Showcase Presents Superman volume 4


By Edmond Hamilton, Robert Bernstein, Jerry Siegel, Leo Dorfman, Al Plastino, Curt Swan, George Klein & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-1271

By the time of the stories collected in this fabulous fourth monochrome compendium Superman was truly a global household name, with the burgeoning mythology of lost Krypton, modern Metropolis and the core cast familiar to most children and many adults.

The Man of Tomorrow was just beginning a media-led burst of revived interest.

In the immediate future, television exposure, a rampant merchandising wave thanks to the Batman-led boom in superheroes generally, highly efficient world-wide comics, cartoon, bubblegum cards and especially toy licensing deals would all feed a growing frenzy. Everything was working to keep the Last Son of Krypton a vibrant yet comfortably familiar icon of modern, Space-Age America: particularly the constantly evolving, ever-more dramatic and imaginative comicbook stories…

The tales in this tome span October 1962-February 1964 culled from Action Comics #293-309 and Superman #157-166 and increasingly saw the Man of Tomorrow facing more fantastic physical threats and critical personal and social challenges.

Action Comics #293 gets things off to a fine start with ‘The Feud Between Superman and Clark Kent!’ by Edmond Hamilton & Al Plastino, as another exposure to the randomly metamorphic Red Kryptonite divided the Metropolis Marvel into a rational but powerless mortal and an aggressive, out of control superhero, determined to continue his existence at all costs…

Superman #157 (November 1962) opened with a key new piece of the ongoing legend as ‘The Super-Revenge of the Phantom Zone Prisoner!’ by Hamilton, Curt Swan & George Klein introduced permanently power-neutralising Gold Kryptonite and Superman’s Zone-o-phone – allowing him to monitor and communicate with the incarcerated inhabitants – in a stirring tale of injustice and redemption.

Convicted felon Quex-Ul used the device to petition Superman for release since his sentence has been served, and despite reservations the fair-minded hero could only agree.

However further investigation revealed Quex-Ul had been framed and was wholly innocent of any crime, but before Superman could make amends for the injustice he had to survive a deadly trap which the embittered and partially mind-controlled parolee had laid for the son of the Zone’s discoverer…

The issue also contained a light-hearted espionage-sting yarn as the Action Ace became ‘The Super-Genie of Metropolis!’ (Robert Bernstein & Plastino) as well as ‘Superman’s Day of Doom!’ by Jerry Siegel, Swan & Klein, wherein a little kid saves the Man of Steel from a deadly ambush set during a parade in the hero’s honour.

Action #294 then offered a classic duel between Superman and Lex Luthor in ‘The Kryptonite Killer!’ (Hamilton & Plastino) wherein the obsessed scientist creates elemental humanoids to destroy his hated foe, whilst #295’s ‘Superman Goes Wild!’ featured an insidious plot by the Superman Revenge Squad to drive the hero murderously insane – courtesy of creators Bernstein, Swan & Klein.

Issue #158 of his solo title featured the full-length epic ‘Superman in Kandor!’ (Hamilton, Swan & Klein) which saw raiders from the preserved Kryptonian enclave attacking the Man of Steel in ‘Invasion of the Mystery Supermen’, describing him as a traitor to his people. Baffled, Superman infiltrated the Bottle City with Jimmy Olsen where they created the costumed identities of Nightwing and Flamebird to become ‘The Dynamic Duo of Kandor!’ and discovered the answer to the enigma before saving the entire colony from utter destruction in ‘The City of Super-People!’

Action #296 seemed to offer a simple man vs. monster saga in ‘The Invasion of the Super-Ants!’ (Hamilton & Plastino) but the gripping yarn also had a sharp plot twist and timely warning about nuclear proliferation, whilst in #297 ‘The Man Who Betrayed Superman’s Identity!’ by Leo Dorfman, Swan & Klein, veteran newsman Perry White was tricked into solving the world’s greatest mystery after a bump on the head gave him amnesia.

Whilst Editor Mort Weisinger was expanding the series’ continuity and building the legend, he learned that each new tale was an event which added to a nigh-sacred canon and that what he printed was deeply important to the readers. However as an ideas man he wasn’t going to let that aggregated “history” stifle a good plot situation, nor would he allow his eager yet sophisticated audience to endure clichéd Deus ex Machina cop-outs which would mar the sheer enjoyment of a captivating concept.

