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!

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/, 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 #151: Action Comics #150 & Superman #150!

Action Comics #150, November 1950, was published around September 15, 1950. The issue contained 48 pages and sold for a dime.The editor was Mort Weisinger. Wayne Boring pencilled the cover, which was inked by Stan Kaye. It showed Superman taking photos of kids who would stand behind a Superman cutout.

The first story of the issue was twelve page Superman tale. The Secret Of The 6 Superman Statues. The writer is unknown, but we do know that the penciller was Wayne Boring, and the inker was Stan Kaye. There was no reprint information for this story.

The story began as Lois was mad at Clark because he claimed to be too busy to attend the dedication of a Veteran's housing project. Of course, the reason he was too busy was that he would be attending the dedication ceremony as Superman.

As the Man Of Steel spoke at the ceremony, Lois' purse got knocked off her arm accidentally. After the ceremony was over, Superman helped Lois gather her belongings. He used his x-ray vision to search for her change that fell into a grating, and made a surprising discovery. Superman discovered a statue of himself, composed of a plastic-like substance, buried deep underground. He retrieved the statue and placed it in front of the Veteran's Housing Project.

Later, Superman found another Superman statue, exactly like the first, hanging from a balloon and descending toward a city street. He demolished it before it crashed into the road.

Then we saw three men in a dark room, led by someone named Marko, discussing their setting up Superman with their statues. Their purpose remained unknown.

As Clark Kent at his Daily Planet office, he pondered the mystery of the statues when he was called into Perry White's office. Perry wanted him to cover the story of a diver who needed to be rescued. Clark said he was busy and Lois jumped on the story. As Superman, he flew to the site of the emergency, a ship on the ocean. He dove into the water and freed the diver's lines from some rocks they had become entangled on. On a nearby shipwreck from the 1300's, Superman discovered a third Superman statue, exactly like the first two. He removed the statue from the wreck in order to keep the mystery from the public.

Superman discovered a fourth Superman statue sealed inside a time capsule vault. He carried it into space so that he could open the vacuum sealed vault in the vacuum of space, retrieve the statue, reseal the vault and return it to its original site.

The three mystery men were happy that Superman was befuddled about the statues. They flew a helicopter to  Mount Avery because they needed Superman's help on one more job. We discovered how the men created the statues, as they lowered a long tube that bored into the mountain. They poured a liquid plastic into the tube and molded it into the shape of Superman.

At the Daily Planet a note was left for Superman. It called for the Man of Steel to use his x-ray vision on the tallest mountain.outside Metropolis. At Mount Avery he found three more Superman statues buried underneath the mountain. He bored into the mountain and crushed them.

Marko and his men set up at the base of the mountain. They had turned Superman's tunnel into a toll road. They were unaware that Superman was listening to them as they discussed Superman carrying out their plans. The Man of Steel realized he had been played for a stooge, and began to turn the tables.

The site of the original Superman statue was now gushing oil. Superman burrowed underground, through the oil deposit and to the site of an Indian reservation. That way the money from the oil would help the tribe recover financially from recent crop failures.

At the site of the shipwreck, where Marko's men were opening a treasure chest on a boat floating over the wreck, Superman used super ventriloquism to scare them into thinking the treasure was haunted. They dropped the chest back into the ocean, and the Man of Steel planned to donate the treasure to the Metropolis Museum.

Superman flew to Mount Avery and burrowed another tunnel into the mountain, creating a free roadway to detour Marko's toll road. He then informed Marko that he knew of his schemes and had foiled them. Marko mocked Superman, noting that they had done nothing illegal.

Marko and his gang returned to Metropolis, and discovered a Superman statue on top of city hall. They took their guns and shot at the statue, and were surprised when their bullets did no damage. They were shocked to discover that the statue was actually Superman himself, who arrested the whole gang.

The next day, as Clark and Lois walked past a Superman statue in a park, Kent commented that he had his fill of Superman statues.

The next story in the issue was the eight page science fiction Tommy Tomorrow story, The Forgotten Heroes Of Space. The story was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by John Fischetti. Tommy Tomorrow met some out of work space pilots, whom he recognized as the heroes who inspired him to become a space man. Tommy suggested that they start their own space freight line. Tommy Tomorrow's Planteers planned to sell some slightly outdated spaceships, and Tommy encouraged the men to make a bid.,

The old timers' bid was accepted, and Tommy took a leave of absence from his regular job to help the new company out.

Inter-Space Space Lines fought this new competition by purchasing and monopolizing as many spare parts as they could.

The old timers made their first shipment, atomic fuel to a floating city on Neptune. They overcome a series of mechanical breakdowns through some old space maneuvers. The I. S. S. plan backfired when one of their ships suffered an emergency, and was rescued by the very old timers they had tried to put out of business. To make amends, the company president promised to help the new company and even erected a statue to honor the space pioneers.

The third story of the issue was the six page Congo Bill adventure story. The writer was unknown, but the art was done by Ed Smalle. Congo Bill accepted the challenge of surviving on an uninhabited island, using nothing but his bare hands. The Adventure Club offered $5,000.00 if he succeeded. Unknown to Congo Bill, some escaped killers were hiding on the very island. They kidnapped Congo Bill and forced him into slave labor. He tricked them into using all of their ammunition, and the criminals eventually fell off a cliff into shark infested waters. The Adventure Club Members found Congo Bill at the campsite, and he donated his winnings for famine relief.

Vigilante, the modern western hero, starred in the final ten page story of the issue, Six Slugs For Vigilante, drawn by Dan Barry (brother of long time Phantom comic strip artist Sy Barry). Flying on his way to the next stop of his concert tour, Vigilante captured some train robbers. One of the criminals got loose from his bonds and tried to take over Vigilante's plane. The plane crashed, but everyone escaped unharmed. The criminals attempted to kill Vigilante and his sidekick Stuff a number of times, but Vigilante eventually recaptured them and returned them to jail.

Superman #150, January 1962, was published on November 7, 1961. It contained 32 pages for 12 cents. This issue was reprinted in : Showcase Presents: Superman vol. III.. The editor was Mort Weisinger, and the cover was penciled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye, featuring the third story of the issue, When The World Forgot Superman.

The first story of the issue was the eight page The One Minute Of Doom was written by Jerry Siegel and drawn by Al Plastino. Superman stopped a tornado by flying around it in the opposite direction at super speed. He left a cheering crowd for a special appointment.

In outer space, Krypto used his heat vision to fuse asteroids together to build a Doghouse of Solitude. He also left for a special appointment.

Back on Earth, Supergirl saw some boys fishing. Some boys with fancy poles made fun of a boy who only had a bamboo pole. Underwater, Supergirl hooked a whale onto the hook of the bamboo pole to teach the other boys a lesson. She also left for a special appointment.

Supergirl met Superman and Krypto at the Fortress of Solitude. They gathered near the bottle city of Kandor, to pay respects to their lost home planet in Krypton Memorial Day, with a minute of silence. The Super trio then recalled their origins.

Superman, with his super memory, recalled being placed on the rocket when he was a toddler, by his parents Jor-El and Lara.

Supergirl remembered the survival of her home in Argo City, when it survived Krypton's destruction on a huge chunk of rock and a sliver of an atmosphere. They survived the transformation of the ground to kryptonite by lining the ground with lead sheeting. When a meteor storm punched through the lead shielding, Kara Zor-El's parents placed her in a rocket in order to save her.

Krypto recalled being sent into space in a test rocket by Jor-El, to perfect his design which would eventually send his son to Earth.Years later Krypto's rocket would land on Earth and be discovered by Superboy.

