1939 - March

 Action Comics #10, March 1939

Cover: 

• The cover shows a mid-air Superman either punching or ramming into a single-person airplane. That airplane has one wing that is tearing away while another plane approaches.
• The cover has no apparent connection to any of the interior content, other than the character of Superman himself.
• The cover boasts, “64 Pages of Thrills!”
• The cover also reads, “Superman! Appearing in This Issue and in Every Issue”.

Story: 

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

Fabulous Firsts: 

• First use of classic Superman pose that will also be used on the cover of the forthcoming Superman #1

Origin:

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

Costume:

• The costume is essentially the same as it was in the previous story (blue suit, blue boots, red shorts, red cape, yellow belt, triangular yellow emblem with yellow or red “S” on the chest, although in many panels the “S” is uncolored, or not even there.
• In this story, the way Superman’s cape attaches to the rest of his costume is often presented a little bit differently than before. In earlier stories, the cape appears to be either directly attached to the back of the shoulders of the blue suit, or tucked into the blue suit by the back of the neck. In this story, the cape often appears as if it is tied around Superman’s neck, completely separate from the rest of the costume.
  

Powers:

• “Leaping over skyscrapers”
• “Running faster than an express train”
• “Springing great heights and distances”
• “Lifting and smashing tremendous weights”
• “Possessing an impenetrable skin”

Characterization:

• Although Clark Kent appears to be his typical meek self earlier in the story, he shows his editor that he is actually setting up Superintendent Wyman. Clark is allowing himself to be seen as shrewd.

Supporting Cast:

• Walter Crane, escaped fugitive and whistleblower
• Unnamed Editor of the Daily Star
• Superintendent Wyman, Head of Coreytown Prison
• Various Unnamed Workers of Coreytown Prison
• Various Unnamed Prisoners of Coreytown Prison
• Governor Bixby
• Various Unnamed Daily Star employees (including Proto-Jimmy?)
• Lois Lane
• Unnamed Coreytown Police Officers
• Unnamed Coreytown Judge
• Guard dog

Synopsis:

The Daily Star gets a call from Walter Crane, escaped prisoner from the Coreytown “Chain Gang.” Clark begins a series of exposés in the paper about exceptionally harsh treatment of prisoners at the correctional facility in Coreytown.

Directly after whipping a prisoner, Superintendent Wyman of the Coreytown Prison convinces the visiting governor that all is well in Coreytown. Wyman heads to the Daily Star, and convinces Clark to reveal his source, much to the chagrin of all of Clark’s co-workers. Crane goes back to prison. Clark tells his editor that he revealed his source on purpose so that Wyman will get cocky, become even more egregious with his treatment of prisoners, and be easily photographed in the act.

As Superman, Clark runs to Coreytown, but then disguises himself before forcing a car accident and a fight with Superintendent Wyman. This gets Clark thrown into the prison where he can take pictures as proof of Wyman’s behavior.

Meanwhile, Clark smashes some rocks, saves Crane while he is trying to escape again, throws a dog into quicksand, and gets Wyman to admit his deeds in front of the governor.

Favorite Quotes:

• “Wyman will kill you, not quickly, but thru a slow lingering torture!”
• “I wouldn’t even dirty my hands by socking him!”
• “I’m going to give you some of your own medicine, Wyman! I’m going to plug the air-holes … You’ll suffocate and die, just like your own victims did!”

Oddities and Analyses:

• In one panel, the way the cape appears to be tied around Superman’s neck reminds me of how I used to make a super-hero cape out of my bathrobe by running the belt through the sleeves and tying it around my neck.
• Even though Clark Kent is consistently called an “Ace Reporter”, that fact does help with his at-work relationships.
• Among Clark's co-workers is a character who looks like the office boy that often calls Clark into the editor's office. Another Jimmy sighting?
• Lois Lane appears in only one panel in this story.
• This is another story where Superman goes undercover to fix a problem instead of just quickly handling it as Superman. One would think with his speed, Superman could get the photos needed without having to take the time to get Clark incarcerated first.
• It is not known if Governor Bixby is the same governor from Action Comics #1. 
• In both stories we see the governor in bed.
• Superman does a lot of running in this story.
• In the last panel, Superman is called “The strip sensation of 1939”!

Apropos of Nothing:

• Ten issues in and the main features of Action Comics have not changed. This is a sign that the title was selling very well.

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

Interlude #1: The Superman Dailies

Superman began appearing as a daily feature in newspapers on January 16, 1939, between the releases of Action Comics #9 and Action Comics #10. The strip, like the comic book feature, was credited to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, although, also like the Action Comics entries, much of the artwork was ghosted by others like Paul Cassidy and Wayne Boring. Word is that Shuster would routinely do the faces on the work, but left much of the other art to the studio staff.

