This painting by pulp artist H.J. Ward, best known for his Spicy Detective covers, hung for years in the DC offices.
FREQUENTLY RECURRING CHARACTERS / VILLAINS:
LUTHOR:
- Action Comics #23, 42, 43, 125, 131,146
- Superman #4, 5, 10, 12, 13, 17, 18, 20 (cameo), 31, 34, 38, 48, 57
- World's Finest #28
MR. MXYZPTLK:
- Action Comics #80, 102,112
- Superman #30, 33, 36, 40, 46, 51, 59, 62
THE PRANKSTER:
- Action Comics #51, 57, 69, 77, 95, 104, 109
- Superman #22, 37, 41, 50, 52, 55, 56, 61, 64
TOYMAN:
- Action Comics #85
- Superman #27, 32, 44, 47, 49, 60, 63
- World's Finest #20
WILBUR WOLFINGHAM:
- Action Comics #79, #104 (behind-the-scenes), 107, 116
- Superman #28, 35, 39, 42
- World's Finest #16, 43
HOCUS & POCUS:
- Action Comics #83, 88, 97
- Superman #45
SUSIE:
- Action Comics #59, 68, 110
- Superman #40, 47
ULTRA-HUMANITE: Action Comics #13, 14, 17, 19, 20, 21
TELEPHONE BOOTH MOTIF:
- "Mechanical Monsters" - Max Fleischer cartoon, 1941 (Also, "Bulleteers," 1942)
- Sunday page #165 - first comic strip instance, late 1942
- On radio - ?
- Action Comics #99 - first comic book instance, Aug 1946
- Action Comics #119 - second comic book instance, Apr 1948
- Superman #60 - third comic book instance, Sep 1949
- Superman #69 - fourth comic book instance
Replies
I saw Cosby when I was a kid at the CNE. We laughed our asses off, figuratively. He was a funny man. Neil Gaiman engaged in deeply creepy sexual interactions, though he denies anything that is actually illegal. Alice Munro was one of the world's greatest writers-- I will stand by that statement-- and her reaction when she found out, years after the fact, that her second husband sexually abused her daughter, was unhelpful. Your favorite classic rock star from the 60s/70s probably had sex with an underage groupie.
Jimmy Savile raised a fortune for worthwhile charities, and I'm told that Jeffrey Epstein was an excellent financier.
For all me know, Jack the Ripper might have been an incredible viola player.
I still read Munro. I don't know that I would still laugh at Cosby's routines.
Jack, to my knowledge, never recorded.
Did lifeguards ever used to wear pith helmets?
Oh. Well. Damn. So much for me.
THE GOLDEN AGE SUPERMAN OMNIBUS - Vol. 7:
The Superman of the '30s was a crusader and champion of the oppressed; the Superman of the '40s became a flag-waving paragon of patriotism during the war; as we move into the '50s, Superman will become much more pop culture-oriented, with his biggest threats being science-based.
ACTION COMICS #126 - "Superman on Television!" - Superman uses television to clear a man falsely accused of murder. Intro: The Chameleon.
WORLD'S FINEST #37 - "The Superman Story!" - The Daily Planet sponsors a contest for reporters to shadow Superman for a day.
ACTION COMICS #127 - "Superman Takes the Consequences!" - Superman is a contestant on the "Truth or Consequences" radio show.
SUPERMAN #55:
ACTION COMICS #128 - "The Adventure of Little Red" - Superman helps a little boy "single-handedly" defeat a crooked football team.
WORLD'S FINEST #38 - "If There Were No Superman" - Superman is displaced through significant moments in world history.
ACTION COMICS #129 - "Lois Lane, Cavegirl!" - Superman discovers a caveman frozen in an iceberg, and when he thaws out, comes to life.
SUPERMAN #56:
ACTION COMICS #130 - "Superman and the Mermaid!" - A movie-star mermaid, modern-day pirates and a mechanical octopus/submarine.
WORLD'S FINEST #39 - "The Fatal Forecasts!" - Science runs amok as a machine that foresees the future predicts Superman will lose his powers.
ACTION COMICS #131 - "The Scrambled Superman!" - Luthor's 17th appearance.
SUPERMAN #57:
ACTION COMICS #132 - "The Secret of the Kents!" - Someone is trying to wipe out the Kent family of the present, which leads Superman to the past.
WORLD'S FINEST #40 - "The Two Lois Lanes!" - Gangsters hire an actress to impersonate Lois Lane and distract Superman while they commit crimes.
ACTION COMICS #133 - "The World's Most Perfect Girl!" - Helen of Troy is brought from the past to be the perfect match for Superman.
SUPERMAN #58:
ACTION COMICS #134 - "Super-Cowboy!" - Superman goes West.
WORLD'S FINEST #41 - "The Discovery of Supermanium!" - An new element, whose chief attribute is hardness, is discovered.
ACTION COMICS #135 - "The Case of the Human Statues!" - A man invents a gas that turns people to stone.