Thus “Imaginary Stories” were conceived as a way of exploring non-continuity plots and scenarios, devised at a time when editors believed that entertainment trumped consistency and fervently believed that every comic read was somebody’s first and, unless they were very careful, their last…

This volume’s first Imaginary Novel follows, taken from Superman #159 wherein ‘Lois Lane, the Super-Maid of Krypton!’ (Hamilton, Swan & Klein) saw a baby girl escape Earth’s destruction by rocketing to another world in ‘Lois Lane’s Flight from Earth!’ befriending young Kal-El and growing to become a mighty champion of justice.

She clashed with ‘The Female Luthor of Krypton!’ and saved the world over and again before tragically enduring ‘The Doom of Super-Maid!’ at a time when attitudes apparently couldn’t allow a girl to be stronger than Superman – even in an alternate fictionality…

Dorfman, Swan & Klein produced ‘Clark Kent, Coward!’ in Action #298 wherein a balloon excursion dumped Jimmy, Lois and the clandestine crusader in a lost kingdom whose queen found the timid buffoon irresistible. Unfortunately the husky hunks of the hidden land took great umbrage with her latest fascination…

In his eponymous publication the hero temporarily lost his powers in ‘The Mortal Superman!’ (#160 by Dorfman &Plastino) and almost died in ‘The Cage of Doom!’, before his merely human wits proved enough to outsmart a merciless crime syndicate, after which the mood lightened when, fully restored, he became ‘The Super-Cop of Metropolis!’ to outwit a gang of spies in a classy “why-dunnit” by Siegel, Swan & Klein.

Action #299 revealed the outlandish story behind ‘The Story of Superman’s Experimental Robots!’ in a truly bizarre tale from Siegel & Plastino, after which Superman #161 led with an untold tale that revealed how he tragically learned the limitations of his powers.

In ‘The Last Days of Ma and Pa Kent!’ (Dorfman & Plastino) a vacation time-travel trip led to his foster parent’s demise and only too late did the heartbroken hero learn that his actions were not the cause of their deaths, after which ‘Superman Goes to War’ (Hamilton, Swan & Klein) lightened the mood as a war game covered by the Daily Planet staff segued into the real thing when Clark discovered some of the participants were actually aliens.

Action Comics reached #300 with the May1963 issue and to celebrate Hamilton & Plastino crafted the brilliantly ingenious ‘Superman Under the Red Sun!’ which saw the Man of Tomorrow dispatched to the far, far future where Earth’s sun has cooled to crimson and his powers faded. The valiant chronal castaway suffered incredible hardship and danger before figuring out a way home, just in time for #301 and ‘The Trial of Superman!’ (Hamilton & Plastino), wherein the Man of Steel allowed himself to be prosecuted for Clark Kent’s murder to save the nation from a terrible threat.

Dorfman, Swan & Klein’s ‘The Amazing Story of Superman-Red and Superman-Blue!’ (Superman #162) is possibly the most ambitious and influential tale of the entire “Imaginary Tale” sub-genre: a startling utopian classic so well-received that decades later it influenced and flavoured the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths Superman continuity for months.

In ‘The Titanic Twins!’ the Metropolis Marvel is permanently divided into two equal beings who forthwith solve all Earth’s problems with ‘The Anti-Evil Ray!’ and similar scientific breakthroughs before both retiring with pride and the girls of their dreams, Lois Lane and Lana Lang (one each, of course) in ‘The End of Superman’s Career!’

There’s no record of who scripted Action #302’s ‘The Amazing Confession of Super- Perry White!’ but Plastino’s slick illustration lends great animation to the convoluted tale wherein the Man of Steel replaces the aging editor to thwart an assassination plot, only to accidentally give the impression that the podgy Perry is his actual alter ego…

Superman #163 offered a crafty mystery as ‘Wonder-Man, the New Hero of Metropolis!’ (Hamilton, Swan & Klein) almost replaced the Man of Steel, were it not for his tragic foredoomed secret whilst ‘The Goofy Superman!’ (Bernstein & Plastino) saw Red K deprive the Metropolis Marvel of his powers and sanity, resulting in a rather fortuitous stay in the local home for the Perpetually Bewildered – since that’s where a cunning mad bomber was secretly hiding out…

Action #303 saw the infernal mineral transform Superman into ‘The Monster from Krypton!’ (Hamilton, Swan & Klein), almost dying at the hands of the army and a vengeful Supergirl who believed her cousin had been eaten by the dragon he’d become, whilst #304 heralded ‘The Interplanetary Olympics!’ by Dorfman, Swan & Klein, with Superman deliberately throwing the contest and shaming Earth… but only for the best possible reasons…

Next up is a classic confrontation between the Caped Kryptonian and his greatest foe in ‘The Showdown Between Luthor and Superman’ (Superman #164, October 1963 and by Hamilton, Swan & Klein again) pitting the lifelong foes in an unforgettable confrontation on the post-apocalyptic planet Lexor – a lost world of forgotten science and fantastic beasts – which resulted in ‘The Super-Duel!’ and displayed a whole new side to Superman’s previously two dimensional arch-enemy.

