Year of Superman Week Two: Fleischer and Fan Expo

January 15, 2025January 14, 2025 blakemp Year of Superman comic books, Don Rosa, Fan Expo, Fan Expo New Orleans, Fleischer Studios, Justice League, Lois Lane, superman, Superman and Lois, Year of Superman

It’s the second week of my year-long adventure in reading, watching, and generally enjoying all things Superman. This week, I take a look at the earliest Fleischer cartoons, I watch more of Superman and Lois, and I take my family to Fan Expo New Orleans!

Wed., Jan. 8

Comics: Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite, story found in Superman Vol. 2, #49, Adventures of Superman #472, Starman #28, Action Comics #659, & Superman Vol. 2 #50; Black Lightning Vol. 4 #2 (Guest-appearance by Natasha Irons, aka Steel), Supergirl Vol. 2 #20 (Guest-appearance by Superman)

Notes: I’ve got to be careful with some of these comics. My goal, in this “Year of Superman,” is to spend a little time with ALL eras of the Man of Steel, but every time I go back and look at one of the comics from my formative years, I feel the urge to just go on reading them. I could very easily make this “my year of reading Superman comics from the 90s” if I didn’t show a little restraint and restrict myself to the high points. All that said, I couldn’t possibly do this without reading Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite. As much as the first Christopher Reeve movie made me a fan of the character himself, this is the story that made me a fan of Superman COMICS.

I was relatively new into comics at the time, and if there was one character I followed more than others, at this point, it was Spider-Man. But then something happened which was pretty rare at the time – Superman turned up on the news. After over 50 years, they said, he was going to ask Lois Lane to marry him. I was intrigued and I sought out the five parts of this story to see what was going on. And then I got the next Adventures of Superman the week after. And then I came back for the next week’s Action Comics. And I haven’t missed an issue of any of the regular Superman comic books ever since. It’s a pretty darn impressive streak, if I do say so myself. I also eventually hunted down almost all of the previous comics since the reboot of the character in 1986, so when I say that this era is MY Superman, I mean that as literally as possible for anybody who didn’t actually create the books themselves.

What’s interesting is that the element of this story that got me – and presumably a lot of other people – to buy it is almost a throwaway moment. The bulk of the story involves the Red Kryptonite (only called “Krimson” on the covers) given to Lex Luthor by Superman’s old sparring partner, Mr. Mxyzptlk. Mxy is busy in another dimension – delightfully implied to be harassing the Fantastic Four as the Impossible Man – and he’s going to miss his scheduled tete a tete with Superman. Instead, he gives Luthor the Red Kryptonite – the first instance of such an element in the post-Crisis continuity, and promises it will make Luthor “Superman’s equal.” Instead of giving Luthor powers, though, the rock takes the power AWAY from Superman.

Most of the five issues – four issues of the Superman comics and a crossover with Starman, also written by Action Comics scribe Roger Stern – involve Superman either trying to figure out where his powers went, trying to get them back, or trying to compensate for their loss with things like a suit of powered armor. It’s a nice change of pace, watching a story where Clark has to rely on his brains, resources, and friends rather than the raw power of the Man of Steel. It also nicely showcases the supporting cast Superman had built up around him at the time. Besides the usual merry band at the Daily Planet, we also get to see him with the likes of Guardian, Gangbuster, and one of my favorite side-characters, Professor Emil Hamilton. They’re Superman’s supporting cast as much as the Planet staff is Clark’s, and they serve a similar function in the story.

As for the engagement – it crops up in the last chapter, when Martha Kent calls Clark and asks if he’s bothered to unpack his suitcase since his last trip to Kansas, and there he finds the Kent family engagement ring. He shows it to Lois during a quick lunch at the cafe in the Planet building and proposes with all the romance of saying, “So, you wanna?” Then they get interrupted, he gets his powers back, and on the last page of the issue she accepts. It’s hardly the most memorable proposal in the world, but oddly enough, it feels somewhat appropriate for this version of the characters. These are people who never have time to slow down or stop, whether they’re acting as reporters or as superheroes, and even something as monumental as a marriage proposal has that same kind of mood and cadence. This was the first story where I really saw the character potential in Lois and Clark, beyond just the cookie cutter stereotypes of the Silver Age, and it’s what I’ve enjoyed about them ever since.

TV Episodes: Superman and Lois, Season One, Episode 8, “Holding the Wrench”; Episode 9, “Loyal Subjekts.”