SUPERMAN #59:
ACTION COMICS #136 - "Superman, Show-Off!" - Superman performs crazy stunts, presumably for publicity, but actually he has another purpose in mind
WORLD'S FINEST COMICS #32 - "The Alphabetical Animal Adventure!" - Superman helps the Uranians gather specimens for their interplanetary zoo.
ACTION COMICS #137 - "The Man with the Charmed Life!" - The chief witness in a criminal trail is convinced the "Ring of Thoth" protects him.
SUPERMAN #60:
ACTION COMICS #138 - "Superman Scoop-Parade!" - Superman helps a tyro reporter get scoops.
WORLD'S FINEST #43 - "When Metropolis Went Mad !" - 10th appearance of Wilbur Wolfingham.
ACTION COMICS #139 - "Clark Kent... Daredevil!" - Clark Kent becomes more "hardboiled" in order to keep his job, but his plan backfires.
SUPERMAN #61:
ACTION COMICS #140 - " Superman Becomes a Hermit!" - Earth is menaced by a vine from outer space.
WORLD'S FINEST #44 - "The Revolt of the Thought Machine!" - A giant robot learns Superman's secret identity, reveals it to Lois, runs amok.
ACTION COMICS #141 - "Luthor's Secret Weapon!" - Luthor creates synthetic Kryptonite.
SUPERMAN #62:
ACTION COMICS #142 - "The Conquest of Superman!" - The return of synthetic Kryptonite.
WORLD'S FINEST #45 - "Lois Lane and Clark Kent, Detectives!" - Lois and Clark becaome detectives to solve a rash of detective murders.
ACTION COMICS #143 - "The Bride of Superman!" - Can YOU guess who it is?
SUPERMAN #63:
ACTION COMICS #144 - "Clark Kent's Career!" - A continuity implant which reveals how Clark Kent won his job on the Daily Planet.
WORLD'S FINEST #46 - "The Seven Crimes of Mr. 7!" - A new villain bases his crimes on the numbers one through seven.
ACTION COMICS #145 - "Merton Gloop and His Magic Horseshoe!" - A nebbish gets ahold of a "force repeller."
SUPERMAN #64:
ACTION COMICS #146 - "The Statues That Came to Life!" - 19th appearance of Lex Luthor; invents a "life-ray gun."
WORLD'S FINEST #47 - "The Girl Who Hated Reporters!" - The "secret origin"of Lois Lane.
ACTION COMICS #147 - "Superman Becomes Miss Lovelorn!" - Actually, Clark Kent does.
SUPERMAN #65:
ACTION COMICS #126 - "Superman on Television!"
Superman uses television to clear a man falsely accused of murder. The story came out in 1948, when television was still a relatively new technology. In 1950, only 9% of American housholds had a TV; by the end of the decade, 85.9%. This is not the last time we will see television play a major role in this volume. Intro: The Chameleon (who predated Marvel's version by a full 15 years).
WORLD'S FINEST #37 - "The Superman Story!"
The Daily Planet sponsors a contest for reporters to shadow Superman for a day, and the one who writes the best story will have the honor of having his or her story syndicated "all over the world," the syndication profits to go to the new children's hospital. Clark Kent bows out. In addition to Lois Lane, the other reporters are...
Again, this last character could have been Jimmy Olsen. He misses the initial plane and ends up chasing Superman and the other reporters all around the world (presumably on his own dime), always arriving too late to witness the action. Joey's photos of the aftermath of Superman's rescues and super-dees win the contest.
New super-power: A "hot flame, powered by Superman's breath"
ACTION COMICS #127 - "Superman Takes the Consequences!"
Superman delves into American pop culture once again when he appears on Ralph Edwards' "Truth or Consequences" radio program. Superman must bring one inch of rain to fall in California, and answer the questions "Are you really in love with Lois Lane?" and "What is your real identity?" As a consequence, he must clean Lois Lane's apartment and shine 1000 shoes. [19 years (or 218 issues) later, Superman will appear on "Candid Camera."]
I remember watching Truth or Consequences on the television machine when I was little. I think that I was an adult before I realized that it had been a radio show previously.
TELEPHONE BOOTH EDITION:
JD DeLuzio: According to online sources (yeah, I know) the bit was first used in the comic strip in 1941...
I have been unable to verify that. I have flipped through all of the 1941 dailies and Sundays, but could not find it. My own online search found many citations of the 1942 Sunday panel shown below, but I couldn't find a 1941 instance, either online or in print. If you can locate a more specific reference, I'd be happy to check it out.
Luke Blanchard: He changes in phone booths in “The Mechanical Monsters” and “The Bulleteers”.
Confirmed. For the first instance (1941), click HERE. I had forgotten about the second instance because it takes place at night and isn't quite as iconic.
By far, the best online source for the "Telephone Booth Trope" (as I call it) that I have found is "Superman and the Phone Booth" on the "Superman Homepage." I urge those interested in further information to follow the link and read the entire article. The earliest example from a comic book cited there is Action Comics #119 (APR 1948), but I have discovered and earlier one in Action Comics #99 (AUG 1946, page six, panel three). I have reached out to the owner of the site but have not yet heard back.
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