Action Comics #12, May 1939
- The cover shows a rocketship, looking like it has been shot out of some type of cannon, soaring among faraway planets, as Zatara looks on. In a sidebar, there is the often-used image of Superman busting through chains.
- The cover art, except for the appearance of the characters of Superman and Zatara, has no apparent connection to any of the interior content,
- The cover is signed by Guardineer (No Fred this time).
- The cover boasts, “64 Pages of Thrills!”
- The cover also reads, “This Month and Every Month: Superman, Also Another Thrilling And Unusual Adventure of Zatara!”
Story:
- “Untitled” - 13 pages, credited to “Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster”
- First story in the anthology-style book
Fabulous Firsts:
- The last panel is an ad for the May issue of Detective Comics, accompanied by a head vignette of The Batman, making it the first appearance of an image of Batman!
Origin:
- This story contains no mention of Superman’s origins.
Costume:
- The Superman 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 “S” on the chest, although in many panels the “S” is uncolored, or not even there. The cape appears to be attached as normal, not tied around the neck.
- Clark Kent seems to have settled into a typical blue suit, red tie, white shirt and white hat ensemble.
- The Batman vignette only shows the head of the costume, but the cowl is all black, with tiny white slits for the eyes, a point for the nose, and ears that rise about a quarter of a head length.
Powers:
- “Leaping over towering buildings”
- “Rending steel in his bare hands”
- “Lifting incredible weights high overhead”
- “Impervious to bullets because of an unbelievably tough skin”
- “Racing at a speed hitherto unwitnessed by mortal eyes”
- “‘Super-acute’ hearing”
Characterization:
- This is the most hot-headed that Superman has behaved yet, basically seeking to fight anyone and destroy anything that is in his way.
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| Just what is Superman doing here? |
- Unnamed Citizens
- Charlie Martin, deceased friend of Clark’s, victim of a hit-and-run
- Unnamed Mayor of the City
- Unnamed Employees of WVUX Radio
- Unnamed Prison Guards
- Unnamed Used Car Salesman
- Unnamed Police Dispatchers
- Unnamed Chief of Police
- Unnamed Reckless Motorists
- Mr. Bates, owner of the Bate Motor Company
- Unnamed Bate Motor Company Employees
- Unnamed Police Officers
- Unnamed Editor of the Daily Star
Synopsis:
A friend of Clark’s is a fatal victim of a “hit-and-run” accident. Fed up with the recklessness of drivers and the apathy of law enforcement officials, Superman basically proceeds to destroy everything he sees and beat up anyone in his way. This includes a radio station, a used car lot, and a car manufacturing plant. He ends up showing the mayor dead victims of vehicular accidents, finally forcing the mayor to tell the police to crack down on motor vehicle violations. In the end, Clark gets a parking ticket.
Favorite Quotes:
- “Rush a policeman here at once! There’s a man under my bed! It’s Superman — I hope!”
- “Beat it! And tell that control engineer that if he shuts me off the air, I’ll make a bee-line for his gizzard!”
Oddities and Analyses:
- This is another truly off-the-wall story that goes completely against the image of Superman that most people have.
- It starts off with the splash panel on page 1, which has nothing to do with the story. It looks like Superman is destroying a suspension bridge. I have no idea why he would be doing this. Thankfully, there appears to be no cars or pedestrians on the bridge.
- We have never met Charlie Martin before, but he must have been someone that Clark knew well, given Clark's reaction to Charlie's death.
- I find it interesting that Clark took the time to go home and slowly get changed into Superman. I guess he has yet to begin the practice of wearing his supersuit under his street clothes.
Poor radio host... - Clark makes short work of the radio station, smashing through a window to get there, busting through a wall to leave, and slapping around the on-air talent. Near the end of the story, Superman busts back through the recently-repaired wall.
- Superman does not name the city as he makes his radio address, calling it “this city”. However, given that the radio station's call letters are WVUX, the city must be east of the Mississippi.
- Superman is responsible for so much intentional destruction in this story: cars kept in a lot for traffic violators, cars in a used car lot, and an entire car factory. Superman never faces any reprimand or consequences for his rash actions.
- On page 5, there is a panel with a woman calling the police, complaining that a man is under
her bed, wishing that it is Superman. This panel seems completely out of place as it does not have anything to do with the rest of the story. It’s almost like they had an extra panel to fill and forgot what they were going to put there.
