exposed Superman to krptonite and made his escape. With his weakening x-ray vision, Superman burst all but one balloon, allowing the Krypton flag to sink low enough for the Man of Steel to grab it. The balloon dragged Superman out of range of the kryptonite and he recovered enough to take the whole gang to jail. Superman then found another real estate broker to run the development, so that the residents who had bought homes would not lose their investment.
I enjoyed this story. It was a clever way that Superman discovered Smith's real identity, his super memory as a superpower. It was one of those things you'll only see in the silver age.
There were a few things that were never explained in the story. For instance, how was Smith able to find out so much about Krypton? How was Clark able to know about Krypton's rulers without fear of revealing his secret identity. It was plausible that Superman could have revealed many details of his birth world, thanks again to his super memory, but that fact isn't revealed here. And where did Smith get the massive amounts of financing to build the development, complete with a nuclear power plant? Superman's super stunts at the Krypton Pageant were typical for the wacky silver age. I almost gave this story 3 Capes out of 5, but I think I like it enough to give it a 4.
Congo Bill appeared in the six page story, The King Of Cages, written by Jack Miller and drawn by Howard Sherman.
Tommy Tomorrow appeared in the final six page story of the issue, Destination Unknown, written by Otto Binder and drawn by Jim Mooney.
Elsewhere in DC Comics, 32 titles carried the November or November/December 1958 cover date.
Next episode: The Superman Family Comic Book Cover Dated October 1955: Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #8!
In two weeks: The Superman Comic Book Cover Dated December 1958: Action Comics #247!
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