The people of Kandor recalled being captured by Brainiac. Even the Phantom Zone prisoners mourned Krypton's destruction. The citizens of Bizarro World remembered Krypton Day in their usual backwards fashion by a minute of noise.

After a minute of silence Superman thought of another way to honor Krypton. Superman, Supergirl and Krypto flew into space and found a huge uninhabited planet aobut the same size Krypton was. They used their superpowers to terraform the planet into a duplicate of Krypton, complete with Kryptonian cities and a robot population. The super trio planned to return to this planet every year in the future for Krypton Memorial Day.

The second, eight page, story was The Duel Over Superman, written by Robert Bernstein and drawn by Kurt Schaffenberger. Lois Lane covered a blackout in Metropolis, caused by a nighttime lightning storm. She met Lana Lang, who was covering the same story for television. Both women watched Superman repair a high tension wire and end the blackout. The two ladies dined at a restaurant afterward, and decided to force Superman to choose between them. To raise the stakes they would fake a duel with each other, and force Superman to choose one of them to keep them from killing each other.  Lois had the idea of having the duel at a local castle that she had written an article about. Of course, each woman thought that Superman would pick her over the other one.

The next day, at the opening of an new amusement park where Superman made an appearance, Lois and Lana faked an argument and challenged each other to a duel. At the Daily Planet offices, Jimmy was unable to talk Lois out of it. She informed Jimmy that she had announced that he would referee the duel. Poor Jimmy then used his signal watch to summon Superman to help find a way to stop the duel.

Superman saw through the scheme and decided to teach both women a lesson. First he built robot duplicates of Lois and Lana. At the castle, he secretly locked Lana in the dungeon and had the robot Lana duel Lois. The robot Lana drew swords. Lois' plan seemed to backfire when she expected Jimmy to call Superman with his signal watch to stop the duel. She went on with the fight and stabbed the robot Lana with her sword. Jimmy led Lois into the armory as she thought she had killed the real Lana.

Superman then unlocked the door to the dungeon, and Lana faced the robot Lois. It was Lana's turn to wonder why Jimmy didn't call Superman with his signal watch to stop the duel. Robot Lois chose pistols, and Lana fired into the ground to avoid hitting Lois. But to her surprise, robot Lois fell as if hit by the shot. Lana thought the bullet ricocheted to hit Lois

The Man of Steel maneuvered the real Lois and Lana into the same room. Furious, Lana and Lois attacked each other, forcing Superman to admit using robot duplicates to trick both women. The two women continue their attack off the top of the castle. Superman rescued both women, to discover that the real Lois and Lana on top of the castle. They had outfoxed Superman, when they discovered their robot duplicates and reprogrammed them.

While this was a chauvinistic story, and would not be published today, it was fun to see how Superman had his own trick turned on him.

The final story in this issue was the nine page When The World Forgot Superman, written by Jerry Siegel, penciled by Curt Swan and inked by Wayne Boring. Superman returned to Earth and Metropolis in time to stop a gas explosion in the sewers. He flew at super speed to keep the manhole covers from blowing off. He almost got arrested for disturbing the peace by a police officer who had never heard of Superman.

He flew to a window at the Daily Planet building, but Perry Lois and Jimmy had never heard of Superman either. Superman secretly changed to Clark Kent and suspected a prank. Lois told Clark about the crazy guy who claimed to be a superman, and he realized that it was not a prank after all.

Clark checked the front page of a previous edition of the Daily Planet, which had the banner headline of Superman recovering a sunken space capsule. Instead, the headline in tis place was of the robbery of a pretzel factory. He decided to prove he was Superman.

As the Man of Steel, he balanced on a wire with his fingertip over downtown Metropolis. He then flew down over the unbelieving crowd, who pointed out the jet pack under his cape (which wasn't there a moment ago).When he leapt over the crowd, springs were on his feet. He then caught a falling statue, but people noticed it was made of sponge. A moment ago it was made of stone.

Superman then realized the source of this insanity. Outside of Metropolis he called Mr. Mxyzptlk. His hunch was correct, as the imp had used his 5th Dimension magic to make people forget that Superman ever existed. The Man of Steel carved the letters in Mxy's name out of rock. He challenged Mxyzptlk to pronounce the word each time he rearranged the letters. Eventually, Superman confused Mxy enough that he pronounced his own name backwards and had to return to his own dimension.

I thought this was one of the weaker ways that Superman defeated Mxyzptlk. It must have been an off day for the imp.

Next Episode: Happy Birthday, Elliot S! Maggin!


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/, 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 #150: Superman:War Of The Worlds!

Note: Our regularly scheduled look at Action Comics #150 and Superman #150 will be postponed until week for the third annual Superman Halloween episode.

War Of The Worlds has become synonymous with Halloween since Orson Welle's 1938 radio adaption, which we will have more about later.

H. G. Wells published War Of The Worlds in 1898. Wells was born on September 21, 1866 and died on August 13, 1946. He was a science fiction writer before the term was invented. At the time his books were described as "scientific romances". Some readers have thought that War Of The Worlds was a commentary on British Imperialism. It is possible, since Wells was a socialist. Like most novels of the era, War Of The Worlds was serialized, in Pearson's Magazine in 1897.

Two movie adaptions were made of the novel, in 1953 and again in 2005. A syndicated TV show was produced from 1988 - 1990.

A radio adaption of War Of The Worlds was broadcast for Halloween on October 30, 1938. The episode was part of the radio anthology series Mercury Theatre On The Air, on the CBS Radio Network. It was produced by Orson Welles and John Houseman, who would become most well known for the movie and TV series Paper Chase, and for the wine commercials where he would say the slogan, "We will sell no wine before its time."

For the radio adaption, the site of the Martian invasion was not Great Britian, but Grover Mills, New Jersey. The town would later erect a monument to commemorate the honor. The radio program caused a national panic the night of the broadcast partly because of its fictional news bulletins. It tapped into the nation's concern over unrest in Europe, with the rise of Nazi Germany.

I first heard the radio drama in 7th grade, in Mr. Kinney's English class. He had a collection of record albums of old radio programs.Among the other radio shows we listened to in class was an adaption of Edgar Allen Poe's story, The Tell Tale Heart, and Sorry, Wrong Number, which was about a wife who called her husband at work because he was late getting home. I won't spoil any more of the story, because you can probably find these for free on podcasts of old radio programs.

In 10th grade, I had Mr. Kinney again, this time for American Literature. That year a touring actor came to my high school, reprising Hal Holbrook's one man show as Mark Twain. Before the day of the show, Mr. Kinney played his album soundtrack of Hal Holbrook's performance as Masrk Twain. It was fantastic. The live show I saw with the touring actor was fun also, but hearing Holbrook's performance first took a little away from the live performance. It was already familiar. I wished I had watched the live performance first, so that the material would have been new and fresh to me.

ABC premiered a TV movie, The Night That Panicked America, on Halloween night, October 31, 1975. The movie was about the radio adaption of War Of The Worlds and the effect that it had on some people across the country. The late John Ritter, who would later be one of the stars of the sitcom Three's Company for the same network, had a role as a rural teen. He went with his Dad, who drove around the countryside hunting for the Martian invaders. He and some other men would shoot holes in a water tower, which they mistook for a Martian tripod.

