{"id":30620,"date":"2024-09-29T08:00:18","date_gmt":"2024-09-29T08:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=30620"},"modified":"2024-09-26T17:41:49","modified_gmt":"2024-09-26T17:41:49","slug":"superman-the-silver-age-dailies-volume-21961-1963","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2024\/09\/29\/superman-the-silver-age-dailies-volume-21961-1963\/","title":{"rendered":"Superman – The Silver Age Dailies volume 2:1961-1963"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nBy Jerry Siegel<\/strong>, Wayne Boring<\/strong>, Curt Swan<\/strong> & Stan Kaye<\/strong> with Otto Binder<\/strong>, Leo Dorfman<\/strong>, Edmond Hamilton<\/strong>, Bill Finger<\/strong> & Robert Bernstein<\/strong> (IDW Publishing Library of American Comics)
\nISBN: 978-1-6137-7923-1 (HB)<\/p>\n

This book includes Discriminatory Content<\/strong> produced in less enlightened times.<\/em><\/p>\n

The American comic book industry – if it existed at all – would be an utterly unrecognisable thing without Superman<\/strong>. Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster\u2019s unprecedented invention was fervidly adopted by a desperate and joy-starved generation and quite literally gave birth to a genre if not an actual art form. Spawning an army of imitators and variations within three years of his 1938 debut, the intoxicating blend of breakneck, breathtaking action and wish-fulfilment which epitomised the early Man of Steel grew to encompass cops-&-robbers crimebusting, socially reforming dramas, sci fi fantasy, whimsical comedy and, once the war in Europe and the East sucked in America, patriotic relevance for a host of gods, heroes and monsters, all dedicated to profit through exuberant, eye-popping excess and vigorous dashing derring-do.<\/p>\n

From the outset, in comic book terms Superman was master of the world. Moreover, whilst transforming the shape of the fledgling funnybook biz, the Man of Tomorrow irresistibly expanded into all areas of the entertainment media. Although we all think of the Cleveland boys\u2019 iconic invention as epitome and acme of comics creation, the truth is that very soon after his springtime debut in Action Comics<\/strong> #1 the Man of Steel was a fictional multimedia monolith in the same league as Popeye<\/strong>, Tarzan<\/strong>, Sherlock Holmes<\/strong> and Mickey Mouse<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

We parochial and possessive comics fans too often regard our purest and most powerful icons in purely graphic narrative terms, but the likes of Batman<\/strong>, Spider-Man<\/strong>, X-Men<\/strong>, Avengers<\/strong> and their hyperkinetic kind long ago outgrew their four-colour origins and are now fully mythologized modern media creatures instantly familiar in mass markets, across all platforms and age ranges…<\/p>\n

Far more people have seen and heard the Man of Steel than have ever read his comic books. His globally syndicated newspaper strips alone were enjoyed by countless millions, and by the time his 20th<\/sup> anniversary rolled around, at the very start of what we know as the Silver Age of Comics, he had been a thrice-weekly radio serial star, headlined a series of astounding animated cartoons, become a novel attraction (written by George Lowther) and helmed two films and his first smash, 8-season live-action television show. He was a perennial sure-fire success for toy, game, puzzle and apparel manufacturers and in his future were even more shows (Superboy<\/strong>, Lois & Clark<\/strong>, Smallville<\/strong>, Superman & Lois<\/strong>), a stage musical, franchise of blockbuster movies and almost seamless succession of games, bubble gum cards and TV cartoons. These started with The New Adventures of Superman<\/strong> in 1966 and have continued ever since. Even superdog Krypto<\/strong> got in on the small-screen act…<\/p>\n

Although pretty much a spent force these days, for the majority of the previous century the newspaper comic strip was the Holy Grail that all American cartoonists and graphic narrative storytellers hungered for. Syndicated across the country – and often the planet – it was seen by millions, if not billions, of readers and generally accepted as a more mature and sophisticated form of literature than comic-books. It also paid better.<\/p>\n

