{"id":28859,"date":"2023-11-05T14:59:03","date_gmt":"2023-11-05T14:59:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=28859"},"modified":"2023-11-05T14:59:03","modified_gmt":"2023-11-05T14:59:03","slug":"showcase-presents-superman-volume-4-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2023\/11\/05\/showcase-presents-superman-volume-4-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Showcase Presents Superman volume 4"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nBy Edmond Hamilton<\/strong>, Robert Bernstein<\/strong>, Jerry Siegel<\/strong>, Leo Dorfman<\/strong>, Al Plastino<\/strong>, Curt Swan<\/strong>, George Klein<\/strong> & various (DC Comics)
\nISBN: 978-1-4012-1847-8 (TPB)<\/p>\n

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

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, bubble gum cards and especially toy licensing deals would all feed a growing mythology. Everything was in place to keep the Last Son of Krypton a vibrant yet comfortably familiar icon of modern, Space-Age America: particularly constantly evolving, ever-more dramatic and imaginative comicbook stories.<\/p>\n

Spanning October 1962 to February 1964 and taken from Action Comics<\/strong> #293-309 and Superman<\/strong> #157-166, here the Man of Tomorrow faces evermore fantastic physical threats and critical personal and social challenges.<\/p>\n

AC<\/strong> #293 gets things off to a fine start with Edmond Hamilton & Al Plastino\u2019s \u2018The Feud Between Superman and Clark Kent!\u2019 <\/em>as another exposure to randomly metamorphic Red Kryptonite divides the Metropolis Marvel into a rational but powerless mortal and an aggressive, out of control superhero, determined to continue his existence at all costs\u2026<\/p>\n

Superman<\/strong> #157 (November 1962) opens with fresh additions to mythology as \u2018The Super-Revenge of the Phantom Zone Prisoner!<\/em>\u2019 –<\/em> Hamilton, Curt Swan & George Klein – introduces permanently power-neutralising Gold Kryptonite<\/em> and Superman\u2019s Zone-o-phone<\/em> – allowing him to monitor and communicate with the incarcerated inhabitants in a stirring tale of injustice and redemption. Convicted felon Quex-Ul<\/em> uses it to petition Superman for release since his sentence has been served, and despite reservations our fair-minded hero agrees. However, further investigation reveals Quex-Ul was framed and innocent of any crime, but before Superman can make amends, he must survive a deadly trap the embittered (and partially mind-controlled) parolee had laid for the son of the Zone\u2019s discoverer\u2026<\/p>\n

The issue also carried a light-hearted espionage yarn as the Action Ace becomes \u2018The Super-Genie of Metropolis!\u2019 <\/em>(Robert Bernstein & Plastino) as well as \u2018Superman\u2019s Day of Doom!\u2019 <\/em>from Jerry Siegel, Swan & Klein, wherein a little kid saves the hero from a deadly ambush set during a parade in his honour.<\/p>\n

Action<\/strong> #294 contains a classic duel between Superman and Lex Luthor<\/em> in Hamilton & Plastino\u2019s \u2018The Kryptonite Killer!\u2019<\/em> wherein the sinister scientist makes elemental humanoids to destroy his hated foe, whilst #295\u2019s \u2018Superman Goes Wild!\u2019<\/em> (<\/em>Bernstein, Swan & Klein)<\/em> features an insidious plot by the Superman Revenge Squad<\/em> to drive him murderously insane.<\/p>\n

Issue #158 of his solo title hosted full-length epic \u2018Superman in Kandor!\u2019 <\/em>(Hamilton, Swan & Klein) as raiders from the preserved Kryptonian enclave attack the Man of Steel in \u2018Invasion of the Mystery Supermen\u2019<\/em>, describing him as a traitor to his people. Baffled, Action Ace and Jimmy Olsen<\/em> infiltrate the Bottle City: creating costumed alter egos Nightwing and Flamebird<\/em> to become \u2018The Dynamic Duo of Kandor!\u2019 <\/em>By solving the enigma, they save the colony from utter destruction in \u2018The City of Super-People!\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

