| Author | Topic: Superman in the 70s |
| Osgood
Peabody Member |
 posted May 10,
2002 10:12 PM  
Speaking of Jimmy, here's a site I stumbled across in my wanderings the other day, that reprints some particularly goofy Olsen stories in their entirety: http://www.allaboutcomix.com/joindex.html Enjoy! IP: Logged |
| Aldous Member |
posted May 11,
2002 01:36 AM
quote: Blimey.... How do you find this stuff? IP: Logged |
| Aldous Member |
posted May 11,
2002 05:16 AM
quote: Oh no. I was at that website, and I just read "Jimmy Olsen's Boo Boos." It could be the worst DC story I've ever read. It's a shocker! OMG... I didn't know they'd made stuff this bad... But what the hey! All in good fun! (I think!) IP: Logged |
| Aldous Member |
posted May 11,
2002 05:20 AM
Sorry, guys... Had to tell you... I'm still chuckling.
quote: I want to change this. It is the worst DC story I've ever read. IP: Logged |
| Osgood
Peabody Member |
posted May 11,
2002 04:15 PM
For a more irreverent look at some of our freckle-faced friend's adventures, try this link, courtesy of the one and only "Unca Cheeks": http://members.fortunecity.com/toywonder/SlowDCSilly1.htm Guaranteed for a few chuckles! IP: Logged |
| Aldous Member |
posted May 11,
2002 07:27 PM
quote: That's a great website. That bloke has an incredible sense of humour! His lowdowns on the "silly" DC stories are hilarious. He has commentaries on many aspects of DC comics and their characters. I got caught up for a couple of hours this (Sunday) morning looking at the site. I read some pertinent comments about the misguided present-day revisionist approach to one of my very favourite characters, the Silver Age Green (Hal Jordan) Lantern. IP: Logged |
| twb Member |
posted May 11,
2002 07:37 PM
Maybe this should become a topic: " WHEN DID AMALAK SPACE PIRATE BECOME the KRYPTONIAN KILLER?" I've been waiting 25 years for the answer to that one… ------------------ IP: Logged |
| Aldous Member |
posted May 11,
2002 11:49 PM
quote: I saw your question elsewhere on the board. If I could answer it, I would. IP: Logged |
| Aldous Member |
posted May 12,
2002 11:02 PM
quote: I take this back, guys. Nothing can drop lower than the "Murderous MagnaMan" with the "super-gopher" saving the day at the end. I had tears rolling down my cheeks from laughing. It couldn't possibly get any worse than that! (OK, I'll shut up now.) IP: Logged |
| Amalak Member |
posted May 21,
2002 04:32 PM
Bump IP: Logged |
| Aldous Member |
posted May 23,
2002 01:07 AM
The Most Thrilling Scenes from Superman comic books in the 1970s Gentlemen (and Ladies), I give you Superman #233 (1971). This may not seem so thrilling today, but when I was a kid, I was mightily thrilled and impressed by the scene where Superman stands astride the outer hull of a speeding aircraft above the clouds, and uses his bare hands to tear open the hull so as to gain entry. (R-RIPP!) The Swan-Anderson artwork on this comic is just superb. Never was Superman's raw physical power so well portrayed, in my view. When he kicks a moon around like a soccer ball, sure -- that's powerful. But that was, like, such a huge departure from what I understood to be "strength", as a kid. (Kicking a planet around isn't strong. It's Godlike -- and distant.) My father was a very solid, strong man (still is), and Superman ripping the hull open was like my father's normal man's strength super-magnified. It wasn't the ethereal strength of God. It was "raw" and "sweaty" strength. Superman punctured the aircraft's thick hull with his hands and literally tore it open, just as a super-strong man would. It looked real. That, anyway, for me, is a thrilling scene. Aldous IP: Logged |
| India
Ink Member |
posted May 23,
2002 04:02 PM
I've been meaning, eversince this topic first started, to talk about the Martin Pasko Superman in depth (probably my most favourite written version of the Man of Steel--although Edmond Hamilton comes awfully close), but to do that I feel I have to re-read all those glorious issues. And not just that, but many Bates & Maggin stories, as well, since they set up the direction that Pasko followed. Unfortunately with so many other things commanding my attention I just haven't gotten around to this (hopefully this summer). I'm not sure there's a clear answer to be found on how Amalak became the Kryptonian Killer, but a quick (very quick) glance at some of my issues tells me that Amalak was there in 299, along with many of Superman's arch-enemies (Luthor, Terra Man, et al) in the final confrontation with Mr. Xavier--in that truly wonderful Bates & Maggin/Swan & Oksner four part saga. Amalak is looking very clean--he's a clean man, very clean--with his magenta sixties space suit and a good Wayne Boring style military haircut. And at the end, Superman takes the Space Pirate away to an outer space prison colony. In 313, by Pasko, with debatable art by Curt Swan and Frank