And rightly so: some of the most enduring and entertaining characters and concepts of all time were created to lure readers from one particular paper to another and many of them grew to be part of a global culture. Mutt and Jeff<\/strong>, Flash Gordon<\/strong>, Dick Tracy<\/strong>, Buck Rogers<\/strong>, Charlie Brown<\/strong> and so many more escaped their humble tawdry newsprint origins to become meta-real: existing in the minds of earthlings from Albuquerque to Zanzibar. Most still do…<\/p>\n

So it was always something of a risky double-edged sword when a comicbook character became so popular that it swam against the tide (after all, weren\u2019t the funny-books invented just to reprint the strips in cheap accessible form?) to became a genuinely mass-entertainment syndicated serial strip. Superman was the first original comic book character to make that leap – about six months after he burst out of Action Comics<\/strong> – but only a few successfully followed. Wonder Woman<\/strong>, Batman <\/strong>(eventually) and groundbreaking teen icon Archie Andrews<\/strong> made the jump in the 1940s and only a handful like Spider-Man,<\/strong> Howard the Duck<\/strong> and Conan the Barbarian <\/strong>have done so since.<\/p>\n

The daily Superman newspaper comic strip launched on 16th<\/sup> January 1939, supplemented by a full-colour Sunday page from November 5th<\/sup> of that year. Originally crafted by luminaries like Siegel & Shuster and their studio (Paul Cassidy, Leo Nowak, Dennis Neville, John Sikela, Ed Dobrotka, Paul J. Lauretta & Wayne Boring), the mammoth task required the additional talents of Jack Burnley and writers like Whitney Ellsworth, Jack Schiff & Alvin Schwartz. The McClure Syndicate feature ran continuously until May 1966, appearing at its peak, in over 300 daily and 90 Sunday newspapers – a combined readership of more than 20 million. Eventually, Win Mortimer and Curt Swan joined the unflagging Boring & Stan Kaye whilst Bill Finger and Siegel provided stories, telling serial tales largely divorced from comic book continuity throughout years when superheroes were scarcely seen.<\/p>\n

Then in 1956 Julie Schwartz kicked off the Silver Age with a new Flash in Showcase<\/strong> #4 and before long costumed crusaders began returning en masse to thrill a new generation. As the trend grew, many publishers began to cautiously dabble with the mystery man tradition and Superman\u2019s newspaper strip began to slowly adapt: drawing closer to the revolution on the comicbook pages. As Jet-Age gave way to Space-Age, the Last Son of Krypton was a comfortably familiar icon of domestic America: particularly in the constantly evolving, ever-more dramatic and imaginative comic book stories which had received such a terrific creative boost when superheroes began to proliferate once more. The franchise had been cautiously expanding since 1954 and by 1961 Superman was seen not only in Golden Age survivors Action Comics<\/strong>, Superman<\/strong>, Adventure Comics<\/strong>, World\u2019s Finest Comics<\/strong> and Superboy<\/strong>, but also in Superman\u2019s Pal Jimmy Olsen<\/strong>, Superman\u2019s Girlfriend Lois Lane<\/strong> and Justice League of America<\/strong>. Such increased attention naturally filtered through to the more widely-read newspaper strip and resulted in a rather strange and commercially sound evolution…<\/p>\n