What most interested me about the movie, which I only saw once, were the scenes which portrayed how the cast and crew produced the radio drama and its sound effects. To get the effect of someone using a two-way radio, an actor held up a ceramic coffee cup close to his mouth as he spoke the lines. It simulated the tinny sound of a voice on a radio. My favorite scene involving the production of a sound effect was when the first Martian capsule opened. To create that sound, a microphone was placed over a toilet stall in a men's room near the recording studio. The water valve was shut off and the water removed from the toilet bowl. On cue from the studio, which I think was a blinking light bulb, a cast member slowly unscrewed the metal lid of a glass jar, which was opened inside the empty toilet bowl. With the acoustics of the tile-walled bathroom, it produced a sound like two stone slabs sliding against each other.

After I graduated hight school, in the late 1970's or early 1980's I was able to buy an album of the recording of the War Of The Worlds radio braodcast. What I remember about the album was one difference between my copy of the album, and Mr. Kinney's. Both copies were the same, with pictures of newspaper front pages with headlines about the national panic over the radio braodcast. Mr. Kinney's copy had one headline about 60 people who comitted suicide. My copy did not have that particular newspaper headline. I still have that album, even though I no longer have a record player to play it on. I have downloaded the proadcast from a podcast that reposts old radio shows. It is available on iTunes, along with albums collecting Orson Welles radio broadcasts for sale.

Superman: War Of The Worlds was published by Elseworlds/DC on October 14, 1998. It contained 64 pages for $5.95, as opposed to 64 pages for a dime 50 years earlier. The editor was Joey Cavalieri. Michael Lark drew the cover and interior art, and his art style was perfect to capture the look of the early Superman of the late 1930's. The story was written by Roy Thomas, fan of the golden age of comic books. He will be at MegaCon in Orlando, Florida in March 2011, and I look forward to having him autograph my copy, and talk to him about the creation of the story. Willie Schubert was the letterer and Noelle C. Giddings was the colorist.

The story began in a similar fashion to the novel and radio adaption, with Earth being watched, except that in this story, Earth was watched by Kryptonians as well as the Martians. As Kal-El's rocket escaped Krypton's doom, the narration contrasted the motivations of Krypton and Mars. Kal-El's journey continued in a familiar fashion, as his rocket landed safely on Earth, to be found by the Kents. As he grew, Kal-El, now Clark Kent, developed amazing abilities. He was orphaned again when his adopted parents both died, and as he stood before their graves, looked up at Mars, as mysterious explosions occurred on the Red Planet.

Clark moved to Metropolis, where he bought a copy of the Daily Star at a newsstand. The front page had some familiar headlines from the late 1930's, about the Spanish Civil War and Japan's invasion of China. Also on the front page was a headline quoting an astronomer who said that no more mysterious explosions had been seen on Mars for the past eleven days. In the original Superman stories, the newspaper he worked for was the Daily Star, later to be changed to the Daily Planet.

Kent went to the Star offices to apply for a reporter's job, and asked the phone operator to speak with the editor. He mentioned that he had a little experioence with the Sentinel. The operator was surprised when the editor, George Taylor, said to sent Clark up to his office. In those first Superman stories, the Editor-in-Chief was Geroge Taylor. Later his names was changed to Perry White. The phone operator was relieved by the regular operator, and we learned that the woman Clark spoke to was none other than Lois Lane.

Clark asked a red haired copy boy, who wore a bow tie, where the Editor's office was. The copy boy said his name was Jimmy (Olsen, of course). Clark introduced himself to Editor Geroge Taylor and City Editor White, a younger looking Perry White. Kent admitted that the Sentinel who had some experience with was not the Metropolis Sentinel, but the Smallville Sentinel, his high school newspaper.

White had a big laugh, and Taylor was amused enough to give Clark a shot, assigning him to cover a meteor impact outside the nearby town of Woking. Lois overheard the conversation as she walked by the office, and stormed in. She was furious after being stuck on the Miss Lonely Love column, and a guy off the street having a big story dropped in his lap. Taylor surrendered, and assigned her to cover the story with Clark. The Editor-in-Chief then received another story tip, about a lynch mob at the county jail. In the first Superman story, this was the first event Clark Kent covered as a reporter for the Metropolis Star. It was a nice tip of the hat to that first Superman story.

At the crash site, Clark and Lois found not a meteor impact, but a manufactured capsule of some kind. They met a Professor Ogilvy (a character from Well's original novel) and his visiting friend, Dr. Lex Luthor. Dr. Luthor had a full head of red hair, as he did in his original appearance in Action Comics #23. The professor believed that the capsule was connected to the sxplosions that occurred on Mars days before.

As if to confirm his speculation, the capsule opened and a creature appeared, resembling an octopus with giant eyes. The Martian fell out of the capsule and into the crater. Dr. Ogilvy, holding a white flag, led a peace party approached the crater. Their efforts were answered by the Martians with a death ray, which killed the entire peace party. The Martians then opened fire on the entire crowd which had gathered around the crater. Clark was hit as he shielded Lois with his own body. His suit was burned off, revealing a bright blue and red costume and cape, with a familiar triangle with a red "S" on his chest.

Lois asked, "Those longjohns fireproof?" That sounded like something Lois Lane would say.

Clark answered her, "You needn't be afraid. I won't harm you." He said something similar to Lois when he first met her in that first Superman story in Action Comics #1.

Clark and Lois were the only survivors at the site, until Army troops arrived. An officer asked Clark if he was with a circus, or a foreign army. Lois answered, "He's my photographer."

The capsule opened, and a Martian tripod loomed over the crowd. American troops opened fire, and Clark recognized the Martian death ray about to fire. He joined the attack, leaping into the air and stonishing everyone. People wondered if he was one of us or one of them. Clark was hit by the death ray and knocked to the ground. More Martian tripods appeared and opened fire on the Army. Clark revived in time to save an artillery crew from a hit by the death ray. He then lifted the artillery piece by the barrel, jumped into the air, and swung the cannon like a club, knocking the tripod on the ground.

Lois watched the action through binoculars, from a safe distance. She wondered who Clark Kent really was. "Caspar Milquetoast he ain't," she said. She watched Clark smash into the fallen tripod and throw the Martian out. Lois returned to the train station and used a payphone to file a report with the Chief. Her call was cut short by an attack by one of the tripods. Lois was saved by Dr. Luthor, who gave her a ride to his lab outside Metropolis.

Martian tripods blasted the bridge that crossed the West River. Army troops watched helplessly as fighter planes were shot down by the Martians, who even blasted pilots who had bailed out of their planes and were floating to the ground. Clark saved one pilot whose parachute had been disintegrated with a hit by a death ray. Ground troops said a familiar line, "Look, up in the sky," "It's a bird," "Looks more like a plane," No, it's --- that guy in the acrobat outfit!" For some reason, it doesn't have the same ring to it.

George Taylor watched the approach of the tripods through the streets of Metropolis, through a telescope at his office window. Clark knocked a tripod into the water, while others launched black gas shells which killed everyone on the ground.

Lois and Luthor were unable to reach his lab by car because of the abandoned vehicles on the road. They ran from the Martians to no avail. Lois was captured and tossed into one of the tripods while Luthor's hair caught on fire.

Clark survived the deadly gas attack by holding his breath. He lept into the air, only to be hit by two death rays. Clark was finally knocked out and tossed into another of the tripods, which was loaded with bodies.

George Taylor and Jimmy watched tripods march down Metropolis streets. His window was hit by a death ray. Taylor sacrificed himself to push Jimmy out of his office seconds before the blast. A two page spread showed tripods marching through downtown Metropolis, terrorizing the population.

Clark Kent awole to find himself bound in a Martian lab, and Lex Luthor now working for the Martians in a bid for his own survival. Lex informed Clark that he had been unconscious for three weeks. Clark watched in horror as he watched another human being swarmed by Martians, who wanted to feed on his plasma.

