SUPERMAN'S PAL JIMMY OLSEN 40, October 1959, was published around August 20, 1959. It contained 32 pages for the cover price of a dime. The editor was Mort Weisinger, and the cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye, featuring the issue's first of three stories. All three 9 page stories were drawn by the same art team of penciller Curt Swan and inker John Forte, and have been reprinted in SHOWCASE PRESENTS: SUPERMAN vol. III.
- THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF JIMMY OLSEN was written by Otto Binder.
- JIMMY OLSEN, SUPERGIRL'S PAL was also written by Otto Binder, and reprinted in SHOWCASE PRESENTS: SUPERGIRL vol. I.
- JIMMY OLSEN, JUVENILE DELINQUENT was written by Robert Bernstein.
Also highlighted in this episode are the issue's ads and other features, including the letter column JIMMY OLSEN'S PEN-PALS.
Next Episode: SUPERMAN COMIC BOOK COVER DATED SEPTEMBER 1962: ACTION COMICS 292!
In 2 Weeks: SUPERMAN FAMILY COMIC BOOK COVER DATED NOVEMBER 1959 PART I: WORLD'S FINEST COMICS 105!
In 3 Weeks: SUPERMAN FAMILY COMIC BOOK COVER DATED NOVEMBER 1959 PART II: SUPERMAN'S GIRL FRIEND LOIS LANE 13!
Adam Dechanel, writer for the SUPERMAN HOMEPAGE, is also writer and co-producer of THE JUNGLE BOOK, a play that will be performed at The Lion & The Unicorn Theatre in London, England from December 13, 2013 through January 14, 2014. If you are going to be in Great Britain during this time, and would be interested in attending this play, call 08444-771-000. To learn more about the production go to http://www.thejunglebook.eu/.
Finally, Al Plastino posted a picture of himself on facebook recently, holding his original art for the story, SUPERMAN'S MISSION FOR PRESIDENT KENNEDY. This story was scheduled to be published during the month of November 1963, but was pulled from the publication schedule after his assassination. It would later be published in SUPERMAN 170, which was covered back in Episode 49, December 10, 2008. He had meant for his original art for the story to be donated to the JFK Presidential Library, but recently discovered that it was up for auction. After checking with the JFK Library, which could not find any record that the art had ever been donated to the Library, Mr. Plastino tried to get the art back from Heritage Auction. According to Mr. Plastino, they informed him that he no longer had rights to the art, and would not reveal the identity of the art's consignor.
A spokesman for Heritage Auction replied to someone's facebook post, stating that the art had first been sold at a Sothby's auction in 1993. The consignor Heritage was working with had an excellent track record with them,, and they had no reason to doubt that he had the right to sell the art. The spokesman also explained that the picture showing Mr. Plastino holding the art for the title page was taken at the New York ComiCon. A Heritage employee was talking with Mr. Plastino, and he wanted to look at it, and another Heritage employee took the picture.
If Mr. Plastino is unable to get his art back, let's hope whoever buys the art will honor his original wishes for the original pages and donate them to the JFK Presidential Library.
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/.
Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics. Any art shown on this podcast is for entertainment purposes only, and not for profit. I make no claims of ownership of these images, nor do I earn any money from this podcast.
Thanks for listening to the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, creators of Superman!
SUPERMAN'S GIRL FRIEND LOIS LANE 5, November/December 1958, was published around September 11, 1958. All three stories have been reprinted in SHOWCASE PRESENTS: SUPERMAN FAMILY vol. II and SUPERMAN'S GIRL FRIEND LOIS LANE ARCHIVE vol. I. The editor was Mort Weisinger, and the cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye.
- SUPERMAN'S GREATEST SACRIFICE (9 pgs.), dcindexes.com does not list a writer, but comics.org identifies him as Robert Bernstein, but both websites identify the artist as classic Lois Lane artist Kurt Schaffenberger. This story was also reprinted in 80 PG. GIANT 3, September 1964, published around July 30, 1964.
- THE GIRL OF 100 COSTUMES (8 pgs.), was drawn by Al Plastino.
- THE FATTEST GIRL IN METROPOLIS (8 pgs.), written by Otto Binder and drawn by Kurt Schaffenberger. This story was also reprinted in GIANT SUPERMAN ANNUAL 1, covered in Episode 222.
Since this episode only covers one comic book issue, also highlighted will be the other ads and features in this issue, including what might be the first letter page for Lois Lane, LETTERS TO LOIS.
Elsewhere in DC Comics, 32 titles also carried the November or November/December 1958 cover date. They were covered in Episode 176, according to Mike's Amazing World Of DC Comics.
Next Episode: SUPERMAN COMIC BOOKS COVER DATED OCTOBER 1961: SUPERMAN 148 & ACTION COMICS 281!
In 2 Weeks: SUPERMAN FAMILY COMIC BOOKS COVER DATED DECEMBER 1958: SUPERMAN'S PAL JIMMY OLSEN 33 & WORLD'S FINEST COMICS 98!
Check out SLIPSTREAM, the weekly web comic book I'm drawing and lettering, which is written by Jeffrey Taylor, co-host of the FROM CRISIS TO CRISIS PODCAST and contributor to the SUPERMAN HOMEPAGE. New pages of SLIPSTREAM can be found each Tuesday at http://www.clockworkcomics.co.uk. Adam Dechanel, another contributor to the SUPERMAN HOMEPAGE, also writes and draws E. O. S. for Clockwork Comics, and new pages are available on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Clockwork Comics is the home website for amazing web comics and e-books!