Thur., Jan. 9

Comics: Infinity, Inc. #2 (Power Girl-team member), Superman #5, New Adventures of Superboy #30

Next time, on Extreme Makeover Kryptonian Home Edition…

Notes: (On Superman #5) It’s a hoot to go back and read these early adventures of Superman. In the lead story of this comic, from 1940, Superman is out to cleanse Metropolis of the scourge of…drumroll please…slot machines. In this modern age, when every issue is about stopping a time-travelling alien telepathic computer intelligence from taking over the multiverse and plunging the entirety of humanity into perpetual mind-control and slavery, there’s something darn quaint about a comic where the stakes are “a racketeer is tricking kids into dropping pennies into this rigged game.” It couldn’t maintain an extended run, of course, but I think it would be fun to see a modern writer do a one-off story where Superman gets caught up in trying to solve some problem on a similar level…like an unscrupulous Girl Scout leader hoarding all the good streetcorners to sell Thin Mints or something.

It’s also interesting to note that, while much has been made of the powers Superman GAINED over the years – flight, X-ray vision, freezing breath, and so forth – there are other powers that sort of vanished after a while. In one of the stories in this issue, Superman impersonates somebody by “contorting his features” until he looks like the man – which evidently also includes whitening his hair, getting a receding hairline, and growing a mustache. Thank goodness they eventually moved away from powers like this one in favor of more sensible abilities, such as “Rebuilding the Great Wall of China Vision.”

Fri., Jan. 10

Shorts: “The Mad Scientist” (aka “Superman”) & “The Mechanical Monsters,” Fleischer Studios, 1941

When I was a kid, my grandmother had a VHS tape full of old cartoons that she would put on whenever we went to her house. I didn’t realize it at the time, but it was one of those compilation volumes made up entirely of cartoons that were (or at least were thought to be) in the public domain, so the distributor could make a quick buck off of them. I didn’t care then and, honestly, I wouldn’t care now. This tape introduced me to the Looney Tunes short “A Tale of Two Kitties,” which I believe is the genesis of my lifelong love affair with Bud Abbott and Lou Costello.

But the tape also included several of the old Fleisher Superman shorts, meaning that this is another of my early encounters with the Man of Steel. Looking back on it now, over 80 years after it was made, it’s STILL a blueprint in how superhero stories should be told. The origin is done away with in the first minute of this cartoon, giving the audience everything they need to know to understand the story that’s about to unfold – and remember, this cartoon was made only three years after Superman’s comic book debut, so it wasn’t a given that everyone watching these shorts during their Saturday matinee would be familiar with his origin like we all are today.

Next we have an animation style that’s smooth, fluid, and gorgeous. It looks as good as the best work Disney or Warner Bros were putting out. I’ve heard that these cartoons were supposedly the most expensive animated shorts ever made at the time. I can’t confirm if that’s true or not, but looking at just how good the animation is, I can easily believe it. In one sequence, for example, the titular Mad Scientist shoots his superlaser at a target, only for Superman to swoop in and push back against it, actually punching the laser beam all the way back to the Scientist’s lair. In terms of how physics works, this doesn’t make the slightest bit of sense. But when the animation is this good, you just straight up don’t care.

Finally, let’s talk about Bud Collyer. We all know how good Christopher Reeve was, and George Reeves get a lot of love as well. Tim Daly and George Newburn are frequently talked about for the animated Supermen. But Bud Collyer – who voiced Superman here and on the radio show – doesn’t get nearly enough love, in my opinion. His Clark Kent is high-pitched and a little mealy-mouthed, whereas when he shifts to his Superman persona he drops his voice a full octave and suddenly fills the space with his presence. His Clark/Superman divide is every bit as impressive as that of Christopher Reeve, albeit in a totally different medium.

The second Fleischer Superman short, “The Mechanical Monsters,” is every bit as good as the first. The design of the robots is really impressive, capable of transforming into various configurations to carry out their master’s nefarious tasks. Like Bud Collyer as Superman, Joan Alexander is a wonderful early Lois Lane. She’s got a slight sultry tone at moments, then shifts into mild panic when the robots show up. Moments later, though, she’s going after the robots herself, having overcome her fear and showing us how tough as nails Lois Lane should be.

This short also shows Superman using his X-Ray vision for the first time, and it’s WILD – the pupils of his eyes recede and are replaced by a weird energy. I’ve never seen X-Ray vision depicted this way anywhere else, and it’s crazy, and I love it.

These cartoons are fundamental parts of Superman history. If anyone hasn’t watched them, especially these first two, get out there and find them. They’re all on YouTube, but watching this is making me thirst for the recently-released Blu-Ray remaster of them all.

Sat. Jan. 11

TV Episodes: Superman and Lois, Season 1, Episode 10, “O Mother, Where Art Thou?”, Episode 11: “A Brief Reminiscence In-Between Cataclysmic Events”, Episode 12: “Through the Valley of Death”

And to date, zero percent of the cast members of THIS show have been involved in a cult.

