Action Comics number 1 and a bit more

Well, this is the comic book that brought superheroes into the limelight. It also created much of the basic framework for superheroes as we know them today. That doesn't mean it is not without some really rough issues.

It's a bird, it's a plane, It's ... oh wait he can't fly yet.

Click for full size image

The cover shows a panel from later in the comic, where Superman crushes the car of some criminals after shaking them out. This is pretty much the extent of his super strength in this issue. Superman is the creation of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Siegel wrote the original stories, turning them out quickly. The very first story they created was about the reign of the superman, a man with telepathic power who after drinking an experimental serum decided to take over the world. That was scrapped and instead they created a Superman who came from another world where the race of aliens Superman comes from gets power from having evolved to a higher state. Ignoring the fact that evolution doesn't work that way, they never inform us what planet baby Superman came from, who raised him, and he has very little of the classic powers that we think about when we think about Superman. Instead he can lift a steel bar, run fast, and jump 1/8th of a mile. I think it is kinda weird that they give a specific number for that but not how much he can lift or run. 

After saving an innocent women by breaking into the governor's house, beating up his butler, and ignoring due process of law by leaving a bound women on the lawn who apparently committed a crime and framed someone else who ended up in prison. The governor then discusses this "superman", and even though has his house broken into in the middle of the night says he is glad that Superman is on the side of the law. Clark Kent is relieved to hear he is not mentioned in the newspaper article. We then to cut to him at his job at the Daily Star office, meeting with his editor who tells him to find out about a rumored "superman". Kent is then given a phone tip about a beating, where he then breaks in finding the abuser, and then proceeds to well ... 

Ladies and Gentlemen the "Big Blue Boy Scout."

The abuser then pulls out a knife and attempts to stab him, which fails pretty miserably as the blade breaks, and then the abuser faints. Clark goes on a date with Lois Lane, where Clark is a passive worm and Lois leaves in frustration. Clark changes into his costume and finds out that the thugs who picked on him and and wanted to dance with Lois have run her taxi of the road, and then leaps over their car eventually chasing them down and smashing their car after shaking them out. Superman saves Lois for the first of many times. Lois then is told that she is imaging pink elephants when she talks to the as yet unnamed editor of the Daily Star.

Clark is given a new assignment the next day to look for information on a was in the fictional country of San Monte. Instead Clarke goes to Washington D.C. where through a random set of coincidences manages to find out that someone is involved with the war in D.C. So Superman continues his tendency of painful and frighting methods to get his way. He grabs the guy and precedes to jump between buildings with him. And then the comic ends.Yep, we end the very first issue with an annoying cliffhanger. 

Because I hated it, I said hey let's review Action Comic number 2. Here we have a bit of a story. Apparently the editor hated the cover so much, that he wouldn't allow them to feature Superman on the cover! The only stories they told were Superman stories, but to keep the comic's cover appeal open, they ran random action covers instead. Only when a new editor came in before Action Comic's 7th issue did they show Superman on the cover again.

Actiony Right?

So the dude from the previous issue who was scared out of his mind gives up information about Emil Norvell a munition magnet. Superman somehow knows exactly were the Norvell lives after standing atop the Washington monument. Superman finds the house and the dude he was carrying around calls Norvell to warn him. When our hero arrives he is shot with machine guns, which of course do not harm him at all. Superman beats them up and threatens Norvell saying if he doesn't do as Superman wants him to, "I swear I'll follow you to whatever hole you hide in, and tear our your cruel heart with my bear hands." Awesome. Superman doesn't kill now, but I had no idea that it was not always the case. Good to know. Norvell gets some thugs to beat him up, even after seeing machine guns didn't work. Superman throws himself into the ocean, and after Norvell's hired thugs attempt to double cross him, he beats them with the, "severest thrashing of their lives". Superman makes Norvell enlist in the military of San Monte goes with him into the war, then goes to take a picture of generals for the Daily Star, then finds out that Lois has been framed for espionage. Then he saves her, giving us the immortal line. "And still playing the role of the gallant rescuers."

Wow he actually seems like a nice guy.

Nevermind

After telling her to be quiet for no reason, Superman makes her vanish somehow, because he suddenly finds a group of torturers, who have a man tied up. They are not actually doing anything, so Superman sensibly grabs one of them, and proceeds to throw him. He goes hurtling, and should turn into a nice red chunky spot somewhere in the distance. Superman is willing to kill people, I had no idea that superman would do that but apparently I was under the impression he was a hero concerned with doing good things, rather than jumping to assumptions and chucking people at high velocities with screams. After magically making Lois reappear, he tells her to leave the country. A plane than attacks him, which he takes out by running into with his body. Norville says he will not make munitions again as long as he doesn't have to keep fighting. Superman than ends the war by bringing the commanders of both sides together, who apparently cannot remember why the war started. Superman gets them to make peace. The story ends with the Daily Star editor saying that maybe Superman retired because he hasn't been around, and Clark Kent says that he is sure that Superman will be seen again.