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/.
Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics. Any art shown on this podcast is for entertainment purposes only, and not for profit. I make no claims of ownership of these images, nor do I earn any money from this podcast. Thanks for listening to the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, creators of Superman!
ACTION COMICS 274, March 1961, was published around January 31, 1961. It contained 32 pages for the cover price of Still 10¢ (which meant that the cover price wouldn't be a dime much longer). Mort Weisinger was the editor, and the cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye.
The 13 page Superman story was titled THE REVERSED SUPER POWERS, written by Jerry Siegel and drawn by Kurt Schaffenberger. This was Siegel's 24th silver age Superman story and his 58th overall for this era. This story was reprinted in SHOWCASE PRESENTS: SUPERMAN vol. II. Before this story was published, Siegel wrote two stories for SUPERBOY 87, also cover dated March 1961, KRYPTO'S FIRST ROMANCE and THE SCARLET JUNGLE OF KRYPTON, both drawn by George Papp.
Supergirl starred in the 13 page story, SUPERGIRL'S THREE TIME TRIPS, also written by Jerry Siegel and drawn by Jim Mooney, and was reprinted in SUPERGIRL ARCHIVES vol. II and SHOWCASE PRESENTS: SUPERGIRL vol. I. This was Siegel's 35th Superman family story and his 59th overall for the silver age.
Since this episode only covers one comic book title, we also highlight the other ads and features in this issue, including the METROPOLIS MAILBAG!
Elsewhere in DC Comics, 27 titles carried the march or March/April 1961 cover date.
Next Episode: SUPERMAN FAMILY COMIC BOOK COVER DATED APRIL 1958: SUPERMAN'S PAL JIMMY OLSEN 28!
In 2 Weeks" SUPERMAN COMIC BOOKS COVER DATED APRIL 1961: SUPERMAN 144 & ACTION COMICS 275!
Check out SLIPSTREAM, the weekly web comic book I'm drawing and lettering, which is written by Jeffrey Taylor, co-host of the FROM CRISIS TO CRISIS PODCAST and contributor to the SUPERMAN HOMEPAGE. New pages of SLIPSTREAM can be found each Saturday at http://www.clockworkcomics.co.uk. Adam Dechanel, another contributor to the SUPERMAN HOMEPAGE, also writes and draws E. O. S. for Clockwork Comics, and new pages are available on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
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/.
Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics. Any art shown on this podcast is for entertainment purposes only, and not for profit. I make no claims of ownership of these images, nor do I earn any money from this podcast. Thanks for listening to the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, creators of Superman!
When I began doing episodes of The Superman Fan Podcast, I also did this companion blog where I typed my show notes in full for those who would rather read about each episode topic than listen to a podcast. As I learned more about blogging I began embedding an audio player so my audience could do both.Since I began drawing the webcomic Slipstream, time management has become a more difficult chore. Since I want to continue the podcast and draw Slipstream, I have decided to end this blog so that I can devote my efforts more efficiently. I've enjoyed posting each episode here, but I finally had to realize I couldn't keep all the plates spinning without dropping a few. Thanks to everyone who followed this blog, and I hope you continue to enjoy future episodes of The Superman Fan Podcast.
Check out SLIPSTREAM, a new web comic book written by jeffrey Taylor, co-host of the FROM CRISIS TO CRISIS podcast, and drawn by yours truly. Thanks to SUPERMAN HOMEPAGE .com contributor Adam Deschanel for putting the website together. http://www.clockworkcomics.co.uk/. It will begin November 2011.
Also, if you know the original publication information for a Superman story involving his alien zoo at his Fortress of Solitude, reprinted in the 1970 SUPERMAN BUMPER BOOK, a UK Superman hardcover anthology, post it in comments or through the contact information below.
You can join the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST group or page on facebook, and follow the podcast on twitter @supermanpodcast.
The theme of this podcast is PLANS IN MOTION, composed by Kevin MacLeod, and part of the royalty free music library at http://incompetech.com.
Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics. Any art shown on this podcast is for entertainment purposes only, and not for profit.
Thanks for listening to the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
World's Finest Comics #86, January/February 1957, was published around November 29, 1956. It contained 32 pages for the cover price of a dime. The editor was Jack Schiff, and the cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye.
The Superman and Batman story was titled The Super Show Of Gotham City, written by Edmond Hamilton, pencilled by Dick Sprang and inked by Stan Kaye. This 12 page story was reprinted in World's Finest Archive vol. II and Showcase Presents: World's Finest vol. I.
Batman and Robin answered Commissioner Gordon's summons via the Batsignal. Instead of being alerted to the latest villain escaping from prison, they were invited to participate in the Gotham Police charity show.
After returning to the Batcave, the Dynamic Duo began picking their trophies which they thought would most interest the public. They were soon joined by Superman, who volunteered to participate. Batman had the idea of the heroes re-enacting some of their super deeds, and Superman planned to arrange for Clark to have a few days off in order to make time for the show (Clark's 4th silver age vacation).
The charity show even made front page headlines in Metropolis, but Clark informed Lois that he wasn't going to be there (at least in that identity he told himself). Lois met Commissioner Gordon outside Gotham City, where the charity show would take place. They were soon joined by Batman and Robin, and Lois noticed that there was nothing set up for the public to sit and watch the show. Superman appeared and chiseled a stadium out of a rock cliff.