Luthor also filled Clark in about recent events. Great Britain, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany had been conquered and their governments wiped out. The world leaders of Roosevelt, Stalin and Hitler were all dead. Human sirvivors had been interred in prison camps, to serve as slave labor and food for the Martians, who travelled in small mini tripods.

Lois was brought from the nearest camp to Luthor's lab at his request. He and the Martians were fascinated by Clark's survival. Lex had deduced that Clark was not from Earth, but Kent had no idea where he was really from. He said that his human parents had found him in a rocket. Luthor informed Clark and Lois that the Martians were interested in Kent because many of the Martians on Earth were sick because of Earth's bacteria. Lex said that his throry was that close proximity with Clark had kept the lab Martians alive and healthy.

Clark's immunity to Earth germs had become the key to develping a vaccine for the Martians, which Luthor bragged he had finally perfected. Lex was surprised when the Martians reacted to the news by attacking him. Lois saved him by stabbing Luthor's attacker with a Martian feeding pipe. Lois and Lex then freed Clark. He attacked the Martians and led an escape from the lab, taking the fight outside and beginning to free human prisoners.

A giant tripod attacked, but Clark lifted an abandoned car and smashed it against one of its legs, in a familiar pose that recreated the cover of Superman's original appearance on Action Comics #1. A second tripod fired a black gas shell, which Clark caught and threw back at the tripod, destroying it. He then ripped the leg off of a third tripod, but this one had learned from the earlier attacks, and now floated above the ground, without legs. Clark lept to attack it again, but was hit by a death ray. Kent fell under the floating tripod, which wobbled. He recovered to throw one of the falen tripods under the floating one, finally bringing it down.

Clark smashed the tripod in fury, but then voice weakened. He paused, asked himself what he was doing, and fainted. Watching the battle, Luthor deduced how to defeat the floating tripods, as he and Lois rushed to the fallen Kent.

Clark told them that he was overcome by war fever. His own world may be dying, or even already dead. Kent admitted that if it wasn't for the Martians, Earth might be running in fear from him. Lois admitted he was right, because even as he was saving them from the Martians, she was still afraid of him. She said that she had been a fool, but would make up for it. Unfortunately, Clark never heard her last words, because he had already died.

Luthor would devise weapons to defeat the Martians' anti-gravity, and the invaders were finally defeated after 40 million people were killed. The nations of Germany, Japan and the Soviet Union formed democratic governments, while Great Britian formed a right wing government led by Fscist Sir Oswald Mosley. John "Cactus Jack" Garner was named the new President of the United States, and Lex Luthor was sworn in as Vice-President. Luthor's wife, the former Lois Lane stood by his side.

In front of the new League of Nations, a statue of Superman was erected in front of the Trylon and Perisphere. But the inscription did not honor Superman, but Clark Kent, "born on one world, raised on a second, and saved his adopted planet from invasion by a third". in what became known as the War Of The Worlds.

I was curious about the names of Mosley and Garner, so I researched their names. It turned out that they were historical figures.

Mosely was a member and maybe even founder of Britain's Fascist Party. He was interred in Britain during WWII. Garner was FDR's first Vice President, before sharp disagreements over policies led Prsident Roosevelt to drop him in favor of Harry Truman. Garner would live londer than any other Vice President, dying at the age of 98. I wonder how history might have been different if Garner had remained Vice President.

Next Episode: Action Comics #150 & Superman #150!

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/, 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 #149: Superboy's New Fun Adventures!

According to Gerard Jones' book, Men Of Tomorrow, which chronicled the birth and history of the comic book industry, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created Superboy in the early 1940's. This was after their story, The K-Metal From Krypton, (and the subject of episode #28), was killed by their editor Mort Weisinger. He had become familiar with them from their high school years as science fiction fans, and was hired as an editor by DC Comics in 1941. Mort's relationaship with Siegel and Shuster would become more adversarial as comic book professionals.

This original Superboy differed from the version that was eventually published. Siegel and Shuster's version was a bit of a trickster who used his powers to pull practical jokes on people. The editors at DC Comics thought this was not a good use of their top superhero.

The version of Superboy we are familiar with first appeared in More Fun Comics #101, January/February 1945, published around November 21, 1944. This version was also produced by Siegel's and Shuster's Cleveland studio, and was a wholesome crimefighter, not a prankster. This part of the Golden Age of comic books saw a craze of teen sidekicks and characters, and Superboy became part of that craze. Superboy lived in a Norman Rockwell-esque idyllic middle America. Jerry Siegel was in the army at this time and was kept in touch with the studio. He might have written the original story, but Don Cameron was credited with the published story.

Siegel's and Shuster's lawsuit against DC Comics was settled in 1948, when they lost the majority of their claims in court. One of the few bright spots in their case was the fact the judge ruled that Superboy had been exploited by DC, and ordered to two sides to come to a settlement. Siegel and Shuster finally settled for around $100,000, but a lot of that money went toward attorney fees.

After Jerry Siegel's death, his widow Joanne exercised her right to terminate the grant of copyright to DC Comics, and claimed half ownership of the title and characters. A judge ruled in her favor in 2006, but that ruling was reversed on appeal in 2007. The Superboy and Superman case remains unresolved and has become a never ending battle.

Superboy appeared in More Fun Comics from issues 101 through 107, the January.Febryary 1946.This title was the very first comic book published by what would become DC Comics beginning in 1935, and would end with issue #127, November/December 1947. Superboy then flew to the pages of Adventure Comics beginning with issue #103, April 1946, through issue #455, November/December 1977 (I may have said issue #454 in the episode).

The Boy of Steel would also star in his own title with Superboy #1, March/April 1949, and had star billing through issue # 230, August 1977. The Legion Of Super-Heroes gained equal billing, when the title was renamed Superboy And The Legion Of Super-Heroes with issue #231, September 1977. Beginning with issue #259, January 1980, the Legion pushed Superboy completely off of the title. The title changed yet again to Tales Of The Legion Of Super-Heroes, beginning with issue #314, August 1984, and ended for good after issue #325, July 1985.

The first Superboy story in More Fun Comics #101, five pages long, was originally untitled, but when reprinted was given the title The Origin Of Superboy. It was edited by Jack Schiff. While either Don Cameron or Jerry Siegel wrote the story, Joe Shuster did the art. This story was reprinted in Millennium Edition (#46) More Fun Comics #101, and the hardcover Advnetures Of Superboy. It can also be read online at http://superman.nu/tales3/birthOfSuperboy/.

As with most Superman origin stories,this one began on the planet Krypton. Scientists have studied Earth, and have theorized that, with their planet's heavier gravity, a Kryptonian would leap over Earth's tallest buildings. While Krypton's civilization was very advanced, and able to build planes capable of incredible speeds, they had not built any spaceships. Jor-El, who had worked day and night in a small model rocket, informed his wife Lara that Krypton was indeed doomed.

More groundquakes hit as Jor-El makes his way to the ruling Council. In spite of the increased natural disaters, Jor-El was unable to convince the Council to build an armada of space arks to evacuate Krypton's population. Dejected, he returned home. Lara refused to leave Jro-El's side, so they placed their infant son in the small rocket. The child barely escaped his planet's destruction, and the rocket landed safely on Earth.

The rocket was found by a passing motorist, who took the baby to an orphanage. The staff was amazed at the toddler's strenngth. He would be adopted by the Kents. As he grew, his parents were amazed by his increasing strength. They first noticed it when he brought a heavier load of firewood than a normal boy would be able to carry. Later, he was able to leap over the barn, then tall buildings. Then he was able to outrun the fastest animals in the forest.

