The New Superman!

What was true 41 years ago, is true again today.

(And give DC another 41 (or hell, even 25) years, and it'll be true again)

In house DC ad

Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #105
October 1970
(c) DC Comics

Who watches the superwatchman

What possible reason could there be that Superman just happens to have punch-card profiles of every eligible bachelor in Metropolis? After all, it's not like he even has any formidable female rogues, where a precaution like this would actually make sense.

Who watches the watchmen, indeed!

Script by Cary Bates
Pencils by John Rosenberger
Inks by Vince Colletta

Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #132
The Second Superman!
July 1973
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Carnival rides were so much cooler back in the day

So if you delve a little further into Action Comics #282, you can see exactly what Superman was up to with the frozen dinosaur from yesterday's post.


What better way to teach kids about their natural history, than to have them memorize the names of dinosaurs while riding those actual dinosaurs! Just like the cavemen used to!

Although, let's keep this panel between you and me. We don't need the Discovery Institute getting wind of this one, and adding another "scientific fact" to their young earth creationist agenda.

Script by Bill Finger
Artwork by Al Plastino

Action Comics #282
Superman's Toughest Day!
November 1961
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Sunday versus #23

Superman vs. Frozen Brontosaurus

Hmmm...I wonder why Superman would be messing with frozen dinosaurs?

Script by Bill Finger
Artwork by Al Plastino

Action Comics #282
Superman's Toughest Day!
November 1961
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Awesome Grummett Cover!

There is nowhere near enough comic book covers colored with crayons, which makes this Adventures Of Superman issue worthy of being spotlighted for today's awesome cover post!


This is a great piece by Tom Grummett that does a very good job of capturing the spirit of a kid's drawing. In fact, the only thing that gives it away is the S-Shield. No kid is ever going to get the shield that precise. Hell, I turned 41 the other day and I still can't draw it!

Artwork by Tom Grummett

The Adventures Of Superman #558
June 1998
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Creepy Mxyzptlk Watch

What's with all of the voyeurism around here lately?

Let's give the lovebirds a little space. After all, they only have little less than a week left together.

Script by Martin Pasko
Pencils by Curt Swan
Inks by Frank Chiaramonte
Colors by Adrienne Roy
Letters by Ben Oda

Superman #349
The Turnabout Trap!
July 1980
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Creepy Watch

It's creepy enough that Vandal Savage is peeping through the curtains at Superman and Lois' intimate moment...but then to have Luthor and Jimmy spying on Vandal and commenting on his emotional needs just amps up the creepiness.

Script by Marv Wolfman
Pencils by Curt Swan
Inks by Frank Chiaramonte
Colors by Gene D'Angelo
Letters by Ben Oda

Action Comics #516
Time And Time Again!
February 1981
Copyright (c) DC Comics

The lengths we go to to protect our secret identities

One of the staples that I love about reading Silver and Bronze Age comic books are the overcomplicated solutions or convoluted ruses that our heroes have to go through in order to not let anyone catch on to their secret identities. As soon as I think I've read it all, I find one even more ludicrous than that last.

Which leads me to today's post. Now, normally I like to keep things to just one panel per day, but occasionally exceptions must be made and today is one of those exceptions.

To set the stage, Clark Kent is filming a commercial for a watch company who has somehow managed to get Superman to take part as well. How are Clark and Superman both going to appear in the commercial with the secret identity still in effect?

Watch, and be amazed.


After throwing the watch in the air, Clark does a relatively standard move by doing the quick change at super speed. But that still leaves a Clark-less presence in front of the camera.

Now worries, as Superman has a plan...


He peels off a life size promotional cardboard cutout from the side of the news van, and turns it around to expose the 3-D picture he previously planted on the back side!


Before anyone is the wiser, he plants the 3-D cutout in Clark's place. So how is this going to fool anyone?

Well the 3-D side of the cutout has two offsetting images that will appear three dimensional to anyone wearing 3-D glasses.


Now all we have to hope for is that everyone on site remembered to wear their 3-D glasses today.

Or...you could take the initiative and outfit everyone's glasses with 3-D lenses ahead of time!


After that, it's just a simple matter of catching the watch you previously tossed into the air as Superman while your fancy cardboard cutout fools all of the people filming the commercial!


God I love these books.