Although the focus of this blog is on the comic book development of Superman and Batman, I do want to acknowledge other media in which the characters appeared, especially if that media had a definite impact on the characters. Superman, the daily strip, definitely fits that bill.

First Daily Strip!

Fabulous Firsts:

• The first strip shows Superman’s planet which was previously shown in Action Comics #1, but now that planet has a name: Krypton! Readers of the comic book adventures had no idea as to the name of Superman’s original home.
• The same first strip also is our first look at Superman’s father and mother. The father was mentioned in Action Comics #1, but was not seen.
• The first strip also introduces the name of Superman’s parents: Jor-L and Lora.
• The second strip reveals Superman’s Kryptonian name: Kal-L.
• Another Kryptonian is also introduced in the seventh installment: Retoz, chairman of the Kryptonian Council.
• First use of “telescopic vision” in the installment published on February 9th, 1939
• First time mentioned that Superman has a special apartment rented for emergencies in the installment published on February 25th, 1939
• First use of the epithet “Man of Tomorrow” in the installment published on March 18th, 1939
• Daily Star editor is finally named George Taylor on June 7th, 1939.
• The same strip is also the first mention of Metropolis.
• There are certainly others to come. Check back on this page for updates!

Origin:

• The original origin remains intact, with some additional details.
• Krypton suffered from earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, not just “old age.”
• Jor-L brings his findings to the Kryptonian Council, which rejects his idea that Krypton is doomed.
• Months pass between Kal-L’s birth and Krypton’s final destruction.
• Only Kal-L was placed in the spaceship because there was only room for one.
• Earth was chosen as the destination because of its proximity and ability to sustain life.
  
• The spaceship narrowly avoided meteors and other dangers on its trip to Earth.
• Clark chooses to become a reporter so that he can hear of potential tragedies sooner.
• Clark gets his job at the Daily Star because he is able to write an article about Superman.

Costume:

• There is no noticeable difference between Superman’s costume in the daily strips compared to what he wears in the comic books.
• Of course, the dailies are in black and white, so there would be no discernible color differences.

Powers:

• Most powers that Superman exhibits are consistent with the powers used in the comic books.
• Superman uses telescopic vision to see far distances, a power not yet used in the comic books.

Characterization:

• The main characters behave similarly to how they do in the comic books, however, the motivations for their behaviors are more fleshed-out.
• In the February 2nd, 1939, installment, Clark explains why he wears glasses and acts meekly - in order to intentionally differentiate from his Superman persona.
• Lois Lane is a full reporter when we meet her, but gets “demoted” to the “Lonely Hearts” department after she fails to get the Superman exclusive that Clark gets. This seems to be a big reason why Lois does not like Clark, a reason that had not yet been expressed elsewhere.

Oddities and Analyses:

• The comic strips follow a different continuity than the comic books.
• Events early on in the strip are very similar to those in the comics books, but the circumstances are a little different.
• A lot of the artwork is similar, too, using identical compositions and such.
• The scene where Clark tells his editor that he can get an interview with Superman is before he is hired, unlike the situation in Action Comics #1.
• Superman terrorizes a thug by running him around on electric poles, like he does to the lobbyist in Action Comics #1. He even “misses” a building and says, “Doggone it!”
• Superman dumps out a car like he does in Action Comics #1.
• Superman attacks an airplane in a panel that looks like it was lifted straight from Action Comics #2.
• The third panel in the February 9th, 1939, installment has Superman in the pose that would be used on the cover of Superman #1. This pose was first seen in Action Comics #10 a couple of weeks prior.
• Most of Superman’s adventures early on are pretty pedestrian: rounding up gangsters, impersonating a boxer, stopping jewel smugglers, befriending a runaway, et cetera.

  

  Metropolis is in New York!

• It is interesting how the editor’s name and the use of Metropolis is first seen. In a story similar to Action Comics #2, Clark is covering a civil war in the nation of Boravia. He sends a telegram to his editor. The telegram is addressed to “George Taylor, Editor, Daily Star, Metropolis, N.Y.” Yes, at first, Metropolis was identified as being in New York!
• About two weeks later, the editor is referred to as “Taylor” in dialogue.
• Proto-Jimmy shows up several times, usually to tell Clark that the editor wants him.
• A week after Superman’s home city is named Metropolis, which of course means “Big City”, there is a panel showing Clark walking to work. The background in the panel is very rural, so I don’t know how “big” Metropolis was originally envisioned.
• I find it interesting that Superman has a separate apartment rented to use a type of safehouse. It will be interesting to see if it is ever used again.

Not quite a bustling Metropolis! And don't worry, Clark saves the boy.

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