When he began school, young Clark realized that he couldn't let people know how different he was. One day, a motorist became trapped under his car when he was changing a flat tire. His car had slipped off the jack. Two young teens were unable to budge the car, until Clark lifted the rear bumper. Then they were able to pull the man from under his car. The two boys couldn't believe Clark's strength. He brushed it off as something must have come over him. So Clark had a red and blue costume made, and Superboy was born. That way he could use his abilities without drawing attention to Clark Kent.

The following plot synopses came from Mike's Amazing World Of DC Comics at http://dcindexes.com/.

More Fun Comics #102, March/April 1945, was published around January 23, 1945. The Superboy story was the second one in this issue, titled The Cruise Of The Jolly Roger. The seven page story was written by Don Cameron, pencilled by Joe Shuster and inked by Ira Yarbrough. Two criminals escaped prison and reached a river, where Clark Kent and some of his friends were rafting. They shot Clark and stole his raft. Clark changed into Superboy, captured the crooks and saved the boys. Superboy informed the boys that Clark was okay because the bullet missed, thus protecting his secret identity.

More Fun Comics #103, May/June 1945, was published around March 22, 1945. Superboy appeared in the issue's second story, the seven page A Modern Cave Man, written by Don Cameron, pencilled by Joe Shuster and inked by Marvin Stein. Clark and his friends were on a camping trip, when they were forced to seek shelter because of a thunderstorm. They see someone leave a cave, and the boys explore the cave. Two crooks threaten them, but Clark was able to slip away and become Superboy. The Boy of Steel found the caveman, who was revealed to be a professor who had been captured by the crooks, in an attempt to extort a chemical formula from him. Superboy captured the crooks and the Professor was able to return home.

More Fun Comics #104, July/August 1945, was published around May 22, 1945. The second, seven page story starred Superboy, titled Good Hunting. It was written by Don Cameron, pencilled by Joe Shuster and inked by Joe Sikela. Johnny Meadows and his mother faced eviction from their home on a fox farm, in an investment gone bad. Johnny hunted for the missing foxes, which I guess was the reason fro their financial strain. He discovered two men in the woods who had stolen the foxes They lead Johnny into quicksand. Superboy saved Johnny and captured the crooks, who had been hired by the owner of the fox farm that Johnny's mother had been renting from. With the return of the foxes, the Meadows were able to keep their home.

More Fun Comics  #105, September/ October 1945, published around July 19, 1945. The issue's second story starred Superboy, titled The Million Dollar Marbles Tournament. The seven page story was written by Don Cameron, pencilled by Joe Shuster and inked by Marvin Stein. Superboy was contacted by the owner of a plastics company. He wanted Superboy to recover a formula that was hidden in a tiny ball. The owner's son mistook the ball for a marble, then lost it playing marbles. Superboy's solution was to organize a marbles tournament for all the boys in town. He defeated every boy and won all the marbles, and returned the ball to the plastics factory. As Clark Kent he returned the marbles to the boys by losing to them (with no explanation how he got them from Superboy). After this second tournament, Superboy built a playground with equipment donated by the plastics company.

More Fun Comics #106, November/December 1945, published around September 20, 1945. superboy appeared in the second, seven page story of the issue. Crimes On Delivery was written by Don Cameron and drawn by Marvin Stein. Student Daffy Dilbert volunteered at the Smallville High School newspaper. Clark asked Daffy to deliver copy to the printer. Daffy added a story about a milk racket. Clark took responsibility for the mistake and went to the milk delivery company to apologize. He discovered that the racket was for real. The milkmen would rob houses during their deliveries. Superboy broke up the racket, exonerating both Daffy and Clark.

More Fun Comics #107, January/February 1946, published on November 23, 1945. Superboy appeared in the fourth story of the issue, the seven page Ordeals On Wheels, written by Don Cameron, pencilled by Joe Shuster and inked by John Sikela. Clark's classmate Billy Benton built a soapbox derby race car. During a test run Billy is almost run over by a truck, but was saved by Superboy. The Boy of Steel built a new car for Billy, who entered it into the derby. Clark had to stay in school because he had missed a History assignment. Billy crashed again, and Clark left class and, as Superboy, rescued Billy again and repaired his car. Billy raced again and won, while Clark was punished for leaving class.

Superboy's first appearance in Adventure Comics #103, April 1946 (published around February 28, 1946, was in the first story in the issue, Happy Birthday, written by Don Cameron, pencilled by Joe Shuster and inked by Marvin Stein. Clark happened to have the same birthday as Betty Marr. He decided not to have a party so that everyone could attend Betty's party (which is more than I would have done at that age, especially for a girl, at elementary school age). When Betty's father was accused of committing a crime, parents refused to allow their children to attend Betty's party. Superboy helped clear her father's reputation and ensured that Betty's birthday party was a success.

I have the Millennium Edition (#62) of Superboy #1, March/April 1949, published on January 8, 1949. The editor was Jack Schiff, and the cover was pencilled by Wayne Boring and inked by Stan Kaye. It portrayed Superman talking to a group of kids about his own youth, as he turned the cover to reveal the first page.

The first story was The Man Who Could See Tomorrow. The twelve page story was written by France E. Herron, pencilled by Joe Sikela and inked by Ed Dobrotka. Superman captured a gang of robbers, and then took a policeman, who was shot during the pursuit, to the hospital. As the Surgeon informed Superman of the officer's prognosis, a nurse informed the doctor that an ambulance had been stolen with a Dr. Vaughn inside. Superman recognized the nurse as Margo Griffiths from Smallville. Even as a young girl Margo wanted to be a nurse.

 In a flashback we saw a party at Margo's home that Clark attneded. Bandar told people's fortunes with the jewel Choe-Tuk, for entertainment purposes only of course. Bandar told Margo she would cease to exist on her 21st birthday. One of his predictions which came true was his prognostication of his own death. Superboy returned the jewel to the idol it was removed from.

After the flashback, Superman stopped the ambulance, captured the crooks and rescued Dr. Vaughn.  Margo and Dr. Vaughn decided to stop putting it off and got married. Bando's prediction came true, as Margo Griffiths ceased to exist and she became Margo Vaughn.

The second story was the ten page The Boy Vandals. It was written by Edmond Hamilton and drawn by Ed Dobrotka. Some boys vandalized the lab of a Metropolis school, and wad discovered by Clark Kent. As Superboy he followed them, and saw them release the brakes on a number of cars. The vehicles rolled into traffic and Superboy had to stop the out of control cars. Superboy moved a warning sign, so that the boys drove into an abandoned town that had been too damaged by an earthquake to be rebuilt. Superboy rescued the boys from harm as they vandalized some buidings that collapsed around them. The boys were captured by a gang who had been using the ghost town as a hideout. The crooks used the boys as hostages, as they used some stolen tanks, from Army surplus, to rob some banks. Superboy converted a locomotive engine into a magnet to capture the tanks. The boys learned their lesson.

The final story of the issue was the twelve page Superboy Meets Mighty Boy, written by William Woolfolk and drawn by George Roussos. Reuben, a farm boy, was recruited by a Mr. Atkins, who was a carnival promoter. Atkins made Reuben into the strongest boy in the world. After spending five minuts in a contraptioned that resembled an old fashioned steam box, Reuben could crush marble. Later, a girl who was tied up and left on a railroad track was saved by Reuben, who stopped an oncoming train. Clark Kent read the headline about Mighty Boy and decided to investigate, as Superboy.