The issue also included ‘The Fugitive from the Phantom Zone!’ (Siegel & Plastino) a smart vignette which saw Superman cunningly outwit a foe he could not beat by playing on his psychological foibles…

Action #305 featured the Imaginary Story ‘Why Superman Needs a Secret Identity!’ (Dorfman, Swan & Klein) which outlined a series of personal tragedies and disasters following Ma and Pa Kent’s proud and foolish public announcement that their son was an alien Superboy, whilst in Superman #165 ‘Beauty and the Super-Beast!’ and its conclusion ‘Circe’s Super-Slave’ (Bernstein, Swan & Klein), the Man of Steel was seemingly helpless against the ancient sorceress, but in fact the whole thing was an elaborate hoax designed to foil the alien invaders of the Superman Revenge Squad. The issue’s third tale, ‘The Sweetheart Superman Forgot!’ (Siegel & Plastino) featured a memorable and heartbreaking forbidden romance in which a powerless, amnesiac and disabled Superman met, loved and lost a good woman who loved him purely for himself. When his memory and powers returned Clark had no recollection of Sally Selwyn, who’s probably still pining faithfully for him…

Action #306 offered ‘The Great Superman Impersonation!’ by Bernstein & Plastino, as in a twist on the Prince and the Pauper Clark Kent was hired to protect the President of a South American republic because he looks enough like Superman to fool potential assassins. Of course it’s all a Byzantine con, but by the end who’s conning who?

The reporter’s crime exposés found ‘Clark Kent – Target for Murder!’ in Action #307 (by an unattributed scripter and artists Swan &Klein) but the villainous King Kobra made the mistake of his life when the hitman he hired turned out to be the intended victim in disguise, whilst issue #308 concentrated on all-out fantasy when ‘Superman Meets the Goliath-Hercules!’ (anonymous & Plastino) after crossing into a parallel universe.

Before returning the Man of Steel helped a colossal demigod perform the Six Labours of King Thebes in a story clearly cobbled together in far too much haste.

Superman #166 (January 1964) featured ‘The Fantastic Story of Superman’s Sons’ by Hamilton, Swan & Klein: an Imaginary Tale and solid thriller built on a painful premise -what if only one of Superman’s children inherited his powers? The story begins in ‘Jor-El II and Kal-El II’ with the discovery that little Kal junior takes after his Earth-born mother and subsequently grows into a teenager with real emotional problems.

Hoping to boost his confidence, Superman packs both sons off to Kandor where they’ll be physically equal and soon the twins are finding adventure as ‘The new Nightwing and Flamebird!’

However, when a Kandorian menace escapes to the outer world, it’s up to the human son to save Earth following ‘Kal-El II’s Mission to Krypton!’ which wraps everything up in a neat and tidy bundle of escapist fun.

This volume closes with a strange TV tie-in tale from Action Comics #309 as an analogue of This Is Your Life honours Superman by inviting all his friends – even the Legion of Super-Heroes and especially including Clark Kent – to ‘The Superman Super-Spectacular!’ (Hamilton, Swan & Klein).

With no other option the Metropolis Marvel is compelled to share his secret identity with somebody new so that they can impersonate him. Although there must be less convoluted ways to allay Lois’ constant suspicions, this yarn does include perhaps the oddest guest star appearance in comics’ history…

These tales are the comicbook equivalent of bubblegum pop music: perfectly constructed, always entertaining, occasionally challenging and never unwelcome. As well as containing some of the most delightful episodes of the pre angst-drenched, cosmically catastrophic DC, these fun, thrilling, mind-boggling and yes, frequently moving all-ages stories also perfectly depict the changing mores and tastes which reshaped comics between the safely anodyne 1950s to the seditious, rebellious 1970s, all the while keeping to the prime directive of the industry – “keep them entertained and keep them wanting more”.

I know I certainly do…
© 1962-1964, 2008 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.