Episode #169: Superman Family Of Comics Cover Dated May/June 1955: Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #5 & World's Finest Comics #76!

Note: As I've been rating these silver age Superman stories, I've used the same rating system as the podcast Superman Forever Radio, up to 5 Superman Shields. In an effort to be a little more creative and not such a copycat, from now on I will rate these stories up to 5 Superman Capes.

Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #5, May/June 1955, was published around March 22, 1955. It contained 32 pages for the cover price of 10 cents. Mort Weisinger was the editor, and the cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye. It featured the third and final story of the issue, The Story Of Superman's Souvenirs! All three stories were eight pages long and were done by the same creative team, writer Otto Binder, penciller Curt Swan and inker Ray Burnley. They have also been reprinted in Showcase Presents: Superman Family vol. I.

The Boy Olympics began at the back loading dock of the Daily Planet. Jimmy Olsen watched as workers loaded the delivery trucks, and handed out bundles to newsboys for their paper routes. Tommy Blair asked one of the dock workers if the Daily Planet had any openings for more newsboys. He was told that there were no openings, and he was the fifth City Sentinel newsboy to ask for a job.

Curious, Jimmy asked Tommy if the City Sentinel was going out of business. Tommy replied that publisher Cal Dawson was out of money and planned to shut down the Sentinel next week. Jimmy promised to ask his boss, Perry White, to hire a few more newsboys. but Perry was cold to the idea, and if the City Sentinel was on the skids, that was just business.

Sadly, Jimmy had to break the news to Tommy and some of his fellow newsboys. Later, Olsen saw a sign of an Ice Olympics exhibition, which gave him an idea. He gathered Tommy and some of the other City Sentinel newsboys and pitched his idea for a Boy Olympics. They were excited about it, and some of the acts they came up with were, tandem roller skate race, bike jump through a fake brick wall and a boy cannonball. Tommy wondered how they would pull it off without costumes, props or a location to perform.

Jimmy activated his signal watch, and, after Superman came, told the Man of Steel about his idea. Superman had one question for Olsen, what would Perry White think of one of his reporters helping the competition. Jimmy hadn't thought of it, but his mind was made up. Risking his job was worth saving the jobs of the newsboys. Assured that Jimmy's heart was in thee right place, Superman went to work, using scrap materials to build a stadium. (I'm glad Superman didn't have to worry about zoning laws or building permits.) The Man of Steel planned to donate the stadium to the city after the Boy Olympics was over.

Olsen helped the Sentinel newsboys practice their acts. We saw them practice their tandem skate team and the bike jump through fake bricks. Jimmy almost forgot to get to work on time. In fact, Superman flew Jimmy to his desk at the Daily Planet with seconds to spare. The time Jimmy spent with the newsboys began to affect his work. Perry was on his case on a daily basis.

Jimmy helped one newsboy rehearse the boy cannonball act. Jimmy shot him into the air, then the boy opened  the parachute he held in his hand and floated safely to the ground. Then a boy and girl practiced a balancing act on the back of two large dogs. (I don't think there are any breeds of dogs big enough for anyone to safely perform such a stunt.) A newsboy was about to test a jet scooter, built by Superman, on a loop track, when Perry White approached. To hide his identity, Jimmy put the boy's helmet on his head. Perry liked the idea of a fundraiser for the City Sentinel.

While Perry watched, Jimmy rode the jet scooter for several loops on the vertical track. Olsen got off the scooter very dizzily. Perry wanted to see the face of the person responsible for the fundraiser, because he might hire them (as a possible replacement for Jimmy, I wonder?). Superman used his x-ray vision to fuse the chin lock, so he told Perry that he needed a special took to remove the helmet. As Jimmy and Superman walked away, Perry wondered aloud how the show would succeed without any advertising.

After Superman removed the helmet, Jimmy agreed with Perry, wondering how they would advertise the show. Just then, a courier approached and gave Superman a package filled with money and a note. It came from an anonymous donor, who gave enough money to cover the advertising expenses.

Enough publicity was generated by the billboards, signs and ads to fill the small stadium to capacity. One act that was shown in a panel was a pair of tap dancing stilt walkers. After the show, the newsboys carried large baskets of money, and superman carried City Sentinel publisher Dawson to the box office. The newsboys had raised enough money to keep the Sentinel in business. Jimmy informed Dawson that his newsboys were all of the performers.

Perry White approached them, and discovered that Jimmy had been behind the Boy Olympics. Olsen was sure he would be fired, but, surprisingly, Perry was proud of his cub reporter. Healthy competition is the lifeblood of America, and brotherhood its heart, White said. (If only more businesses operated with that philosophy.) Dawson apologized to Perry for refusing his many offers of help, explaining that it would have felt too much like accepting charity. Quick thinking Jimmy realized that Perry had been the anonymous donor who had paid for the show's advertising. White was quick to shush Jimmy before Dawson could hear him.

The next day's edition of the Daily Planet carried the banner headline, Welcome Back City Sentinel! You Can't Keep A Good Paper Down!


This wasn't a big story. It was a simple, down to earth tale. It certainly relates to the present, with our high unemployment. Perry White played a small but important role in the story. When he asked how the show would succeed without advertising, it was a subtle but clever clue that he was the anonymous donor. Perry showed himself to be a tough boss, but with a big heart. Jimmy showed himself to be not just Superman's pal, but the Sentinel newsboys' pal as well. He really went out of his way to help the newsboys keep their job. I was a little surprised at the risks the newsboys took to put on a show: the boy cannonball who held a small parachute in his hand, the jet scooter on a vertical loop track and the stilt dancers.

I give this story 4 Superman Capes out of 5.

The Brain Of Steel began with Perry White introducing the Daily Planet editorial staff to a new piece of equipment, "Scoop", a business type electronic computer. It was about the size of a large entertainment center, as were the computers of the 1950's. As part of their training on how to use Scoop, Perry had Jimmy type a question for Scoop to answer. Jimmy typed, How much are 2 apples plus 2 oranges? Scoop's answer, displayed on a monitor screen, was 4 fruit.


One piece of equipment that was part of Scoop was an emergency band radio. It broadcast a police alert about a jewelry robbery, where a 21k emerald was stolen. Scoop displayed its value as $8,000.00, to assist a reporter writing a story about the theft.

While this was going on, Clark and Lois were visited by a Professor, who demonstrated his invention of indestructible plastic handcuffs. He cuffed Clark and Lois together, and tested a file, acid and a blowtorch on the chain that linked them together. It withstood everything. Unfortunately, he forgot to bring the key to the handcuffs, and had to go back to his lab to find it. While Clark and Lois waited, Jimmy brought chairs for them. Lois thought that this was a perfect opportunity to discover if Clark Kent was really Superman.

Scoop's emergency band radio broadcast an alert about a tenement fire. Scoop displayed a method to deter the flames from spreading through an updraft, through using large whirling blades over a broken skylight. That gave Jimmy an idea. He rushed to the roof of the Daily Planet building, where he and Jumbo, making his 6th appearance, flew the Flying Newsroom helicopter to the site of the fire. Sure enough, the downdraft from the Flying Newsroom kept the flames from spreading so that firefighters could bring the blaze under control.