Script by Cary Bates
Pencils by Curt Swan
Inks by Bob Oksner

Superman #291
The Time-Powered Peril!
September 1975
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Birthday posting

Just a quick post today, as it's your humble bloggers birthday. I'm sure there's some birthday tradition involving presents and cakes and whatnot that the wife and kid have cooked up, so let's get this post taken care of so I can relax and enjoy it.

Which reminds me, didn't Superman have a birthday party once?


Good thing I have a firm "NO BLACK MERCY" rule for all my get-togethers.

Script by Alan Moore
Artwork by Dave Gibbons
Colors by Tom Ziuko
Letters by Dave Gibbons

Superman Annual #11
For The Man Who Has Everything...
1985
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Carefree Justice of the Golden Age

Script by Jerry Siegel
Pencils by Joe Shuster

Action Comics #12
May 1939
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Sunday versus #22

Clark Kent and Lois Lane vs. Pterodactyl

So that's two weeks in a row with a shot of Clark and Lois being torn from a plane by a Pterodactyl.

I'm sensing a sub-theme within a theme. The challenge is on for next week to find a third.

Script by Jerry Siegel
Pencils by Joe Shuster
Inks by Paul Cassidy

Superman #4
Luthor's Undersea City
Spring 1940
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Awesome Bullock Pin-Up!

I know that technically we ended our Lois Lane theme week yesterday, but after seeing her go through so many trials and tribulations, I thought it might be nice to highlight a different side of Lois with today's pin-up.

Thankfully, Dave Bullock has this great shot floating around the internet for us to cleanse our palet with.


Damn, if that isn't just about perfect.

I still think it's a crying shame that we didn't end up with a Lois Lane solo title in the new 52. I'm sure Batman wouldn't have minded sacrificing one of his eleven titles, right?

Be sure to visit Dave and see more of his exceptional work over here and here.

Artwork by Dave Bullock

The >sob< Lois Lane >gasp< Emotional Trainwreck >choke< Week #5

Don't worry Lois, just drink the serum like a good girl. It's only an imaginary story, so you'll either live happily ever after with Superman...or die on the last panel in some tragic fashion.

And since it's the last day of our theme week, let's live a little and break the one panel format with Superman getting a little melo-drama of his own!

WARNING...Spoiler filled bonus panel...WARNING

Yep, she died.

Artwork by Kurt Schaffenberger

Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #51
The Three Wives Of Superman! Part 1
The Terrible Secret of Mrs. Lois Superman!
August 1964
Copyright (c) DC Comics

The >sob< Lois Lane >gasp< Emotional Trainwreck >choke< Week #4

So yeah, Lois was quite the emotional roller coaster during the Silver Age, but not always.

Every once in a while you got a gem of a story like The Satanic Schemes of S.K.U.L.! that showed her using all of her investigative skills to go undercover into a satanic cult that was hell-bent on killing Superman.

Nary a >choke<, >sob<, >gulp<, or >gasp< is to be found...except for the title page.


Lois is a team player. She knew that you had to lay the melodrama on a little think every now and again to help sell the story, even if you had things well in had.

Script by Leo Dorfman
Pencils by Kurt Schaffenberger
Inks by Kurt Schaffenberger

Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #63
The Satanic Schemes Of S.K.U.L.!
February 1966
Copyright (c) DC Comics

The >sob< Lois Lane >gasp< Emotional Trainwreck >choke< Week #3

Don't fret too much Lois...you and Superman are fated to always end up together, no matter what editorial mandate pulls you apart every couple of decades or so.

Script by Robert Bernstein
Pencils by Kurt Schaffenberger
Inks by Kurt Schaffenberger

Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #19
The Day Lois Lane Forgot Superman!
August 1960
Copyright (c) DC Comics

The >sob< Lois Lane >gasp< Emotional Trainwreck >choke< Week #2

Poor Lois...so distraught is she about the machinations of that scheming female, that she's crying in her sleep and in her dreams!

Script by Jerry Siegel
Pencils by Kurt Schaffenberger
Inks by Kurt Schaffenberger

Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #56
Lois Lane's Super Gamble
April 1965
Copyright (c) DC Comics

The >sob< Lois Lane >gasp< Emotional Trainwreck >choke< Week #1

So I recently came into a whole stack of mid-60's Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane comic books. I've never really read much of her (or Jimmy Olsen's) solo adventures before, and this was a real eye opener working my way through them.