The charity show began with the Gotham Police Motorcycle Corps riding in various formations. Superman carried a giant platform which was filled with many of Batman's trophies. While the public observed the Bat trophies, Mr. Bartles, who had been contracted to film the show, thought to himself that Superman and Batman wouldn't like his plans for his film of their show.
After Superman borrowed two buildings from Gotham City, Batman and Robin re-enacted their defeat of a spider like machine robbers used to scale a building. But Batman's aim was thrown off when the flagpole his batrope was tied to bent. Robin helped him recover and they stopped the machine.
Superman's first stunt was to catch the rocket originally used by the Rocket Rocketeers to rob banks. The Man of Steel misjudged the trajectory, and had to catch up with the rocket. Bartle's cameraman commented that both scenes were spoiled, but Bartle wasn't worried. There would be more stunts to film.
Lois, however, was concerned. She suspected someone was sabotaging the show.
The World's Finest Heroes next re-enacted the case where Batman and Robin found and defused a bomb that had been hidden in a merry go round. Superman lifted it above the crowd for safety. Batman and Robin were successful, but had to hold on for dear life when the merry go round began to spin at a high speed. Commissioner Gordon declared the show would be over until tomorrow.
Superman and Batman dismissed Lois' concerns, but she was determined to fund the culprit. She asked Bartle if she could look at the film of the crowd observing the Bat trophies, but he informed her that he had only filmed the stunts.
After dark, Lois snuck into the rocket, but someone's hand shut the door. She banged on the door, and Superman and Batman let her out, but they continued to dismiss her concerns.
The first act on the next day was recreating when Batman and Robin used the Batplane to catch a gang that wore diving suits to reach their underwater hideout. After flying the Batplane low over the water, Batman retracted the Batplane's wings so that the craft could operate as a submarine. But they didn't emerge, and bubbles surfaced. Superman rescued the submerged Batplane, and Batman and Robin were unhurt.
Superman struggled to overcome a tank disguised as a fire breathing dragon, but finally won.
As he retrieved a giant bow from Batman's trophies, Superman adjusted the bowstring. Lois had hidden in a lead box used by criminals to hide from Superman, and had seen the Man of Steel sabotage the bow. She was convinced that he must have locked her in the rocket.
Superman and Batman reenacted when Superman shot an arrow, carrying Batman, to catch some crooks who had sabotaged a bridge. The Man of Steel had remained behind in case he had to make emergency repairs. Superman undershot the plane, but Batman had worn his parachute cape, and floated safely to the ground.
Before Lois could inform Gordon what she had seen, Bartle demanded his check back, because his film was worthless. Batman and Superman convinced Gordon to agree to Bartle's demand. The heroes informed Bartle that they knew of his plan to market the film as an actual documentary of their real exploits and not re-enactments. They had purposefully botched their stunts, and now they would perform for real, and the film from the show would make a lot of money, all for charity. They began with Superman juggling Batman and Robin as he flew over the crowd.
First of all, I can't picture Batman participating in any charity show. That's a job for Bruce Wayne. While I didn't feel sorry for Bartle being scammed, I had to wonder about the crowd. Why would they want to return for a second day if Superman and Batman performed so badly. It was never made clear if Superman did lock Lois in the rocket. I wonder if the producers of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight got the idea for the glider cape from Batman's parachute cape in this story. I give it 2 Superman Capes out of 5.
Elsewhere in DC Comics, 34 titles carried the January or January/February 1957 cover date.
Next Episode: Superman Comic Book Cover Dated March 1960: Action Comics #262! In 2 Weeks: Superman Family Comic Book Cover Dated February 1957: Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #18!
Check out SLIPSTREAM, a new web comic book written by jeffrey Taylor, co-host of the FROM CRISIS TO CRISIS podcast, and drawn by yours truly. Thanks to SUPERMAN HOMEPAGE .com contributor Adam Deschanel for putting the website together. http://www.clockworkcomics.co.uk/. It will begin November 2011.
Also, if you know the original publication information for a Superman story involving his alien zoo at his Fortress of Solitude, reprinted in the 1970 SUPERMAN BUMPER BOOK, a UK Superman hardcover anthology, post it in comments or through the contact information below.
You can join the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and MY PULL LIST groups or pages on facebook, and follow both the podcast and blog on twitter @supermanpodcast.
The theme of this podcast is PLANS IN MOTION, composed by Kevin MacLeod, and part of the royalty free music library at http://incompetech.com.
MY PULL LIST is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com.
Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics. Any art shown on this podcast is for entertainment purposes only, and not for profit.
Thanks for listening to the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
This episode could be called The Jerry Siegel Show because he wrote all of the stories discussed in this episode. After these five stories, Siegel had written 13 silver age Superman related stories for DC Comics at this point. Before the stories discussed in this episode, he also wrote Prisoners Of The Super-Heroes for Adventure Comics #267, December 1959, and The Ghost Of Jor-El for Superboy #78, January 1960.
All of the Superman stories discussed in this episode have been reprinted in Showcase Presents: Superman vol. II.
Superman #135, February 1960, was published on December 17, 1959. It contained 32 pages for 10¢. Mort Weisinger was the editor, and the cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye.
The first story in this issue was titled When Lois Lane First Suspected Clark Was Superman, featured as An Untold Tale Of Superman, the 7th Superman story to carry this subhead.
At the Daily Planet offices, Lois Lane peered out the window and saw some robbers fleeing in a getaway car. Clark Kent went to the water fountain, claiming to feel faint. Lois thought it might be more than a coincidence that Clark disappeared every time Superman appeared. Clark was very aware of what Lois was thinking, and recalled when she didn't suspect he was Superman. Cue the flashback.