Back at the Daily Planet offices, Jimmy told Clark and Lois about how Superman never showed up for the emergency. Clark's seeming disinterest made her question if her suspicion that he was really Superman was correct. Scoop's emergency radio broadcast another alert for a painter who had become entangled in ropes as he was painting a flagpole on a building's roof. Scoop again displayed a plan of action to save the painter.

Clark used his telescopic vision (and x-ray vision, also?) to check on the Professor, who was still searching for the key to the handcuffs after an hour.

Meanwhile, Jumbo and Jimmy were able to drop a rope ladder from the Flying Newsroom to the painter, cut him loose from the tangled ropes and fly him to safety.

After Jimmy and Jumbo returned to the Daily Planet, the emergency band radio in Scoop broadcast yet another emergency, a freight train had brake problems and was beginning to go too fast. Scoop displayed another course of action, involving thermite. (Perhaps Jimmy could borrow some from Batman, but then Frank Miller wouldn't draw Batman for another 30 years.)

Clark was able to use his telescopic and x-ray vision to find the missing key in the Professor's lab, under a book on top of a counter. Kent used his x-ray vision to set the book on fire. (I'm glad there was no one in Clark's line of sight between him and the Professor's lab.) The Professor extinguished the flames and found his key. He rushed to the Daily Planet offices and freed Clark and Lois from the handcuffs. The experience seemed to unnerve Clark so much that he headed for the First Aid Office. Lois dismissed her suspicions that Clark could have been Superman.

Jumbo and Jimmy had flown ahead of the out of control train, and dropped the thermite, which ignited and heated up the tracks to slow down the train. Unfortunately, the thermite had also sparked a forst fire. Fortunately, Superman showed up and extinguished the flames before the fire burned out of control.

After Jimmy returned to the Daily Planet offices, we discovered the "real Scoop". With each emergency broadcast, Clark used his x-ray vision to manipulate Scoop's electronic parts, in order to display the correct course of action to Jimmy. The reason this worked, in perfect comic book science, was because x-rays are electronic in nature.

Lois decided to test Scoop for herself and asked it, Is Clark Kent Superman? Clark used his x-ray vision to manipulate Scoop one more time. Scoop displayed the answer, My dear woman, I'm not that good. Answer: unknown.


Later, when he was alone, Clark couldn't resist asking Scoop the same question. Scoop displayed a formula and the answer Unable to work out of simple handcuffs through formula ... Clark Kent is not nimble-witted enough to be Superman! Clark was relieved at the answer, even though he wasn't sure he liked the answer.

This was another fairly clever story about Clark Kent using he super powers secretly, in order to protect his secret identity.  Once again, Jimmy was able to save the day without Superman's help, or else with only minor assistance as in this story. I'm not sure using x-rays to manipulate a computer would work in today's comic book stories, but we still have unusual comic book science to make the heroes' powers seem plausible. Also, I'm not sure that using a helicopter to hover over a broken skylight to prevent an updraft would actually work in real life. But we are talking about comic bool science, after all.

Because of the unusual comic book science aspect of the story, I'm knocking 1/2 point off my rating, and I give this story 3 1/2 Capes out of 5.

The Story Of Superman's Souvenirs began with Jimmy Olsen relaxing at home after a hard day's work at the Daily Planet, looking over his collection of Superman souvenirs. (I wonder if Jimmy ever got married, would his wife make him put them away, or store them in his basement or attic?) He heard a special report interrupt the regular program on his radio, alerting listeners that Killer Burke was on the loose and had been sighted in the Temple Square area. That got Jimmy's attention, because that was where he lived. (Another of the nicknamed criminals in the Jimmy Olsen title.)

Killer Burke was closer than Jimmy realized, when he crawled in Jimmy's window. Burke yanked the phone line out of the wall to prevent Jimmy from calling the police. Olsen reached to activate his Superman signal watch, but realized he had left it on his desk after polishing it. So Jimmy was trapped in his own home with Killer Burke.

Burke noticed Jimmy's souvenirs, and his attention was drawn to a machine gun. He grabbed it, intending to use it against the police to aid his escape. Olsen discourage him from taking that souvenir, and shared the story behind it. A criminal had attached a machine gun to his motorcycle, and fired it at Superman when he tried to capture the crook. The Man of Steel took the deflected bullets, squeezed them into metal balls, and tossed them into the gun barrel, jamming it. So the machine gun was rendered useless.

A small meteorite caught Burke's attention next. He thought he might be able to drop it on top of a police car to help his escape. Jimmy informed him that it was a lightweight fake. Superman had made them out of scrap metal, in order to scare a wanted criminal off an island, where the crook had sought asylum with the tribe who lived there. The fake meteors scared the bad guy into his boat and back into the ocean, where Superman nabbed him.

Burke next saw a suit of Superman armor, which looked exactly like the Man of Steel. He thought he could wear it and escape the notice of the cops. Jimmy encouraged him to take it, but that made Burke suspicious. He demanded that Jimmy tell him the story behind it, at gunpoint. Lefty Orton had worn it to walk right past police officers. But he found he couldn't get out of it. He was stuck. Orton had no choice but to walk into a police station and give himself up before he suffocated. Superman appeared and freed Orton from his armored prison. The Man of Steel had put a secret lock on it that only he could open.

Finally, Burke grabbed an invisibility belt that had been invented by Lex Luthor, and demanded that Jimmy tell him the story behind it. Jimmy informed Burke that Luthor had invented it just before Superman broke into Lex's secret hideout. Luthor was able to evade Superman's notice. Burke ignored Jimmy's pleas not to take it, but Burke put it on and activated it as he walked out of Jimmy's door.

Burke walked past some police officers who had been looking for him, but suddenly began yelling for help. The officers heard the calls for help, bout couldn't see him. They followed the sound of Burke's voice, and were surprised to find an invisible man. Jimmy showed up and deactivated the belt, and Burke's vision returned. Jimmy finished the rest of the story. Luthor had escaped his hideout, but then found he was blind, because when he was fully invisible, light bent around him, and no light rays struck his optical nerve. Burke was mad at Jimmy, but Olsen reminded him that he had been in too much of a hurry.

The next day, Jimmy relaxed at home with a copy of the Daily Planet, with the top banner headline, Superman's Pal Captures Gunman Without Superman's Help! Jimmy thought to himself that Superman did help, through his souvenirs.


This was another variation of the plot where Jimmy outsmarts the crook, with little or no help from Superman, but this was an original variation of that plot. So far, I can't get enough of this plot. I look forward to reading how Jimmy is going to get out of this one. Plus we got some cool stories behind some of Superman's souvenirs. I give this story 4 Capes out of 5.

World's Finest Comics #76, May/June 1955, was published around March 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 of the issue was the twelve page tale, When Gotham City Challenged Metropolis. This story was reprinted in World's Finest Comics Archive vol. I and Showcase Presents: World's Finest vol. I.

The story began in Gotham City, with some bank robbers fleeing to the bank building's roof, and escaping on the helicopter they had landed there. The Bat Signal was answered by Superman, who flew out of the Batcave. The Man of Steel quickly captured the bank robbers.

In Metropolis, some crooks heard the news report about Superman capturing the bank robbers. They figured that it would be safe to rob the Ice Show, with the Man of Steel out of town. When they attempted to steal the diamonds from one of the skaters during the show, these criminals were captured by Batman and Robin, on the ice.