Springer, Amalak has returned from the space prison and is now the Kryptonian Killer. He has flaming green eyes, the better to kill Kryptonians with, and stringy smack junky chic long hair and a scraggly beard--looking like Kurtz at the Heart of Darkness. In this respect, Springer's dirty inks made Amalak look all the more the worse for wear. But as I say I haven't re-read all these issues, so I'm not sure if it was ever fully explained what happened to Amalak during his sojourn in the space prison colony (whatever it was it can't have been good). Hopefully I'll eventually get around to my Pasko project, at which point the Kryptonian Killer question can be explored more fully--if it hasn't already been answered on some other thread. ------------------ for Book of Oa-- for DC golden age sites-- for DC indexes (Earths 1&2)-- http://www.dcindexes.com/indexes for Superman through the Ages-- for Superman from the 30s to the 50s-- for Superman in the 70s-- for 80s Superman-- for Wonder Woman-- IP: Logged |
| Aldous Member |
posted May 24,
2002 04:47 PM
quote: I always wondered why Supes didn't make a pit-stop at the "space court of law" first.
quote: Oh yes, I know! IP: Logged |
| India
Ink Member |
posted May 27,
2002 04:29 PM
I increased my pile of backissues a little bit yesterday, at the Vancouver Comicon. Michael Wm. Kaluta was there, by the way. I find that I concentrate my searches for backissues to what I'll call the Prime Time--between 1964 and 1974. After 1974, with paperboy money and later on various jobs, I had enough money to get almost all the comics I wanted (which were mainly DC super-heroes). I don't really need or want anything more from the post-74 comics, so I don't even bother to look for those. Prior to 1964, I certainly have the desire to find these comics, but looking through the boxes--for instance yesterday I saw lots and lots of Action Comics & Adventure Comics from the entire 1950s decade--I find that there's an almost immediate gap in pricing between anything 1963 and earlier and anything 1964 and later. An Action from 1963 will be priced at over twenty dollars (and most of the fifties comics I saw were priced around a hundred dollars), while a 1964 Action can be had for three dollars. But finding comics in that Prime Time period is getting harder and harder. I still haven't tracked down this Virus X story that everyone raves about. Aside from Action and Superman, I'm always looking for Sekowsky's Wonder Woman (roughly 1968-71), and it's very hard to find any of these. It's not that they're overpriced (most seem to go for under twenty dollars), they're just not being offered. This time I seemed to find a lot of Giants and Super-Specs--for instance I got Superman 232, the special Krypton Giant, which I mentioned earlier in this thread. There used to be a big gap in my collection between issue 200 and issue 233 of Superman, but that gap is slowly being filled in. And looking at these various Super-titles I've noticed something. It seems that Weisinger didn't leave the Super books all at once. Murray Boltinoff takes over as editor of Superboy in 1969, but as editor of Action in the middle of 1970. Julius Schwartz takes over as editor of World's Finest in late 1970 and as editor of Superman with that much mentioned no. 233 in early 1971. But is this how it really went down? I find it hard to believe that Mort hung around while one editor after the other took over the books he was responsible for, until he was only editing Superman. Perhaps Weisinger had stockpiled a number of stories, and these were gradually published--with assistant editor Bridwell serving as de facto editor. I'm wondering if Weisinger didn't in fact leave DC some time in early 1970. IP: Logged |
| India
Ink Member |
posted May 29,
2002 08:45 PM
I haven't yet completely explored my latest cache of 60s and early 70s comics, but I'll report on some of what I've found sofar (although probably this will not be new to some of you out there)... When I found a Superman 231 (Nov. 1970) for only about five bucks (given these were all cash transactions, most dealers shaved some dollars off the total for my purchases--and NO tax), I had to have that issue because I knew it was the last Weisinger edited issue--the next ish being a Giant, edited by Bridwell, with of course Schwartz taking over as of 233! Unfortunately the main story in this mag is the second part of a two-parter by Cary Bates, Curt Swan, and Dan Adkins (the second story is a reprint from the fifties). Had I known this before I might've bought 230 as well (likely it was available, just not in the condition or at the price I wanted). This is an imaginary story (hm, Schwartz also ended his run with an imaginary story), one about yet again Luthor as Superman, with Clark as a criminal. Me, I like reading the "Direct Currents"--which make a brief return to the DC pages in this issue