First, these issues gave me a new appreciation for Kurt Schaffenberger! He's got such a crisp line, and smooth style that makes the books gorgeous to look at and fun to read. I'm now even more excited to fill out the rest of the collection.

The second thing I noticed is what an emotional wreck Lois Lane is for most of these. We've been spoiled with the dogged journalist interpretation for years, but take a trip back to the sixties and it wasn't always like that. You can't let three panels go by, without here breaking down over something.

All of which leads to this month's theme week, as we take a tour through the emotional ups and downs of Lois Lane.


Poor Lois!

But as you can see, not all the ladies were basket cases, as Joan Superman takes the opportunity to realize that bald dudes are hot!

Pencils by Kurt Schaffenberger
Inks by Kurt Schaffenberger

Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #46
Lois Lane's Outlaw Son!
January 1964
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Sunday versus #21

Clark Kent and Lois Lane vs. Pterodactyl

Twenty-one matches strong, and Clark makes his first appearance. He better hope that Lois plays to form and feints, or his secret identity is so exposed.

Script by Robert Bernstein
Pencils by Kurt Schaffenberger
Inks by Kurt Schaffenberger

Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #9
Lois Lane's Stone-Age Suitor!
May 1959
Copyright (c) DC Comics

The Many Lives of Superman #10

The Many Lives of Superman


Early American Colonist!

Script by Cary Bates
Pencils by Curt Swan
Inks by Tex Blaisdell

Action Comics #463
Die Now, Live Later!
September 1976
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Perseids

Tonight marks the start of the annual display of the Perseid Meteor Shower. Those of us in the northern hemisphere should expect to see about 60 or so an hour come racing across the sky over the next two nights.

That's if there wasn't a full moon brightening up the night sky, meaning there's not going to be too much to see.

Or maybe it's Superman's fault, up in the stratosphere busting 'em all to smithereens?

Script by Louise Simonson
Pencils by Scot Eaton
Inks by Denis Rodier & Jimmy Palmiotti
Colors by Glenn Whitmore
Letters by Albert T. DeGuzman

Superman: Save The Planet #1
Save The Planet!
October 1998
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Good sportsmanship

It's great to see that even in the 30th century, gentlemanly conduct and good sportsmanship are still thriving, even in the rough and tumble world of gladiatorial combat!

Script by Edmond Hamilton
Pencils by John Forte
Inks by Sheldon Moldoff
Letters by Vivian Berg

Adventure Comics #339
The Menace Of Beast Boy
December 1965
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Characters Continuity Forgot #6

The Tempter!

Making a grand total of one appearance in print, the Tempter didn't do a very good job tempting the readers into demanding more appearances.

A veritable blank slate of a character, he spends this issue whispering diabolical sweet nothings into the ear of Superman, tempting him to react to his baser instincts. He's good, and soon has Superman convinced he must destroy Midway City!

The plots a tad more convoluted than that, throwing Kandorian scientists and the Hawks into the mix, only to have true love surface to save the day. But honestly, if the creators of the character can't be bothered to give a little more backstory for the Tempter than I've probably already spent too much time examining him anyways.

So until some enterprising, young Grant Morrison wannabe upstart pulls him from obscurity for a starring role in the current DCU, he remains a character continuity forgot.

Script by Mike Friedrich
Pencils by Dick Dillin
Inks by Joe Giella

World's Finest Comics #209
Meet The Tempter--And Die!
February 1972
Copyright (c) DC Comics

A Superman history lesson

On this day in the year 1173 AD, the foundations were laid for the tower that would eventually become known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Christopher Reeve as Superman

Superman III
1983
Copyright (c) Warner Home Video

The dangers of thumbing through a random Silver Age comic book...

...usually means that you inevitably stumble across an out of context panel that makes you scared (yet oddly titillated) to turn the page.


Yes, that's Lois standing near naked with a beard, sneaking a peek at someone else's diary.

I think it's best in this case to close the book before I find out what's really going on, as there is no way it could better than what I'm imagining.

Although who am I kidding...it's the Silver Age, of course it's better than what I could dream up.