The next day's Daily Planet  top headline was, Superman And Batman Exchange Places In Great Contest.

In flashback we were told how the competition came about. Gotham City and Metropolis were both competing for the same electronics convention. The convention committee couldn't decide between the two cities, and in true committee fashion, decided to allow the heroes of both cities decide through a competition. Whichever hero accomplished the most super deeds in 24 hours would win the convention for his city. To make it fair, both heroes would switch cities.

In Metropolis, Lois Lane showed Batman the Superman signal. He thought the S could be changed to a B, and later talked with a scientist who was scheduled to appear at the convention. Lois was suspicious of Batman's motivations, and expressed her reservations to Perry White. He told her to stay on the story, as Clark was in Gotham City covering Superman. (How convenient.)

At the Batcave, Clark Kent admired Batman's equipment. Using his x-ray vision, he noticed a dangerous crack in the Batcave's ceiling. Using scrap steel girders, he reinforced the ceiling. Then Gotham City's Superman signal called the Man of Steel to the site of an underground fire in come electrical cables. With his x-ray vision, he saw a gas leak, which was approaching the flames. Just as the gas ignited, Superman ripped the gas line out of the street, allowing the explosion to extinguish itself harmlessly in the sky.

Batman caught an escaped convict to tie the competition at 2 super deeds. Superman heard that Batman had accomplished another one to go up by one. In Metropolis, Batman stopped some thieves from stealing a tank by electrifying the machine. Lois saw him talk with the scientist again. After she left to write her story, we learned the reason for Batman's interest in the scientist. He told Batman about an experimental generator that would be demonstrated at the convention. The scientist informed Batman that the generator would produce minute lryptonite rays. Batman was concerned that the underworld would use it as a weapon against Superman.

By this point the score was tied at 4. To protect Gotham City from a severe thunderstorm, Superman flew a long copper wire into the sky to act like a lightning rod. After the storm had passed, some women requested that Superman build a road to Rock Mountain, where a monument to Gotham City's founders would be carved. Instead, Superman brought Rock Mountain to Gotham City, and carved the monument on the mountaintop himself. The score was once again tied.

In Metropolis, Batman and Robin performed a trapeze act high above the streets of Metropolis, to raise money for a hospital fund. With the financial goal reached, Batman won the competition, and so the convention would be held at Gotham City.

Lois was a sore loser, and had a talk with Superman. She convinced him to count his repair of the Batcave as one of his deeds, so he went to Gotham City to discuss it with Batman.

In Gotham City, the generator was started at the electronics convention. Outside, Batman and Robin saw Superman approaching in the sky. As the Man of Steel approached the convention center, he fell out of the sky because of the generator's kryptonite rays. Quickly, Batman and Robin moved an awning underneath Superman to break his fall. Just before he hit the canopy, the Man of Steel's powers suddenly returned. When the heroes investigated, they found that the generator exploded, because it was unreliable, and wouldn't be rebuilt.

The convention committee did a recount, and with Superman's repair of the Batcave being counted, the competition was declared a tie. So half of the convention would be held in Gotham City, and the other half in Metropolis. Superman would carry the convention center between the two cities.

This story was a variation of a common Silver Age theme in World's Finest Comics, Superman and Batman competing against each other. Some of the super feats were a bit outlandish, like pulling the gas pipe out of the ground to extinguish the fire, carrying the mountain and, later, the building. I did like Batman's motivation to win the competition, to spare Superman from being exposed to the generator's kryptonite radiation. It was an okay story, and I give it 3 Capes out of 5.

Elsewhere in DC Comics cover dated May or May/June 1955, 27 issues carried that cover date.

Next Episode: A Superman Fan Review: All-Star Superman - The Movie!


In two weeks: MegaCon 2011 Preview!


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Episode #152: Happy Birthday, Elliot S! Maggin!

Elliot S! Maggin was born November 14, 1950, (which happens to have been my maternal grandfather's birthday back in 1910) in Brooklyn New York. He wrote comic books in the 1970's and 1980's. He mostly wrote for DC Comics, and the majority of his comic book stories featured Superman. The reason his middle initial has an exclamation mark after it is that Maggin has said that comic book sentences don't have periods. He signed his name on a story credit with an exclamation mark, and then editor Julius Schwartz declared taht his name would afterward always appear in the story credits as Elliot S! Maggin.

His writing career began around the age of 16 or 17, when he had a short story published in a Canadian Boy Scout magazine. He graduated as Valedictorian from Brandeis University in 1972 with a degree in American Studies, and from Graduate School at Columbia University in 1974 in Journalism. Maggin's Junior finals honors thesis in the American Studies Department involved Superman and Green Lantern.

Another term paper became his first published comic book story, which featured Green Arrow, What Can One Man Do?. He got a B+ on the paper, but thought he deserved an A. He sent it to DC Comics and it got published. It appeared in Green Lantern / Green Arrow #87, December/January 1971, published on October 21, 1971. It was the second story of the issue, and has been reprinted in Green Lantern/Green Arrow Collection vol. II, Green Lantern/Green Arrow Collection hardcover and Green Lantern/Green Arrow vol. II.

About this story, editor Julius Schwartz said:

"In all my years as a comic book editor, I have never come across a 'first time' script that came within a light year of equaling Elliot S! Maggin's 'first time' comic book script. Indeed, to equalize this thrilling experience, I must go back to the early '40's when, as a literary agent, I sold the very first story of a young Ray Bradbury."

Ray Bradbury is the first science fiction writer I ever read, and got me hooked on the genre.

Elliot's next purblished comic book story was the classic Superman tale, Must There Be A Superman?, from Superman #247, January 1972, published on November 11, 1971. The penciller was Curt Swan and the inker was Murphy Anderson. It has been reprinted in The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told, Superman In The Seventies, Superman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told vol. I and Green Lantern: In Brightest Day.

Maggin began writing for the Superman books soon after an editorial change with the Superman titles. Mort Weisinger retired in 1970, and the Superman books were split up among three editors. Julius Schwartz took over Superman and World's Finest Comics. Murray Boltinoff became editor of Action Comics, Superboy and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen. E. Nelson Bridwell became editor of Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane.

Julius Schwartz was not familiar with Superman. He had been the editor of DC's science fiction titles, and of the Batman books since the mid- 1960's. Julie, as he was called, gave the Man of Steel to his best talent and let them show him what they could do with him. His top writer at the time was Deny O'Neil, who had problems relating to a character as powerful as Superman. O'Neil preferred more street level characters as Batman or The Question. He still wrote one of the classic Superman stories, Kryptonite Nevermore!

Len Wein also wrote some Superman stories, even introducing us to Clark Kent's neighbors in his apartment building.

Comic book writers Elliot S! Maggin and Cary Bates had the most enthusiasm writing for Superman. Elliot was not intimidated by the Man of Steel's powers, but concentrated on stories that explored moral dilemmas, questions of right and wrong. Maggin considered Julius Schwartz as one of his mentors. Elliot and Cary Bates did collaborate on a number of Superman stories. Bates concentrated on the plot, while Maggin wrote the dialogue.

Early in Elliot's comic book career, Gerry Conway killed off Gwen Stacey in The Amazing Spider-Man. Elliot decided he wanted to kill Lois Lane in the Superman titles, which didn't thrill his editors. After he had a dream about Lois, Elliot decided he wanted to get Lois and Superman hitched. That didn't go over well with his editors either. Maggin couldn't win either way, but in the second instance he turned out to be ahead of his time.