Notes on Episode 10: As I said, this is my first time watching through Superman and Lois, and I’m enjoying it. I’ve been told by many fine superfans of my association that Tyler Hoechlin is the best on-screen Superman since Christopher Reeve, and that’s a pretty massive statement to make. I’m not seeing it yet, but I definitely see the potential here, as I approach the end of the first season. He’s got the right temperament – he’s strong, but gentle, fearless, but kind. He hits all of the beats I want in a Superman, and all that remains is to see if he gets great stories to go with his great performance.

Episode 10, “O Mother, Where Art Thou?”, is not quite giving me those vibes. The show takes pretty wild swings with continuity, including having Kal-El’s Kryptonian mother, Lara Lor-Van, being a scientist behind a project that has the potential to destroy humanity if used the wrong way by her son – not Superman, but rather his heretofore unknown half-brother, who has been hiding on Earth under the name of Morgan Edge. I don’t actually mind the divergences from continuity. I mean, this is a show where Lois and Clark have twin sons and move back to Smallville to raise them, not to mention the fact that John Henry Irons comes from an alternate universe where he was married to Lois Lane. Like I said, wild swings aren’t a problem. The issue I’m having at the moment is that the show is employing two tropes that have been done to death: the Sibling Our Hero Never Knew About, and – a more Superman-specific one – the Evil Kryptonian Trying to Bring Back Krypton By Destroying Earth. Both of these are things that we have seen many, many times in the past, and I’m a little tired of them.

That said, even the most exhausted trope can be revived if the storytellers are good enough, and this show is doing a pretty good job. It may be Lara’s invention that has caused the danger, for instance, but they avoid making Lara herself a villain, showing that her technology has been abused. This episode has a good bit where Lara’s consciousness is “downloaded” into Lana Lang, giving her a chance to have some heartfelt conversations with both Clark and Lois that feel very genuine. As someone who has lost his own mother, I think a lot about the kind of conversations I would have with her if I could, if she was back in this world even just for an hour. I want to talk to her about my child, her grandson that she never met. I want to tell her what my life is like. And seeing Clark having those conversations with Lara – even a Lara riding shotgun in Lana’s body – hits me pretty deep. It’s a powerful scene, and it very much overcomes any reluctance I may have from the stuff that’s a bit more “it’s all been done.”

Notes on Episode 11: As the title of this episode implies, we step aside from the Morgan Edge invasion of Earth storyline to show a flashback of Clark’s early days, including the creation of the Fortress of Solitude, his return to Smallville, and his arrival in Metropolis. I absolutely ADORE the fact that, in this continuity, Superman’s original costume is basically the Fleischer cartoon suit. Even more, I love seeing Tyler doing the “awkward Clark in the Big City” stuff that he doesn’t do as much with the show based in Smallville. And is there any other actor in the world who could get a compliment about the costume and actually sell the line, “Thanks, my mom made it for me”?

This episode, fortunately, isn’t really an “origin of Superman” story, but more of an “origin of Lois and Clark” story. It’s less about him and more about THEM, and that’s what makes it work. Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch are a fabulous pair, and this episode allows for a showcase on them as a couple rather than as parents – which, if there are any parents out there, you know is not exactly the same thing. But as I mentioned a few days ago, when I was reading Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite, I prefer a dynamic where Lois falls in love with Clark rather than Superman. To me, I always see Clark as the real character and Superman just as a name he uses when he’s not using his own. This episode is just touching in a way we don’t always get to see.

Notes on Episode 12: Aw, I was right about John Henry. He’s on our side now. Isn’t that the best?

Wait, what the hell do you mean, this wasn’t the season finale?

Sun. Jan. 12

Today I’m heading out to Fan Expo New Orleans, the biggest convention that hits my town and one of my favorite weekends of the year. It’s also something that will take up most of the day, and tonight there’s playoff football, so I squeeze in my Year of Superman viewing while my wife is taking a shower before we leave. With time being of the essence, I go with the next Fleischer short.

Short: “Billion Dollar Limited”

Notes: In this one, a bunch of gangsters with cool masks and a cooler car plan a heist of a moving train that’s carrying an enormous amount of cash. Lois Lane winds up on the train as well, because she’s Lois Lane and the laws of narrative causality declare that this is to be the case. Superman doesn’t show up until about halfway through the film, when Clark Kent intercepts a report of the train running wild on the Daily Planet teletype machine, and then he flies into action.

Speaking of “flies,” this short leaves me wondering – are the Fleischer cartoons where it was established that Superman actually FLIES, rather than just leaping from place to place, as he does in the early comic books? I feel like I read that somewhere once. I suppose I could look it up, but I’m leaving for Fan Expo in a few minutes. Anyway, the short is great.

