461 – Chameleons in the Future

In All-Star Comics #56 (October 1950), the Justice Society of America take a trip into the 31st century by hitching a ride on a tour bus from the future. It seems like the future is plagued by chameleon creatures who can masquerade as anyone. The natural form of a Chameleon has pointy ears just like […]

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460 – Super Villain Trio

In Action Comics #151 (October 1950), Superman has his first official villain team-up: Mr. Mxyztplk recruits Luthor and the Prankster to take on Superman. The trio employ “plastic proxies”, basically simulated humans to fool Superman.

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459 – Catwoman Pivot

In Batman #62 (October 1950), the Catwoman makes another appearance, but this time a back-story is given when she suffers a head trauma while trying to save Batman from death during a crime spree: Catwoman is Selina Kyle, a former flight attendant who is suffering from amnesia all these years. The new head trauma booted […]

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458 – War Comics

Timely (Marvel) Comics debuted War Comics #1 (September 1950). While most war comics of the time are primarily propaganda vehicles, the first story is particularly heavy-handed. A young soldier spends his time complaining to his fellow officer about why the U.S. is involved in the Korean War. Of course by the end of the story, […]

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457 – He Runs Through The Air

Action Comics #150 (September 1950) features one of my most hated action poses for Superman: The picture of him apparently running through the air. I guess this comes from the idea that Superman is still jumping around a lot instead of self-propelled flight, but it just looks ridiculous to me.

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456 – Marvel Boy 2

In August 1950, Timely (Marvel) Comics gave superheroes one more shot with the introduction of Marvel Boy #1, created by Stan Lee and Russ Heath. Marvel Boy was Robert Grayson, the son of a Jewish scientist who fled the Earth during World War II when his wife was killed and ended up in Uranus. This […]

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454 – Jor-El Courts Lara

In a continued attempt at building up the Krypton mythos, Action Comics #149 (August 1950) features the implausible tale of Lois Lane finding what are essentially news reels (“thought-projection discs”) of Jor-El and Lara’s courtship in a U.S. rocket that fell back to Earth. Even more implausible, these discs are labelled… in English… :-/ What […]

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453 – New Bat-Plane

In Batman #61 (August 1950), criminals capture the abandoned Bat-plane and trigger Bruce and Dick to build a new Bat-Plane (sometimes called Batplane II)… by themselves… in the Bat-cave. The new Bat-Plane is sleeker, more like a jet. I wonder if the U.S. involvement with the Korean War had anything to do with more military-inspired […]

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452 – Lana Lang!

Superboy #10 (July 1950) introduces a new supporting cast to the Superboy mythos: Lana Lang. Lana Lang is pretty much just the teen version of Lois, an inquisitive girl who moves to Smallville next door to the Kents and whose job is to keep Superboy on his toes, protecting his secret identity. Although Lois Lane […]

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