1938 - November

 Action Comics #6, November 1938

Cover: 

• A man holding a camera is crouched among bushes in a jungle setting. Behind the man is a large gorilla with his right arm raised, looking like he is ready to swat the man.
• The cover boasts “64 Pages of Thrilling Adventure”.
• The cover has no apparent connection to any of the interior content.
• The cover is signed by Leo E. O’Mealia.
• There is no mention of Superman on the cover.

Story: 

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

Fabulous Firsts:

• First appearance of an “Office Boy” - Is it Jimmy Olsen, or a Jimmy Olsen prototype?
• First appearance of Superman’s red boots
• First use of "Man of Steel" phrase

Origin:

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

Costume:

• The boots are now red.
• The chest emblem does not appear to have the red border it did in the previous story.
• The chest emblem has a red “S”.
• When it is seen, the belt is yellow.

Powers:

• “Super-Strength”
• “Jump over a ten-story building”
• “Leap an eighth of a mile”
• “Run faster than an express train”
• “Lift tremendous weights”
• “Crush steel in his bare hands”

Characterization:

• Lois has no problem using Clark (or drugging him for that matter) to get to Superman.
• Clark is happy to play along with the drugging.
• Clark is referred to as an "Ace Reporter"
• Superman is quick and decisive.

Supporting Cast:

• Unnamed Daily Star Editor
• Nick Williams, Superman’s supposed agent
• Unnamed Radio Announcer (unseen)
• Unnamed Inquisitive Office Boy
• Lois Lane
• Unnamed Nightclub Singer
• Unnamed Superman Impersonator
• Unnamed Police Officer

Synopsis:

     Clark Kent’s editor introduces Clark to Nick Williams, who claims to be Superman’s agent. Williams describes all the different ways Superman was being used to promote products like automobiles and gasoline. His plans included adding Superman’s likeness to all kinds of merchandise, even "in the comics!" Intrigued, Clark sets up a meeting with Williams and “Superman”.

     Learning that Clark is going to meet Superman, Lois Lane feigns interest in Clark so that he’ll take her out the same night he is to meet “Superman”. They go to dinner, and after a singer sings song dedicated to Superman, Lois drugs Clark so that she can run off and meet “Superman” in Clark's place. Of course, Clark only pretended to be drugged, so he soon races off after Lois.

     Lois, having met Superman before, calls Williams’s bluff. This angers Williams, causing him to throw Lois out of a high window. Superman saves Lois just in time, captures Williams and the Superman impersonator, and hands them over to the police.

Favorite Quotes:

“You’re a Superman!

You can make me leap,

Ten thousand feet!

You’re a Superman!

But I’m the one girl who kin,

Get under your skin!

When you crush me in your arms,

I must reveal,

I’m only flesh and blood

And not resistless steel!

You’re a Superman!

Your ardor’s stronger than,

A human man’s!

You’re a Superman!

And when you spring to me,

I am in ecstasy!

Some day you’re gonna leap,

To the altar of my feet…

Then the whole world will know ,

‘Cause I’ll tell all I know,

That you’re my Superman!”

Oddities and Analyses:

• The feature is back to being 13 pages, after one issue’s different page count.
• In the opening text box, Superman is referred to as a "Mystery-Man", an early term for what would become known as "super-heroes".
• The second panel shows four different newspapers, all with headlines about Superman. Both the Daily Star and the Evening News appear, both of which that have been used as Clark's employer.
• The Daily Star headline reads, "Mystery Man of Steel Re-Appears" This is the first use of the phrase "Man of Steel" to refer to Superman.
• Even though there had been intellectual property merchandising before (Wizard of Oz, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), this story does seem prescient as it was written and published almost a year before there was any Superman licensed merchandise in real life. In a few short years, Superman would be everywhere.
• However, Siegel and Shuster, having sold their rights to the character, saw no cut of what must have been a windfall for DC.
• The young office boy bears a resemblance to who we come to know as Jimmy Olsen, and many fans consider this Jimmy’s first appearance.
• Reading the song that the singer performs about Superman made me think of Margot Kidder’s “Can you read my mind…?" from Superman: The Movie. Maybe the movie-makers should have used these lyrics instead.
• So a couple of stories ago, Superman drugs a football player. This time around Lois drugs Clark. Where are they getting these narcotics? And was this common behavior in the late 1930s?
• I wonder how Clark knows what Lois was up to. Obviously, the drug has no effect on him, but he acts like it does, so he must know that Lois has slipped something into his drink. Why does he play along?
  
• It seems that they only book the perpetrators for attempted murder. The actions of fraud seem to not matter anymore.
• The imposter Superman has a little "Superman curl" to his hair, before the real Superman started sporting that distinctive element!
• After the story, there is a panel advertising “More Adventures of Superman” coming in other issues of Action Comics. Joe Shuster clearly did not draw the figure and it is not known who did. Oddly, in this image Superman’s cape is flowing wildly in front of him.
• The second “Acquiring Super-Strength” feature occurs just after the story. This one encourages readers to snap their wrist around while making a tight fist in order to get a “crushing hand grip!”

Apropos of Nothing:

• The story has been often repeated of how DC determined decades later that comics books with gorillas on the cover sold better than comics without gorillas on the cover. I wonder how this issue did?

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