{"id":18344,"date":"2018-05-10T08:00:39","date_gmt":"2018-05-10T08:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=18344"},"modified":"2018-05-08T13:55:36","modified_gmt":"2018-05-08T13:55:36","slug":"superman-in-the-forties-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2018\/05\/10\/superman-in-the-forties-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Superman in the Forties"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Jerry Siegel<\/strong>, Joe Shuster<\/strong> & the Superman studio<\/strong> (DC Comics\/Little, Brown & Co)
\nISBN: 978-1-4012-0457-0<\/p>\n

Part of a series of trade paperbacks intended to define DC’s top heroes through the decades (the other being Batman, of course), these much-missed books always delivered a superb wallop of comicbook magic and a tantalising whiff of other, perhaps better, times.<\/p>\n

Divided into sections partitioned by cover galleries, this box of delights opens with the untitled initial episodes from Action Comics<\/strong> #1 and 2 (even though they’re technically ineligible, coming from June and July 1938) as written and drawn by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.<\/p>\n

With boundless enthusiasm the Man of Tomorrow explodes into action, saving an innocent condemned to the electric chair, teaching a wife-beater a salutary lesson, terrorising mobsters and teaching war profiteers to think again. It’s raw, unpolished and absolutely captivating stuff.<\/p>\n

Swiftly following from Superman<\/strong> #58 (May\/June 1949) is a beguiling teaser written by William Woolfolk and illustrated by Wayne Boring and Stan Kaye. ‘Lois Lane Loves Clark Kent!’<\/em> finds the intrepid pioneering lady reporter seeing a psychiatrist because of her romantic obsession with the Man of Steel. His solution?<\/p>\n

The quack tells her to switch her affections to her bewildered, harassed workmate with resultant hilarity and chaos ensuing! A rare treat follows as the seldom seen Superman prose story from Superman<\/strong> #1 (Summer 1939 and of course written by Siegel with accompanying art by Shuster) reappears for the first time in decades.<\/p>\n

In 1948 the editors finally declassified the full and original ‘Origin of Superman’<\/em> written by Bill Finger with art from Boring and Kaye (Superman<\/strong> #53, cover-dated July\/August). It was sequelled a year later and is directly followed in this volume by ‘Superman Returns to Krypton’<\/em> (Finger and Al Plastino) wherein the Man of Tomorrow breaks the time barrier to observe his lost homeworld at first hand.<\/p>\n

This little gem (from Superman<\/strong> #61, November\/December, 1949) provided the comic-book explanation for Kryptonite – which was originally introduced on the radio show in 1943 then promptly forgotten – and opened the door for a magical expansion of the character’s universe that still resonates with us today.<\/p>\n

During the late 1940s Siegel & Shuster retrofitted their creation by creating Superboy<\/strong> (\u00e2\u20ac\u0153the adventures of Superman when he was a boy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d) for More Fun Comics<\/strong> #101 (January\/February 1945). An instant hit, the youthful incarnation soon took the lead spot in Adventure Comics<\/strong> and won his own solo title in 1949.<\/p>\n

From Superboy<\/strong> #5 (November\/December, 1949) comes the charming tale of a runaway princess ironically entitled ‘Superboy Meets Supergirl’<\/em> by Woolfolk and the hugely talented John Sikela.<\/p>\n

The second section is dedicated to the Man of Steel’s opponents, starting with ‘Superman Meets the Ultra-Humanite’<\/em> (Action Comics <\/strong>#14; (July 1939) by Siegel, Shuster and Paul Cassidy. They also devised a much more memorable criminal scientist in Lex Luthor<\/em> who debuted in an untitled tale from Action<\/strong> #23 (April 1940). This larcenous landmark is followed by ‘The Terrible Toyman’<\/em> (Action<\/strong> #64, September 1943) by Don Cameron, Ed Dobrotka & George Roussos.<\/p>\n

In such socially conscious times one of Superman’s most persistent foes was a heartless swindler called Wilbur Wolfingham<\/em>. ‘Journey into Ruin’<\/em> by Cameron, Ira Yarbrough & Stan Kaye (Action<\/strong> #107; November #107) is a fine example of this type of tale and the hero’s unique response to it.<\/p>\n

A different kind of whimsy is in play when Lois’s niece – a liar who could shame Baron Munchausen – returns with a new pal who can make her fantasies reality in ‘The Mxyztplk-Susie Alliance’<\/em> (from Superman <\/strong>#40; May\/June 1946), charmingly crafted by Cameron, Yarbrough & Kaye.<\/p>\n

The American Way<\/em> section begins with a genuine war-time classic. ‘America’s Secret Weapon’<\/em> is from Superman<\/strong> #23 (July\/August 1943, by Cameron, Sam Citron and Sikela): a masterpiece of patriotic triumphalism, as is the excerpt from the Superman newspaper strip which reveals how the over-eager Man of Tomorrow accidentally fluffs his own army physical. These strips by Siegel, Shuster & Jack Burnley originally ran from 16th<\/sup> – 19th<\/sup> February 1942,<\/p>\n

Look Magazine<\/strong> commissioned a legendary special feature by the original creators for their 27th<\/sup> February 1943 issue. ‘How Superman Would End the War’<\/em> is a glorious piece of wish-fulfilment which still delights, and it’s followed by a less famous but equally affecting human interest yarn ‘The Superman Story’<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Taken from World’s Finest Comics<\/strong> #37 (1947, by Finger, Boring & Kaye), it pictures a pack of reporters trailing Superman to see how the world views him\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

The book ends with ‘Christmas Around the World’<\/em> as Superman becomes the modern Spirit of the Season in a magical Yule yarn by Cameron, Yarbrough & Kaye from Action<\/strong> #93 (February 1946).<\/p>\n

With a selection of cover galleries, special features and extensive creator profiles this is a magnificent Primer to the greatest hero of a bygone Golden Age, but one that can still deliver laughter and tears, thrills and spills and sheer raw excitement. No real fan can ignore these tales\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6
\n\u00c2\u00a9 1940-1939, 2005 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster & the Superman studio (DC Comics\/Little, Brown & Co) ISBN: 978-1-4012-0457-0 Part of a series of trade paperbacks intended to define DC’s top heroes through the decades (the other being Batman, of course), these much-missed books always delivered a superb wallop of comicbook magic and a tantalising whiff of other, … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Superman in the Forties”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[76,127,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dc-superhero","category-nostalgia","category-superman"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-4LS","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18344\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}