One day, sometime in the past, Lois saw Superman fly toward the Daily Planet building and grab the flagpole on the roof before disappearing behind it. That was when she first suspected that an employee of the Daily Planet might be Superman.
Once she arrived at her desk, Lois examined the hands of every man in the office for signs of wet paint, except for Clark Kent. She scoffed at the possibility that Clark could be Superman. As a matter of fact, Clark had already used his x-ray vision to melt the wet paint from his hands, but almost didn't know whether to be relieved or insulted that Lois found the possibility that he was the Man of Steel ridiculous.
On the following Saturday, during a beach party for the Daily Planet staff, Lois snooped through everyone's things for clues to Superman's secret identity. In a rare shirtless appearance, Clark buried himself in the sand so that Lois wouldn't suspect his too fit physique. He stuck a fake flabby arm on the outside if his mound, but Lois didn't notice as she passed by. She was listening to another woman talking about the possibility of finding Superman's secret identity at that evening's masquerade party. Clark was annoyed this time that Lois didn't notice him.
After the beach party ended, the Planet staff returned to the office to publish the paper's afternoon edition.Clark received a phone tip that Lex Luthor had just escaped from jail. In a flash of anger, Clark squeezed the phone receiver out of shape. Lois noticed it, and chastised Clark for switching his real phone for a fake one in order to play a trick on her.
Clark changed into Superman and began searching for Luthor. He found a truck carrying life sized was statues to a museum, and offered to melt the face of the Luthor statue in order to shape it more realistically. That blew Luthor's cover when he hid his face, and he was captured.
After returning to the Daily Planet office, Superman was changing into his Clark Kent clothes when Lois walked into the storeroom. She was annoyed at Clark for wearing the Superman costume in order to make her a laughingstock. After all, it's all about Lois.
Later, while plumbers were making repairs, Lois began to have second thoughts about dismissing the possibility that Clark could secretly be Superman. She decided to put him to the test by using a small piece of kryptonite that Perry had given her to photograph for a feature article she was writing. Lois placed the kryptonite in a pipe and showed it to Clark. He did a good enough job of hiding the agony he was under so that Lois tossed the pipe in the trash can. But after she reviewed the notes for her article, she noticed the one about lead shielding kryptonite radiation. Lois returned to Clark's office and retrieved the pipe, only to discover that it was made of aluminum, not lead. What she didn't know was that Clark had switched the pipes to throw her off.
Back in the present, as Clark stood at the water fountain, he used his x-ray vision to peer through the wall and see that a police car had stopped the crooks, and would not require Superman's assistance. To cover himself he placed his foot under the fountain's foot pedal, and "needed" Lois' help in getting unstuck. Lois scoffed at the notion that Clark could possibly be Superman. Or was it an act? The story ended before the circle could start all over again.
This was an okay, humorous story, but not great. There really wasn't a clear reason for Superman to touch the flagpole, unless wet paint is as irresistible to Superman as it is to the rest of us. Clark was very clever to always cover his tracks in this story. I did find Lois a little harsh in dismissing Clark, That weakling - Superman? Don't make me laugh. It would be a ridiculouswaste of time to study his hands! I liked that Clark didn't know whether to be relieved or annoyed. I've often thought the same thing. Lois was very nosy at the beach party, and it was smart of Clark to keep Lois from noticing his in shape physique. I couldn't help but think that wouldn't others notice Clark's build and suspect that he might be Superman. When Clark planted the fake arm, I wondered about what he would do if Lois picked up his "hand". His closest call was when Lois waved the kryptonite under his nose.
My favorite way that Superman has ever captured Lex Luthor was in this story. When the Man of Steel noticed Luthor posing as a wax statue in the back of the truck, I liked his comment, That wax face of Luthor doesn't do his ugly face justice. Superman caught Luthor off guard when he offered to use his x-ray vision to remold his face.
Jerry Siegel gave Clark and Superman more of a sense of humor than I've noticed in these silver age stories, especially when he captured Luthor. He showed more of an emotional response to Lois' scheme to discover Superman's secret identity.
I give this story 3 Superman Capes out of 5.
Superman's Mermaid Sweetheart was the second story of the issue. This 10 page story was pencilled by Wayne Boring and inked by Stan Kaye. It began as Clark was driving through a fishing village on his return trip to Metropolis after covering an out of town story, when he overheard a conversation about a mermaid.
Clark decided to check it out, and walked into a conversation between a group of fishermen. Hans Schmidt claimed a mermaid had freed his catch. Another fisherman told him that maybe he should stop fishing illegally in spawning waters.
After the other fishermen left, Clark asked Schmidt to describe the mermaid, and Kent knew that Hans was describing Lori Lemaris (who was introduced in Superman #129, May 1959, in The Girl In Superman's Past, which was discussed in Episode #158).
Clark rushed to the beach and telepathically called for Lori. After a false alarm that turned out to be only a dolphin, Clark, who had changed into Superman, found her on the beach. In a rare panel without a word balloon or narration caption, they shared a lingering kiss. Superman immediately proposed, but Lori declined. He did talk her into going on a date, but after dinner at a night club, Lori asked Clark to take her back to the beach.
Superman again proposed, and promised to leave the surface world and live with Lori in Atlantis. She swam back home to ask permission, which was granted. The Man of Steel didn't notice Schmidt eavesdropping on them, until Hans threw his harpoon at the dolphin Lori rode. She saved the animal from the harpoon but severely injured herself on the jagged rocks.