before going away again (only to be brought back yet again years later). Allow me to quote the contents of this page in full: _________ DIRECT All right, readers--you asked for it, so it's back--the feature that tells you what's coming in the DC line--DIRECT CURRENTS! And as before, it's brought to you by E. Nelson Bridwell (the Big E.). So what's new in the world's most exciting comics? So much I'm bursting to tell you the whole thing...for example... Editor Joe Kubert tells me Russ Heath has turned in another great Easy Company job for OUR ARMY AT WAR. This is the November issue, # 225, featuring Sgt. Rock and some new Easy recruits who contrast the battlefront with the home front, and come to the the conclusion that it takes both to fight a war. On sale Sept.1 SON OF TOMAHAWK--that's DC's great, new Western feature. Set in the early 19th century, it features the famed Revolutionary War hero in his later life, after he marries an Indian girl and they have two sons. One boy is a youth with an attraction for trouble, the other is his 10-year-old kid brother. Don't miss this December issue (# 131), on sale Sept. 1. Are you one of those unfortunates who missed the tale of how WONDER WOMAN lost her powers and began a new life as plain(?) Diana Prince? There must be a lot of you, because you've been deluging Mike Sekowsky with pleas to repeat the tale. So he's given in, and you'll see it in the December ish, # 191, which hits the stands Sept. 1. (And if you've read that one already, don't miss the NEW material in this number!) When you fight for justice on the high seas, you're bound to run into a "Crime Wave"--which is exactly what happens to AQUAMAN in his wildest adventure yet. It's a Gothic mystery...a Crime tale...a weird fantasy...and even a Western--all rolled into one! How can all these plots be put together? To find out, you'll have to read this tale in the December issue (# 54), on sale Sept. 3. Ever hear of a "Man with Ten Eyes?" That's who's after the BATMAN in his November issue, # 226. Our new "villain" has been blinded--and he puts the blame on the Masked Manhunter! So this war veteran--who, thanks to a fantastic new discovery, now has five times the vision of a normal man--sets out on a trail of vengeance. On sale Sept. 3. Say did you know Carmine Infantino's done some new art for DC? Don't take my word for it--see his great cover for THE FLASH # 201 (November). Inked by Murphy Anderson, this one illustrates a story of a "Million Dollar Dream" that's shattered by the Fastest Man Alive! Yes, the basketball player with the dream is crippled, and the Flash is to blame! Also--a Golden Age Flash tale, pitting the original Speed King against his old foe, the Fiddler! On sale Sept. 3. Neal Adams has done it again with his eerie cover for the December HOUSE OF MYSTERY (# 189). As if that weren't enough, catch Bob Kanigher's chilling tale, "Eyes of the Cat," with art by Grandenetti and Wood. It's a real wierdie about a killer and a very unusual feline! Also, Jack Oleck's "The Thing in the Chair," graced by Tom Sutton's art. Of course, you won't want to miss the Page 13 feature. This one's on sale Sept. 8. Johnny Cloud...Captain Storm...Gunner and Sarge! These are the Losers, who, even when they seem to win, wind up with the fuzzy end of the lollipop. In OUR FIGHTING FORCES # 128 (December), they star in an epic called, "Angel Over Hell's Corner," a tale of love between a British pilot and a nurse, against the explosive background of World War II. If you dig emotion and action, you'll get it the minute it comes out, on sale Sept. 8. Take JERRY LEWIS, a gang of bicycle thieves, a group of firemen, and a popcorn factory, and you have the ingredients of one of the most hilarious laugh-getters around. And once the Sultan of Slapstick gets out of the "Schnook and Ladder" adventure, he lands between two feuding families in the hills, as "A Boob in the Woods"! It's all in the December issue (# 121), which comes your way Sept. 8. The big change hits WORLD'S FINEST with the November issue (# 198). Instead of the Batman, Superman teams up with the Flash this time...for a race to end all races! Who starts them on this marathon that leads right out of our galaxy? You'll be surprised! And you'll also see Jimmy Olsen in one of the tightest spots he's every tumbled into. All this and more...so get it on Sept. 10! IP: Logged |
| India
Ink Member |
posted May 29,
2002 09:36 PM
