In Superman #126 (Nov 1958), Superman gets super-amnesia again when he decides to spend Clark Kent’s vacation on coming up with a cure for Kryptonite in his Fortress of Solitude. A freak explosion wipes out Superman’s memory. After quickly learning about his powers, he instinctively flies back to Metropolis where he decides to take on […]
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In Action Comics #248 (Nov 1958), Congo Bill, an adventure character that had run for 17 years as a backup strip in Action Comics is transformed by a magic ring into Congorilla – the body of Congo Bill inside the body of a powerful ape. This is another sign that the market’s interest in superheroes […]
Read More »Red kryptonite returns in Adventure Comics #255 (October 1958). Maybe the writers forgot or ignored the “red kryptonite is 10 times as powerful as green kryptonite” story from a few months and wanted to tell a different story. This time a “Martian” brings a fragment of red kryptonite to Earth and it splits Superboy into […]
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In Challengers of the Unknown #5 (October 1958), the Challs face off against Vreedl, a member of a safari that manages to get ahold of sacred stones that bestow super-powers and somehow manages to always keep one step ahead of our heroes until the end. He shoots and manipulates fire, he gains the power of […]
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In Superman #125 (Sept 1958), “Lois Lane’s Super-Dream” recycles a plot from 15-years ago in which Lois Lane suffers a head injury, needs a blood transfusion, and she dreams that she receives Superman’s blood which endows her with superpowers. She takes on her superhero career as Power Girl. This time around she gives dream-Clark some […]
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Another DC newcomer in Showcase #17 (Sept 1958) in Adam Strange. Archaeologist Adam Strange accidentally leaps into a Zeta beam striking Earth at just the right moment and finds himself on the planet Rann. After being put through the “Menticizer”, he is able to understand the language and that the babe is Allana and the […]
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In Challengers of the Unknown #4 (August 1958), it’s hard not to see Jack Kirby angling towards complex, fantastical world-building alongside and team-building between characters, as the Challengers find themselves traveling through time in a scientist’s “time cube”. Very Fantastic Four! And what I love the most are those giant, single-page splashes, like this one […]
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Oh, speaking of which, Adventure Comics #253 (Aug 1958) contains that promised story of when Superboy and Robin meet for the first time. Robin appears from the future to warn Superboy that a clock trophy given to him by a scientist is actually a kryptonite bomb that goes off and fatally wounds Superman years from […]
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In Superboy #68 (Aug 1958) sees the introduction of one of Superman’s sillier heroes: Bizarro! Accidentally created by Professor Dalton using a “duplicator ray”, the imperfect copy of Superboy innocently wanders around Smallville, much like Frankenstein’s monster. After several acts of Bizarro are mistaken as menacing, Superboy decides the creature is not living (wtf/) and […]
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In Superboy #67 (July 1958), a new Kryptonian makes his appearance in Smallville to taunt Superboy. Klax-ar claims it was he that destroyed Krypton with his “atron rays” for being exiled into space by a jury of scientists led by Jor-El. He agrees not to destroy Earth if Superboy willingly leaves Earth too. But Klax-ar […]
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