Four years after defeating and exiling U-ban, Kizo and Mala, Superman faces off again against the three evil Kryptonians in Action Comics #194 (May 1954). After their prison ship collides with an asteroid, the trio are freed and Mala decides to head to Earth to get his revenge on Jor-El’s son, Superman. Mala disguises himself […]
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Speaking of monkeys, Captain Comet has his second encounter with a “super-ape” in Strange Adventures #39 (October 1953). This super-ape has advanced intelligence and telepathy and is Captain Comet’s first re-occurring villain in his roster. Origin-wise, this seems to be almost identical to the Silver Age Flash’s villain Grodd and the race of super apes […]
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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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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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In World’s Finest #47 (June 1950), the Superman story “The Girl Who Hated Reporters”, we get more inconsistency in how Lois met Superman/Clark Kent. In this story, Lois is working at a diner as a waitress and ostensibly hates reporters because that’s all she sees. She has seen and served Clark Kent, but her first […]
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We have finally come to the third decade of comics, the 1950s! In Action Comics #142 (January 1950), a catpurse lifts a piece of synthetic kryptonite from Lois Lane’s purse. The kryptonite had been synthesized by Luthor in the previous issue (Action Comics #141), and the rock had gone missing at the end of that […]
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In September 1949, Superman #61 hit the stands – the most important book so far in the evolution of the Superman myth. In it, Superman encounters a fake “swami” who happens to have a piece of kryptonite in his turban. Lois Lane helps him out of this first encounter. The swami, believing he has hex […]
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In Flash #98 (June 1948), DC gives three of its heroes new costumes: The Atom, Hawkman, and Hawkgirl. There is no in-story reason for any costume changes, it appears to be just the whim of the artists (Carmine Infantino, Frank Giacoia for The Atom and Joe Kubert for Hawkman). While I consider the Atom’s costume […]
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For the tenth anniversary of Superman’s first appearance, DC re-told Superman’s origin in even greater detail in Superman #53 (May 1948) with a compelling splash page showing Superman’s sadness at losing two sets of parents. The first half of the story takes place on Krypton. In it, we see in greater detail how Jor-el tried […]
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Batman learns that his parent’s killer, Joe Chill, is still alive and confronts him in Batman #47 (April 1948). This is the first time the Wayne’s mugger is given a name and the third time Batman’s origin has been re-visited. Upon confronting him, Batman dramatically reveals his secret identity. Oh, that’s not going to bode […]
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