So Superman is a bit of a jerk who beats people up, ignores the rule of law, and kidnaps people to make them fight in war. This isn't really the same Superman that we see later on, and therefore it really is not a very good origin story set. We also don't get much of his actual origins. His birth parents aren't mentioned, the planet he is from isn't mentioned, we are not told who adopted him, and his powers are very different than they would years later. I found the plot a bit contrived and even random at times, and hated the fact that the very first issue ended on a total cliffhanger.

Next week I will review Man of Steel number 1, the reboot of the characters origin into the modern age. This is the story that most comic book fans know, as well as the one used in most modern media adaptions (Smallville was made based of the comic Superman for All Seasons, which I will review, as it developed a lot of the modern depictions of important secondary cast like Lois Lane.)

Images are scans from Action Comics number 1 and number 2. I got these from The Superman Chronicles Volume 1, part of a series that chronologically follows every appearance of the early Man of Steel.

Comic Book Origins

Comic Book Origins

Comic books are a form that many people have many opinions about. Much of comics storytelling come from newspaper comic strips. The idea of panels, text boxes inside the panels, and actions being mimicked with action lines all come from newspaper comics. Some of these even became comic books later like The Phantom.

Image courtesy of http://falkonthewildside.blogspot.com/2010/05/for-those-who-came-in-late.html

The Phantom helped establish many of the traditional elements of Superhero characters. Many years ago, in the 16th century, a boy named Christopher Walker was stranded in Bengalla a fictional nation either in Africa or Southern Asia, after a pirate attack on his ship. After being rescued by natives he became known as the "Ghost who walks," and swore to combat evil. After he was killed his son took up the mantle, and so on until the modern Phantom, Kit Walker became the 21st Phantom. The Phantom carried guns, but did not use them to kill, was an expert in many fields, and had his home base, the Cave of the Skull.

(P.S. I love the 1996 movie. One of my favorite movies growing up, even if it is ... well cheesy. It is currently on Netflix.)

Back to actual comic books, the first item that was actually termed a comic book was The Yellow Kid in McFadden's Flats. To be honest I can't tell much about the comic, other than it doesn't use speech bubbles instead having narration on the side, and most of it appears to be slapstick and wacky. Much of it is super confusing. I found a gallery that collects much of the artwork for it here. 

Other milestones came later like the first monthly comic book, simply titled Comics Monthly.
Much of it seems to focus on comedy and is black and white and red all over. Yes I know that's the start of many jokes, but I feel that it is best not to dwell on that. I do love the fact that Rube Goldberg is the artist, and many will recognize the name as coming from Rube Goldberg machines.

Of course the one comic that revolutionized the industry was Action Comics Number 1. The first appearance of the Man of Steel, which we will look at next week.

Hello and Welcome

Hello and Welcome to the library of the Comic Book Historian. My goal is to enlighten comic book veterans, bring new perspectives to ongoing events, and to be a resource for new readers. I will take books and issues that I find important for readers, review them, and comment on where to find these stories, and how they play into the character.

I will begin by saying that I have loved comic book characters since I was little even though I didn't read comic books for many years. I became interested in comics when I was given Emerald Knights, a six part miniseries about the then current Green Lantern Kyle Rayner going back in time, meeting Hal Jordan and battling Sinestro in the past, and then in the present fighting an evil version of Hal Jordan.

(Image from the Trade)
Green Lantern Vol. 3 #99-106
Green Arrow Vol. 2 #136

I loved that story and became more interested in the universe picking up the essential guides for Spiderman, X-Men, Batman, and the Hulk. I loved seeing all the artwork, the story's that were told, and could see the development of charachters. I really didn't read much until I got re involved with Green Lantern due to my now Fiance reading them as well. I started just in time, with Blackest Night, a series that I collected every issue of. That is not to say that I wasn't confused at the time. Eventually with the help of increasing number of trade paper backs I was able to get the Sinestro Corps war, rise of the lanterns series, and was able to understand what was going on. Then I got really back into comics, adding titles such as Batman, The Avengers, Iron Fist (Yay!), X-Men, BPRD.

But the world of Comics is confusing. Almost everyone knows the origins of many popular super heroes. Batman became a vigilante after his parents were killed before his eyes, Superman came from a distant planet, the Fantastic Four were bombarded by cosmic rays, and Spider-Man was bitten by a Radioactive spider. Yet if I were to jump into comics before the reboots that just occurred, I would be confused without having prior knowledge. Even with the reboots, tons of past information is vital to understanding the characters such as why Barbara Gordon becoming Batgirl is a big deal.

My goal with this blog is then to help other readers like me make sense of all the craziness, as well as trying to educate myself. I plan to review an issue or two a week, with most being released on Friday's, and at some point to do video reviews and commentary. I will also have a timeline that I will add to as I learn more, read more, and show more about the wonderful world of comic books.