Elliot has catagorized himself as a non-practicing Orthodox Jew. But he did enjoy giving the comic book characters he wrote stories with a religious preference. Their religion may have never become a part of a story, but it did help Maggin to flesh out his characters. He felt that Jimmy was a Lutheran, Lois a Catholic, Perry White a Baptist, Lex Luthor a non-observant Jew, Bruce Wayne/Batman an Episcopalian, Clark Kent and his parents as Methodists. While he never bought into Superman's slogan, "Great Rao", Elliot did consider Superman as believing in a Kryptonian version of a monotheistic philosophy.

As he continued to write for Superman, Elliot's version moved closer to the classic Siegel and Shuster version. He saw Superman as more of an American icon than an action hero, personifying the best of patriotic and humanitarian values. Maggin came to see that every successful Superman story uplifted both the character of Superman and the reader.

Elliot loved working with classic Superman penciller Curt Swan, and his favorite comic book artist he worked with was Alex Toth. That was on the story Villain, Villain, Who's Got The Villain?, the main story of Superman Annual #9, 1983.

One of the stories they collaborated on was Who Took The Super Out Of Superman?, which was one of the rare multi-issue storylines of the era, covering Superman issues 296 - 299, pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Bob Oksner. Superman discovered that his powers disappeared when he would appear in public as Clark Kent, and was vulnerable. When he appeared to the public as the Man of Steel his powers were normal. He began to wonder if Earth really needed protecting 24/7. He also began to think about if he would ever have to choose between his life as Superman or as Clark Kent. So he began to explore his life as Clark Kent. Clark became more assertive, even standing up to the obnoxious Steve Lombard.

Kent also explored his relationship with Lois Lane hot and heavy. There was even a famous scene that garnered news coverage, which caused readers to wonder if Clark and Lois spent the night together. The next day, as Lois placed a flower on Clark's desk at the Daily Planet, she wore the same dress she had worn the previous day at work. Editors changed one line of dialogue in that panel, and had Steve Lombard say, "New getup, Lois?" The original line, as written by Elliot, was, "Same dress as yesterday, Lois?"

Elliot and Cary also worked together on Superman 2001, which appeared in Superman #300, which was the subject of episode #24. This story was a retelling of Superman's origin, as if he came to Earth the year that issue was published. It was reprinted in Superman: Past & Future, which collected Superman's best time travel stories.

Maggin had a large part to play with Superman #400, October 1984, published on July 12, 1984. It contained 64 pages for the cover price of $1.50. Julius Schwartz was the editor, but his wife was very ill during the production of this issue. Elliot wrote the story, The Living Legends Of Superman, which was reprinted in Superman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told, vol. II. The sotry explored how different people saw Superman in future decades and centuries.

Al Williamson, the subject of episode #131, drew the story, Doc Homer's Superman Nectar, which was about a salesman hawking a "medicinal cure" telling a story of an old and bearded Superman saving a space pilot.

Frank Miller drew The Legend Of Earth Prime, about how the true nature of Superman's secret identity is discovered in the future.

Penciller Marshall Rogers and inker Terry Austin drew the story Resistance, about a future homeless man who discovered Superman's ancient uniform and inspired the populace to rebel a tyrannical government.

Wendy Pini drew Our Greatest Treasure, about a future college class debating the true nature of Superman, if he was real or a legend that began as an early computer game.

Last Son Of Krypton, drawn by Mike Kaluta, told the story about two teen movie goers who become part of a Superman movie, playing the Man of Steel and Jimmy Olsen.

Mike Kaluta drew Miracle Monday, about a future holiday, similar to Thanksgiving or Passover, but honoring Superman. The tradition is to leave a place at the dinner table for the Man of Steel.

Jim Steranko wrote and drew the second story of the issue, The Exile, which told the story of how the legend of Superman inspired humanity to spread throughout the stars in the distant future. Steranko even called Elliot and read the entire story to him on the phone to see if he got it right. Of course, Elliot thought he did, and so did I when I read it.

One of my favorite Elliot S! Maggin stories was The Einstein Connection, from Superman #416, February 1986, published on November 14, 1985. I previously talked about this story as one of my favorite Superman stories in episode #1. To summarize, Lex Luthor would often escape from prison on March 14. When Superman would recapture Lex on these dates, he found Lex doing some unusual things for a prison escapee. One time Luthor approached the New Jersey shore on a small motorboat. Another time Lex ordered an unnamed person's favorite flavor at an ice cream parlor, then working at a European patent office. Eventually Sueprman put together the clues from over the years. When he captured Luthor once again, he took a short detour and took Lex to the Einstein statue that commemorated the physicists' 100th birthday. With a tear in his eye, Lex said, "Happy birthday, Sir." Then Superman returned Lex to prison.

Elliot wrote just under 200 stories for DC Comics, from 1971 - 1986, and periodically  from 1989 - 1992. He also served as an editor for DC from 1989 - 1991, for 71 issues of DC's various fantasy titles, such as Dungeons & Dragons, Forgotten Realms and Spelljammer. He also edited eight issues of the more traditional super hero title Challengers Of The Unknown.

Maggin also wrote two Superman related novels. Superman: Last Son Of Krypton (1978). It told the story of Superman's life from Krypton to Smallville and then Metropolis. He and Luthor had to team up to defeat a mysterious alien. Superman: Miracle Monday (1981) told the story of Superman battling an entity of pure evil who wanted to unleash universal chaos. The book introduced time traveler Kristin Wells, who would become Superwoman, and later become a supporting character in the Superman titles. The book introduced the holiday Miracle Monday, which occurs on the third Monday in May. Be sure to mark your calendar.

Elliot wrote scripts for superhero animated series, X-Men and Batman: The Animated Series (1992) and Spider-Man (1994)

He also wrote novelizations of twho comic book series, Generation X (1997), co-written by Scott Lobdell, and Kingdom Come (1999), adapting the comic book mini-series created by writer Mark Waid and artist Alex Ross.

Maggin ran for public office twice, losing both times. The first time was for New Hampshire's 2nd Congressional District in 1984. In 207 he announced his candidacy for California's 24th Congressional District. He pulled out of the race in early 2008.

After his comic book career, Elliot held a variety of jobs, including teaching and freelance writing. Currently, Maggin is a developmental learning consultant with Kaiser Permanente, a managed care consortium.

To read more about Elliot S! Maggin online, as well as some of his best Superman stories, go to http://superman.nu/esm/maggin.php.

Next Episode: Superman: The Triangle Years!

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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.

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.

Thanks for listening to the Superman Fan Podcast and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

Episode #144: Superman Legacy Month Week II: My Earliest Superman Stories!

As I continue sharing my personal Superman legacy, this episode I feature the earliest Superman stories I can recall reading when I was a boy in the early to mid-1960's. The editor for all of these stories was Mort Weisinger.

Superboy Meets Robin The Boy Wonder, originally published in Adventure Comics #253, October 1958, released around August 28, 1958. The editor was Mort Weisinger, and the cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye. It was reprinted in Superboy #133 (which I have a copy of), The Greatest Team-Up Stories Ever Told and Superboy: The Greatest Team-Up Stories Ever Told. After Superman was mortally wounded from a booby trapped Sueprboy souviner, Robin travelled back in time to warn Superboy and destroy the disguised bomb.

