607 – The Martian Manhunter!

In Detective Comics #225 (September 1955), another Silver Age superhero debuts: John Jones, Manhunter from Mars. Poor J’onn J’onnz is brought across space (and from an unspecified time period) to Earth by Professor Mark Erdel, who subsequently dies of shock before he can send him back to Mars. J’onn J’onnz reveals he was a scientist, […]

Read More »

606 – Superboy’s Double Parents

In Adventure Comics #217 (August 1955), Superboy gets a shock when his parents Jor-El and Lara seemingly return to Earth after spending years trying to find their son. Superboy seems to go along with it and plans to leave Earth, Lana, Smallville and his foster parents behind – and we are left on a nice […]

Read More »

605 – Not Green Lanterns

In Strange Adventures #62 (September 1955), an organization of inter-galactic space travelers rescues a human from Earth and reveal themselves as the “Watchdogs of Space”, a group that patrols the spaceways and helps from the shadows. They recruit this human into their organization. The Watchdogs sounds remarkably like the Green Lantern Corps, even down to […]

Read More »

604 – Jimmy as Superboy

In Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #8 (August 1955), Jimmy poses as Superboy alongside Superman to fake out a criminal who is threatening Superman’s secret identity. It seems like the character of Jimmy Olsen has really taken off by mid-1995 – giving readers that sense of escapism of being Superman-adjacent.

Read More »

603 – Sub-Mariner’s Last Hurrah

The Sub-Mariner makes his last appearance of the 1950s in Sub-Mariner #42 (July 1955), closing out the last of an attempted resurgence of Marvel (Atlas) characters, just as DC is warming up the engines of its full Silver Age. Atlas Comics gave Sub-Mariner two years, but I guess it wasn’t enough to ignite an interest […]

Read More »

602 – Krypton City

In Adventure Comics #216 (July 1955), Superboy discovers that a city from Krypton fell and crashed into a jungle on Earth years ago. Greedy explorers discover it while searching for diamonds along with a cache of kryptonite. Superboy has only one ally, a professor of archaeology, who helps Superboy by pretending he is Superman. Lucky […]

Read More »

601 – Super Hobbies

In Adventure Comics #215 (June 1955), Superboy decides to take up a “super-hobby” and collect rare and exotic minerals. To store them in, he hollows out a mountain. Later when explorers accidentally stumbles on his collection, Superboy decides to store them in a space platform orbiting Earth. It’s not quite the “Fortress of Solitude”, but […]

Read More »

600 – The Viking Prince!

In June 1955, DC premieres an important new anthology comic book: The Brave & The Bold #1. Starting off as an anthology series, the book features three new heroes plucked from historical fiction, the best of which is The Viking Prince. The other two were Silent Knight and the Golden Gladiator. The Viking Prince was […]

Read More »

599 – Lois Marries Superman?

Forty-one years before DC comics had the balls to actually make it happen, Lois tells the story of how she married Superman in Action Comics #206 (May 1955). She relates the story to the reader, a rare departure for DC Comics in which they break the fourth wall. Readers may have been scratching their heads […]

Read More »

598 – Ace the Bat-Hound!

Ace, the Bat-Hound is introduced in Batman #92 (April 1955), since it seems like Krypto, the Super-Dog was such a hit, why not also give Robin a pet? Basically they rescue a German Shepherd, decide to slap a mask on him and he helps them solve crimes occasionally…

Read More »