Although it borrows elements from the story of when Roy Harper met Oliver Queen 11 years earlier, the back-story to Speedy is given some retcon attention in the Green Arrow story in Adventure Comics #209 (Dec 1954). The new story is that Roy was orphaned when his scientist father blew up their cabin in the […]
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In Sub-Mariner #38 (Nov 1954), Namor is called into the Emperor’s castle underneath Antarctica. In a quick exposition, we are told that the Sub-Mariner used to have incredible powers: super-strength, flight, invulnerability, but that he has lost them over his extended time interacting with land dwellers: Namor is told that their scientists have discovered how […]
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In World’s Finest #74 (Nov 1954), an alien with the abilities to shape-shift and absorb powers lands on Earth and causes a panic. Batman and Robin corner it and find out that the alien is good-natured and wants to be a hero, so takes Batman’s appearance. This leads to a confrontation with Superman. Which somehow […]
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In Adventure Comics #207 (October 1954), Johnny Quick has his last adventure of the 1950s, making him the last Golden Age superhero DC retires in this tail end of the superhero decline. It’s a forgettable tale (other than force-feeding his sidekick Tubby Watts hamburgers to drown his heartache), but it does mean that DC will […]
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In the Tommy Tomorrow story “The Interplanetary Bank!” from Action Comics #199 (Oct 1954), Tommy needs to solve crimes and so is hired on as a bank employee. On their way to cross the solar system, they dive into a crater on an asteroid and are swallowed by a giant worm, much like the scene […]
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In “The Phantom Superman!” from Action Comics #199 (October 1954), Luthor creates a living duplicate of Superman with a “three-dimensional materializer” and an “atomic transformer”. This duplicate is completely grey, lacking in color, but has all of Superman’s abilities for a few hours until the charge wears out. Luthor then sends the duplicate out into […]
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In EC’s Haunt of Fear #28 (Sept 1954), a story called “The Prude” tells how Mr. Forbisher, a twisted council member with ties to powerful businesses in an 18th century town, tries to establish a law against kissing in public. The council members stand up to him, so he vainly attempts to coerce the press […]
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In World’s Finest Comics #73 (September 1954), Batman and Superman have settled into a nice rhythm of working together. In the course of this adventure, Bruce Wayne mentions to Clark that he had been inspecting the Wayne Steel Foundries when he stumbled onto a crime. Wayne Steel joins the ranks of Wayne Motor Co in […]
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In Adventure Comics #206 (September 1954), DC finally addresses the time continuity problem they have in Superboy, with a panel showing that atomic experiments had just begun when Superman was a boy, meaning all of Superboy’s adventures have taken place in the 1920s / 1930s (despite having more modern cars, robots, etc). I can’t remember […]
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In DC’s Watchmen timeline, superheroes did not have a resurgence in popularity in comic books in the late 1950s. Instead, pirate-themed comic books took over the industry with “Tales of the Black Freighter” being popular. This apparently is based in some reality: EC’s Crypt of Terror #45 (August 1954), includes the above ad where they […]
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