This second expansive hardback collection (spanning August 1961 to November 1963) opens with a detailed Introduction<\/em> from Sidney Friedfertig, explaining the provenance of the strips; how and why Jerry Siegel was tasked with retuning recently published yarns from comic books; making them into daily 3-&-4 panel black-&-white continuities for an apparently more sophisticated and discerning newspaper audience. This frequently required major rewrites, subtle changes in plot, direction and tone and – on occasion – merging more than one funnybook story into a seamless new exploit to excite and amuse sensible, mature grown-ups.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a veteran fan, don\u2019t be fooled: the tales retold here might seem familiar, but they are not simple rehashes: they\u2019re variations and deviations on an idea for a readership perceived as completely separate from kids\u2019 comics. Even if you are familiar with the original source material, the adventures here will read as brand new, especially as they\u2019re gloriously illustrated by Boring (with a little occasional assistance from Swan) at the very peak of his artistic powers. After years away from the feature Boring had replaced his replacement Swan at the end of 1961, regaining his position as premiere Superman strip illustrator to see the series to its eventual conclusion. As an added bonus the covers of the issues the adapted stories came from have been included as a full, nostalgia-inducing colour gallery…<\/p>\n

The astounding everyday entertainments by Siegel & Boring commence with Episode #123 from August 14th<\/sup> to September 16th<\/sup>, 1961 revealing how meek Clark Kent<\/em> mysteriously excels as a policeman whilst wearing a legendary old cop\u2019s lucky tin star in \u2018The Super Luck of Badge 77!\u2019<\/em>: based on one of the same name by Otto Binder & Al Plastino from Superman<\/strong> #133 (November 1959). Running in papers from September 18th<\/sup> to 5th<\/sup> November and first seen in Superman<\/strong> #126 (January 1959 by Binder, Boring & Stan Kaye) \u2018Superman\u2019s Hunt for Clark Kent\u2019<\/em> details how a Kryptonite mishap deprives the hero of his memories, leaving him lost in Metropolis and trying to ferret out the secret of his other identity, before Episode #125 – November 6th<\/sup> to December 23rd<\/sup> – finds a restored Clark as \u2018The Reporter of Steel\u2019<\/em> (once a Binder, Boring & Kaye yarn from Action Comics<\/strong> #257, October 1959), wherein Lex Luthor<\/em> very publicly inflicts the mild-mannered journalist with unwanted superpowers, setting Lois Lane<\/em> off on another quest to prove her colleague is actually a Caped Kryptonian.<\/p>\n

\u2018The 20th<\/sup> Century Achilles\u2019<\/em> ran from Christmas Day 1961 through January 20th<\/sup> 1962, adapted from an Edmond Hamilton, Curt Swan & Kaye thriller in Superman<\/strong> #148 (October 1961). It detailed how a cunning crook holds the city hostage to his apparent magical invulnerability whilst \u2018The Man No Prison Could Hold\u2019<\/em> (January 22nd<\/sup> – February 24th<\/sup> by Finger, Boring & Kaye from Action Comics<\/strong> #248, in January 1959) sees Clark and Jimmy Olsen<\/em> captured by a Nazi war criminal using slave labour to construct a mighty vengeance weapon. Unbeknownst to all, the Man of Steel has good reason to foil every escape attempt and stay locked up…<\/p>\n

An old-fashioned hard lesson informs the Kryptonian Crimebuster\u2019s short, sharp shock treatment of \u2018The Three Tough Teenagers\u2019<\/em> (February 26th<\/sup> to March 31st<\/sup> and based on a Siegel & Plastino collaboration contemporaneously appearing in Superman<\/strong> #151 (February 1962)). Perhaps the headline-grabbing nature of youth in revolt was too immediate to resist? Usually timing discrepancies in publication dates could be explained by the fact that submitted comic book yarns often appeared months after completion, but here it feels like neither iteration of the franchise was willing to surrender sales-garnering topicality…<\/p>\n

Swan illustrated portions of the Siegel\/Boring strip version of \u2018The Day Superman Broke the Law\u2019<\/em> (2nd<\/sup> to 28th<\/sup> April), derived from the original by Finger & Plastino in Superman<\/strong> #153, May 1962. Here, the hero falls foul of a corrupt city councilman rewriting ordinances to hamper him, after which the Kryptonian became \u2018The Man with the Zero Eyes\u2019<\/em> (30th<\/sup> April to June 2nd<\/sup> from an uncredited tale in Superman<\/strong> #117, November 1957 and first limned by Plastino) as a space virus causes super-freezing rays to uncontrollably erupt from his eyes.<\/p>\n