Notes Before Fan Expo: Like I said, this is the biggest show of the year in the New Orleans area, and I’m always excited to go, even though none of the things on my schedule are Superman-related. I’ve been invited – as I have for the past few years – to sit in on some panels, one about fantasy movies and another about why we love Star Trek. (In terms of fandoms, Star Trek is a close number two behind Superman on my list.) I was planning to wear a Superman shirt today, just to keep the branding that I’m trying to establish here, but that plan got derailed when I found out Don Rosa was going to be at the show. Rosa, if you don’t know, is a now-retired cartoonist who did some of the finest Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck comics of all time, including the legendary story The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck. I’m crazy excited to meet him today, even though I’ve met him before. And just so that this rambling isn’t completely bereft of Superman, I should point out that the last time I saw him at a convention I purchased from him this recreation of the Action Comics #1 cover starring our beloved ducks.

Notes After Fan Expo: I decided that for this convention – and any other shows I might happen to attend over the course of this year – I would document any Superman-related purchases or activities here in the blog. For this show, though, that was a relatively slim prospect. Sad as it makes me, it feels like the larger the convention, the less the actual comic book content, whether you’re talking about vendors or panels or guests. Everything is being consumed by movies, TV, and anime, which is something that makes me sad, and will most likely be a Geek Punditry feature in the near future.

There were a lot of Superman-related guests at this show: assorted Clark Kents including Tom Welling, Brandon Routh, Dean Cain, Tyler Hoechlin, Tim Daly, and George Newburn all made appearances, plus several other actors from different supporting casts, but I’ve never been the sort to chase autographs or celebrity pictures. I did, however, get Don Rosa’s recreation of Adventure Comics #247, the first appearance of the Legion of Super-Heroes, with Scrooge McDuck taking Superboy’s place. From back issue bins, I pulled copies of Superman #250 and #281, and the recent Beetlejuice Beetlejuice variant cover for Superman Vol. 6 #17. And at one of the many candy-making booths, my lovely wife Erin got us a slab of the “Fudge of Steel,” which had a nicely Clark Kentian color scheme.

This was worth the risk of getting hit by one of the many collapsing buildings on any given New Orleans streetcorner.

Mon., Jan. 13

Comics: Justice League of America #13

Notes: These early Justice League stories are always fun, in the silliest of Silver Age ways. When the JLA was first introduced, Superman and Batman were often sidelined to make room for the other, less-popular characters, which is pretty much the opposite of what happens in superhero team books today. (Anyone remember that era in the 00s when Wolverine was in four X-Men books and three Avengers titles a month?) Eventually they stopped doing that and began integrating them into the stories more, but that brought up another problem: how do you come up with a menace that challenges Superman without having a villain that could basically turn Green Arrow into putty on the bottom of his shoe? The result were silly stories like this one, where the Justice League is abducted by aliens and essentially made to compete in the Space Olympics against robot duplicates of themselves. This ostensibly has something to do with saving the universe. It’s a good time.

Short Story: “Dateline: Metropolis” by Karen Haber (from The Further Adventures of Superman) anthology

Notes: Despite the unforgivably boring title, I really liked this little story. Lois Lane, her usual news-sniffing nose working overtime – has stumbled on the story of the century. The strange, evasive man in the glasses and bland suits has evaded her over and over again, but now she’s got him nailed to the wall. Now she’s finally going to prove that Superman’s true identity is…mysterious businessman Roger Gunn.

The story is told mostly though Lois’s point of view, with both Superman and Clark Kent playing a supporting role. (In fact, I’m pretty sure that Superman never actually appears in the story at all, but is only mentioned.) But Karen Haber takes the old status quo of Lois trying to ferret out Superman’s secrets and turns it on its ear by changing her target. There’s a devilishly funny charm to this story, as the reader sees Lois rushing from one false conclusion to another, completely oblivious to all the subtle clues that her fellow reporter – with whom she is sharing her “Gunn is Superman” theory – is just as likely a candidate as the weird businessman with a mysterious past and a temperament that doesn’t suffer the existence of a bully very well.

The voice of the story works very well for me too. I don’t know if it was intentional on the writer’s part, but reading this story, I could very much hear Margot Kidder reciting Lois’s lines, Christopher Reeve’s squeaky put-on Clark Kent voice as he tries to reason with her, and Jackie Cooper’s Perry White bellowing at her when she goes too far. This feels so much like a lost episode of the Superman ‘78 series, and there’s something really charming about that.

Tues., Jan. 14

Comics: Superman’s Girl Friend, Lois Lane #9, World’s Finest Comics #303, Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #134

Notes on Lois Lane #9: The DC Universe Infinite app is a great resource. You get access to thousands of thousands of comic books covering the entire history of the publisher from the Golden Age to as recent as a month ago, and it’s already been a nice help in my Year of Superman project. That said, there are some pretty substantial gaps in the library, including large swaths of Superman’s Girl Friend, Lois Lane, which is a shame because I would LOVE to go in and do a definitive tally of just how many stories in this ludicrous comic book series involved Lois either trying to reveal Superman’s identity, marry him, or both.