Talk about "Apropos of Nothing"! - It is strange that the individuals Superman runs into who are actually driving recklessly get off the easiest. Their cars are not destroyed and they don’t get beaten up.
- Again, Superman, the hero of the common man and the downtrodden, puts people out of work as he destroys the factory.
- Clark gets a parking ticket; I believe this story is the first evidence that Clark owns a car.
- Lois Lane does not appear in this story.
- The ad for “The Batman” again uses the non-hyphenated version of the name, making me think that the decision was already made to make that slight change, even before the first story had appeared.
- I wonder what people thought The Batman was going to be, because the small picture in the ad does not give too much away. Did they think it was a non-human creature, or part-man, part-bat?
- On page 27, there is another mention of “The Batman”, saying that he will appear every month in Detective Comics. I guess they had high hopes for the success of the new character.
- I also find it sort of funny that in the very month that Batman debuts, Superman behaves as a crazed, vengeful vigilante.
- I am also surprised that they featured Zatara on the cover, making him only the second actual interior character to be seen and mentioned on a cover of Action Comics. I wonder if they were still trying to figure out if Superman was truly the main draw for the book.
Apropos of Nothing:
- It just occurred to me that the Scoop Scanlon feature in Action Comics appears to use the same color palette that would later be used in Detective Comics during the “New Gotham” phase in 2001.
Detective Comics #27, May 1939
Cover:
- While swinging on a rope, Batman has grabbed a man from a rooftop. Two other men watch from another rooftop, one of whom has a gun pointed at Batman. The man in Batman’s arms is dropping his hat.
- Other than showcasing the character of Batman, the cover art has no direct connection to the interior content.
- The cover boasts “64 Pages of Action!”
- The cover also has a banner that reads “Starting This Issue: The Amazing and Unique Adventures of The Batman!”
Story:
- “The Case of the Chemical Syndicate” - 6 pages, credited to “Rob’t Kane”
- First story in the anthology-style book
Fabulous Firsts:
- First appearance of the “Bat-Man”
- First appearance of Commissioner Gordon
- First cover appearance of Batman
- First appearance of Batman’s car
- This story contains no mention of Batman’s origins.
Costume:
- The base of the costume is light gray with black shorts over his tights, matching boots, and a yellow, ribbed belt with a big circular belt buckle. There is an emblem of black batwings on his chest. His cape and cowl are all black. Coming out from the sides of the cowl are ears or horns that do not reach above the top of the head as they are not seen from a side profile. The cape has seams or ridges to make them look somewhat like batwings. The bottom hem of the cape is scalloped. The inside of the cape appears to be a deep, steely blue. The face from just below the nose to the chin is the only skin seen.
- On the over, the cape seems that it could be in two pieces and stretching out to the sides instead of down, making it look even more like batwings.
- All black portions of the costume are often highlighted with a dark blue.
Abilities & Gadgets:
- Superior one-on-one fighting skills
- “A terrific right”
- “A mighty heave”
- “A flying tackle”
- Shrewd powers of deduction
- A car
- A handkerchief
Characterization:
- Bruce Wayne is described as a “young socialite” who “seems disinterested in everything.”
- Batman is decisively quick, unilaterally focused, and vengeful in purpose.
Supporting Cast:
- Commissioner Gordon
- Unnamed Police Sergeant
- Old Lambert, murdered chemical king
- Young Lambert, son of murdered chemical king
- Steven Crane, former business partner of Old Lambert
- Paul Rogers, former business partner of Old Lambert
- Alfred Stryker, former business partner of Old Lambert
- Unnamed Murderer of Steven Crane
- Unnamed Accomplice to the Unnamed Murderer of Steven Crane
- Unnamed Butler of Steven Crane
- Jennings, Stryker’s assistant
Synopsis:
While young Bruce Wayne is visiting his home, Police Commissioner Gordon receives a phone call about a murdered businessman. Both go to the scene of the crime, although Wayne is quick to leave. As the police decide to follow up with the victim’s former business partners, one of the former partners is murdered. The murderer exits the home with a piece of paper stolen from a safe, only to find the “Bat-Man” waiting for him on the roof. Bat-Man flips the murderer and his accomplice off the roof, but not before he grabs the piece of paper. Bat-Man leaves just as the police arrive. Meanwhile, the third former partner pays a visit to the fourth, but is soon attacked, bound, and about to be gassed to death. The Bat-Man arrives and saves the day, revealing that the fourth former partner, Alfred Stryker, was behind the murders so that he would not need to pay them for his buyouts of their former corporation. In a quick tussle, Stryker falls into a vat of chemicals, apparently to his death. Later, we see that Bruce Wayne is in fact the “Bat-Man”!