Spanning 4th<\/sup> – 23rd<\/sup> June, \u2018Lois Lane\u2019s Revenge on Superman\u2019<\/em> grew out of a comedy tale by Siegel, Swan & George Klein in Superman\u2019s Girlfriend Lois Lane <\/strong>#32 (April 1962). For adults, however, there\u2019s a dark edge apparent as the frustrated journalist revels in humiliating her ideal man when a magic potion turns him into a baby…<\/p>\n

\u2018When Superman Defended his Arch-Enemy\u2019<\/em> – published from 25th<\/sup> June to August 4th<\/sup> as adapted from Action Comics<\/strong> #292 (September 1962 by writer unknown & Plastino) – sees the Metropolis Marvel acting as defence Counsel for ungrateful mad scientist Luthor after the fleeing maniac dismantles a sentient mechanoid on a world of machine intelligences…<\/p>\n

Daily from 6th<\/sup> August to September 8th<\/sup>,\u2018Lois Lane\u2019s Other Life\u2019<\/em> retold Siegel, Swan & Klein\u2019s tale from Superman\u2019s Girlfriend Lois Lane <\/strong>#35 (August 1962) as the dauntless reporter changes her appearance to go undercover but subsequently loses her memory, after which \u2018The Feud Between Superman and Clark Kent\u2019<\/em> – September 10th<\/sup> to 27th<\/sup> October, and originally crafted by Hamilton & Plastino for Action Comics<\/strong> #292, with a cover-date of October 1962) depicts the two halves of the hero separated by Red Kryptonite. Sadly, the goodness and nobility are all in the merely human Clark part and he must avoid his merciless alternative fraction\u2019s murderous clutches until the effect wears off…<\/p>\n

First conceived by Siegel, Swan & Klein (in Superman\u2019s Girlfriend Lois Lane <\/strong>#38, January 1963), \u2018The Invisible Lois Lane\u2019<\/em> was more comedy than drama, but here filled newspaper pages between October 29th<\/sup> and December 1st<\/sup> as the undetectable investigator quickly sees her quarry switch from Clark to Superman. It takes super-ingenuity to convince her otherwise…<\/p>\n

\u2018The Man Who Hunted Superman\u2019<\/em> (December 3rd<\/sup> 1962 to January 19th<\/sup> 1963) originally appeared as Leo Dorfman & George Papp\u2019s Boy of Steel blockbuster \u2018The Man Who Hunted Superboy\u2019<\/em> in Adventure Comics<\/strong> #303 (December 1962), finding Clark subbing for a prince in a Ruritanian kingdom, complete with adoring and compliant princess bride, until the Action Ace could topple a highly-placed usurper and save the kingdom. Then \u2018Superman Goes to War\u2019<\/em> (January 21st<\/sup> to February 23rd<\/sup>, initiated by Hamilton, Swan & Klein in Superman<\/strong> #161, May 1963) as Lois and Clark visit a film-set sponsored by the US military and are inadvertently caught up in a real, but unconventional, alien invasion…<\/p>\n

From February 25th<\/sup> to April 20th<\/sup> Red K stripped our hero of his powers, leaving \u2018The Mortal Superman\u2019<\/em> forced to fake it due to an unavoidable prior engagement in a terse reinterpretation of the Dorfman & Plastino yarn seen in Superman<\/strong> #160, April 1963. The Man of Steel, for good and sound patriotic reasons, allows himself to be locked up for the alleged murder of Clark Kent in \u2018The Trial of Superman\u2019<\/em> (22nd<\/sup> April -May 25th)<\/sup>, seen later in its original format as Hamilton & Plastino\u2019s thriller in Action Comics<\/strong> #301, June 1963.<\/p>\n