Schmidt fled a furious Superman, who rushed Lori to Atlantis. He first had to lead an atomic beast out of the water and into a volcano to its doom, after it began chasing them. Atlantian doctors saved her life, but informed Superman that she was paralyzed.
The Man of Steel searched outer space for someone with the medical knowledge to restore Lori, and found him on a water world. After Superman brought this merman to Earth, the alien physician cured Lori, but at the price of the two merpeople falling in love.
For a brief moment Superman was furious with jealousy, but was calmed by Lori, who told him that what he felt for her was pity, not love. After a final kiss, Superman returned to the surface world.
In the last panel, sometime later at the Daily Planet, Lois told Clark that he had been looking for a while as if he had lost his best friend. Clark thought to himself that it was more than a best friend, but it seemed as if he had awakened from a dream. Apparently, he had begun to bounce back, as he asked Lois for a date. The story ended before she responded.
This is my favorite of the few silver age Jerry Siegel stories we've covered so far. It was a sequel to the original Lori Lemaris story. Siegel gave Superman a range of emotions that has been rarely seen in one story, from love, rage to jealousy. While Lois has been Superman's main object of affection, here in the silver age it seems to have been Lori Lemaris, judging by the number of times he proposes to her in this single story.
If I were Schmidt, I would run for my life too, as well as a dry pair of pants, after causing Lori to be seriously injured, If the woman I love dies, there will be no corner in the universe where you can hide! Superman wasn't afraid to cause the death of a living being when he led the atomic sea creature out of the ocean, to fly into its own destruction in an active volcano.
Having read a little bit about the struggles of Siegel and Shuster in the late 1940's and '50's, I couldn't help but wonder if some of he poured his emotional turmoil into this story. I have to give it 5 Superman Capes out of 5.
The Trio Of Steel was the third and final story in this issue. This 8 page tale was drawn by Al Plastino. It began on a hot day, when Superman used his x-ray vision to evaporate a swimming hole, then melted the ice of a skating rink. Then he blocked the broadcast signal of a Metropolis TV station with his impenetrable body, causing a lot of interference.
A gleeful Superman changed into Clark Kent and returned to the Daily Planet offices. Perry White assigned him to write a story about Superman gone berserk. When Perry read the story he asked Clark if he thought he was Mr. Mxyzptlk, because he had written the story backwards. Clark asked if he could take the rest of the afternoon off, because he didn't feel well, and Perry granted his request, as long as Clark still attended Perry's testimonial dinner. Superman wouldn't be welcome, Perry added.
Superman attended the dinner anyway, and proceeded to humiliate Perry by making him dress as a rabbit, clown and bum. The Man of Steel then took Lois to Niagara Falls, where he proposed. Then his attention was drawn to a homely woman, and together they mocked Lois. After returning a furious Lois to Metropolis, Superman flew to an unnamed mountain where Mr. Mxyzptlk waited for him. After he snapped out of his hypnotic trance, a furious Superman made a deal with Mxy so he would return to the 5th Dimension. The Man of Steel would give him a Superman robot.
Instead of one robot, three robots flew to Mr. Mxyzptlk, a Superman, Superboy and Superbaby robot. None of the robots wanted to return to the 5th Dimension until Mxy talked them into competing against each other. The Superboy robot hit the mountain, breaking his arm, which was repaired by the Superman robot. He shook Mxy's hand until he made the imp dizzy. Superbaby began to cry, so the Superman robot carved some alphabet blocks. When Superbaby tried to spell the letters, Mxy helped the robot tot and unknowingly spelled his own name backwards. Before he vanished back to the 5th dimension, Mxy learned that the real Superman posed as a robot.
Clark Kent wrote an article exposing Mr. Mxyzptlyk's manipulations of the Man of Steel, much to the relief of Metropolis.
My first thought was that, early in the presidential campaign trail, how politicians wish they could blame Mr. Mxyzptlk for some of the dumb things they say. Siegel indulged his sense of humor writing a mischievous Man of Steel. This wasn't a bad story, but not a great one either. I can't give it a 2, so I'll give it a low 3 Superman Capes out of 5.
Action Comics #261, February 1960, was published around December 31, 1959. It contained 32 pages for the cover price of a dime. Mort Weisinger was the editor, and the cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye.
The first story of the issue was titled Superman's Fortress Of Solitude. This 12 page story was pencilled by Wayne Boring and inked by Stan Kaye.
It began when Superman had brought his Fortress of Solitude to Metropolis for people to tour, as a charity fundraiser. Superman and his robots used x-ray vision to ensure no criminals snuck anything into the Fortress to damage any of the displays, or tourists. Superman gave an oilman his autograph, and was gracious enough to allow a welder to eat lunch while he toured the Fortress during his lunch hour. Superman robots caught someone trying to sneak in a disguised homing beacon that would reveal the Fortress's secret location, and took him to jail.
The oilman and welder found a secluded spot, where the oilman emptied the ink from his fountain pen into the welder's coffee thermos. He wasn't laying a prank on the man, because it was revealed that the two men were members of the Anti-Superman Gang, and the two harmless chemicals individually, when combined, created a volatile mixture which would create a massive explosion in an hour.
Scientists in the bottle city of Kandor saw the exchange on their monitors, and attempted to warn Superman with a hyper sonic signal. They discovered that Superman's rainbow jewel was creating too much interference.