Atkins challenged Superboy to a contest against Mighty Boy, who was Reuben. Mighty Boy won the contest, but then discovered that the whole contest was a hoax. He was then captured by a gang. Superboy discovered the hoax on his own and rescued Mighty Boy from the gang. The crooks, as well as Atkins, are thrown in jail. Reuben's father decided to convert the family farm into a "physical culture school".

Probably the easiest, and cheapest, way to read these first Superboy stories is to buy the hardcover Adventures Of Superboy, first published on August 17, 2010. The cover was drawn by Jack Burnley, and the art style reminds me a lot of artist Darwyn Cooke. It reprints the Superboy stories from More Fun Comics 101 - 107 and Adventure Comics 103 - 121.

Next Episode: for the third annual Superman Halloween story: Superman: War Of The Worlds!

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/, 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 #148: A Superman Fan Review: Superman: Secret Origin & Last Family Of Krypton!

Superman: Secret Origin was a six issue mini-series that updated Superman's origin for current continuity. Matt Idelson was the editor, and Gary Frank drew the cover, and pencilled the interior art. Geoff Johns wrote the story, Jonathan Sibal was the inker, Steve Wands, the letterer and Brad Anderson was the colorist. While I did enjoy this series, one major drawback was its sporadic publication schedule. The first three issues were released monthly from September to November 2009. Issues three and four were published bi-monthly in January and March of 2010, while the final issue was not released until August, 2010.

I looked forward to this series because of Johns' and Frank's work on the Action Comics storylines Superman And The Legion Of Super-Heroes (issues 858 - 863) and Brainiac (issues 866 - 870). I was not disappointed in the story or the art. The series began with a young Clark, maybe in Junior High, or a high school freshman. He is beginning to experience the development of his super powers at the same time as he enters puberty. What fun. We are introduced to Lanan Lang and Pete Ross. Geoff Johns returns Lex Luthor to his silver age continuity as a cntemporary of Clark Kent, instead of a childhood friend of Perry White in Metropolis' Suicide Slum, as was established with John Byrne's Man Of Steel mini-series in 1986. And the young Luthor has a full head of red hair.

The Kents decide to tell Clark the truth about how  they found him and adopted him, and Clark begins to learn of his Kryptonian heritage. The Clark Kent Superboy is returned to continuity as well. My favorite issue was the second, which officially re-established superboy's status as the inspiration to the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 30th and 31st Centuries.

The third issue introduces us to a pre-Superman Metropolis. It's almost as depressing as Gotham City. Lex Luthor, now bald, runs Metropolis as he said he would do as a teen in Smallville. but he is sucking the life out of the city, which is not the City of Tomorrow we are familiar with.Clark Kent gets hired by the Daily Planet, which os on its last legs because it is the only newspaper in Metropolis that does not worship Luthor. Superman begins his career in Metropolis, with mixed results. He meets Lois in a similar way to the movie version, saving her as hse fall off a building, with a helicopter about to crash on top of her.

The final three issues reveal the current origins of both Metallo and the Parasite, both having ties to Lex Luthor. This Metallo is an Army soldier, working for Lois Lane's father, Gen. Sam Lane. The Parasite is Rudy Jones, a Daily Planet janitor who leeches off of everyone, who becomes the Parasite when he is exposed to a toxic substance that was a byproduct of a LexCorp experiment. The last half of the series chronicles Superman's first clash with Gen. Lane, tying in to the then current New Krypton storyline in the Superman family of titles. The end of the series would have had more impact if it would have been published before New Krypton concluded, not after, but I still enjoyed the series. I preferred the first three issues, which established the early Clark Kent and Superman characters. The final three issues were good stories, but tied in too close to New Krypton to have as much impact as I would have liked.

Superman: The Last Family Of Krypton was an Elseworlds story, the first published since the late 1990's. I have always loved the "imaginary stories" in DC Comics from the 1960's, and this mini-series carried on that tradition, and was as much of a joy to read as those earlier imaginary tales. There's something about Superman and his supporting cast being taken out of their regular continuity, and being placed in stories where the Superman creative staff could do with them what they would not normally do in regualr continuity. The series was edited by Mike Carlin, with Rachel Gluckstein serving as assistant editor. The Alex Ross-like cover was drawn by Filipe Massafera. The story was written by Cary Bates, one of the Superman writers from the 1970's and 1980's. He proved that he hasn't lost his touch. the are was drawn by Renato Arlem, colored by Allen Passalaqua and lettered by Pat Brosseau. This three issue series was published on a monthly schedule, from August to October 2010.

This series begins with the whole El family surviving the destruction of Krypton and traveling safely to Earth. The first issue chronicles how the Els settled in Metorpolis, and how the presence of Jor-El, Lara and son Kal-El change the course of not just Metropolis, but of the world, on both a technical and spiritual level. The familiar Superman supporting cast take different but interesting turns in their lives from the regular Superman continuity. The Els are also affected by their new homeworld, and go through their share of both triumphs and struggles in their new home. We even see the Kents come to play a familiar role for young Clark Kent, but how they come together is completely different. A young Lex Luthor even becomes almost like a second son to Jor-El, and Brainiac takes an interesting form in this story. Jor-El's work to protect the Earth has a profound effect on the development of superheroes on Earth.

Kal-El does not remain an only child in this story, but becomes the older brother to a set of twins, a boy and a girl. Each member of the El family develop different lives. Superman eventually makes his appearance to Metropolis, and Clark's job at the Daily Planet as well as his relationship with Lois Lane, take interesting twists and turns as well.

The final issue is not without its share of triumphs and tragedies for the El's, as well as other characters in the DC Universe. I found this to be a fantastic story, one of my favorites of the year, thus far. I enjoyed looking at Superman's supporting cast from a different angle. Cary Bates did a great job of creating distinct characters, and leading them to lives that make sense to each individual. The art was great, although I thought some of the backgrounds, especially of the cityscapes, looked like photos of cities that had been Photoshopped to reseemble drawings, but that's a minor quibble. It's a great story, both on a superhero and a science fiction level. Well worth the price to each oversized (in regards to page count) issue.

Next episode: Superboy's New Fun Adventures!

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/, and is now a proud member of the Superman WebRing of websites.

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 #147: How Clark Kent Met Lois Lane!

As DC Comics continues to celebrate 75 years of publishing, this episode features two stories, separated by a number of decades, that reveal how Clark and Lois first met.

The first story was first published in Adventure Comics #128, May 1948, published around March 26, 1948. After his earliest stories in More Fun Comics, Superboy moved over to Adventure Comics. He would not get his own title for another year. Jack Schiff was the editor, and the cover was drawn by Win Mortimer.The ten page story, How Clark Kent Met Lois Lane, was written by Bill Finger and drawn by George Roussos.

Clark Kent, reporter for the Smallville high scool newspaper, was one of two winners of the Daily Planet's contest for high school newspaper reporters.The grand prize was a week at the newspaper's offices writing for the Daily Planet. At the newspaper's building he met the other winner, Lois Lane. From the very beginning Clark thought she was pretty, and Lois thought he was boring. Nothing will change in the future. Clark found out where he stood in her eyes when Lois asked about Superboy. He realized Lois was all about the Boy of Steel, and not about him.

The Editor gave the two young reporters their challenge: the best story will get a front page byline. Lois let Clark know in no uncertain terms that girls were better and she would win, and that he was no Superboy. Clark thought, if only she knew. They made a bet: the loser would buy the winner an ice cream sundae.