Hardworking, obsessive editor Perry White<\/em> loses his memory and falls into the clutches of criminals who use his investigative instincts to uncover Earth\u2019s greatest secret in \u2018The Man who Betrayed Superman\u2019s Identity\u2019<\/em> between 27th<\/sup> May and July 6th<\/sup> (adapted from Dorfman, Swan & Klein\u2019s suspenseful romp in Action Comics<\/strong> #297, February 1963) whilst, with adult sensibilities fully addressed, genuine tragedy and pathos pushes Siegel & Boring\u2019s reworking of \u2018The Sweetheart that Superman Forgot\u2019<\/em> – running 8th<\/sup> July to August 17th<\/sup> – to the heady heights of pure melodrama as Superman loses his powers, memories, and use of his legs; but meets, falls in love and loses a girl who only wants him for himself. In one of the most adult of stories of his canon, the hero recovers his astounding gifts and faculties but has no notion of what he\u2019s lost and who waits for him forever alone: a depth of emotion the author could only dream of approaching in the Plastino-illustrated original version appearing in Superman<\/strong> #165 (November 1963).<\/p>\n

Painfully locked into un-PC, sexist comedy tropes of the era, from August 19th<\/sup> to September 14th<\/sup> comes \u2018Superman, Please Marry Me\u2019<\/em> wherein a novelty record of Lois purportedly begging her ideal man to give in makes the reporter\u2019s life a living hell in a \u201ctweaked-for-married-readers\u201d yarn based on Siegel, Swan & Klein\u2019s \u2018The Superman-Lois Hit Record\u2019<\/em> in Superman\u2019s Girlfriend Lois Lane <\/strong>#45 (November 1963). From the same issue, \u2018Dear Dr. Cupid\u2019<\/em> by Siegel & Kurt Schaffenberger is a light-hearted turn running from September 14th<\/sup> to October 12th<\/sup> detailing how the \u201cnews-hen\u2019s\u201d surprising and unsuspected gift for doling out advice as an Agony Auntie leads to a series of disturbing gifts from an unexpected admirer…<\/p>\n

The epic escapades conclude with October 14th<\/sup> -November 23rd<\/sup> 1963\u2019s \u2018The Great Superman Impersonation\u2019<\/em> (based on Robert Bernstein & Plastino\u2019s Action Comics<\/strong> #306, November 1963) with Clark kidnapped by foreign agents who pass him off as the Man of Tomorrow to facilitate the takeover of a Central American republic: big mistake, especially as Superman is in a playful mood…<\/p>\n

Superman: – The Silver Age Dailies 1961-1963<\/strong> is the second of three huge (305 x 236 mm), lavish, high-end hardback collections starring the Action Ace and a welcome addition to the superb commemorative series of Library of American Comics which has preserved and re-presented in luxurious splendour such landmark strips as Li\u2019l Abner<\/strong>, Tarzan<\/strong>, Rip Kirby<\/strong>, Polly and her Pals<\/strong> and many of the abovementioned cartoon icons.<\/p>\n

If you love the era, these stories are great comics reading, and this is a book you simply must have – especially as there\u2019s still no sign of any digital editions yet.
\nSuperman \u2122 & \u00a9 2014 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jerry Siegel, Wayne Boring, Curt Swan & Stan Kaye with Otto Binder, Leo Dorfman, Edmond Hamilton, Bill Finger & Robert Bernstein (IDW Publishing Library of American Comics) ISBN: 978-1-6137-7923-1 (HB) This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times. The American comic book industry – if it existed at all – would be … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Superman – The Silver Age Dailies volume 2:1961-1963”<\/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":[191,78,119,75,76,125,345,127,107,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure","category-comic-strip-classics","category-comicsacademic","category-crime-comics","category-dc-superhero","category-humour","category-lois-lane","category-nostalgia","category-science-fiction","category-superman"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-7XS","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30620","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=30620"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30622,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30620\/revisions\/30622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}