Adding to the Big E's Giant legacy, I now have these two 64 page reprint collections from the early 70s--Superman 227, G-72, June-July, 1970 and Superman 232, G-78, Dec.-Jan., 1970-71. G-72 is a special All-Kryptonite issue, while, as I've mentioned before, G-78 is dedicated to Krypton itself. Both provide a lot of legendary info which must've informed the later Krypton tales, and clearly (from my perspective) influenced much later stories--including a few mini-series I mentioned on the "80s Superman" thread--namely these notables: 1. World of Krypton--3 issues (July-Sept. '79); writer: Paul Kupperberg; artists: Howard Chaykin and Murphy Anderson (on 1&2), Chaykin and Chiaramonte (on 3); editor: E. Nelson Bridwell. 2. (Superman presents the) Krypton Chronicles--3 issues (Sept.-Nov. '81); writer: Bridwell; artists: Swan and Chiaramonte; editor: Julius Schwartz. 3. (Superman presents the) Phantom Zone--4 issues (Jan.-April '82); writer: Steve Gerber; artists: Gene Colan and Tony DeZuniga; editor: Dick Giordano. In the Kryptonite Giant, G-72, we have a reprint of the Quex-Ul story from Superman 157, Nov. '62 (art by Swan and Klein, 10 pages). The first time that Gold K was used in a story! which surprised me, since I thought the gold stuff had been around a lot longer (it's the one piece of Kryptonite that scares me the most--I was very afraid of it when it appeared in stories that I read as a kid, because I took the threat of Superman losing his powers seriously--whereas I didn't view Green or Red K as real threats). I'm also surprised that a story that contains so much is only ten pages. But Steve Gerber would mine all that gold for what it was worth in his mini-series years later. Rich Morrissey, however, clearly saw the potential and called for a sequel in the lettercol of G-78! At the beginning of this story, Superman finds radio-visual tapes inside a safe from Krypton that have landed on our Moon (Quex-Ul in the Phantom Zone tells Superman of this through the Zone-ophone)--one of these many tapes contains the record of Quex-Ul's crime and sentencing. Later, in The World of Krypton mini-series, Superman mentions these mind-tapes that he found on the moon. And these mind-tapes again come up in the Krypton Chronicles mini. Likewise, Quex-Ul's sentence was for 25 Krypton years and we are told that this is equal to 18 Earth years--a fact reiterated in the mini-series that I've mentioned. Another Phantom Zoner, and important character in Gerber's mini-series not to mention the Bridwell edited mini, World of Krypton, Jax-Ur, like Quex-Ul is released from the Phantom Zone by Superman (although Jax-Ur is on temporary prison release whereas Quex-Ul had served his full term). A lot of Krypton mythology is used in this story, as well--like Jewel Mountains, Scarlet Jungles, and thought beasts. This one is 13 pages, illustrated by Swan and Klein. While over in G-78 "The Fugitive from the Phantom Zone!" (reprinted from Superman 164, Oct. 1963--more famous for its lead story about a Super-Duel between Luthor and Superman), we get Krypton superstitions about the Jewel Mountains (any jewelry made from these living jewels was considered life-threatening), Winged Ones, and comets (a person must hide in a cave or else die within 24 hours after seeing a comet). The primary feature in G-78 is "Superman's Return to Krypton" (Superman 141, Nov. '60.). But there's lots more Krypton lore in this Giant. "Father's Day on Planet Krypton" (a Superboy story from Adventure 313, Oct. '63) brings in the statues of Kal-El's forefathers (Val-El, Sul-El, Tala-El, Hatu-El, and Gam-El), who are each shown to with their arms positioned as if holding something. On Father's Day on Krypton, one would place specific objects associated with that ancestor into the hands of the statue (eg. Sul-El's telescope). In Krypton Chronicles Bridwell introduces the notion that these devices would trigger mindtapes in the statues themselves. But the germ of the idea of the Chronicles (Superman's family line) is contained in this story and its brief history of each forefather. IP: Logged |
| India
Ink Member |
posted May 29,
2002 11:10 PM
In the lettercol of G-78, a reader complains that Supergirl broke the code against killing when she killed a plant life-form that took over Perry White in the "The Super-Powers of Perry White" (a la "Invasion of the Body-Snatchers"), reprinted in G-72. ENB defends Kara Zor-el, arguing that it was either Perry or the plant creature, Supergirl made the right choice. But I think Bridwell's argument is weak. Supergirl and Superman both use the white K to kill off the plant alien. Another story written within the bounds of Superman's code would have found a way for the plant beast to be driven off without actually killing it. It is presented as an intelligent alien, so its right to life is on a par with Perry's. The art looks like Swan and Kaye (but it could be Klein) and there's no date given as to when it was printed, but it may pre-date the code against killing as an established no exceptions rule. Also, Perry's powers in this makes me think of the super-cigars he had in the seventies stories, and I wonder if this wasn't an influence. A Superboy story in this Giant ("The Great Kryptonite Mystery") has the Boy of Steel collecting green K and exposing himself to lethal doses of the stuff. It's an example of