1938 - December

 Action Comics #7, December 1938

Cover: 

• Superman is in mid-air, high above city streets while holding another man upside down by his foot.
• The cover boasts “64 Pages of Thrills!”
• Aside from showing Superman who appears inside, the cover image does not reflect an event that occurs within the book itself.
• This is only the second cover appearance of Superman.
• The cover reads, “Superman Appearing In This Issue And In Every Issue”.

Story: 

• “Untitled” - 13 pages, credited to “Jerome Siegel and Joe Shuster”
• First story in the anthology-style book

Fabulous Firsts:

• First appearance of Superman’s yellow boots
• First use of “The Man of Steel” (previous story used “Mystery Man of Steel”)
• First appearance of Curly
• First time Superman is identified by name on a cover

Origin:

• This story contains no mention of Superman’s origins.

Notice the boot!

Costume:

• There are no significant changes to Superman’s costume in this story except for the fact that Superman’s boots are yellow throughout the story. They are red on the cover.
• The chest emblem is mostly the same, although the border is yellow and the “S” fluctuates between yellow and red, depending on the panel. The “S” is red on the cover.

Powers:

• “Strength of a dozen Samsons!”
• “Lifting and rending gigantics weights”
• “Vaulting over skyscrapers”
• “Racing a bullet”
• “Skin impenetrable to even steel”

Characterization:

• Not much unexpected in this story.
• Superman defends the less fortunate.
• Lois is impetuous, and not a full reporter yet as she is described as a “sob sister”, probably meaning she is still writing the “Lonely Hearts” column of the newspaper.

Supporting Cast:

• Curly, employee at the Daily Star
• Lois Lane
• Unnamed Daily Star Worker
• Unnamed Editor of the Daily Star
• Derek Niles, gangster
• Mr. Jordan, circus owner
• Unnamed Circus Clown
• Unnamed Circus Strongman
• Unnamed Circus Ticket Taker
• Trigger, Niles’ hireling
• Unnamed Circus Attendees
• Unnamed Circus Ring-Master
• Unnamed Drunk in Circus Audience
• Unnamed Circus Security Guard
• Crax, circus watchdog
• Unnamed Circus Lion
• Unnamed Circus Trapeze Artist

Synopsis:

     Before going out on a Daily Star assignment at a local circus, Clark gets teased by a colleague named Curly. While at the circus, Clark overhears Derek Niles, apparently some kind of gangster, threatening Mr. Jordan, the circus owner. Jordan must either pay back loans to Niles or make Niles a partner. After witnessing low circus attendance, Clark decides to help Jordan out by having Superman join the circus as a strongman in order to increase interest, attendance, and revenue.

     Superman wows the audiences, potentially making it possible for Jordan to pay back Niles. Niles sends Trigger to sabotage the circus. Trigger does so, but also ends up kidnapping a snooping Lois Lane. Superman saves the circus from a loose lion and a collapsing big-top, finds Lois in Niles’ office, and is able to convince authorities that Niles and Trigger belong in jail. The circus becomes a big success.

Back at the office, Clark is able to secretly embarrass Curly.

Favorite Quotes:

• “Take that, you nosey mutt!” (decades before Scooby-Doo, Where are You?)
• “Those bullets are as harmless to me as peas!”

Oddities and Analyses:

• Curly seems to be a precursor to Steve Lombard of the 1970s Superman comics.
• I am surprised how long we have gone without a name for the Daily Star editor.
• Shaking down circuses seems to be a common plot element in comic books. I wonder how often things like this actually happened.
• I also often wonder why gangsters want to “take over” failing circuses. There is obviously not a lot of money in it. I guess I should re-watch some episodes of The Sopranos because those guys were always moving in on failing businesses, too.
• Instead of going after the loan shark directly, Superman devises a strange plan to join the circus. It is kind of like the plot of the Supergirl movie from 1984 where Supergirl is sent from Argo City to save it, but instead of actively searching for the villain, she adopts a secret identity enrolls in a school, and makes friends.
• The circus becomes a success, but did it die down again after Superman was no longer the strongman?
• I wonder if the yellow boots were intentional or a colorist’s error. Probably the latter since Superman is sporting red boots on the cover.
• We are led to believe that Clark uses his Superman powers to disrobe Curly, however it is not explicitly stated. Perhaps there is a ghostly hand roaming about the halls of the Daily Star?
• There is no strength training lesson in this issue.

Apropos of Nothing:

• In these early issues of Action Comics, Zatara gets the second greatest number of pages per issue.

All comic-related images are the copyright of DC Entertainment.