Script by Otto Binder
Pencils by Kurt Schaffenberger
Inks by Kurt Schaffenberger

Superman'S Girl Friend, Lois Lane #58
Lois Lane, Spy Hunter
July 1965
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Sunday versus #20

Superman vs. Space Dinosaur

Dinosaurs...from...spaceeeeeeeeeeee...

Script by Gerry Conway
Pencils by Curt Swan
Inks by Frank Chiaramonte
Colors by Gene D'Angelo
Letters by Ben Oda

Action Comics #519
Where The Space-Winds Blow!
May 1981
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Awesome Dodson Cover!

It's been quite a while now, since we've seen the pencils of Terry Dodson grace the pages of a DC comic. With that in mind, it might be nice to revisit one of the rare times that he did some Superman work for today's awesome cover feature.

To find one, we have to go outside the Superman line of titles and drift over into the batworld, as aside from one fill-in issue of The Adventures of Superman, Terry Dodson never really did much Superman work.

What he did do, however, was a nice extended run on the under-appreciated Harley Quinn title from the early 2000's, and that's where we get today's cover from.


Great stuff!

Pencils by Terry Dodson
Inks by Rachel Dodson
Colors by Alex Sinclair

Harley Quinn #19
Going Out With A Bang!
June 2002
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Adventures in political correctness

So I guess beauty pageants in the mid-60's were essentially the same as they are now, except the judges were a bit less politically correct.


And is that a butter face reference? In 1964? "GUHHH" indeed.

Good thing Lois is undercover as the plain jane, ready to bring this whole shady operation down!

Pencils by John Forte
Inks by George Klein

Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #49
Lois Lane, Beauty Queen!
May 1964
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Superhero fashion faux-pas

What could it possibly be?

And why are you wearing the Trickster's clothes?

Script by Cary Bates
Pencils by Curt Swan
Inks by Murphy Anderson

Action Comics #410
The Satanic Son Of Superman
March 1972
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Greatest face mask ever!

Hmmmm...let's see...

You've escaped imprisonment in a Soviet Socialist Republic prison camp after giving yourself super powers by using a blend of three ancient Kryptonian hyper-explosives that crash landed on Earth after being banned and sent into the vastness of space.

So did the Kryptonian's fire off any rockets that didn't eventually crash on Earth?

Anyways, you're now set up with a new life in America and it's time to make Superman pay for never having rescued you from your slave labor, only there is one problem...you have a killer Iron Curtain mustache that you're unwilling to shave off and will no doubt give away your identity.

What to do?

Design the world's greatest face mask, that's what!

Script by Leo Dorfman
Pencils by Wayne Boring
Inks by Wayne Boring

Action Comics #357
The Kryptonite Rumble!
December 1967
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Unnecessary adventures in randomness

Anybody who's read my other blog knows that I'm a fan of some good, old fashioned random shenanigans, but even to me this seems like a frivolous (if not outright dangerous) way to pick a leader.

Script by Edmond Hamilton
Pencils by John Forte
Inks by John Forte

Adventure Comics #319
The Legion's Suicide Squad!
April 1964
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Famous' Firsts - George Perez

As promised at the beginning of last month, we'll be spending the next couple of our Famous' Firsts posts looking at the first time each of the creators involved in the DC New 52 initiative first got their pencil or typewriter involved with the Man of Steel.

Today's entry features the mighty talent of George Perez!

Now this will actually be the second time that George Perez has made a high-profile entry into the Superman line, with the first being the helming of Action Comics when it returned to a monthly after its stint as Action Comics Weekly. For whatever reason, his time on the title never panned out, and he left the title with the potential for a great run never realized. Here's hoping the second time doesn't set a pattern.

That wasn't however, the first time George Perez got the chance to draw Superman. For that, we have to go back another eight years or so to some of Perez' earliest DC work in the pages of Justice League of America #185.


In looking at that panel, you can definitely see the beginning of the George Perez style. The funny thing is, however, is that I see it in the rubble and background more than with Superman himself!

George Perez is definitely famous for his massive crowd shots and dense illustration, but hands down, he's the best rubble illustrator in the business...and he's got three decades of work to prove it.

Script by Gerry Conway
Pencils by George Perez
Inks by Frank McLaughin
Colors by Gene D'Angelo
Letters by Todd Klein

Justice League of America #185
Crisis On Apokolips or Darkseid Rising!
December 1980
Copyright (c) DC Comics