the sad suffering Superman type story--except it's Superboy--as he is shown martyring himself, near to death, being ministered to by his parents. The concept in this story is that Superman can build up resistance to particular fragments of Kryptonite. Superboy has found a record from Krypton in space that informs him of some criminals who were sent into orbit as their punishment. One day their satellite craft will reach Earth, when Superboy is a man, and on that day he will use the Kryptonite he's built up an immunity to and defeat the criminals. However, so far as I know, the story of Superman actually confronting those villains was never told. I think one of the posters on these boards, possibly Lildeath, has used the case of Superman with an ant's head as an example of how utterly stupid the Superman stories used to be. And looking at the splash page for "the Invasion of the Super-Ants!" (reprinted in G-72)I would agree. Although usually Lildeath is slamming Curt Swan, and the art for this one is clearly by Al Plastino (with Lois in some panels probably done by Kurt Schaffenberger). BUT splash-pages never tell the whole story. Sure if you just look at the pictures throughout this tale it's quite ridiculous how Superman looks with the ant head, those big bug-eyes and antenae. In fact it's a good guess that Kieth Giffen was inspired by this story to create Ambush Bug! However, as hard as it is to get past that image, once you do get past it, you realize--or at least I realized--that this is a truly good story. Old comics have an advantage over the new, as they exist as artifacts and not just stories. They tell us something about the society that produced such oddities. Anthropologists could study this story for the next century and still not fully explore its implications. One of the things I liked about comics as a kid was learning stuff. Kids who read comics seem to be usually more interested in learning about things than most kids--but I think most kids are actually hungry to gain knowledge, always wanting to know the "how come" of things. Like the best stories of its ilk, this one has Clark giving Lois an extensive lesson about ants. It's interesting that on this page (2), in this reprint, Lois says she hates ants--a few issues later in the all-new Amazing Adventures, she would be in the path of an army of red ants. And just as when I was a kid, I find learning all this stuff about ants to be of great interest. Of course, next thing we know there's an invasion of giant red ants threatening the world and Superman has to take them on. Eventually he gets the idea that he should expose himself to a red K cloud which will transform his head into an ant's (I think several movies of the time influenced this story, including "The Fly"). With his antenae, Superman is now able to communicate with the ants and receives their dire warning. They are from another planet where all human life was extinguished by nuclear war. They have travelled to several other planets to give their warning to human life about the dangers of nuclear weapons, but each planet they visit has now been taken over by other lifeforms, because the humans have extinguished themselves through nuclear war. The same thing will happen to our planet if we do not stop building up nuclear arms to destroy each other. Superman must carry the message of the giant ants to the world, to warn us of the great danger facing us. Which Superman does at the end of the story, by addressing the United Nations (note that he warns all governments--he doesn't take sides--"if we can't live in peace, man will vanish and the insects will inherit the Earth!"). I think this is a brave story. Sure other writers told the same kind of stories in the late fifties and early sixties, but most of those writers were free to do so. As Superman is an American icon and as DC was supposed to be part of the establishment, I think Weisinger and his writers showed some guts in telling what they felt about the Cold War. The real fear they had. Far from being laughable, this story reaches out and grabs the reader by the collar and gives him a good shaking. Of course, by the time this was reprinted, in 1970, readers had a lot more sympathy for the message--and there were a lot more stories like it being published in all the DC books. Except for the big red ant head that is--that symbolic image belonged to this story alone. IP: Logged |
| Aldous Member |
posted May 30,
2002 02:29 AM
quote: I read a story when I was a kid about something like this. My memories are very vague. I never owned the comic books. (I think it was a two-parter.) Clark was a villain with a machine gun, I think, and Lex was the good guy, and something to do with a prophecy involving a steering wheel led to Clark's undoing. I know that last bit sounds really weird, but that's what I remember. Any idea what the story/issue was, India?