There wasn’t another comic book musician guest star this controversial until Eminem.

The first story in this issue, “The Most Hated Girl in Metropolis,” turns Lois into a pariah when a story she wrote exposing Clark as Superman is printed. Lois claims that she wrote the story over a year ago and discarded it when she found out her evidence was faulty, but somehow it made it to the front page of the Daily Planet without anybody knowing, which raises some serious questions about their copyediting procedure. As she desperately protests her innocence, everyone treats her like Typhoid Mary for six pages until it turns out the whole thing was a ruse to trick Lois before she’s named “girl reporter of the year” on the TV show This is Your Life. This is just one of the many unconscionably cruel jokes played on Lois in the course of this series, and it gets even worse when Superman gets an amnesia victim to pretend to be Clark so they can appear together. Dude, you’ve got robots. You’ve got Batman. Leave people who have suffered brain injuries alone.

In the second story in this issue, Clark has to save Lois from marrying a caveman. I have no notes.

Like the caveman, this panel aged really well.

And finally, in “Superman’s Mystery Song,” Pat Boone tries to make Lois into a musical sensation because he was extremely popular at the time and they figured putting him on the cover would sell a few copies. I have no idea where to look up the sales records of comic books from the 1950s, but if anybody can tell me if this issue did, in fact, experience the Pat Boone Bump, please let me know.

When people call Superman boring, I obviously don’t agree, but I understand where they’re coming from. They’re thinking of comic books from this era, a time when the comics were pretty bland, the stakes were either relatively low or utterly false, and the characters were just sort of plopped into a formula and went through the motions over and over again. This is what happened to the superhero genre after World War II, and it didn’t really start to break out of it until Stan Lee and Marvel Comics changed the paradigm and made it more permissible for superheroes to be – well – interesting. And Superman DID get better in the 60s and 70s. But for my money, the character’s golden age didn’t come until the 80s and 90s.

Thus ends week two, my friends. As I’ve said before, I don’t have a specific blueprint for this little project, but I’m starting to get ideas for “themed” weeks, with things like Superman parodies, time travel stories, Elseworlds, and other things. But I’m certainly open for suggestions. If you have a specific Superman story you’d like me to cover – whether that story is in the comics, a TV episode, or anything else – I would love to hear from you.

Blake M. Petit is a writer, teacher, and dad from Ama, Louisiana. His most recent writing project is the superhero adventure series Other People’s Heroes: Little Stars, volume one of which is now available on Amazon. You can subscribe to his newsletter by clicking right here. He’s also started putting his LitReel videos on TikTok.

Year of Superman Week One: Early Versions and Meetings With a Dark Knight

January 8, 2025January 7, 2025 blakemp Year of Superman Action Comics, Batman, Christopher Reeve, Detective Comics, Further Adventures of Superman, Gladiator, Krypton Companion, Philip Wylie, superman, Superman '78, Superman and Lois, Year of Superman

Welcome to the first week of my grand “Year of Superman” experiment. Over the next 12 months, I’m going to do my best to read, watch, or listen to at least one piece of Superman-related media every day. As I go along, I’ll keep a journal of each day’s entries as well as thoughts on some of the stories I’ve read or watched, then I’ll try to share them here with you on Wednesdays. Please keep in mind that my thoughts on these pieces of Superman history are likely to contain spoilers, so if there’s anything you’re trying to remain spoiler-free on, you may want to skip that specific entry.

As the year began, I wanted to focus a bit on the earliest days of Superman. I read the first Superman story as it appeared in the first two issues of Action Comics (and thank goodness for the DC Universe Infinity app for making that possible). I also read Gladiator, the 1930 novel that many people believe was a direct influence on Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster when they created Superman. And I re-watched the movie that started my love affair with Superman, the first Christopher Reeve movie from 1978, directed by Richard Donner. Here, then, are my thoughts on Week 1 of the Year of Superman.

Wed., Jan. 1

Comics: Action Comics #1, 2, 1079

Notes: (On Action #1, 2) The embryonic Superman is so different from who he eventually becomes. He’s snarkier than usual, and much more ruthless, doing things like throwing an abusive husband against a wall, carrying a man along electrical poles, and forcing a munitions manufacturer to join the army and put his own life at stake. But even here, with methods that would seem very out of place in today’s stories, the moral core is there — a steadfast belief that, as Mark Waid wrote sixty years later in Kingdom Come, “There is a right and a wrong in the universe, and that distinction is not difficult to make.” The real world, of course, is infinitely more complicated than that, and there are a great many times when it IS difficult to figure out the right thing to do for mere mortals like you and me, but Superman doesn’t — and shouldn’t — have that problem.