Someone asked Superman about a bust of Urko the Terrible. He declined to tell the story behind the bust, but we saw in a flashback how Urko, a cloud being, animated the statues of Superman's friends to attack him in his asteroid Fortress in space. Superman fled his Fortress and blew a star into Urko's path, which pulled Urko to his doom.
Another tourist asked Superman about a globe which displayed a flaming man. The Man of Steel again politely declined to explain this trophy, but we were given another flashback, showing Superman moving his Fortress from outer space and hiding it in the center of the Earth. He was attacked by flame beings, until he saved them from an underwater river their attack had broken through to.
Meanwhile, the "welder" had gloated about the soon to be destruction of the Fortress, when the "oilman" finally convinced him to leave with the departing tourists. The welder tossed to outer cap of his thermos on his way out.
After the tourists left the Fortress, the Mayor of Metropolis informed Superman that the display had earned Millions for charity. Then Superman returned the Fortress to its secret Arctic location.
The Anti-Superman gang waited at their hideout, watching a seismograph for a sign of the gigantic explosion. When they saw the needle move, they celebrated the destruction of the Fortress, until Superman smashed into the Fortress and arrested them. He wouldn't reveal how he foiled their plan.
After he returned to the Fortress, Superman communicated with the Kandorian scientists who had discovered the plot, and we learn that when the welder tossed the cap, it happened to cover the rainbow jewel and block its therapeutic radiations, and allow the Kandorians to alert Superman to the danger. That was because the cap was made of lead. The Man of Steel planned to destroy the Rainbow Jewel so that it wouldn't happen again.
The gang members had a clever plan to avoid Superman's security arrangements by bringing the two chemicals separately, but I don't know why Superman and his robots wouldn't sense the volatile liquid once they combined it. Maybe I gave his super powers too much credit.
I thought that it was poetic justice that the members of the gang brought about their own downfall. This was an interesting story about some of Superman's previous locations for his Fortress. I thought that he was a little unfriendly to some of the tourists when he refused to answer their questions about some of his trophies. If I had been one of the tourists, I would have felt disappointed. If Superman didn't want to answer questions about some of his trophies, I think it would have been better if he had sequestered those trophies from public view.
It was a clever way to create tension in the story with the jewel interfering with the Kandorians' signal. This story also had some of the over the top silver age touches of Superman stories, with the Man of Steel using his super breath in the vacuum of space to blow a star into Urko's path, causing the death of another being. This was rare for the silver age Superman, compared to his golden age roots.
This was another average, but fun, story, and I give it a low 3 out of 5 Superman Capes.
Congo Bill made his 13th appearance as Congorilla in the 7 page story, Congorilla's Last Stand, written by Robert Bernstein and drawn by Howard Sherman.
Supergirl's 8 page 11th story was titled Supergirl's Super Pet, drawn by Jim Mooney. This story has been reprinted in Supergirl Archives vol. I and Showcase Presents: Supergirl vol. I.
As some of the orphans watched a meteor shower, Linda Lee used her telescopic vision to notice a Kryptonite meteor. She secretly changed into Supergirl and traced its trajectory to where it landed, and retrieved it with a piece of lead. Back at the orphanage, after she returned to her Linda Lee identity, she experimented on the meteorite until she began to feel weakened by the rock. She used a pair of long tongs to toss it into the forest.
Later, Linda Lee finished an errand in Midvale, when she saw a dog growling at a cat. She used her super breath to pull the dog away from the cat in order to catch the attention of the dog catcher. Somehow, the cat followed her to the orphanage, and Linda was allowed to keep the stray cat as a pet. Because of the stripes on its sides, the cat was given the name of Streaky.
The cat explored the area, including the woods, when he came across the kryptonite that Linda had thrown away. In a narration box it was revealed that Linda's experimentation had created X Kryptonite, which gave Streaky super powers. The cat ran into a Superman doll, destroying it, but the cape looped around Streaky's neck.
He lifted the front of a milk truck, allowing a few milk cans to spill on the ground and feed a group of stray cats. When a big dog chased Streaky up a tree, he pelted the dog with apples. Supergirl heard Streaky's triumphant meow, and played with hew new super pet until his powers mysteriously vanished. They returned to the orphanage and Streaky dreamed of chasing dogs with his super powers. A narration caption asked readers to write in if they wanted to read more stories with a super powered Streaky.
This was an adorable silver age Supergirl story. I was glad that Supergirl, briefly, had a super powered pet, so that she wouldn't be quite so lonely. At first I thought she was careless to toss away the piece of kryptonite, but then I should have expected that it would play a part later in the story. While I have heard of dogs traveling long distances to return home, I've never heard about cats doing the same thing, but it didn't spoil this story. I thought that it was a coincidence that a discarded Superman doll was laying around, and when Streaky broke it, he happened to stick his head through the hole at the top of the cape. But of course a super pet needs a super cape.
Beyond seeing Supergirl getting a pet, I enjoyed watching Streaky's humorous super deeds and reading the animals' thought balloons, and I give it 3 Supergirl Capes out of 5.
Elsewhere in DC Comics, 31 titles carried the February or February/March 1960 cover date.
Next Episode: Superman Family Comic Book Cover Dated January/February 1956: World's Finest Comics #86!
In 2 Weeks: Superman Comic Book Cover Dated March 1960: Action Comics #262!