As they walked the streets of Metropolis, a street cleaning truck drove by. but instead of spraying water it sprayed sleeping gas. Bandits jumped out of the truck and robbed a jewelry store. Quick thinking Lois covered her face with a wet handkerchief, while Clark pretended to faint from the gas. He changed into Superboy as soon as Lois left. Superboy stopped out of control cars from crashing into each other, after their drivers were knocked out by the gas. He then took a billboard and used it as a fan to disperse the fumes, then returned the billboard to its place.

Lois got the story because Clark couldn't risk revealing his identity, but he felt a little frustrated anyway. Lois toured the Daily Planet offices in the "Morgue", the file storeroom of old stories. She read a week old clipping about the owner of a road construction company who left his business to his nephew Paul, who was a convicted burglar. Lois smelled a story and left to investigate.

At the company's property, Lois saw the same water truck from the robbery. She eavesdropped on the conversation inside the building, and overheard Paul talking about using the construction equipment to commit robberies. Of course Lois got captured, as she would do as an adult many times. The gang planned to use the wrecking ball crane to rob a bank, and the steam shovel to rob a warehouse.

Clark searched for Lois at the Daily Planet offices, and saw the same article in the Morgue. As Superboy he appeared at the bank in time to save Lois from being crushed by the wrecking ball, saving her life for the first of many times. After capturing the criminal, Superboy captured the rest of the gang who were operating the steam shovel.

For his efforts, Clark got scooped again by Lois. Being the man, or boy, of honor he was, Clark paid his debt at the ice cream shop, where Lois "scooped" him two more times.

The second story about Clark and Lois's first meeting was published in Superman & Batman: Generations #4, published on February 10, 1999. It contained 48 pages and sold for $4.95. It was the final issue of an Elseworlds mini-series. This series looked at Superman and Batman in a series of stories, beginning in 1939, following them in decade long jumps, as they aged naturally. The series incorporated the changing superhero styles of the subsequent decades.

In the final story, titled 1929, Batman, flying in a Bat Spaceship, found Superman's Fortress of Solitude on a distant planet with a hostile environment. They reminisced about their first frist meeting, as teenagers in Gotham City in 1929.

The flashback began as Superboy flew to Gotham City. He considered moving there after he graduated journalism school. Superboy changed into Clark Kent and entered the offices of the Gotham Gazette newspaper. The Gazette's managing editor introduced the other winners of the newspaper's essay contest, which included the group's only girl, Lois Lane, frm Metropolis. Clark was immediately smitten. The contest was created by the newspaper's owner, a young Bruce Wayne. He used the contest to find the best journalists for the Gazette. Lois ws familiar with Clark's stories about Superboy.

As the winners split up to search for stories, Clark and Lois teamed up. They didn't have far to walk before they saw a giant robot smash its way out of a warehouse. Clark used his x-ray vision to discover that the robot was controlled by a young Lex Luthor, who had escaped the Smallville Juvenile Detention Home. Lois was cpture for the firt time, and Superboy got blasted by fire from the robot as he tried to free Lois, also for the first time.

The scene was witmessed by Bruce Wayne who watched from the window of his office. He had Alfred bring "it", which turned out to be a caped costume. He rushed to assist Superboy as none other than -- Robin. Lex escaped from the robot with an air cycle before Robin could detonate a shaped charge to break into the Robot. Superboy had to let Lex escape in order to stop the now out of control robot. He ripped off the robot's arm to free Lois. Robin couldn't turn off the robot because the controls had been fused, so Superboy solved the problem by dropping the robot on the Moon.

After Superboy returned to Gotham, introductions were made and the trio investigated the warehouse where the robot came from. Lois found an address on a shipping label, and so the Dynamic Trio met at the lab of a Dr. Erwin. The doctor informed them that Lex Luthor, using the name Rex Thorul, had worked as his lab assistant and stole his robot to rob a bank. Tipped off by the smell of spirit gum, Superboy ripped the beard and toupee off of Lex Luthor.

Lex grabbed Lois and escaped with a helicopter backpack. Luthor stopped Superboy with a small piece of kryptonite, but Robin bent a metal strip into a crude boomerang and threw it at Luthor. The kryptonite was knocked from his hand, and Robin put it in a lead pipe to shield it from Superboy. The Boy of Steel was then able to free Lois and capture Luthor. After they turned Lex in to the police, Lois showed her appreciation by kissing Superboy on the cheek. I wonder if Robin felt left out?

After returning to Smallville, Clark informed his parents that he had decided to apply at the Daily Planet newspaper in Metropolis.

The rest of this series will have to wait for another episode.

Next Episode: A Superman Fan Review: Superman: Secret Origin & Supermana: Last Family Of Krypton!

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/, and is now a proud member of the Superman WebRing of websites.

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 #146: It Was 50 Years Ago Today!

On this episode for the last week of September, which happens to be my birthday, on September 27, I wanted to take a look at the Superman titles that were published on the month I was born back in 1950. That's why I used the title, as a pun off of the first lyric to The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper song. Thanks to Mikes's Amazing World Of DC Comics  for always being a valuable resource.

According to the website, DC Comics published 27 titles in the month of September, 1960. They carried the cover date of November or November/December 1960, and a few titles published near the end of the month carried the December 1960 cover date. All of DC's titles this month contained 32 pages and sold for a dime. This was in the middle of the era where comic books appeared on the newstands at stores across the country, so they were not released on just one day each week of the month, as they are now, as I discovered.

The comic books released on September 1, 1960: Our Army At War #100 (war) and Tomahawk #71 (historical adventure).

September 6, 1960: Flash #116, House Of Mystery #104 (suspense), Mystery In Space #63 (science fiction), World's Finest Comics #113.

September 8, 1960: Blackhawk #154 (military/science fiction), The Many Loves Of Doby Gills #4 (TV show adaption), My Greatest Adventure #49 (science fiction).

September 13, 1960: House Of Secrets #38 (Suspense), TV Screen Cartoons #137.

September 15, 1960: Adventures Of Jerry Lewis #61 (comedy), Our Fighting Forces #58 (war), Superman #141.

September 20, 1960: Falling In Love #39 (romance), Tales Of The Unexpected #55 (suspense), Western Comics #84.

September 22, 1960: Green Lantern #3, Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #21, Wonder Woman #118.

September 27, 1960: All American Men At War #82, Showcase #29 (featuring the Sea Devils). I was a little disappointed that no Superman comic books were published on the day I was born.

September 29, 1960: Action Comics #270, Adventure Comics #278, Detective Comics #285. These last two titles carried the December 1960 cover date: Girls' Love Stories #75 (romance) and Strange Adventures #122 (science fiction).

The Superman titles published in September 1960 all carried the November 1960 cover date:
World's Finest Comics #113 9/6/60, Superman #141 9/15/60, Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #21 9/22/60, Action Comics #270 9/29/60 and Adventure Comics #278 9/29/60.

World's Finest Comics #113, NOvember 1960, was published around September 6, 1960. The editor was Jack Schiff, and the cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye. Superman and Batman and Robin starred in the story, Bat Mite Meets Mr. Mxyzptlk, written by Jerry Coleman, pencilled by Dick Sprang and inked by Sheldon Moldoff. This story was reprinted in the books, Batman From The thirties To The Seventies, World's Finest Archives vol. III and Showcase Presents: World's Finest vol. II.

Superman assisted the Dynamic Duo in capturing some criminals who used a remote controlled robot to terririze Gotham City. Bat Mite apopeared, and felt the the Man of Steel upstaged Batman and Robin. The imp began to harass Superman. Mr. Mxyzptlk appeared and decided to get even by doing the same to the Dynamic Duo. Bat Mite pestered Mr. Mxyzptlk until he returned to the 5th Dimension, then realized he had been a pest and vanished as well.