Thur., Jan. 2

Movie: Superman (1978)

Notes: The 1978 film with Christopher Reeve will always be the gold standard, won’t it? The tagline was “You’ll believe a man can fly,” but that’s hardly the most impressive thing about the movie. In his performance, Reeve created a Superman that was warm, compassionate, and kind, all of which are things that we need even more today than when this movie was first made. This movie still has one of my single favorite moments in film history: the part where Lois falls from a helicopter. Superman reveals himself to Metropolis for the first time, gliding into the air and catching her in one hand and the helicopter in the other. He places them both on the roof of the Daily Planet building and Lois, in her shock, asks him, “Who are you?”

His reply is simple, elegant, and perfect: “A friend.”

And although my steadfast belief is and will remain that Clark Kent is the real person, that Superman is just another name that he uses and that the reason he is the greatest hero in the world is because of the upbringing of Jonathan and Martha Kent…despite that, there is a moment in this movie that shows Jor-El knew who his son was destined to be as well. The line in the Fortress of Solitude, during the tutelage montage: “They can be a great people, Kal-El, they wish to be. They lack only the light to show them the way.”

That’s who Superman is. They knew it in 1978. And if nothing else with this little experiment, I hope to remind people of that today.

Comics: Black Canary: Best of the Best #1 (Lois, Clark, and Krypto cameo), Superman/Fantastic Four, Absolute Superman #3, Incredible Hulk Vs. Superman

Notes: (On Absolute Superman #3) Young Kal-El refuses to use generative AI to write. Further evidence that he’s the greatest hero there is.

Fri., Jan. 3

Omnibus: DC Versus Marvel Omnibus

Comics: Detective Comics #1091 (Guest appearance), Action Comics #1080

Notes: (On Detective #1091) A surprisingly Superman-relevant guest spot in this issue. Batman has been offered an experimental medical treatment with the potential to greatly increase his lifespan, so he does something he very rarely does: he turns to Superman for advice. Assorted comics over the years have established that Superman ages very slowly and is, compared to the humans around him, functionally immortal, but it’s not something they talk about much in the mainstream comics. Writer Tom Taylor brings that to the forefront with a lovely speech about how Clark carries that knowledge, with an emphasis on the fact that he trusts Bruce Wayne to find a way to use this gift for the greatest good. Frank Miller was wrong. The world is better when Superman and Batman are friends.

Movie: Music by John Williams (Documentary, includes segment on Superman ’78)

Sat. Jan. 4

Novel: Gladiator (1930) by Philip Wylie

Notes: In the late 19th century, a reclusive scientist develops a treatment that gives incredible power to his unborn son. As the child, Hugo Danner, grows to manhood, he develops remarkable strength and speed, finds himself impervious to injury, and must then go out into the world to discover what place – if any – he will have in it.

This is the first time I’ve read this book, although I’ve long heard it cited as being a likely inspiration for Superman. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster – to my knowledge – never confirmed that this book was on their minds when they were conceiving the character, but the similarities are too striking to ignore. Hugo Danner’s powers are virtually the same as those of Superman in the early days, before he developed flight or super-senses or some of the more outlandish abilities he has today. What’s more, the sort of ethical struggles he faces are virtual mirrors of those that later writers would apply to the man of steel. Hugo is a one-of-a-kind human being, Clark Kent is a last-of-his-kind alien. Hugo has to learn lessons about the danger of his powers, if they go unchecked, which is a lesson that we frequently see in Superman origin stories. Hugo has to deal with the fact that, despite all of his power, there are some things in the world he simply cannot change, which of course is a typical theme in Superman’s stories.

What really sets things apart is how the two characters deal with the circumstances of their lives. In many ways, the way Wylie develops Hugo Danner is the opposite of what happens with Superman. As Clark learns to believe in and have faith in humanity, Hugo finds himself growing increasingly cynical and bitter as the story goes on. Clark transforms himself into a hero, but Hugo has thoughts of anger and rage that, at times, tread the line of outright villainy. We’ve seen so many stories with “evil” versions of Superman in recent years – things like The Boys or Irredeemable, which show the consequences of a character with Superman-like power but without the Superman ethos. The odd thing about Gladiator is that it feels very much like it could have served as an origin story for Homelander or Plutonian, rather than our own Superman.