The Army Of Living Kryptonite Men from Superboy #86, January 1961, published around November 17, 1960. The cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye. The story was written by Jerry Siegel and drawn by George Papp. It was reprinted in 80 Page Giant  #11 (which I may have had a copy of because the cover looked familiar), Legion Of Super-Heroes Archives vol. I, Superman Vs. Lex Luthor and Showcase Presents: Legion Of Super-Heroes vol. I. The young Lex Luthor invented a way to mentally control rocks, including some kryptonite asteroids. He used this new invention to trap Superboy, who is saved by the Legion of Super-Heroes.

Superman #181, November 1961, published on September 16, 1965. The cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by George Klein. The Super Scoops Of Mona Vine was written by Leo Dorfman, pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by George Klein. There was no reprint information on this story. The daughter of the largest shareholder of Daily Planet stock used parts from a destroyed Superman robot to out scoop Clark, Lois and Jimmy. The Superman of 2965 was written by Edmond Hamilton, pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye. It was reprinted in Superman: Past And Future. This story introduced the Superman of the mid-30th Century, his supporting cast at the Daily Interplanetary News, his arch villain and his mortal weakness, which is not kryptonite.

Exit Batman - Enter Nightman from World's Finest Comics #155, February 1966, published around December 9, 1965. The cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by George Klein, who also did the story art. The story itself was written by Edmond Hamilton. It has been reprinted in Showcase Presents: World's Finest vol. III. This was the first comic book that I can remember my Father buying for me. For their 1,000th case together, Superman has Batman solve the case of the identity of the Man of Steel's new partner Nightman. Superman had Batman chase his own cape, so to speak, as payback to the mystery the Caped Crusader presented the Man of Steel on his birthday. This occurred in the earlier story, The Super Key To Fort Superman, from Action Comics #241, June 1958, reprinted in The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told, Superman: The Man Of Tomorrow Archives vol. I and Showcase Presents: Superman vol. I.

The Cape And Cowl Crooks from World's Finest Comics #159, August 1966, published on June 9, 1966. The cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by George Klein. The story wsa written by Edmond Hamilton, pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by George Klein. This story was reprinted in Superman/Batman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told and Showcase Presents: World's Finest vol. III. Superman and Batman face evil doppelgangers who turn out to be Perry White and Commissioner Gordon, who were exposed to one of Superman's trophies in his Fortress of Solitude. It leaked a gas which turns people evil.

Superman And Batman - Brothers! from World's Finest Comics #172, December 1967, published on October 26, 1967. The Norman Rockwell style cover was drawn by Curt Swan and inked by George Klein. The story was written by a teen aged Jim Shooter, pencilled by Curt Swam and inked by George Klein. It was a classic imaginary story where the Kents adopted a teen Bruce Wayne after his parents were murdered, and Clark and Bruce began their crime fighting careers as brothers.

Next Episode: Last City Of Krypton: Superman #200!

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/


Superman Fan Podcast is at http://supermanfanpodcast.mypodcast.com/ . Send e-mail about this podcast to supermanfanpodcast@gmail.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.

Thanks for listening to the Superman Fan Podcast and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

Episode #139: An Imaginary Summer 2010, Part III: Superman, Matinee Idol!

The imaginary stories for this episode came from Superman #19, November / December 1942, published on September 4, 1942. The editor at this time was Whitney Ellsworth. Jack Burnley drew the cover, which showed Superman carrying an automobile missing tires on its wheels, with a family on board, running down the street. That's road service, Superman style. This issue was reprinted in Superman Archives vol. V. The first and last story of the issue were also reprinted in Superman From The Thirties To The Eighties.

The first story for this episode was the 13 page story Case Of The Funny Paper Crimes, written by Jerry Siegel, pencilled by John Sikela and iked by Ed Dobrotka. Two men fought on top of a moving train. Machine Gun Mike threw Detective Craig off the train as it crossed a train bridge. This was actually a comic strip on the comics page of that day's edition of the Daily Planet, that Clark and Lois were reading. Clark's favorite was the Detectvie Dan strip, while Lois was partial to Prince Peril (a Prince Valiant style strip)who fought Torgo the Giant to protect a princess. Other comic strips that the Planet carried were The Solitary Rider, a western, who fought the Black Rider, Streak Dugan (a Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers sci-fi strip) who fought Goola, the Martian villain, and Happy Daze (similar to Mandrake the Magician or Zatara) who fought the Viper.

As Clark and Lois were looking at the comic strip page, Torgo the Giant robbed the National Bank in Metropolis. Clark changed into Superman and attacked Torgo, but flew threw him as if he were a ghost. Torgo then disappeared. A round face appeared in the sky, identifying itself as Funny Face and taunted superman. Then it vanished also.

When Clark turned in his story to the Chief, he told Clark that next he'd say that Machine Gun Mike was running wild. Just then a voice on the police scanner altered that Machine Gun Mike was robbing the Minton Museum. Superman sprang into action again. he foiled the gang who were attempting to steal the museum's valuable paintings. When the Man of Steel lifted the get away car, loaded with the gang, to the police station, a giant hand lifted the car away from Superman. It was none other than Machine Gun Mike, who fired his machine gun at the Man of Steel. He was surprised when bullets bounced off Superman, but no more than the Man of Steel was when he flew through Machine Gun Mike as he tried to hit him. The villain disappeared and Superman turned in the gang to the police, then put on his Clark Kent clothes.

Lois appeared at the scene of the attempted robbery, and, using the Planet's comic strip page as a clue, guessed that the next robbery would be at the Metropolis stockyards. Lois was unable to convince the stockyard aministrator that his business was threatened, when a giant Black Rider appeared over the stockyards. The Black Rider kidnapped Lois as she called Clark at the newspaper office. Superman got to the stockyards just as rustlers had finished loading trucks with livestock. He stopped the rustlers and chased after the Black Rider, who still had Lois. Superman was stopped when floating Funny Face heads appeared around him, then vanished, along with the Black Rider and Lois.

Superman then stopped the Martian comic strip villain Goola robbing a gold train from his spaceship, which floated above the train station. Funny Faces appeared again, then vanished along with Goola and his ship.

Following the pattern of the Daily Planet's comic strip page, Superman went to an old folks home, what we would today call a retirement home, to warn the administrator that Viper, from the Happy Daze strip, would rob the center. A giant Viper appeared above the facility, then his face changed to that of Funny Face. Superman noticed that the words "Carter's Canyon" were written on the side pocket of Viper's jacket. The canyon was located outside Metropolis.

In a farmhouse at Carter's Canyon, Funny Face had imprisoned Lois. At the house, Funny Face had a device which allowed him to convert figures from the printed page into 3-D figures that could walk around the "real" world. When Viper returned to funny Face, the villain noticed the message on Viper's side pocket that Lois had written. fummu Face used his device to materialize all of the comic strip villains to attack Superman.