quote: I have this story... I take your point that the natural sequel to this tale was never told. Perhaps the notion that Superman can build up an immunity to a particular piece of Kryptonite is best laid to rest! I don't know how you feel about this..... (I like the Superboy story, however.)
quote: Me too. I have the Superman-Ants story, and I always liked it. It's a good story. Superman-with-ant-head seems like a silly notion on paper, but the good intentions were there behind it, and it comes off well.
quote: I found your opinion here very interesting. Man there's some great old stuff out there! Please answer my question about the steering wheel story if you can. Maybe I dreamed it. That reminds me -- a kid at school when I was about 10 had a Superman comic with the cover missing, and he refused to do a deal so I could own this dog-eared comic. The reason I wanted it (apart from it being the big red S) was that it had a villain (I think) or maybe a rival hero who was a rip-off of Captain Marvel -- in the place of SHAZAM was another word, also made up of the first initials of supposed mythic figures from whom the hero received his powers. The memory is so old, so vague. Do you know this story? Wish I could get those comics, both the SHAZAM-imitation one and the Clark-bad Luthor-good story. IP: Logged |
| GernotCarl Member |
posted May 30,
2002 03:26 PM
quote: You each had a separate chapter in that 2-parter! Clark Kent was raised by the Kents (I'm not sure, but I think they'd killed his real parents in the story). The story with the steering wheel was that in an attempt to flee Superman, Kent tripped over a broken steering wheel, and killed himself (shot, maybe?). To MY young mind, this was a VERY scary story, as I watched "Superman"
standing over Clark Kent's body! I think I was about 8 years old when this
issue came out. ------------------ ******************** ******************** Robin: "Holy Oleo!" Catwoman: "I didn't know you could yodel." ******************** "When Polly's in trouble, I am not slow! It's hip, hip, hip, and awaaaaay I go!" ******************** "I'm normally not a praying man, but if you're up there, please save
me, Superman!" IP: Logged |
| bizarromark Member |
posted May 30,
2002 03:37 PM
quote: India- Exactly! Hey, I've seen that this topic has been around forever. Being a LONG time Superman fan and collector, I've always wanted to get in on the conversation. Since I'm just too lazy to read the 300+ posts within this thread, bring me up to speed: Any specific time period you guys are talking about, or any specific series (Superman, Action, Adventure, etc)....or is it wide open? I've got one hell of a stack of Silver Age Superman comics and I'd love to add my two cents without inadvertantly knocking the whole thing out of orbit! Anyway, I look forward to reading more posts in this interesting thread. Good stuff, guys! ------------------
Comet the Superhorse, from Action Comics #300, May 1963 IP: Logged |
| India
Ink Member |
posted May 30,
2002 07:12 PM
This thread is fairly open and freewheeling, mark. I love to discuss anything from these old stories. And I've certainly taken my liberties under the umbrella of this "seventies" thread, discussing stories that perhaps belong in the sixties or eighties--but I'm trying to establish a context here. My current thesis is that reprint collections are not just grounded in the past epochs from which they come--rather once being reprinted (especially as part of a title's run, as with the Giants and Super-Specs) those stories become alive again in the "present" time. Bridwell in reprinting these stories brought them to our attention in the seventies--we had to think about them again--and new stories sprang from all thought. Aldous, the imaginary story which you and I have parts of is from Superman 230 & 231 (I have 231). GernotCarl, you cleared some things up for me. I was wondering why little Lex was bald at such a young age--so it was his father Jor-El's science experiment that caused Lex's baldness in this imaginary story. By the way, Jor-El takes the name Jordan Luthor on Earth. Funny that, since in the last story (also "imaginary") that Schwartz edited, Clark took the name Jordan. Aldous, I'm not sure which Capt. Marvel inspired story you're talking about, but I assume it's not the Captain Thunder one (from the seventies). In the sixties Superman faced the villain Zha-Vam. I remember the story well, and now have all three parts of that one which was published in Action in 1967--issues 352-54, I'd guess, without checking my books. I believe the letters of the name Zha-Vam corresponded to these gods and heroes-- Z-Zeus V-Vulcan IP: Logged |
