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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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 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 Superman #60 (July 1949), the Man of Steel demonstrates, for the first time, his ability to suck all the air out of a room…. literally!
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Although Superman had built his “sanctuary” back in 1942, it was more or less a one-off story that was never explored. Superman #58 (March 1949) firmly establishes that Superman has a “fortress of solitude” and it is in the “polar wastes”. Interestingly it looks a lot like an artist’s depiction of an older European town. […]
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In Superman #58 (March 1949), the writers of the Superman comic visit, for the first time, a story in which Lois Lane actively tries to break her Super-Crush on Superman. On the advice of a doctor, Lois Lane tries to break her obsession by transferring her love to Clark Kent, which apparently seems to work […]
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Luthor manages to create a teleporting device in Action Comics #131 (February 1949). While committing crimes with them, he manages to accidentally teleport Superman, and then decides to trap him in “the 4th dimension”. While Superman is trapped there, he is invisible to everyone but can still move and see things that are going on […]
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In Action Comics #129 (December 1948), we get an odd story about Superman thawing out a caveman, and that caveman becoming sort of a celebrity. What’s odd is that the women in the comic seem to all be harboring secret fantasies of being treated poorly by their men, like being dragged about by their hair. […]
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In Action Comics #125 (August 1948), a gimmicky story about a Nostradamus-like hermit who discovers predictions in a cave turns into a slightly interesting moment where one of Luthor’s henchmen surfaces that idea that Superman’s secret identity might be Clark Kent. Of course Superman convinces them otherwise thanks to his super-speed.
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Timely (Marvel) decided to pay homage to Superman’s tenth anniversary by ripping off one of Supermans’ characters: Mr. Mxyzptlk. Captain America #67 (May 1948) features a short, cartoon-y, imp-ish character named Mr. Zrr from “Dimension Z” who travels through a mirror to Earth and then allows criminals to follow him back and wreak havoc. He […]
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