I’m impressed by the writing style in some ways. Wylie is sharper and snappier, less consumed with fluff than other writers of his time, and the book is a very easy read. That said, “easy” doesn’t always mean “pleasant.” The book is a novel only in the technical definition of the term. There’s no singular antagonist, save perhaps for Hugo’s powers themselves, and there’s not a singular plot, either. Rather, we get the story of Hugo’s life, from his childhood, to his college years, to his exploits during World War I, and then beyond. We don’t get cohesion, except for a throughline of seeing how the world wears him down to the point of turning against humanity as a whole. The end of the book is particularly unsatisfying – it seems as though Wylie felt like he’d said everything he had to say and then found a quick (and, frankly, unbelievable) way to end things without actually having to resolve the ethical questions he’d addressed in the book.

It’s interesting, particularly from a historical standpoint, to see this prototypical Superman, but I’m very glad that the writers who helped turn Clark Kent into the hero he is didn’t draw quite as much from this early version as they might have.

Comic: DC Vs. Vampires: World War V #5 (Supergirl appearance)

Article: “Superman’s Editor Mort Weisinger” by Will Murray, essay in The Krypton Companion

Sun, Jan. 5

Graphic Novel: Superman: Dark Knight Over Metropolis. (Collects Action Comics Annual #1, Adventures of Superman #466, Action Comics #653, Superman Vol. 2 #44, Adventures of Superman #467, Action Comics #654.)

Notes: Having read the scene in Detective Comics #1091 a few days ago, today I decided to go back to one of the early encounters between Superman and Batman in the post-Crisis continuity. The 90s was the era when I got into Superman comics big-time, the era that I still feel represents some of the best storytelling the character has ever had, and it’s always fun to revisit it. Oddly, one of the few things I’m NOT crazy about is the somewhat antagonistic relationship between Superman and Batman at the time. In this story, a former employee of Lex Luthor who has found evidence that Clark Kent is Superman confronts him with the knowledge, as well as Luthor’s Kryptonite ring. She flees and is murdered, and the ring makes its way to Gotham City and Batman, who comes to Metropolis to unravel the mystery.

The story is solid – Dan Jurgens, Jerry Ordway, and Roger Stern were the writers of the three Superman books at the time and they had already seamlessly forged the flow that would come to define what we now call the “Triangle Era” of Superman, with the story moving from one title and creative team to another seamlessly. It still jars me to see a Superman and Batman that don’t quite get along and constantly question one another’s methods. On the other hand, this book DOES start to forge a respect between the two of them. The two of them recognize that their respective methods work for their respective cities. Most importantly, at the end of the story Clark visits Bruce in Gotham, giving him the Kryptonite ring with the reasoning that he’s worried that someday someone may take control of him and turn him against humankind, and if that ever happens he wants the only sure way to stop him to be in the hands of someone he trusts. It would be some time before Superman and Batman regained the Super BFF status that they enjoyed in the Silver and Bronze ages, but I feel like it began here.

Also of note, the issues collected in this graphic novel include a bit of a relationship upgrade for Lois and Clark, who had flirted (literally and figuratively) with being a couple for some time. In these issues, Clark pushes to make it official. One of the many things I love about the 90s Superman is what they did with the relationship between these two. Lois Lane, when written properly, is a powerful and dynamic character in her own right, and it suits the couple much more to have this version, where she falls in love with Clark Kent BEFORE she knows he’s Superman. It’s far, far preferable to the stories of the 50s, where she’s out to trick the Man of Steel into marrying her or – failing that – revealing his secret identity. This is the genesis of MY Lois and Clark, and it’s the pairing that we still see in the comics today.

Mon., Jan. 6

Short Story: “Lucifer Over Lancaster” by Elizabeth Hand & Paul Witcover (from the 1993 anthology The Further Adventures of Superman)

Notes: It’s been ages since I read this book, full of short stories about Superman, many of them by writers you don’t usually associate with the character. This one, for example, is about a doctor who experiments with a strange alien creature that residents of his home in Lancaster begin to suspect of being the Devil himself. I have to admit, I’m not wild about this one. The story has a long diatribe about how Superman and Clark Kent are both disguises and Kal-El is the “real” personality, associating himself more with Krypton than Earth. I don’t get this take on the character at all. Granted, he’s the last son of Krypton, but in virtually every incarnation of the character, he’s sent to Earth as a baby. It just doesn’t make sense that he would identify that strongly with his alien heritage to the point of considering his other two identities secondary. The character is a little cold in this story, too, speaking to a clearly remorseful Dr. Rule with what feels like unnecessary aggression. I’ve set myself up for a long journey this year, and I suppose it’s inevitable that I’ll run across versions of Superman that don’t quite jive with me. I guess this is the first.