After Funny Face left the farmhouse to watch the fight, Lois used the device to materialize all of the comic strip heroes. While the heroes battled the villains, Funny Face took his revenge on Lois by transforming her to a flat figure on a page. When he ignored Superman's demand to restore Lois to normal, the comic strip heroes roughed up Funny Face until he agreed to restore Lois. After all of the comic strip characters were returned to the printed page Superman destroyed the device and unmasked Funny Face. His real name was not given, but he was a failed comic strip creator who invented the device to gain illegal profits. The villain was intentionally drawn as Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel.

Ironically, before their success as comic book creators, Siegel and Shuster failed in selling Superman as a comic strip to just about every syndicate in the country.

The second story for this episode is Superman's Amazing Adventures. This particular story was originally untitled, but was so named for inclusion in Superman Archives vol. V. The story was written by Jerry Siegel and drawn by Leo Nowak. Since I do not have a copy of any of the Superman Archives, and it was not reprinted in Superman From The Thirties To The Eighties, I had to rely on the plot synopsis provided by Mike's Amazing World Of DC Comics at http://dcindexes.com/.

The story began with Clark and Lois being attacked by racketeer Street Monahan's gang after their exposes were published in the Daily Planet. Clark and Lois were buried in rubble. Clark freed them, but not before Lois awoke to see Clark use his superpowers, thus revealing his secret identity. Monahan's ally, Professor Hunt, teleported Clark and Lois to another dimension. As Superman, he protected Lois from a number of attacks by the dimensions creatures. They are teleproted back to Earth, only to have Lois turned to stone and shattered. Before Superman could act, Clark awoke to realize it had all been a dream after he was knocked unconscious after the attack. Clark was able to free himself and Lois without revealing his secret identity, and, as Superman, capture the entire gang.

The main story of this episode is Superman, Matinee Idol, written by Jerry Siegel, pencilled by Joe Shuster and inked by John Sikela. This story was reprinted in both Superman Archives vol. V and Superman From The Thirties To The Eighties. A caption on the title page proclaimed, Our Very First Imaginary Story.

Since they both had the afternoon off, Clark asked Lois if she wanted to go to a theater to see a movie. Lois suggested the Empire Theatre so that she could watch one of the new Superman cartoons, because she had missed the first several cartoons of that series. She rebuffed Clark's suggestion of attending other theaters and accused him of being jealous of Superman. Clark finally agreed to go to the Empire Theatre.

Once inside the theater, Clark was worried about the cartoon giving away his secret identity. As the opening credits to the Superman cartoon began, Clark told Lois the plot of the first Superman cartoon, which was unofficially was called The Mad Scientist. When the credit appeared which stated that Superman appeared in Action Comics and Superman magazines, Lois said that she had never seen those magazines before. Clark wondered how they could know so much about him.

The cartoon began as a sequel to the original Mad Scientist cartoon. He had been incarcerated at Prison Island, but escaped. The screen showed a series of Daily Planet headlines stating that the Mad Scientist had escaped. When the cartoon showed the Daily Planet building, Lois commented that it looked like the real thing. Thinking fast, Clark claimed to have something caught in his throat and asked Lois to help him to a water fountain.

In the lobby, Lois missed seeing the cartoon Clark and Lois talk about the Mad Scientist. The cartoon Clark was worried, while cartoon Lois said he was probably hiding.

The real Lois rushed Clark back to their seats in time to watch the Mad Scientist return to his mountain hideout. There, he activated a giant robot and sent it to terrorize Metropolis. The robot captured a plane. The pilot radioed an alert to the control tower, who then called the Daily Planet. Clark knocked Lois' purse on the floor and told her that it had fallen on the floor. While Lois searched the floor for her missing purse, on the screen the Editor-in Chief asked Clark to cover the story because it was too dangerous for Lois. Lois expressed how she felt by locking Clark in an office and covering the story herself. The cartoon Clark took the opportunity to change into Superman, which the real Lois did not see.

She found her purse in time to watch the robot begin to destroy buildings and terrorize the city. Superman saved the cartoon Lois from being stepped on by the robot. In the audience, the real Lois cheered the onscreen Superman, embarrassing Clark to no end. The robot threw a building at the cartoon Superman and captured Lois, while the Mad Scientist watched on a closed circuit monitor. The robot threw Lois, who was caught by Superman. The Man of Steel fought the robot and eventually destroyed it. Lois and Superman then broke into the Mad Scientist's hideout. The villain fired a gun at Lois. Superman stopped the bullet inches from her face, and threw the bullet at the gun, destroyinng the weapon in the Mad Scientist's hands. He thencaptured the Mad Scientist. The Man of Steel returned him to prison, and Lois to the Daily Planet building.

In the audience, Clark insisted they leave because the excitement had given him a dizzy spell. Lois was disgusted with Clark and vowed to never go to a movie with him again. As they left the theater Lois did not see Clark and the cartoon Superman wink at each other, relieved that their secret identities were safe from both the real and cartoon Lois Lanes.

Next Episode: Showcasing Lois Lane In Showcase #10!

Join the Superman Fan Podcast and My Pull List groups 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/.

Superman Fan Podcast is at http://supermanfanpodcast.mypodcast.com/ . Send e-mail about this podcast to supermanfanpodcast@gmail.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.

Thanks for listening to the Superman Fan Podcast and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

Episode #138: The Origin Of Superboy Prime: DC Comics Presents #87!

Superboy Prime first appeared in DC Comics Presents  #87, November 1985, published on August 1, 1985. His next appearances were in the final three issues of the 12 issue mini-series Crisis On Infinite Earths. When I read this series I didn't realize that Superboy Prime had only appeared in one other title.

This story has not been reprinted, as far as I know, but if you would like to read both stories in DC Comics Presents #87, you can click on the following links: http://superman.nu/tales2/comet/ and http://superman.nu/tales2/superboyprime/.

DC Comics Presents  was Superman's other team-up title. For decades he appeared in World's Finest Comics with Batman. In DC Comics Presents Superman teamed up with other characters in the DC Universe. Batman did appear in issue #83 as head of the group Outsiders. Others who appeared in this title were the Flash in the first issue, Wonder Woman in issues 9, 32 and 76, the Legion of Super-Heroes in 13, 42 and 80, Pete Ross in 13, 14 and 25, Superboy in 14, Supergirl in 28, He-Man in #47, Clark Kent in 50 and 79, Power Girl 56, Bizarro in 71, and the Phantom Zone in the final issue, #97, Spetember 1986. Other notable issues were #26, which contained an insert that previewed the upcoming New Teen Titans, and #41 previewed the "new direction" Wonder Woman. DC Comics Presents Annual #1 featured the golden age Superman, and Annuals 2 and 4 featured Superwoman.

A short feature at the back of the issue, titled Whatever Happened To ... featured the fates of DC's golden age heroes. This feature ran for 17 issues from #25 - #48. Issue #25 featured the golden age Hourman, and #48 featured The Black Pirate, who was a historical adventure fictional character.

Superboy Prime appeared in two stories in DC Comics Presents #87. The first story was Year Of The Comet, written by Ellioit S! maggin, pencilled by Curt Swan, inked by Al Williamson, lettered by Ed King and colored by Gene D'Angelo.

The story began after the death of Supergirl in Crisis On Infinite Earths #7. Superman was on the moon, grieving for his dead cousin, Kara Zor-El, Supergirl. A spaceship crewed by the Superman Revenge Squad zapped the Man of Steel with an energy beam, and he vanished. On the next page Superman reappeared on the moon. He thought he saw an energy beam hit himself, but he decided to shake himself from his grief and return to Earth. After he entered Earth's atmosphere Superman noticed that things weren't normal. New York City covered where Gotham City used to be, Boston suburbs covered Star City, and Metropolis had vanished.