Check out SLIPSTREAM, a new web comic book written by jeffrey Taylor, co-host of the FROM CRISIS TO CRISIS podcast, and drawn by yours truly. Thanks to SUPERMAN HOMEPAGE .com contributor Adam Deschanel for putting the website together. http://www.clockworkcomics.co.uk/. It will begin November 2011.
Also, if you know the original publication information for a Superman story involving his alien zoo at his Fortress of Solitude, reprinted in the 1970 SUPERMAN BUMPER BOOK, a UK Superman hardcover anthology, post it in comments or through the contact information below.
You can join the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and MY PULL LIST groups or pages on facebook, and follow both the podcast and blog on twitter @supermanpodcast.
The theme of this podcast is PLANS IN MOTION, composed by Kevin MacLeod, and part of the royalty free music library at http://incompetech.com.
MY PULL LIST is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com.
Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics. Any art shown on this podcast is for entertainment purposes only, and not for profit.
Thanks for listening to the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #17, December 1956, was published around October 16, 1956. It contained 32 pages for the cover price of a dime. The editor was Mort Weisinger. Curt Swan pencilled the cover, which was inked by Ray Burnley. They were the art team for all three 8 page stories in this issue, which were written by Otto Binder. These stories have been reprinted in Showcase Presents: Superman Family vol. I.
Jimmy Olsen In The 50th Century began with Superman giving Jimmy a ride in a rocket the Man of Steel had repaired, so that Olsen could do a story about being the first reporter to fly in the stratosphere (about 6 - 30 miles high). A meteor shower began to fall into the atmosphere, and Superman protected the rocket with his fist. Unfortunately, the concussion from Superman's fist propelled Jimmy's rocket fast enough to break the time barrier.
When Jimmy's rocket reentered the atmosphere, he bailed out of the rocket with a parachute, before the spacecraft crashed into the Earth. As Jimmy glided to the ground, he saw a farmer in a field. After he landed, Jimmy approached the farmer to find that he was a robot farmer. Jimmy discovered that he had traveled 3,000 years into the future, to October 10, 4956, to be exact.
After receiving the directions to Metropolis, Jimmy walked to his hometown and discovered that it had a much different skyline. Even the Daily Planet building seemed a mile high. He was rubber necking as he explored this very different Metropolis, and accidentally fell into the open doors of an empty underground elevator that stretched 8,000 miles to China.
Jimmy activated his signal watch, but was saved by a large robot bird, which we never see in this story again. Once he was returned to street level, Jimmy introduced himself and said he was from the 20th Century. One of the pedestrians recognized his name as being Superman's secret identity, and directed him to the Superman Museum. Jimmy was introduced to Professor Xerxes, who introduced himself as an expert on the Man of Steel. He allowed Jimmy to use some of his devices to simulate Superman's powers in a number of rescues. The Professor gave his reasons as protecting the Man of Steel's reputation from a current bestseller, Superman Was A Hoax by John Smyth.
When Jimmy walked by a bookstore, he was exposed by author John Smyth, causing the pedestrians to rush into the bookstore to buy a copy.
In front of the same underground elevator he fell into, Jimmy activated the signal watch again, and the signal traveled through the time barrier, and Superman was able to follow the signal to Jimmy. As it turned out, the reason the signal watch didn't work at the beginning of the story was that the elevator had been lined with lead as a shield against underground radiation.
After demonstrating his super powers in different ways, Superman took Jimmy to the same bookstore, and exposed John Smyth as a disguised Professor Xerxes. The Professor had set up Jimmy in order to boost sales of his book.
With order restored in the 50th Century, Superman and Jimmy returned to the 20th Century, but unfortunately for Olsen, he didn't remember his adventure in the 50th Century, being mistaken for Superman.
This story reminded me a little bit of the Back To The Future movie trilogy that would be released 30 years later.
While it made sense in this silver age story for the concussion from Superman's hit on the meteor to propel the rocket, it would seem that Jimmy would have been crushed by the g-forces from the speed that it would take to break the time barrier.
It was cool to see the Daily Planet still in existence in the 50th Century, and the plot twist of Jimmy simulating the Man of Steel's powers was fun to read. And the Professor's plot to use Jimmy to boost sales of his book was different. It reminded me of the biggest literary hoax from the early 1970's. Writer Christopher Irving had used some forged letters allegedly from Howard Hughes to convince a publisher to release what turned out to be a fake Howard Hughes autobiography. When the reclusive billionaire denounced the book, the fraud was exposed and Irving would spend some time in jail.
This was a fun, futuristic Jimmy Olsen adventure, almost like he met the Jetsons, and I give it 3 Superman Capes out of 5.
The Case Of The Cartoon Scoops began as Jimmy read a letter from an anonymous admirer, who somehow knew that Jimmy had taken art classes in school. The letter writer encouraged Jimmy to use his talent and draw a series of Superman cartoons for the Daily Planet. Perry White looked at Jimmy's first effort for a good laugh, but liked it enough to make it a regular feature.
Jimmy began to get some phone calls from someone who suggested ideas for his Superman feature, which Jimmy used. The cartoons began to take on a pattern of things that would happen soon after that edition of the Daily Planet was published.
As it turned out, Clark was this anonymous "Swami", disguising his voice when he called Jimmy. Things backfired on Jimmy when the next cartoon "Swami" suggested was Superman smashing Jimmy's Superman souvenir collection. Sure enough, the Man of Steel showed up to destroy the collection, and Jimmy couldn't bear to watch. But much to his surprise, Superman only banged together some pans to create the noise. Then the Man of Steel revealed that he had been Jimmy's "Swami". Then Superman took Jimmy to the original admirer who had written Jimmy at the beginning of this story.
