Style Guide for Imaginary Stories #1

When dealing with imaginary stories, one sure fire way to tell that a character closely associated with truth, justice and the American way has turned evil is to add pin-stripes to his suit!

Nothing says gangster like those pin-stripes.

Script by Cary Bates 

Pencils by Curt Swan 

Inks by Dan Adkins 

Superman #231 

"The Wheel of Super-Fortune!" 

November 1970

Copyright (c) DC Comics

Context-less Panel Tomfoolery

Some things are better left with no context or explanation.

Enjoy!

Script by Bill Finger
Pencils by Curt Swan
Inks by George Klein

Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #85
"Love Me, Love My Beast!"
June 1965
 Copyright (c) DC Comics

Weekend reading

Another Friday, another time to let the Randomizer run rampant through my Superman long boxes.

Let's see what our reading assignment for the weekend will be, shall we?

 
Moving from Superman's girl friend to his best pal, it's Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #117!

Why is everyone wearing capes?  I guess we'll find out.

Although I'm more interested in seeing what's up with portly, bearded Batman!

See you next week.

Pencils by Curt Swan
Inks by Neal Adams

Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #117
January 1967
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Wish granted

Ask, and thou shall receive.

Yes!  That is Jonathan and Martha Kent, evil criminals on the run!

Who knew that the imaginary story we recently read was the second half of a two-parter, with this part even better than the previous?

That's the one thing I love about the width and breadth of Superman stories...however crazy you can imagine a story, there's probably a published one out there that comes pretty darn close.

Script by Cary Bates 
Pencils by Curt Swan 
Inks by Dan Adkins 

Superman #230 
Killer Kent Versus Super Luthor 
October 1970 
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Super-Lex!

For those of you playing along at home with the quiz from our last post, give yourself two super-pats on the back if you were able to deduce that that wasn't actually Superman on the cover of Superman #231 getting pummeled by an orange robot, but Super-Lex!

What's that, you ask?  How could this be?

Well, anything's possible with the patented "Imaginary Stories" that populated the Super-titles with varying frequency during the Silver and Bronze Ages.

This particular story had Lex-El, the son of Jor-El, surviving the crash that brought both himself and his father to Earth!  Clark, meanwhile, was being experimented on by an evil scientist who implanted a "chromostimulant" into his brain, patterned after the "evil" chromosomes of the centuries most notorious crime couple...Jonathan and Martha Kent!

Forget Super-Lex and Gangster Kent, I want more imaginary stories of Ma and Pa Kent, the Bonnie and Clyde of the DC Universe!

Script by Cary Bates 
Pencils by Curt Swan 
Inks by Dan Adkins 

Superman (Vol. 1) #231 
"The Wheel of Super-Fortune!" 
November 1970 
Copyright (c) DC Comics

The Many Lives of Superman #14

The Many Lives of Superman

Green Lantern!

Script by Paul Levitz
Pencils by Curt Swan
Inks by Francisco Chiaramonte
Colors by Jery Serpe
Letters by Ben Oda

DC Comics Presents #6
The Fantastic Fall of Green Lantern!
February 1979
Copyright (c) DC Comics

The Many Lives of Superman #13

The Many Lives of Superman

The Flash!

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

Action Comics #441
Weather War Over Metropolis!
November 1974
Copyright (c) DC Comics

The Many Lives of Superman #12

The Many Lives of Superman

Magician!
a.k.a. The Great Kento

Script by Leo Dorfman
Pencils by Curt Swan
Inks by George Roussos

Action Comics #382
Clark Kent, Magician
November 1969
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

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

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

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

Superman Island

I'm not going to read it, so I can't say for sure, but there's no way the Spider-Island story starting today over in Amazing Spider-Man #666 can beat this!

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

Action Comics #513
The Return Of Superman Island
November 1980
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Overly optimistic visions of the future

So let's see, if I do my math right, that puts this panel square in 1984!

It's actually been 42 years, and I'm still waiting for NASA to open up a greasy spoon on the Sea Of Tranquility.

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

Adventures in super-dating

The things us guys will do to make time with the ladies...


I wonder how many times Clark went Jitterbugging in his zoot suit after they became a couple. I'm willing to bet it's somewhere close to zero. Unless it was a cover for them to write an expose on Intergang's iron-clad grip on the underworld jitterbug criminal scene, because that obviously wouldn't count.

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

Action Comics #419
The Most Dangerous Man On Earth!
December 1972
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Sunday versus #16

Superman vs. Rampaging Dinosaur Horde

Sixteen Sunday battles versus dinosaurs in, and I don't think Superman is taking this seriously anymore. Skipping into a raging pack of dinosaurs?

It's like you're not even trying anymore.

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

Characters Continuity Forgot #5

Quarmer
a.k.a. The Sand Superman

Once a major player in the de-powering of Superman in the early 70's, he/she/it hasn't been seen again since shuffling back off into the Quarmm Dimension after duking it out with Superman, Captain Marvel, and Black Adam in 1978.

Seeping into our universe through a dimensional crack that was left behind after the explosion that destroyed all Kryptonite on Earth, the shapeless being from Quarmm passed over Superman's unconscious body and was charged with his mental and physical vibrations. Slowly, over the next twelve issues, the doppelganger drained more and more of Superman's powers through a psychic link.

As it became more powerful, Superman weakened to such a point that his ability to protect the Earth was threatened. As is bound to happen in such situations, the two fight. Quarmer soon realized that there is only room for one Superman on Earth, and he departs back into his own dimension still possessing all of the abilities that he "borrowed" from Superman.

You'd think that an inter-dimensional being that contains half the power of Superman (and could destroy Superman himself with but a single touch) would have made more than one other appearance after his initial storyline wrapped up.

You'd think so, but it's just another case of a character continuity forgot.

Script by Denny O'Neil
Pencils by Curt Swan
Inks by Murphy Anderson

Superman #241
The Shape Of Fear!
August 1971
Copyright (c) DC Comics

The Russian Nesting Doll Theory Of Secret Identities

For those times when you need to be extra careful about your secret identity, nothing beats wearing a rubber mask of your secret identity, over your super hero costume, over your actual face.

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

Action Comics #408
The Shocking Secret Of Super-X!
January 1972
Copyright (c) DC Comics

Sunday versus #15

Superman vs. Dinosaur Robot

You're going to have to try a little bit harder than to try to surprise Superman with a robot dinosaur.

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

Action Comics #514
Countdown Of The Killer Computer!
December 1980
Copyright (c) DC Comics