Action<\/strong> #296 seemingly offers a man vs. monster saga in \u2018The Invasion of the Super-Ants!\u2019<\/em> (Hamilton & Plastino) but the gripping yarn has a sharp plot twist and timely warning about nuclear proliferation, before in #297\u2019s \u2018The Man Who Betrayed Superman\u2019s Identity!\u2019 <\/em>(Leo Dorfman, Swan & Klein), veteran newsman Perry White<\/em> is gulled into solving the world\u2019s greatest mystery after a head injury induces amnesia.<\/p>\n

Editor Mort Weisinger was expanding the series\u2019 continuity and building the legend, and realised each new tale was an event adding to a nigh-sacred canon: what he printed was deeply important to the readers. However, as an ideas man he wasn\u2019t going to let that aggregated \u201chistory\u201d stifle a good plot, nor would he allow his eager yet sophisticated audience to endure clich\u00e9d Deus ex Machina cop-outs which might mar the sheer enjoyment of a captivating concept. Thus \u201cImaginary Stories\u201d were conceived as a way of exploring non-continuity plots and scenarios, devised at a time when editors felt that entertainment trumped consistency and fervently believed that every comic read was somebody\u2019s first and – unless they were very careful – their last\u2026<\/p>\n

Taken from Superman<\/strong> #159, this book\u2019s first Imaginary Novel follows, as \u2018Lois Lane, the Super-Maid of Krypton!\u2019 <\/em>(Hamilton, Swan & Klein) sees a baby girl escape Earth\u2019s destruction by rocketing to another world in \u2018Lois Lane\u2019s Flight from Earth!\u2019 <\/em>Befriending young Kal-El, she grows to become a mighty champion of justice. Clashing with \u2018The Female Luthor of Krypton!\u2019 <\/em>and repeatedly saving the world, Lois tragically endures \u2018The Doom of Super-Maid!\u2019 <\/em>at a time when attitudes apparently couldn\u2019t allow a woman to be stronger than Superman – even in an alternate fictionality\u2026<\/p>\n

Dorfman, Swan & Klein\u2019s \u2018Clark Kent, Coward!\u2019 <\/em>leads Action<\/strong> #298 wherein a balloon excursion dumps Jimmy, Lois and the clandestine crusader in a lost kingdom whose queen finds the timid buffoon irresistible. Unfortunately the husky hunks of the hidden land take extreme umbrage at her latest dalliance\u2026<\/p>\n

In #160 of his eponymous publication, our hero temporarily loses his powers in \u2018The Mortal Superman!\u2019 <\/em>(Dorfman & Plastino), almost dying in \u2018The Cage of Doom!\u2019<\/em> before his merely human wits prove sufficient to outsmart a merciless crime syndicate, after which the mood lightens as – fully restored – he becomes \u2018The Super-Cop of Metropolis!\u2019 <\/em>to outwit spies in a classy \u201cwhy-dunnit\u201d from Siegel, Swan & Klein.<\/p>\n

Action<\/strong> #299 reveals the outlandish motives behind \u2018The Story of Superman\u2019s Experimental Robots!\u2019 <\/em>in a truly bizarre tale by Siegel & Plastino, whilst Superman<\/strong> #161 offers an untold tale revealing how he tragically learned the limitations of his powers. In \u2018The Last Days of Ma and Pa Kent!\u2019 <\/em>(Dorfman & Plastino) a vacation time-travel trip led to his foster parents\u2019 demise and only too late did the heartbroken hero learn his actions were not the cause of their deaths. It\u2019s supplemented by \u2018Superman Goes to War\u2019 <\/em>(Hamilton, Swan & Klein) lightening the mood as a war game covered by Daily Planet<\/em> staff devolves into the real thing after Clark discovers some participants are actually aliens.<\/p>\n

Action Comics<\/strong> reached #300 with the May1963 issue ,and to celebrate Hamilton & Plastino crafted brilliantly ingenious \u2018Superman Under the Red Sun!\u2019 <\/em>wherein the Man of Tomorrow is trapped in the far, far future where Earth\u2019s sun has cooled to crimson and his powers fade. The valiant chronal castaway suffers incredible hardship and danger before devising a way home, just in time for #301 and \u2018The Trial of Superman!\u2019 <\/em>– by the same creative team – as the Man of Steel allows himself to be prosecuted for Clark Kent\u2019s murder to save America from a terrible threat.<\/p>\n

