I’ve lamented in the past how Lois Lane was gradually turned from a smart, fiery, independent career woman into a swooning, vapid, manipulative one-note character before. This causes Superman to develop the affectionate nickname of “little idiot”, as in this panel from “Superman’s Sweetheart”, a story in Superman #65 (May 1950). The women’s lib movement […]
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In Superman #65 (May 1950), “Three Supermen from Krypton!” establishes for the first time that Superman is not the last surviving Kryptonian. Three brothers U-ban, Kizo, and Mala, arrive on Earth with Superman’s powers and wreak havoc. Superman discovers they are also survivors of Krypton who were members of the “Ruling Council” that had attempted […]
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In Batman #59 (April 1950), the criminal Deadshot makes his debut. In 1950, he is bored millionaire Floyd Lawton who uses his expert marksman skills as a crime fighter to win over Commissioner Gordon. Over the course of the story, it is revealed that Deadshot really wants to become Gotham City’s newest crime lord. Batman […]
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Speaking of world-building, in Action Comics #144 (March 1950), we are flashed back to the time when Clark Kent first tried to get hired by Perry White at the Daily Planet. Years after Perry White visited Smallville High School and suggested it, Clark moves to Metropolis and tries to take Perry up on this offer […]
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In Superboy #8 (March 1950), we get a little more world-building in a story that depicts the first appearance of Super-Baby / Super-Toddler and shows where Superboy’s super-suit was inspired from. Ma Kent sews blankets from the Kryptonian rocket into play clothes and gives him a cape. Another story in the issue has Superboy tricked […]
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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 Superboy #6 (November 1949) it is established for the first time that Pa Kent owns and runs a general store in Smallville, further fleshing out Superboy’s back-story. Jonathan Kent twists his ankle and Clark has to take a week off school to run the store. Superboy foils a criminal plan at the same time.
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Only one month after Superboy first uses his heat-vision, Superman does the same in Action Comics #139 (Oct 1949). In a typical lazy-writer stunt of the time, Superman sets fire to an old covered bridge to force the criminal driver into the river. Why not just use your super-speed to catch the car? At least […]
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In All-Star Comics #50 (October 1949), it is established for the first time that the members of the Justice Society of America know each other’s secret identities. Jay Garrick (The Flash) and his college classmates had written down their ambitions a decade before with their professor, and one of the classmates had decided to become […]
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In Superboy #5 (Sept 1949), for the first time, Superboy concentrates his x-ray vision into heat vision to melt a bullet. The bullet was meant for a girl named Lucy from Borgonia, who is a top athlete visiting Smallville. She ends up helping Superboy and being dubbed Supergirl:
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