| India
Ink Member |
posted May 30,
2002 07:47 PM
As yet another example of how everything old could eventually become new again, another story in Superman 232 (Giant G-78) is "The Wizard City," a 12 page Superboy story reprinted from Adventure Comics 216, Sept. '55. In the lettercolumn, ENB identifies the artist as Curt Swan, but he doesn't identify who inked the pencils (and it's rare that Curtis Swan ever inked his own pencils). My guess, given the date and comparing the art to that reprinted in the World's Finest Archives from the same period, would be Stan Kaye--although I can't rule out Charles Paris. In brief, "Wizard City" tells of a giant meteor that lands on Earth somewhere in Africa. A professor from "Smallville's modest, but efficient, Natural History Museum" (for a small town they had a lot of culture), sets out for Africa to locate this meteor which could bring prestige to the museum. Leaving behind a young wife, and small child, the energetic professor heads for Africa on his expedition, but weeks go by with no word from the explorer. The young wife worries over her husband's disappearance, and the little freckle-faced boy wonders if his daddy will be back in time for his birthday. Superboy promises the family that he will search for the professor and bring him back in time for little Jimmy's birthday. Meanwhile the adventuring professor, with his guide, Vedders, has stumbled upon a lost city of knights, the descendents of medieval crusaders who were stranded in this forlorn part of Africa. The knights tell of a strange "Wizard City" that just recently made its own valley, and from which they have obtained precious diamonds. Turns out that the meteor is a chunk of the planet Krypton which landed intact in Africa. A giant chunk containing an entire city. Superboy and the professor find this "Wizard City," which they call Krypton City, but the Boy of Steel can't enter it because its bedrock is Kryptonite. The rogue guide, Vedders, meanwhile, has installed himself in this city which is like one big fortress of advanced weaponry. However with Superboy's aide, the professor enters the Krypton City disguised as a grown up Superboy--or Superman--and Vedders is brought to justice. The professor returns to Smallville and his family--and at the very end of the story we find out that he's Professor Olsen, Jimmy Olsen's father. I see this as a story that generated more ideas, which evolved in their own direction. Besides the influence on Jimmy's back story, it seems likely that this tale generated the idea of Kandor. In fact, in World's Finest 100, March '59, "The Dictator of Krypton City," (by Finger, Sprang, and Kaye) Kandor is called Krypton City. Kryptonopolis (the hometown of Jor-El and Lara) is just another version of Krypton City. And there are similarities in the big chunk of Krypton to Argo City. IP: Logged |
| Aldous Member |
posted May 30,
2002 08:26 PM
quote: Thanks for the info, Carl, and yes -- "scary" is a good description of this story. As I said, I read it when I was a young kid, but I remember the impression it made... spooky, with an unsavoury Clark Kent; a sort of twisted-up kind of gangster story, with a creepy prophecy about Kent's death (involving that darn steering wheel). One day I may come across a reprint of this comic (I hope). bizarromark, the 14 pages of posts on this thread have some GREAT stuff on them. I certainly don't mind discussing anything and everything, even if for a second or third time, as someone new always has a fresh contribution to make, and ideas get jumbled up and opinions are re-shaped and adjusted.