TV Episode: Superman and Lois Season 1, Episode 7, “Man of Steel”

Notes: I know it’s going to shock people, but I totally missed out on Superman and Lois when it was on the air. It wasn’t deliberate. I watched the first two episodes and I enjoyed it, but then other things started to steal my attention and I just got further and further behind, always intending to come back and give it a chance. I finally made it back a few months ago, when every other Superman fan I knew was talking about how amazing the series finale was. Well, I figured, if the show is over, what better time to start binging the entire thing? I made it through the first six episodes before the end of 2024, and now that the Year of Superman is upon me, I’m getting back in with the intention of getting through the rest of the show this year.

Anyway, in this episode we see Lois and Clark’s son Jordan struggling to control his newfound hearing powers, while Lois tries to unravel the mystery of this mysterious visitor called “Captain Luthor,” who seems to hail from another universe in which he and Lois were a couple and where Superman turned bad. I know a lot of people have gotten burned out on the multiverse concept in the last few years, but I’ve always been a fan of it when it’s done well. This one is pretty interesting – as Lois and Clark are certain that this stranger is an alternate version of Clark’s arch-nemesis, but as we see flashbacks to this stranger building a suit of daughter with his and Lois’s daughter “Nat,” it becomes increasingly clear (long before Lois finds his actual name) that this is REALLY an alternate of one of Clark’s greatest ALLIES, Steel.

The DC Universe Steel, John Henry Irons, has been one of my favorite Superman spinoff characters ever since his debut back in 1993 during the “Death of Superman” arc. Steel in the comics is a good man with a great mind who uses Superman as an inspiration to redeem a mistake. This John is different – just as smart, and with what seem to be good intentions, but his experience with an evil Superman has turned him into an antagonist. It’s a pretty surprising take on a character I love, but I’m not upset at all. John is opposed to Superman here, but there’s a long way to go in this series, and I feel like this character, somehow, is going to lead to a version of the John Henry Irons that I’m such a fan of.

Nobody tell me if I’m right or not. I’m looking forward to finding out for myself.

It’s particularly nice to see Clark’s sons, especially the powerless Jonathan, get to play the cavalry in this episode. The relationship between Clark and Jonathan Kent in the comics is the best addition to the Superman mythos since he and Lois finally got married back in the 90s. This show adds a second son and changes the dynamic between the two considerably, but I’m really enjoying seeing where they go with it.

Tue. Jan. 7

Comic: Superman #76

Notes: Having read Dark Knight Over Metropolis a few days ago, I got the idea to go back to the first story showing Superman and Batman discovering one another’s identities. Although they had been shown as partners in stories prior to 1952’s Superman #76, this is the story that showed HOW they discovered one another’s identities and…well, it’s baffling that this is the sort of storytelling they got away with in that time period. Having basically eradicated crime in Gotham City, Batman decides to take a vacation, booking a spot on a cruise ship. Meanwhile, Clark Kent is booked on that same ship because…well, because he had accrued time off. In one of those wacky coincidences, Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent are assigned one another as roommates. In an even wackier coincidence, an emergency breaks out on the ship and they both decide to change into their superhero uniforms after turning off the lights. And then, wackiest coincidence, a light shines through the porthole, revealing their true identities to one another.

It’s the most ridiculous secret identity reveal of all time, and I read Marvel’s Civil War.

The rest of the story is pretty standard 50s fodder. The two of them team up to thwart a criminal on the ship, Lois Lane happens to be along for the ride, and Superman – I swear to you, they did this kind of stuff all the time in the 1950s – convinces Batman to flirt with her as a distraction so she wouldn’t try to solve the crime herself and put herself into danger. I don’t know what’s crazier, that Superman would come up with a plan so bafflingly stupid or that the world’s greatest detective went along with it.

But I do have a soft spot for this story. I first read it when I was a kid, when I feverishly checked out the book Superman: From the 30s to the 70s from my local library over and over again, and I remember this story fondly. Does it hold up? No. But I can forgive that, as a relic of the time.

Speaking of relics, the way they depicted Lois Lane back then is mad. This is just one of many stories from the era where Superman straight-up gaslights her either to “protect her from harm” or to prevent her from getting too close to him, even though they were publicly dating. (Lois and Superman, that is, not Lois and Clark.) In fact, the last story in this issue is another Lois Lane Lovetrap, where SHE comes up with the brilliant plan to get Clark Kent to marry her friend Lorraine because…that…will make Superman…marry Lois? I know it doesn’t make any sense. I read the story two minutes ago and I can’t make it make sense. All I can say is, thank God for Margot Kidder, because she really was the blueprint for how Lois has been depicted from the 80s on, and the world is so much better for it.

Thus ends Week One of the Year of Superman. I wanted to tell you that, although I have a list of stories I plan to revisit, it’s not nearly extensive enough to last a whole year. So I’m open for requests! Do you have a specific Superman comic book, story, or TV episode you’d like me to weigh in on? Go ahead and drop your requests in the comments!