Favorite Quotes:
- “I’m going down now to turn the gas on… Sleep well heh heh!”
- “A fitting end for his kind.”
Oddities and Analyses:
- When I was ten or eleven years old, with a coupon and four UPC codes from Oreo cookies, I received a special edition comic book in the mail that included this story, the first Robin story from Detective Comics #38, and the first Joker story from Batman #1. It, along with Fleisher’s The Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes, Vol. 1: Batman, was my introduction to the Golden Age Batman. Needless to say, I have read “The Case of the Chemical Syndicate” dozens and dozens of times.
- In promotional spots leading up to this issue and on the cover of the issue itself, the lead character is referred to as The Batman. However, in the feature itself, he is referred to as the ‘Bat-Man’, sometimes with the single set of quotation marks, sometimes without.
- The story goes that Kane’s original concept for Batman was for the character to have actual batwings and not a cape. I wonder if the way the cape appears on the cover is a remnant of that original design.
- Speaking of the cover, what exactly is Batman’s rope attached to? It would have to be an awfully tall building.
- It is very interesting that if indeed Batman were created to “cash in” on Superman’s popularity, that the character was not more like Superman. There are similarities, of course. Both characters pursue justice for those who can’t do it for themselves. Both wear outlandish costumes. Both have secret civilian identities. However, the biggest difference is that Batman has no powers. No super strength. No super senses. Why not make Batman another superpowered adventurer?
- In fact, relatively few of “DC”’s heroes that immediately followed Superman had powers. (I am not counting the All-American Comics crew of Flash, Green Lantern, et cetera.) Those who did have extraordinary powers like The Spectre and Doctor Fate were based in magic and the supernatural, not science fiction like Superman. The closest to Superman in that regard is probably Hourman who took a Miraclo pill to gain his powers.
- It is probably shocking to people today that someone in as great shape as Batman would be a pipe smoker.
- I love that Gordon mentions Batman in the opening scene, establishing the fact that Batman is already active and known about.
- The hoodlums on the roof of Crane’s house also recognize Batman right away. He must have been busy making a name for himself prior to this story.
- I doubt that the Lamberts’ first names were actually “Old” and “Young”.
- In the panel that says Gordon and Wayne are “speeding to the Lambert residence,” the car shown is red and looks like the car Batman drives later in the story. If this is the first version of the “Batmobile”, did Gordon take a ride in it with Wayne? Would Gordon recognize the vehicle if he saw Batman driving it?
The Bat-Hankie! - When under a glass casing filling with poisonous gas, Batman whips out a handkerchief to clog the nozzle. If this were another era, this tool would definitely be called the "Bat-Hankie".
- I am enjoying the visual onomatopoeia, especially when Batman throws punches. There’s a “Crack!” and two “Sock”s from Batman, along with an additional “Sock”, a “Crash”, a “Ring”, and a “Click”. I don’t know if I should count the “Ahhhhh!” when Crane gets murdered or the “Ya-aa-aa-aa” when Styker falls into the chemical vat.
- I am disappointed that there is no “Splash” after Stryker’s fall.
- Vats of chemicals are a recurring motif in Golden Age Batman stories.
- I have always been confused by the ending. It says that Bruce Wayne has gone “home to his room.” First of all, a bored, young socialite like Bruce Wayne only has a room? Does he live in a hotel? Probably not, because the next panel has him emerge from the room - in full Batman gear! If he were in a hotel, he just wouldn’t walk around the halls as Batman, right? I guess it is more likely he is at least in a multi-room suite, perhaps in a full stand-alone house. The “home to his room” phrasing just always struck me as odd. I suppose it would also be odd if he were to be just walking around “stately Wayne Manor” in his Batman outfit.
- The last panel of the story reads, “Watch for a new thrilling ‘Bat-Man’ story Next Month”.
Apropos of Nothing:
- This issue contains two features by Superman co-creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster: Spy and Slam Bradley. Both features have protagonists that look suspiciously like Superman.
All comic-related images are the copyright of DC Entertainment.