quote: Thank you. It probably is this Zha-Vam one. (Man I wish I'd obtained that comic!) I think the story even had Billy Batson-type scenes where a kid goes through a derelict subway or basement or something, and gains the powers of his alter-ego in some sort of SHAZAM-Wizard fashion. I was pretty good at identifying the artists of a book just by looking at the work, even when I was young, but I'm damned if I can remember the artists now. Could've been Swan-Anderson. The memory has become too faded. When did Anderson first start inking Swan? I think Swanderson hit its stride when J.S. started as editor, but I know they were a team (off-and-on?) before this. But, back as far as '67? Hope these aren't dumb questions. India, I know you're active on the Archives thread (I look in from time to time), but I'll ask this here -- I take it we will see stories like this eventually, in Archives? (Even Sand-Superman must appear in Archives eventually?) And, if so, how many years are we looking at before seeing it? IP: Logged |
| India
Ink Member |
posted May 30,
2002 08:34 PM
So "The Wizard City" is like a seed-pod story. Inside the pod of the story are all these seeds for other potential stories. A lost valley of knights, Jimmy's lost explorer father, a Krypton City, a surviving city from Krypton, and so on. Out of the pod these seeds can grow into their own storylines, but then the pod must be thrown away since it has become useless once these seeds have developed in their own way. In this story, the Krypton City has made its own valley--its own crater--but Superboy fills in the valley, burying the city under large rocks--hopefully never to be found again. And it wasn't uncovered. It had to remain buried, while the other stories it generated grew. So you would think. But in fact the Krypton City was uncovered, years and years later, although it wasn't called "Krypton City"--only Wizard City. In Action Comics 565, March '85, Vedders escapes from his prison in the African country of Kurtiswana (I'll give you a moment to think about that name...done? o.k.), in the story "The Wizard City Warrior"--Mort Todd: writer; Kurt Schaffenberger: artist (16 pages). Along with a fellow escapee, Vedders returns to the valley of the Wizard City where much of the rocks covering the city have been unearthed revealing the spires of that Kryptonian metropolis. Meanwhile, Prof. Mark Olsen lunching with his son, Jimmy, tells the young ace reporter of that "Wizard City" (in this story it's never called Krypton City) and soon Jimmy is off on his own expedition to Kurtiswana in search of the marvelous treasured remains of Krypton (by the way, the reason these remains survive intact is because they are made of Kryptonian materials--resistant to any damage from cosmic forces). Jimmy is promptly captured by Vedders accomplice, Dexter (Vedders himself having been knocked out by his parner). The escaped convict, Dexter, uses the advanced war-armour of Krypton in a gambit to take over Metropolis, and possibly the world, but he's brought down by Superman. I'm suspect of who wrote this story. I've never seen the name "Mort Todd" before and suspect it's a pen-name for someone. I'd lay odds that it was E. Nelson Bridwell writing under an assumed name. Although why the Big E. used this name I have no idea. But it would be like Bridwell to bring back "Wizard City." As a comics fan before he ever worked at National, ENB likely had his own favourite stories (just as we have ours). "The Wizard City" seems like one of those favourites, and he probably always wanted to revisit it again--even thirty years later. IP: Logged |
| India
Ink Member |
posted May 30,
2002 08:46 PM
Now you've got me confused Aldous--because the Zha-Vam story (except for the covers which were by Swan) was by Wayne Boring. I'd say that you mean the Capt. Thunder story. As I recall (without actually looking for the comic), Billy Fawcett met up with a native-American shaman in a cave (not a subway tunnel--but there may have been a subway tunnel involved in the story). I know that the art was by Swan and Oksner, and I'd guess that Maggin wrote it (since he wrote some of the Shazam stories at the time). This would've been published in Superman around 1974. But there have been many kinds of Capt Marvel parodies/spoofs/homages in Superman's past, so it's possible you're thinking of one that I just haven't read. As for Anderson inking Swan, I believe this first happened on the covers, with Anderson eventually inking Swan on the insides (that sounds like it could hurt!). But the Swanderson team made their story debut in Action first by some months. So far as I know, the first Swanderson story in Superman itself was in the much mentioned 233. IP: Logged |
