Well it’s been a couple years since we’ve had a prominent Superman-gets-amnesia story, so it’s time for World’s Finest #68 (Nov 1953) and “The Menace from the Stars!”. In this story, Superman saves the planet from an asteroid by smashing it and forcing it into a steady orbit around the Earth. Unfortunately, a spectroscope reveals […]
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In “The Spectral Superman!”, a story in Action Comics #188 (November 1953), Superman heroically stops a nuclear reactor from exploding in Metropolis. As a result, he finds out his entire body is radioactive… maybe permanently! Despite the super-melancholia that descends on Superman, he still manages to foil some criminals, even though his radioactivity continues to […]
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While he was a regular from the Adventures of Superman hit Radio and TV shows, Jimmy Olsen finally makes his first appearance as a regular supporting cast member in Superman #86 (November 1953). We haven’t really seen him for the last nine years in the comic books though. In this story, he gets made editor-for-a-day […]
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In “Superman’s Other Life!”, a story in Superman #84 (July 1953), Clark gets fed up with Lois Lane always trying to prove that he is Superman. Rather than tell the truth to this woman he obviously loves, he decides instead to travel back in time and change the timeline so he never gets a job […]
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In Action Comics #183 (June 1953), Luthor discovers that every bullet that strikes Superman’s invulnerable body gains the minutest trace amount of kryptonite. This results in Luthor’s henchmen wasting round after round to a confused Superman. After the bullet extraction process, Luthor distills a sample of pure kryptonite, which he then uses to pelt Superman […]
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In Action Comics #182 (May 1953), scientists on Earth detect a new planet entering the solar system. It turns out to be a perfect replica of Superman’s home planet, Krypton. So Superman goes to investigate: Of course due to the intense gravitational power of the planet, Superman has to borrow a rocket to fly around […]
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In “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea with Superman”, a story from Superman #81 (January 1953), the writers get even crazier with Superman’s costume. Earth passes through a kryptonite dust cloud, meaning all of Earth’s air has become lethal (or is it just weakening?) to Superman for one day. He retreats under the water and solves […]
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Continuing the tradition of Jor-El super-coincidences in which Jor-El was involved with nearly every entity that Superman meets from space… In Superman #80 (November 1952), Superman discovers an alien has crash-landed on Earth and carries with him instructions from Jor-El mentioning his son. Superman assumes this means “Halk Kar’ is Superman’s older brother. Of course […]
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In October 1952, most of DC comics had a cross-promotion for a new TV show: The Adventures of Superman! Starring George Reeves as the titular character, this show would be a pretty big hit and was the first television show based on a comic book character. I remember watching some of these in rerun syndication […]
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In “Superman’s Blackout!”, a story in World’s Finest #61 (Sept 1952), a kryptonite meteor affects Earth’s sun, causing it to rob Superman of all his powers when exposed to direct sunlight. This eventually fades, but not before Superman has to cleverly use his powers to foil some bad guys and pull the wool over Lois […]
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