The Green Arrow story in the issue was the six page Miss Arrowette, written by Dave Wood and drawn by Lee Elias. This story was reprinted in Showcase Presents: Green Arrow  vol. I. Bonnie King won an archery contest and the title Miss Arrowette. She decided to use her talent to help Green Arrow and Speedy fight crime. After initial success, her blunders get both Green Arrow and Speedy captured by criminals. Bonnie does rescue them, and Green Arrow and Speedy use her trick arrows to capture the bad guys. They convince Bonnie to retire from crime fighting.

The science fiction character Tommy Tomorrow appeared in the story Journey To 1960. The story was written by Jack Miller and drawn by Jim Mooney. There was no plot synopsis available from the website Mike's Amazing World Of DC Comics, and the only reprint of the story was in DC Super Stars #6, the August 1976 issue.

Superman #141, November 1960, was published around September 15, 1960. The editor of this and the remaining Superman titles was Mort Weisinger, and the cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye. Superman's Return To Krypton was written by Jerry Siegel, pencilled by Wayne Boring and inked by Stan Kaye. The story was reprinted in Superman In The Sixties, Showcase Presents: Superman vol. II and Superman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told vol. II. When Superman chased after an unusual space creature, he accidentally flew too fast and broke the time barrier. He would up in the past on the planet Krypton. He met his parents, Jor-El and Lara, and fell in love with Krypton's most famous actress Lyra Lerrol. Superman kept his true relationship with his parents a secret, but assisted his father in finding a way to save their planet from destruction. When their efforts failed, the Man of Steel resolved to share Krypton's doom with the people he loved the most. Through a strange twist of fate, he is thrown into space in a rocket, and returned to his own time. As he approached Earth, a kryptonite meteor shower reminded Superman that the people he loved were gone.

Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #21, November 1960, was published on September 22, 1960. The cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye and Kurt Schaffenberger, who inked Lois Lane and possibly Lana Lang as well.

The seventeen page story The Lois Lane Doll was written by Edmond Hamilton and drawn by Kurt Schaffenberger. This story was reprinted in Superman: The Bottle City Of Kandor. According to the plot synopsis at dcindexes.com, a criminal posing as a doll maker made a life size Lois Lane doll containing a bomb. His plan was for Superman to take it to his Fortress of Solitude. Somehow, the real Lois Lane is taken instead. She visited the bottle city of Kandor and spent time with Superman's friend Van-Zee, whose brother Dik fell in love with Lois. Superman took her from Kandor after Dik proposed to her. The Man of Steel succeeded in capturing the criminal and foiling his plan.

The second story of the issue was the 9 page The Battle Between Super-Lois And Super-Lana. Dcindexes.com gave no writer credit, but comics.org listed the writer as Jerry Siegel. Kurt Schaffenberger was the artist. Lana and Lois both gained super powers after bathing in a strange lake. They decided to use their new powers to convince Superman to choose between them for a wife. They fought each other until their powers vanished, so Superman was spared having to make a decision.

Action Comics #270, November 1960, was published on September 29, 1960. The cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye.  The easiest way to read this issue is in the reprint editions Showcase Presents: Superman vol. II and Showcase Presents: Supergirl vol. I.

The ten page story, The Old Man Of Metropolis, was written by Otto Binder, pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by John Forte. Perry assigned Clark Kent to write a story on Midvale Orphanage and some of their gifted orphans. Clark flew to the orphanage by piloting the newspaper's Flying Newsroom helicopter. The headmaster showed some gifted students on the piano and violin, and another student practicing ballet. Clark met the student, Linda Lee, who was secretly Supergirl, and they pretended that they had never met before. She showed him a painting and Clark, with a wink, told her that she wasn't a very good artist. Linda gave him a story to read after he got home.

Back at his apartment, Clark read Linda's story, titled My Career As Superwoman. He then took a nap to recuperate after being exposed to green kryptonite that morning. Clark was awakened by an out of control rocket which was about to crash into Metropolis. As Superman, he flew at top speed to destroy the rocket, but flew so fast that he broke the time barrier and landed in Metropolis of the future. Superman was shocked to see his reflection in a window, and see the bearded face of an old man. He was met by Supermwoman, who he recognized as the adult Linda Lee. But he didn't remember when she had revealed herelf to the world, nor when he lost his superpowers. Feeling like a has been, Superman changed into Clark Kent and walked to the Daily Planet. He found Jimmy Olsen having replaced Perry White as the Editor-In-Chief. Jimmy reminded Clark that he had retired a long time ago. Later, as Superman, he discovered that Lex Luthor had reformed and invented a cure for cancer, then become Mayor of Metropolis.

Feeling like he had no life in Metropolis, Superman bought a flying car and flew to the Fortress of Solitude. Even the Fortress was not like he remembered, since Superwoman had put his old trophies into storage, and had replaced them with her own souviners. The Man of Steel returned to Metropolis even sadder, and found a piece of kryptonite. To make matters worse, he was arrested for illegal possession of kryptonite, since it would still harm Superwoman. He was put in the same prison cell as Bizarro. Superman;s day became better when the elderly Lois Lane bailed Superman out of jail. She told him that she had never married, and, since he no longer had super powers, followed his heart and told Lois that he wanted to spend their remaining years together. As they kissed, she disappeared and Clark woke up from his dream.

The next day, Lois ws surprised to find a bouquet of flowers on her desk, sent by Superman.

I really enjoyed this story. I knew from the moment that Superman wound up in the future that it was a dream sequence, only because I've read such stories many times. But I enjoy stories that take Superman out of his normal setting.

The Supergirl backup story was Supergirl's Busiest Day, reprinted in Supergirl Archives vol. I. Jeryr Siegel wrote the story, which was drawn by Jim Mooney. Linda Lee helped anoter orphan get adopted, then wished someting exciting would happen. She received an alert from Krypto for help. As Supergirl, she rescued Krypton from the spaceship that had captured him. After she returned to Earth, Supergirl receive a telepathic alert from Lori Lemaris in Atlantis. She helped the mermaid capture the Atlantian criminal Malto. Batman and Robin need her help next, then Superman signalled her to go to the Fortress of Solitude. There, Supergirl found the Man of Steel joined by Lori Lemaris, Krypto, Batman and Robin and the bottle city of Kandor. They had gathered for a surprise birthday party for Supergirl, and the alerts had been planned for her by Superman as a birthday challenge. Superman gives the oddest presents.

Adventure Comics #278, November 1960, published on Sseptember 29, 1960. The cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye. The twelve page story Supergirl In Smallville was written by Otto Binder and drawn by Al Plastino. This story was reprinted in Showcase Presents: Supergirl vol. I. Supergirl traveled into the past and met Jonathan and Martha Kent. She had decided to practice hiding her secret identity to prove to Superman that she was ready to be adopted when she returned to her own time. Supergirl disguises herself as their neice, Linda Kent, as far as Clark knows. The Kents are in on the secret. Theough a series of events, Supergirl succeeds in keeping her secret from everyone, including Superboy, Krypto and Lana Lang. But one evening, Supergirl entered the Kent home through a window, instead of using the secret tunnel. That proved to her that she was not quite ready yet to protect her secret identity on her own. Supergirl returned to her own time, sad at not being ready to be adopted.

Next Episode: How Clark Kent Met Lois Lane!

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/, and is now a proud member of the Superman WebRing of websites.

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.