In May 1939, DC decided to publish a comic book dedicated entirely to a single character, Superman #1. It reprinted the Superman stories from Action Comics #1-4, but added 6 pages to the first story that told a 2-page Superman origin story, introducing the Kents. Not Martha, but apparently Mary here.
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In Action Comics #13 (May 1939), Jerry Siegel introduced the first super-villain to the Superman mythos with the Ultra-Humanite. A “paralysed cripple” who was also a genius bent on world domination. He is revealed to be the mastermind behind the “cab protective league”, a corrupt cab company that shakes down smaller cab companies for protection […]
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Among the stories included with New York World’s Fair Comics (April 1939) was the first Sandman story. The Sandman was Wesley Dodds, an inventor and millionaire playboy (beating Tony Stark to the superhero game by at least twenty years). He ran around in a gas mask and used a gas gun to put criminals to […]
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In April 1939, DC also published a 96-page one-shot, the New York World’s Fair Comics. This featured stories of several established characters like Superman and Zatara promoting the 1939 World’s Fair. This was also the first time that Superman’s vision powers were mentioned as Superman stood atop the Trylon looking for Lois Lane.
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In April 1939, Bob Kane (and Bill Finger) published the first story about The Bat-Man in Detective Comics #27, bringing DC what would be its second big hit. Certainly his dramatic appearance had something to do with the character’s success, but I thought the first story was interesting by keeping him mysterious: He was not […]
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All-American Comics #1 in March 1939, the first comic from All-American Publications. All-American was formed by Max Gaines and funded by Harry Donenfield (the owner of National Allied Publication and Detective Comics). All-American would go on to be the home for many characters we know well today like Wonder Woman, The Flash, and Green Lantern […]
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Fox Feature Syndicate published Wonder Comics #1 in March 1939. Wonder Man was Fred Carson, a timid radio engineer and inventor. While in Tibet, a yogi gave him a ring which granted him super strength and invulnerability. He was created by Will Eisner. You can already see Eisner’s innovative layouts with Wonder Man’s arm extending […]
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In early Superman stories like Action Comics #10 (February 1939), Jerry Siegel made sure that Clark Kent was the mask, cooking up situations where Clark had to appear cowardly or have less integrity. In this story, Clark gives up his source, an escaped convict from a brutal prison where the superintendent tortured the inmates. In […]
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The idea that Superman may be hiding in plain sight as a regular guy is voiced for the first time in Action Comics #9, January 1939. I like how Jerry Siegel seems to be building this world that Superman inhabits month-by-month, even if the story ideas themselves are sometimes a bit ludicrous. I also love […]
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