Dorfman, Swan & Klein\u2019s \u2018The Amazing Story of Superman-Red and Superman-Blue!\u2019 <\/em>(Superman<\/strong> #162) is possibly the most ambitious and influential tale of the entire \u201cImaginary Tale\u201d sub-genre: a startling utopian classic so well-received that decades later it influenced and flavoured the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths <\/strong>Superman continuity for months. It still does today. The Metropolis Marvel permanently divides into two equal beings in \u2018The Titanic Twins!\u2019<\/em>, <\/em>who promptly solve all Earth\u2019s problems with \u2018The Anti-Evil Ray!\u2019 <\/em>and similar scientific breakthroughs before both retiring with pride and the girls of their dreams, Lois Lane and Lana Lang<\/em> (one each, of course) in \u2018The End of Superman\u2019s Career!\u2019<\/em>\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

There\u2019s no record of who scripted Action<\/strong> #302\u2019s \u2018The Amazing Confession of Super-Perry White!\u2019 <\/em>but Plastino\u2019s slick, beefy art lends great animation to a convoluted tale with the Man of Steel replacing the aging editor to thwart an assassination plot, accidentally giving the impression that podgy Perry is his actual alter ego\u2026<\/p>\n

Superman<\/strong> #163 offered crafty mystery in \u2018Wonder-Man, the New Hero of Metropolis!\u2019 <\/em>(Hamilton, Swan & Klein) who almost replaces the Man of Steel, were it not for his tragic foredoomed secret, before \u2018The Goofy Superman!\u2019 <\/em>(Bernstein & Plastino) sees Red K deprive the hero of powers and sanity, resulting in a fortuitous stay in the local Home for the Perpetually Bewildered – since that\u2019s where a cunning mad bomber is secretly hiding out\u2026<\/p>\n

In Action<\/strong> #303 Hamilton, Swan & Klein have the infernal mineral transform Superman into \u2018The Monster from Krypton!\u2019<\/em>, almost dying at the hands of the army and a vengeful Supergirl<\/strong> who believes her cousin has been eaten by the dragon he\u2019s become, and #304 hosted \u2018The Interplanetary Olympics!\u2019 <\/em>(Dorfman, Swan & Klein), as Superman deliberately throws the contest and shames Earth\u2026\u00a0 but only for the best possible reasons!<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Hamilton, Swan & Klein in Superman<\/strong> #164 (October 1963) comes classic clash \u2018<\/em>The Showdown Between Luthor and Superman\u2019, <\/em>pitting the lifelong foes in an unforgettable confrontation on post-apocalyptic planet Lexor<\/em> – a dead world of lost science and fantastic beasts. \u2018The Super-Duel!\u2019 <\/em>offers a new side to Superman\u2019s previously 2-dimensional arch-enemy and the issue also includes \u2018The Fugitive from the Phantom Zone!\u2019 <\/em>(Siegel & Plastino): a smart vignette with Superman outwitting a foe he can\u2019t beat by playing on his psychological foibles\u2026<\/p>\n

Action<\/strong> #305 featured Imaginary Story \u2018Why Superman Needs a Secret Identity!\u2019<\/em> (Dorfman, Swan & Klein) detailing personal tragedies and disasters following Ma & Pa Kent\u2019s proud and foolish public announcement that their son is an alien Superboy<\/strong>, whilst Superman<\/strong> #165\u2019s \u2018Beauty and the Super-Beast!\u2019<\/em> and conclusion \u2018Circe\u2019s Super-Slave\u2019 <\/em>(Bernstein, Swan & Klein), see the Man of Steel seemingly helpless against the ancient sorceress. In fact, the whole thing is an elaborate hoax to foil alien invaders of the Superman Revenge Squad. The issue\u2019s third tale, \u2018The Sweetheart Superman Forgot!\u2019 <\/em>(Siegel & Plastino) offers heartbreaking forbidden romance wherein powerless, amnesiac and disabled Superman meets, loves and loses a good woman who wants him purely for himself. When memory and powers return, Clark has no recollection of Sally Selwyn<\/em>, who\u2019s probably still pining faithfully for him\u2026<\/p>\n

