494 – Superman’s First Robots

Throughout the 1950s, Superman and Superboy often used a series of realistic robots to deceive Lois/Lana or others about Clark’s real identity. Action Comics #165 (December 1951) could be considered the first such use of this literary device. In it, Superman meets “Krag” a superman from the planet Mercury who joins up with criminals. Turns […]

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493 – King of the Cats

In Batman #69 (November 1951), the villain “King of the Cats” is introduced. At this point in DC continuity, Catwoman has been rehabilitated for about a year now and Selina Kyle is mostly just a pet shop owner. The King of the Cats initiates a crime spree involving cat-themed crimes and Batman worries that Selina […]

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492 – Grotesque Medium

EC Comics continue to push the envelope of shocking imagery in its latest comic, Shock SuspenStories #1 (November 1951). While “The Neat Job!” is somewhat infamous (having been featured in the 1973 anthology film) and has its own particular grotesque imagery (a neat freak tortures his wife until she snaps and arranges his body parts […]

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491 – Sensation-less Wonder Woman

Sensation Comics #107 (November 1951) makes the abrupt transition from a superhero comic featuring Wonder Woman to becoming a supernatural/horror type comic. Sensation only lasts for about another year or so before being cancelled, leaving Wonder Woman’s only regular appearance in her own mag. This is in stark contrast to Superman (appearing in four different […]

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490 – Luthor and Kryptonian Tech

In “The Lost Secrets of Krypton!”, a story in Superman #74 (November 1951), Luthor uses Kryptonian technology for the first time to menace the world. Luthor discovers these artifacts while searching for kryptonite in space, but instead uncovers a cache of weapons that Jor-el had sent out into space before Krypton exploded. Superman defeats Luthor […]

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489 – Two-Face Two

DC leans a bit into the current horror vibe in Batman #68 (October 1951), with an apparent return of a gruesome Batman villain: Two-Face! It’s been three whole years since the last Two-Face story. This time it’s an actor set to play Harvey Dent / Two-Face in a play, who has the same acid-scaring incident […]

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488 – Mutant Prejudice

In “The Mutants!”, a story in Weird Fantasy #10 (September 1951), the tale is told of a future in which mutants are born on Earth thanks to radioactivity from the hydrogen bomb. These mutants are deformed, but incredibly smart. The people of Earth fear and shun them, kicking them off the planet. However, the mutants […]

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487 – Boring vs. Swan!

In Superman #73 (Sept 1951), “Perry White vs. Clark Kent!”, Clark gets promoted to managing editor of the Daily Planet and has to compete with Perry White who gets a job as editor of The Dispatch. While an interesting enough story, I thought it was more interesting that we get to see the first glimmerings […]

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486 – Gender Fluid

In Weird Science #10 (Aug 1951), the story “Transformation complete” features a mad scientist who disapproves of his daughter’s fiance and decides to inject him with female hormones to irreversibly transform him into a woman. Lee, the fiance, starts to transform gradually over the course of days until he/she is forced to break off the […]

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485 – Get Your Hands Off Me

In Strange Adventures #12 (July 1951), a story by Jack E. Miller called “Sideways in Time” features the world’s first time traveler who, intending to go back to 1620, is accidentally sent “sideways” into an alternate timeline. In this timeline, gorillas are the dominant species and humans are the mute animals. This is 12 years […]

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