By Jerry Siegel, Otto Binder, Jerry Coleman, Robert Bernstein, Wayne Boring, Curt Swan, Dick Sprang, Al Plastino & various (Atlas Publishing/K.G. Murray)
No ISBN: B008IIHI92
Before 1959, when DC Comics and other American publishers began exporting directly into the UK, our exposure to their unique brand of fantasy fun came from licensed reprints. British publisher/printers like Len Miller and Alan Class bought material from the USA – and occasionally, Canada – to fill 68-page monochrome anthologies, many of which recycled the same stories for decades.
Less common were (strangely) coloured pamphlets from Australian outfit K.G. Murray, exported here in a rather sporadic manner. The company also produced sturdy and substantial Christmas Annuals which had a huge impact on my earliest years (I strongly suspect my adoration of black-&-white artwork stems from seeing supreme stylists like Curt Swan, Carmine Infantino, Al Plastino, Wayne Boring, Gil Kane or Murphy Anderson uncluttered by flat, limited colour palettes). This particular tome comes from the period when those US imports were steadily proliferating, prompting some rash, rushed experiments with full colour – but not as we knew it…
Also generally unknown was who did what, but I’m here to tell you Otto Binder, Boring & Stan Kaye produced the spectacular 2-chapter clash opening this Annual as ‘Hercules in the 20th Century!’ and ‘Superman’s Battle with Hercules!’ (taken from Action Comics #267-268, August and September 1960) sees Luthor bring the Hellenic demi-god to Metropolis to battle “evil king” Superman. Events turn even more serious when the legendary warrior “goes native” and in human guise woos Lois Lane. When spurned, he marshals the mighty magical powers of his fellow Olympians to destroy his unwitting rival!
Pausing to refresh with a fact-feature look at ‘Giants of the Telescope – Nicholas-Louise de Lacaille (1713-1762)’, the eternal cat-&-mouse game of Lois trying to unmask Superman next prompts a clever bout of identity-saving when she tricks Clark Kent into standing before ‘The Truth Mirror!’ (by Jerry Siegel, Swan & George Klein from Action #269).
For decades Superman and Batman were quintessential superhero partners: the “World’s Finest” team. They were friends as well as colleagues and their pairing made sound financial sense since DC’s top heroes could cross-pollinate and cross-sell their combined readerships. Here World’s Finest Comics #112 (September 1960) sees Jerry Coleman, Dick Sprang & Sheldon Moldoff’s unique and tragic saga of ‘The Menace of Superman’s Pet’ as a phenomenally cute teddy bear from space proves to be an unbelievably dangerous menace and unforgettable true friend. The ending is killer so bring tissues you big babies…
Although later played for laughs, most of the earlier appearances of The Man of Steel’s warped double were generally moving comic-tragedies. That’s absolutely the case in ‘The Son of Bizarro!’ (Superman #140, Binder, Boring & Kaye) as the fractured facsimile and wife Bizarro-Lois have a human baby. The fast growing but physically perfect tyke is super-powered but utterly shamed and shunned by the populace of the world of monsters.
His simple-minded, heartbroken father has no choice but to exile his son to space, where chance (and narrativium) bring the lad crashing to Earth as ‘The Orphan Bizarro!’. Housed in the same institution where Supergirl resides, “Baby Buster” is soon a permanent headache for the Girl of Steel until a tragic accident apparently mutates him. Eventually, his distraught father comes looking for the kid leading an angry army of enraged imperfect Superman duplicates. A devastating battle is narrowly avoided and a happy ending only materialises due to the creation of ‘The Bizarro Supergirl!’…
More knowledge is pictorially shared in ‘Amazing Ratios!’ before we head to the end with a devious story of the Action Ace’s shock retirement, as first seen in Superman #90 (July 1954) wherein Coleman & Plastino deliver ‘Superman’s Last Job!’ Naturally, there’s a hidden agenda and crime to be crushed behind all his twilight years hobby sampling…
Superman has proven to be all things to all fans over his decades of existence, and these timeless tales of joyous charm and wholesome wit are more necessary than ever: not just as a reminder of great times past but as an all-ages primer of wonders still to come…
Published by arrangement with the K.G. Murray Publishing Company, Pty. Ltd., Sydney. © National Periodical Publications, Inc. New York.