Action<\/strong> #306 sees Bernstein & Plastino tweak the Prince and the Pauper<\/strong> in \u2018The Great Superman Impersonation!\u2019 <\/em>as Kent is hired to protect a South American President because he looks enough like Superman to fool potential assassins. Of course it\u2019s all a byzantine con, but by the end who\u2019s conning who?<\/p>\n

The reporter\u2019s crime expos\u00e9s make \u2018Clark Kent – Target for Murder!\u2019 <\/em>in Action<\/strong> #307 (by an unattributed scripter with Swan & Klein) but villainous King Kobra<\/em> makes the mistake of his life when the hitman he hires turns out to be the intended victim in disguise, after which #308 concentrates on all-out fantasy as \u2018Superman Meets the Goliath-Hercules!\u2019 <\/em>(anonymous & Plastino) after crossing into a parallel universe. Before returning, the Action Ace helps a colossal demigod perform \u201cthe Six Labours of King Thebes\u201d<\/em> in a yarn clearly cobbled together in far too much haste.<\/p>\n

Superman<\/strong> #166 (January 1964) features \u2018The Fantastic Story of Superman\u2019s Sons\u2019 <\/em>by Hamilton, Swan & Klein: an Imaginary Tale\/solid thriller built on a painful premise – what if only one of Superman\u2019s children inherits his powers? (Sounds a bit familiar now, no?) The saga starts with \u2018<\/em>Jor-El II and Kal-El II\u2019 <\/em>and the discovery that Kal junior takes after his Earth-born mother. He subsequently grows into a teenager with real emotional problems and, hoping to boost his confidence, dad packs both boys off to Kandor so they\u2019ll be physically equal. Soon the twins find adventure as \u2018The new Nightwing and Flamebird!\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

However, when a Kandorian menace escapes to the outer world, it\u2019s up to the human son to save Earth following \u2018Kal-El II\u2019s Mission to Krypton!\u2019 <\/em>which wraps everything up in a neat and tidy bundle of escapist fun.<\/p>\n

This volume closes with a strange TV tie-in tale from Action Comics<\/strong> #309 as an analogue of This Is Your Life<\/strong> honours Superman by inviting all his friends – even the Legion of Super-Heroes<\/strong> and especially Clark Kent – to \u2018The Superman Super-Spectacular!\u2019 <\/em>(Hamilton, Swan & Klein). With no other option, the hero must share his secret identity with someone new so that they can impersonate him. Although there must be less convoluted ways to allay Lois\u2019 suspicions, this yarn includes perhaps the oddest guest star appearance in comics\u2019 history\u2026<\/p>\n

These tales are the comic book equivalent of bubble gum pop music: perfectly constructed, always entertaining, occasionally challenging and never unwelcome. As well as containing some of the most delightful episodes of a pre angst-drenched, cosmically catastrophic DC, these fun, thrilling, mind-boggling and yes, frequently moving all-ages stories also perfectly depict changing mores and tastes that reshaped comics between the safely anodyne 1950s to the seditious, rebellious 1970s, all the while keeping to the prime directive of the industry – \u201ckeep them entertained and keep them wanting more\u201d.<\/p>\n

I know I certainly do\u2026
\n\u00a9 1962-1964, 2008 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Edmond Hamilton, Robert Bernstein, Jerry Siegel, Leo Dorfman, Al Plastino, Curt Swan, George Klein & various (DC Comics) ISBN: 978-1-4012-1847-8 (TPB) By the time of the stories in this fabulous fourth monochrome compendium Superman was a truly global household name, with the burgeoning mythology of lost Krypton, modern Metropolis and the core cast familiar … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Showcase Presents Superman volume 4”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_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}},"categories":[191,76,154,225,107,310,121,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure","category-dc-superhero","category-legion-of-super-heroes","category-mystery","category-science-fiction","category-superboy","category-supergirl-graphic-novels","category-superman"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-7vt","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28859","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=28859"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28859\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28862,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28859\/revisions\/28862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}