Report what comic books you have read today--and tell us a little something about it while you're here!
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Report what comic books you have read today--and tell us a little something about it while you're here!
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The insides are by Curt Swan (Superman) and Ross Andru & Mike Esposito (The Flash). Storywise, I can appreciate them, but they didn't really do a lot for me. I should have read them for the first when I was younger.
SUPERMAN ARCHIVES v4 - "Superman from the Beginning" (Part 6):
A couple of things struck me while reading this volume. First, as with Batman, colorful villains begins to emerge. Unlike Batman, few of Superman's are as successful as the Joker, the Penguin and Catwoman. Also like Batman, I have noticed a shift in story tone a year or so in. With Batman, the shift occurs with the introduction of Robin, but there's no such clear delineation with Superman; just a general change as the artwork becomes more "sophisticated." Finally, Superman has no aversion to killing criminals, or allowing them to be killed. The introduction to this volume is written by Leonard Maltin and, unsurprisingly, his commentary centers largely on the theatrical cartoons of Max & Dave Fleischer. This archive edition reprints Superman #13-16, and her are a few of the notes I jotted dowm as I read.
#13 introduces another costumed villain with a gimmick, The Light, but it ends up being Luthor in a hooded robe. Another story in the thirteenth issues introduces another costumed villain, The Archer, a character I first encountered this story reprinted in The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told (1987). The Daily Planet copyboy is named "Jimmy" in this issue, but his hair is blond (although it's red in TGSSET). Is this considered the first comic book appearance of Jimmy Olsen? (It is certainly the first story in which the office boy plays a large role.) I'm not sure because I'm reading the issues of Superman and Action Comics reprinted in the archives somewhat out of order. Years ago, I dumped them all in a speadsheet, so I could read them in release-date order if I wanted to; I just thought it would be too much trouble. I envy those who have these stories in omnibus format.
Superman killed two or three (it's unclear) spies in #13, and allowed a criminal to fall to his death in #14 when he could have easily saved him. He also meets a mermaid in #14, not Lori Lemaris, but Princess Kuellsa of the Undersea People. She and her entire race are wiped out in this story, never to be seen or mentioned again. Another villain in this story is The Lightning Master, who looks exactly like Lex Luthor but is not. superman executes this criminal, fittingly, by electrocution.
The office boy is identified as Jummy Olsen, first and last name, in #15. the villain is Evolution King, and Superman kills him as well. In #16 the motif of Clark Kent's smoking typewriter is used for the first time (although it's attributed to the "hot" story he's writing here). He later tosses a handgrenade at a getaway car killing at least one (possibly two) fleeing criminals. Another colorful villain: Mister Sinister.
NEW COMICS I HAVE READ TODAY THIS MONTH: Absolute Batman #4, Absolute Wonder Woman #4, Absolute Superman #3, Batman & Robin: Year One #4, Batman #156, Wonder Woman #17, Black Canary #3, Jenny Sparks #6, Babs #5, Toxic Avenger #4, Archaic #2, Howl #1, Epitaphs from the Abyss #7, Cruel Kingdom #1, Mr. Justice #2, Badger #1, Dick Tracy #7, Space Ghost #9, Nexus: Scourge #2 and Godzilla Monsterpiece Theatre #3.
Broken down by company that's...
Archie - 1
1First - 1
Mad Cave - 1
Dynamite - 1
Alien Books -1
IDW - 1
Oni Press - 2
AHOY! - 4
DC - 8
As with December's number's, DC is temporarily artificially inflated due to their "All In" initiative. The real surprise here is...
Marvel - 0
I'm reading The Complete Eightball 1-18 by Daniel Clowes. I already own Ghost World and Pussey, but there is a tremendous deal here that I've not encountered before.
Curiously, I'm simultaneously reading a collection of literary short stories, Eightball, by Elizabeth Geoghegan, published about a decade ago.
FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE - THE COMPLETE LIBRARY - Vol. FIVE (1993-1996): After I finished reading the latest Funky Winkerbean collection a couple of weeks ago I moved over to where I left off with FBOFW, v4. I just this morning moved onto v5. With this volume, the paper stock switches to glossy.
EDIT: Volume 5 ends with Lawrence's "coming out" story. Lynn Johnston wrote extensively about this storyline in both the 15th and 20th anniversary collections, so didn't say much about it here.
I start off every day with a Golden Age Superman story. Currently I am up to...
SUPERMAN ARCHIVES v5 - "Superman from the Beginning" (Part 7):
This volume reprints Superman #17-20 and features the work of Jerry siegel, Joe Shuster, Jack Burnley, Ed Dobrotka, Leo Mowak, Fred Ray and John Sikela.
The cover of Superman #17 (Superman roughing up Hitler and Hirohito) makes it clear that the United States had entered World War II. Previously, Superman occasionally fought against stand-ins, but now all bets are off (at least on the covers). Lois has questioned Clark's whereabouts during Superman's appearances from time to time before, but the first story in this issue is the first one specifically dedicated to that premise. She goes through a scrapbook she has kept of Superman's previous appearances, which provide flashbacks to actual stories. Also included in the scrapbook/flashback sequence is an early (the first?) use of a full-page "pin-up" panel within a story. The villain in the this story is the Talon.
The third story in this issues features the first appearance of the Fortress of Solitude (or at least a "fortress of solitude" since Superman refers to it as his "Secret Citadel"). Also, it is not in the Arctic, but in a remote mountain range. The final story is the first of many (many) comic book stories over the decades titled "When Titans Clash!" It is also noteable as Lex Luthor becomes one of three prominent Golden Age characters to be formally sentenced to die in the electric chair and actually electrocuted (the other two being Joker and Sub-Mariner).
Luthor returns in #18 with a heat ray built into a man-made meteor. Lois still writes the advice to the lovelorn column as "Miss Henkel." Perry White takes a vacation and put Lois in chargeof the Daily Planet. "The Snake" is latest in a long line of costumed and.or super-powered villains National threw against the wall (presumeably) in hope something would stick. (To be fair, though, many of these villains did not survive their first story.) Superman uses his "face contorting power" once again.
Issue #19 adds "Funny Face" to the list of gimmicky villains that did not stick. Lois Lane learns Clark's secret, but [SPOILER] it ends up being a dream [END SPOILER]. The "lovelorn" column is apparently a feature Perry White dispenses as a "punishment" to reporters when they fall out of favor. "Matinee Idol" is a story that was later retroactively (and incorrectly) identified as DC's first "Imaginary Story." (There is a case to be made that it might be the company's first adaptation, though.)
In "Superman's Secret Revealed!" (#20), Lois Lane conspires with Carl, the Daily Planet's head pressman, to print up a few joke copies of the newspaper, proclaiming that Superman is Clark Kent, as a joke. But Carl had an attack of appendicitis as the paper was going to press, and several hundred thousand of the fraudulent paper were printed and distributed. When Perry White finds out, he fires Jack Young for letting it go to press, even though Young knew nothing about the joke. Lois is prepared to quit when Clark suggests doubling down on the story as a publicity stunt. (He cites "The Great Balloon Hoax" but the incident he actually describes is "The Great Moon Hoax.") At that point, Clark is required to "impersonate" Superman. Hijinks ensue. The story features cameos of his "rogues gallery": Luthor, the Prankster, the Puzzler, Adolf Hitler and an unidentified gangster.
"Destroyer from the Depths" introduces the another in the long line of forgettable villains, Wiley Fange, a sort of Nazi "aquaman" who controls mythical sea serpents with a whistle. The Leopard is similarly forgettable, and the issue ends with a rematch with the Puzzler. The third story features a one-off comic relief character who calls himself "Herman the Heroic." Interestingly, Herman's costume, with only slight cosmetic changes, eventually shows up at Marvel as Captain Hero.
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