Superman wasn't totally confused, becaue he correctly figured that he had been teleported to Earth Prime. During the silver age Earth Prime was considered "our" reality, where superheros did not exist and DC's characters were fictional creations.

The Man of Steel flew over a city, where he was spotted by a pedestrian. He said, "Look, up in the sky. It's ...gone." Superman flew into the clouds so he would not attract attention. He noticed a red haired girl and a teen boy dressed as Superboy walking on a beach. This Superboy looked up in the sky and saw a comet, then floated into the air while the girl watched in astonishment.

Superboy flew into the sky and was met by Superman. A caption with an editor's note explained that Superboy's origin would be told in the second story. The two introduced themselves, and Superman used his x-ray vision to confirm that Superboy was Kryptonian. Superboy was not convinced that he wasn't imagining things. Superman agreed, stating that grief could create delusions, and explained about the death of Supergirl. Then Superboy said my favorite line of the story. He asked if it was not a hox, dream or imaginary story? Superman didn't understand. They flew over a group of teens at a campfire, which included Superboy's girl friend. Her name happened to be Laurie Lemmon, so even Superboy on Earth Prime had an LL connection with his closest friends. Superboy Prime asked Superman if he could help him figure out what to do next. The Man of Steel reasurred him that he would figure it out, just remember he was here for a reason.

As the beach party decided to leave the beach because the tide was coming in, Laurie noticed that it wasn't the tide, but a tidal wave. Superboy wished that he could fly steady enough to create a waterspout like in the comic books. Suddenly a waterspout appeared, and a voice called for him to help. Superboy and Superman teamed up to zap the water spout with their heat vision, which created a rain cloud. Laurie and her beach party were hit by heavy fog.

Superman and Superboy raced Halley's Comet, which was approaching Earth at that time, and to the Moon. Superman returned to Earth because he could not break the dimensional barrier to return to his Earth.

Jerry Kent returned home to his wife Naomi, after searching for their son Clark. Laurie had gone to their home after leaving the beach. They believed Lauire's story because others had seen the approaching tidal wave vanish.

Superman and Superboy saw an alien ship in Earth orbit. Superboy thought that it was an alien invasion, but Superman assured him that they were space tourists visiting Earth. After the alien ship landed, Superboy visited them because their ship was blocking a road. One of the aliens fired an energy weapon at him, which knocked him down. Since the aliens were obviously not tourists Superboy fought back. Superman joined the fight against the alien invasion, and we learned that the aliens were able to make themselves invisible to humans. Superman and Superboy wrecked the aliens' equipment, and Superboy's costume became increasingly tattered during the battle.

At the Kent residence, Jerry and Naomi Kent gave a missing person report to the police about their son Clark. Superman and Superboy flew down to the group of people outside the Kent residence, and introductions are made all around. Superman told Superboy's parents that he needed him for an emergency. The two superheroes built a dimensional treansporter out of the aliens' junked equipment and teleported to Superman's dimension, flying to the top of the Daily Planet building, which seemed to be the center of Superman's universe. A vortex opened up which swallowed Superboy. A caption at the end of the issue stated that the story would be continued with the December issue of Superman (issue #414, which will be the subject of an upcoming episode very soon).

The Origin Of Superboy Prime was created by the same creative team as Year Of The Comet at the beginning of the issue. In a familiar scene to Superman fans, Jor-El declared to Krypton's Science Council that Krypton was doomed! Unlike other versions of Superman's origin, the Science Council agreed. They began discussion about forming a committee to study the problem. Jor-El protested the urgency of the problem, but the Council dismissed him since his testimony was finished.

Jor-El returned to his home and wife Lara and infant son Kal-El. Instead of an interstellar rocket, this Jor-El had invented a teleportation device, capable of sending someone to a planet in another part of the universe.

In the next few days Krypton suffered unusual natural disasters related to the planet's crisis. The Science Council convened at Jor-El's laboratory where he demonstrated his device with a small, rabbit-like Kryptonian animal. Jor-El had set the destination to a small blue-green world that orbited a yellow sun. The animal materialized in a wooded area and scampered away, as Jerome and Naomi Kent wlaked by on a hike. Apparently, the planet Jor-El had chosen was Earth.

Suddenly a solar flare flashed very brightly in the sky. Jor-El informed the Council that the flare extened beyond Krypton's orbit and would soon incinerate the planet. He rushed the Council out of his lab and advised them to make preparations. He rushed back to his lab and teleported his infant son, Kal-El, to Earth, and adusted the device to teleport himself and his wife Lara next. But a member of the Science Council had stayed behind and secretly observed Jor-El. C-Durkin, the Council member, rushed into the device and activated it. Too late, Jor-El warned him that the machine was set for the weight of two people, then it exploded.

As Krypton spun out of its orbit into its sun, the Kents found infant Kal-El. Naomi informed her husband Jerome that she would name the boy Clark, after her maiden name. Jerome couldn't talk her out of it, despite the fact that the boy would be named after a fictional comic book character.

Clark grew up in a happy family. Father Jerome operated a successful computer business, while mother Naomi led a successful law practice. Clark was an average teen, no faster than the average teen, getting injured as easily a sanyone else. At a baseball game Clark slid into base, scraping his elbow. His teammates showed the usual sportsmanship, calling him the Superboy Who Bleeds, the Boy of Steel, and other Clark Kent jokes.

That evening Clark's friend Laurie Lemon went to the kent home to pick up Clark for a costume party. She was dressed as a mermaid (like Lori Lemaris of the Superman comic books). Clark came downstairs dressed as none other than Superboy. They joined their friends on a drive to a beach party. On a lark, Clark said, "Up, up and away." and jumped into the air, only to fall on his face.

 A caption noted that it was six months before Halley's Comet was scheduled to appear in Earth's skies. The moon shifted slightly in its oribt, showing part of its dark side, and Earth's magnentic field shifted a little.

That was when Clark floated into the air and met Superman, but then you know the rest of the story.

Next Episode: An Imagingary Story 2010, Part III: Superman, Matinee Idol!

Join the Superman Fan Podcast and My Pull List groups 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/.

Superman Fan Podcast is at http://supermanfanpodcast.mypodcast.com/ . Send e-mail about this podcast to supermanfanpodcast@gmail.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.

Thanks for listening to the Superman Fan Podcast and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

Episode #123: Reign Of The Supermen Month Week III: Cyborg Superman!

The third of the four Supermen introduced in the Reign Of The Supermen storyline, in the Superman titles cover dated June 1993, was the Cyborg Superman. He first appeared in Superman #78 (Triangle #14). This issue was published on the same day as the other Superman titles that month, April 27, 1993. This issue, as with the other three titles that month, had two covers. Penciller Dan Jurgens and inker Brett Breeding drew both the regular and the deluxe cut out covers. The story, titled Alive, was written and laid out by Dan Jurgens, finished art by Brett Breeding, lettered by John Costanza and colored by Glenn Whitmore. Jennifer Frank was the assistant editor, and Mike Carlin wsa the editor.