Jimmy's secret admirer had been none other than "Sly" Saunders, who was about to get out of jail. His purpose for suggesting the Superman cartoons was to gradually learn Superman's crime fighting tactics in order to foil the Man of Steel.
Jimmy learned a valuable lesson about checking out his sources, especially when they are anonymous.
Unlike past stories where Clark or Superman played a trick on Jimmy, I liked this one more, for the most part. Jimmy was once again falling into the trap of being gullible. This time, Clark and Superman were keeping a close eye on Jimmy, making sure he wasn't hurt while he learned the hard way not to let his sources manipulate him. The only time I thought that Superman went too far was to threaten to destroy Jimmy's collection. Putting Jimmy through the stress and shock of losing his collection was too much.
That is why I'm giving this story 3 Superman Capes out of 5 instead of 4.
The Radioactive Boy began as Jimmy put evidence for the next day's trial of the Barney Bolton gang in the Daily Planet's safe. Editor Perry White then assigned him to cover Metropolis' new Atomic Plant.
While outside the structure that shielded the atomic pile, Jimmy bumped into another person, which knocked him against the brick structure. Jimmy was worried about being contaminated with radioactivity.
As he walked back to the Daily Planet, some strange things happened that convinced Jimmy that he had become a radioactive menace. Plants wilted at a street vendor's cart, a bird died after flying too close to him, and Jimmy noticed that even his footprints glowed. He was convinced when he saw his glowing reflection in a storefront window.
Jimmy went straight to the roof of the Daily Planet building and flew to a remote area. After landing, Jimmy hid in a cave to wait out his doom. Superman quickly found him after using a geiger counter to follow his trail. The Man of Steel was despondent because there was nothing he could do for his Pal. He agreed to carry out Jimmy's final wishes, follow through on the Bolton Case, after Olsen gave the Man of Steel the combination to the Planet's safe. Then Superman agreed to tell Jimmy his secret identity, Clark Kent.
Outside the cave we were surprised to learn that the Man of Steel was actually crime leader Barney Bolton himself. He had spied on Perry and Jimmy from the Planet's fire escape, and Bolton's gang had been stationed along Jimmy's path, spraying him with a harmless phosphorescent powder to make him glow, as well as tricking Jimmy into thinking he was radioactive. Bolton had hidden aboard the Flying Newsroom, and flew the helicopter back to the Daily Planet building.
When Bolton, still disguised as Superman, approached the safe, he was surprised to find the real Superman waiting for him, along with Jimmy Olsen. Jimmy had summoned the real Superman with his signal watch after the disguised Bolton left. What tipped Jimmy off was when Bolton gave his secret identity as the most unlikely person to be Superman, Clark Kent. Also, as Jimmy's eyes adjusted to the dim light which back lit the fake Man of Steel, Olsen noticed the mask like look of Superman's face.
After Bolton had been taken to prison, Jimmy relayed the entire story to Clark, who was shocked that the revelation of his true identity had made Jimmy suspect the situation was a hoax. I guess Clark covered his tracks a little too well.
One thing I didn't understand about this story was that Superman was in the same room when Jimmy exposed Bolton's ruse by pulling off his mask. But Superman wasn't shown in the background when Olsen explained to Bolton how he deduced that the situation was a fake. It's not made clear if Superman left the building or not. If he didn't, I don't understand Clark's reaction. Also, I don't understand what Jimmy was doing with evidence for a trial the next day. Wouldn't the police have it already, for both the prosecution and defense to use in preparation for the trial?
These are minor quibbles with this story, which was my favorite of the issue. Jimmy was fooled in the beginning, but his quick wits allowed him to get to the bottom of the ruse. I like these stories better than Superman or Clark playing a trick on Jimmy. When Jimmy enters the cave, there's nothing to indicate that he isn't radioactive and waiting to die alone, without exposing anyone else to radiation. The ways that Bolton's gang went about convincing Jimmy he was a danger were cleverly done in a short amount of space.
I have to give this story 4 Superman Capes out of 5.
NOTE: The results of DC Comics' 5,000 Prize Slogan Contest will be revealed in the issues with the March 1957 cover date.
Elsewhere in DC Comics, 31 titles carried the December or December 1956/January 1957 cover date.
Next Episode: Superman Comic Books Cover Dated February 1960: Superman #135 & Action Comics #261!
In 2 Weeks: Superman Family Comic Book Cover Dated January/February 1957: World's Finest Comics #86!
Check out SLIPSTREAM, a new web comic book written by jeffrey Taylor, co-host of the FROM CRISIS TO CRISIS podcast, and drawn by yours truly. Thanks to SUPERMAN HOMEPAGE .com contributor Adam Deschanel for putting the website together. http://www.clockworkcomics.co.uk/. It will begin November 2011.
Also, if you know the original publication information for a Superman story involving his alien zoo at his Fortress of Solitude, reprinted in the 1970 SUPERMAN BUMPER BOOK, a UK Superman hardcover anthology, post it in comments or through the contact information below.
You can join the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and MY PULL LIST groups or pages on facebook, and follow both the podcast and blog on twitter @supermanpodcast.
The theme of this podcast is PLANS IN MOTION, composed by Kevin MacLeod, and part of the royalty free music library at http://incompetech.com.
MY PULL LIST is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com.
Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics. Any art shown on this podcast is for entertainment purposes only, and not for profit.
Thanks for listening to the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
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