The story began with a frazzled and drained Lois Lane driving in the rain toward a LexCorp installation outside Metropolis. Her grief over Superman's death had only gotten worse with the news about his empty tomb and the appearances of the four new Supermen. She met a Dr. Meyer, who showed her a photograph from one of the installation's security cameras that seemed to show Superman, with part of his face in shadow.

At S.T.A.R. Labs someone off-panel asked to see the Mayor. He was in a meeting with Dr. Faulkner. A shadowed figure wearing a red cape barged in and demanded to see Doomsday's body.

As Lois drove back into Metropolis through the pouring rain, she heard the police scanner reports calling for Maggie Sawyer's unit to report to S.T.A.R. Labs because Mayor Berkowitz saw Superman there. Lois called the Daily Planet offices to get more information. Jimmy Olsen answered her call and filled her in on all of the information he knew. That was the last straw for Lois. She decided to get to the bottom of the story.

At Project Cadmus, Director Westfield ordered skytroops to intercept a bogey that was headed to the top secret installation. An unknown figure flashed by the skytroops, and the Guardian and Cadmus ground troops scrambled to intercept the unknown intruder. After he makes short work of the Cadmus forces, the Cyborg Superman was first revealed. He demanded to see the body of Doomsday. The Guardian was shocked, because he had watched Superman die. The Cyborg Superman claimed to be the original Superman, and was different because of the damage he had sustained during his fatal battle against Doomsday.

Not taking no for an answer, the Cyborg Superman burrowed thorugh a deep underground chamber to free the heavily chained body of Doomsday from a security cell. He used his cyborg hand to tap into Cadmus' security to open the security door

In the middle of the issue was a mini-poster of the Cyborg Superman.

Cyborg Superman wrapped Doomsday's body in the cables that had secured him to the walls, and flew out of Cadmus. Lois saw him fly by as she stood on the ground over Cadmus. He tied Doomsday's body to an asteroid and used parts from his cyborg body to create an alarm that would send an alert to him if anyone ever freed Doomsday. He then threw Doomsday into deep space.

Lois, at her limits emotionally, walked through the rain. She was met by the Cyborg Superman, who tried to convince her that he was the real Superman. They both went to Prof. Hamilton's lab, where he conducted a thorough examination of the Cyborg Superman. Hamilton had a familiarity with kryptonian technology as well as Superman's DNA. He found that the cyborg parts were based on kryptonian technology, and that the Cyborg Superman's DNA was a perfect match for Superman. The Professor was convinced that the Cyborg Superman was the Man of Steel himself, come back to life.

The issue ended showing Doomsday floating in deep space, laughing.

As the Reign Of The Supermen developed and became the Return Of Superman, the Cyborg Superman was revealed to really be Hank Henshaw, former astronaut. He made his first appearances earlier than the other three Supermen. Henshaw appeared with his other three unnamed crewmates of the space shuttle Excaliber, in Superman #42, April 1990, published on February 20, 1990. This was during the Krypton Man storyline. He and his crewmates were first identified in Adventures Of Superman #465, May 1990, published on February 20, 1990. In the next issue of that title, a LexCorp experiment onboard Excaliber malfuntioned, exposing the crew to radiation and forcing the shuttle to crash land on Earth. Their story was an homage to Marvel's Fantastic Four. By the end of the story only Henshaw and his wife survived. Henhaw's body deteriorated until it could no longer sustain him, but he was able to transfer his consciousness into computer equipment. He was able to manipulate the tecnology to create an artificial body from computer parts. When he appeared in this form to his wife, it drove her insane.

Henshaw left this body and transferred his mind to Superman's birthing matrix, which Superman had placed in space. Hank created a small body from kryptonian parts that allowed him to travel through interstellar space, and leave Earth.

That was where Henshaw got the kryptonian technology and samples of Superman's DNA to build his body when he returned to Earth. After his appearance as the Cyborg Superman, thanks to Dr. Hamilton's endorsement, he was the most prominent of the four new Supermen. Two cults would arise, one worshipping the Eradicator, then known as the Last Son of Krypton, and the Cyborg Superman.

After an alien ship appeared over Coast City, the Cyborg Superman almost killed the Eradicator. Mongul was on the alien ship, and destroyed Coast City. The Cyborg Superman convinced the President that the Eradicator was responsible. Mongul then began building an Engine City over the ruins. Cyborg Superman prepared a second warhead, aimed at Metropolis, where he planned on building a second Engine City. His purpose was to turn Earth into a new Warworld. Cyborg defeated Superboy, who escaped and was barely able to save Metropolis from the warhead.

The rejuvinated Eradicator and the real resurrected Superman defeated Cyborg. Eradicator sacrificed himself and shielded Superman from Cyborg's blast of kryptonite radiation, converting it into energy that restored Superman's powers. Superman destroyed Cyborg's body by pounching through his cyborg half, and vibrating his arm until Cyborg's body disintegrated. This occurred in Superman #82, the October 1993 issue. In Green Lantern #13 (vol. 4), it was revealed that the reason Henshaw chose Coast City was that his wife had been a former resident.

That would not be the end of the Cyborg Superman. He transferred his consciousness to the alert device on Doomsday's asteroid where he could hide. Doomsday would be found by a spaceship, where he escaped and landed on Apokolips. Henshaw created a new body with a Parademon's armor and attempted to take over Apokolips, but he was defeated by Darkseid. Darkseid's Omega Beams captured Henshaw in an orb, and Darkseid planned to use Henshaw at some future date. Darkseid eventually changed his mind and banished Henshaw from Apokolips, never to return. This occurred in the mini-series Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey published in 1994.

The Cyborg would later align himself with the Tribunal, which would prosecute Superman for supposed crimes of his ancestors over the destruction of Krypton, in the storyline The Trian Of Superman. Eventually, Cyborg would betray the Tribunal and attempt to take over their planet in another try to create a new Warworld. Superman and his allies, who had come from Earth to rescue him, defeated Cyborg. The Tribunal sentenced Cyborg to death and dropped him into a black hole.

This did not destroy Cyborg, but transported him into another dimension during a Green Lantern / Silver Surfer crossover. Cyborg would return to the DC Universe by that story's end.

Superman would battle Cyborg again at New Genesis during his Electric Superman period. After the Cyborg was defeated, he transferred himself into Superman's containment suit and began a new life as a high school art teacher. His hatred of Superman caused him to reveal his identity, and fight and lose to Superman once more. This time he transferred his mind into a clay statue, which was later stolen by Toyman. They teamed up against Superman to destroy him, but instead split him into Electric Superman Red and Electric Superman Blue. Two heads were better than one and both Supermen defeated Cyborg once again.

Cyborg would later conquer Kandor, but after being defeated by Superman yet again, was sent to the Phantom Zone. He would later appear as the Grandmaster of the Manhunters, in Green Lantern #11 (vol. 4) in 2006. His Cyborg body would be destroyed, except for his head., which would be taken by the Sinestro Corps when it invaded Oa. They took Cyborg's head to the anti-matter wourld Qward, where he would join the Sinestro Corps and wear 10 Corps rings.During the Sinestro Corps War his body would be destroyed once again, this time except for the upper part of his skull, and he remained alive somehow.

Cyborg has been harder to kill than cockroaches.

Next Week: Reign Of The Supermen Month Week IV: Superboy!

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