Action Comics #11: Superman and the 'Black Gold' Swindle

 This is part of an ongoing series where I review Golden Age Superman, weekly, issue by issue, starting from the very beginning. 

    Superman and the 'Black Gold' Swindle is a story about the stock market. It also recalls the crash of 1929, with a stock broker comitting suicide after spending all of his money on a worthless stock from the brokerage firm Meek & Bronson. Urban myths suggest that stock brokers threw themselves off of buildings in droves in 1929 as a result of the crash. Although this direct correlation is greatly exaggerated, suicide rates in the US did rise in the years that followed (Klein). It’s a much more sympathetic portrayal of suicide than what we see in Action Comics #9, with the dead man being a victim of greed rather than just a lunatic, but still ultimately is used as an inciting incident in a story that doesn’t have a ton to do with mental health or suicide otherwise. 

    The stock is in the Black Gold Oil Well, but Meek & Bronson “found stock selling so profitable that they haven’t even bothered to really go after oil”. Clark then buys up all the stocks in a fake identity, and drills for oil himself at the well. After dealing with some hired goons sent after him by Meek & Bronson, Clark visits them in his fake identity to sell back the stocks for a total of 1 million dollars (over 22 million adjusted for inflation). The stocks are now worth millions, so Meek & Bronson grudgingly accept, but before they can reap the rewards Superman returns to the well and destroys it to give them a taste of their own medicine. Superman relishes in punishing rich people here, and it’s a lot of fun to watch.

    Clark becoming a millionaire off this is a fun detail that is actually carried over to Action Comics #15, where he needs to raise 2 million to help Kidtown, but we don’t really see him do anything with it until then. With the run of stories in between, it does end up feeling like a forgotten plot point that Shuster suddenly remembered a few months later. I don't know a ton about the behind the scenes of this period, though, it is possible Superman on the High Seas was originally meant to come right after this. It is weird we rarely see Superman raise money for charitable purposes- I suppose helping orphans is less entertaining to read than punching corrupt industrialists, and it does fit in with Superman’s characterisation this far (the man always chooses violence), but stories like this and Superman Joins the Circus show that there is potential for some to be a force of positive economic change. Still, you can only fit so much into 13 pages. 

    There’s not a ton else to talk about here- Superman races past a train again, this time beating a streamliner, which can go over 110mph. Trains were the fastest mode of transit available to most people at the time, as commercial aviation didn’t really take off until after the war. Showing Superman go faster than our most efficient commercial transit drives home his speed, although the wave of speedsters that would debut over the next year or two would inevitably be much faster than this Superman. Still, at this point in time, there were very few other super-powered characters around at all. Most of the other superheroes of 1939 were mystery-men esque vigilantes, most notably Batman. Later in the year, Doll Man, the Human Torch, and Namor would follow, but Zatara was the only other character with special powers that I know of at the time. Superman is the original, and it would take other comic artists a while to figure out what made this character work so well, and how to emulate that. For now, he stands alone.

Sources

Klein, Christopher. 1929 Stock Market Crash: Did Panicked Investors Really Jump From Windows? 2019

Strange Tales #115: The Origin of Dr. Strange

 This is part of an ongoing series where I will be reviewing Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s Doctor Strange, covering his appearances in Strange Tales #110-111 and #114-146. 

The Origin of Dr Strange is the first Dr Strange story to raise the page count, jumping from 5 to 8. This allows Ditko to open with a full splash page, rather than having to do two thirds and then cram 3 panels under it in order to maximize his 5 pages. It’s a nice pinup of Dr. Strange, with an abstract cobweb-y background that recalls the final panel of #110, and a strange figure in the shadows with Strange’s cloak billowing behind him, as he looks aloof as ever. Though I focus a lot on Ditko in this series, this story has a ton of Lee’s hallmark dramatic beats. Lee plays up how odd it is that Strange didn't start with an origin, because that's how he liked to tell stories, but it's not as if there was no precedent. While rarer on the Marvel side, big DC heroes in the golden age, most notably batman and Green Arrow, sometimes did not open with an origin either.

    In Dr. Strange: The Early Stories (Circa 1963-64), Nick Caputo notes that “the hero with an affliction was a Stan Lee trope (Tony Stark's weak heart; Matt Murdock's blindness; Don Blake's lame leg; Professor Xavier confined to a wheelchair, etc…)” (2016). As a surgeon, Strange is a proud, talented man who wants to be left alone, using his skills for financial gain and refusing to display altruism. In other words, he is an objectivist, like Ditko. Spider-Man underwent a similar process, as his uncle is killed due to Peter’s selfishness in Amazing Fantasy #15. Lee writes Ditko’s characters as objectivists who need to experience violent, traumatic, life altering misfortune to learn the value of helping others. It’s not hard to see why there was so much friction between the two men: they had fundamentally different worldviews in almost every way. Eventually, the pair would stop speaking entirely, until Ditko ultimately left Marvel in 1966 (but not before creating some of the greatest superhero comics of the decade, perhaps of all time).

Strange's self-interest

Strange's punishment

Spider-Man's self-interest (Amazing Fantasy #15)

Spider-Man's punishment (Amazing Fantasy #15)

    Before this issue, Strange was quite a mysterious character. We knew he studied under the ancient one to become a magician, alongside Baron Mordo, but not the hows or whys, or who has was beforehand. His backstory is hardly to the level of insensitivity as Lee and Kirby’s earlier crack at a mystic character, Doctor Droom (inked by Ditko), who literally turned into an Asian caricature after learning magic from a Tibetan monk in Amazing Adventures #1, but it’s still steeped in the mysticism of the Orient and othering Asian people. In many ways Strange feels like a much more successful second attempt at creating a character of this type from Lee & Ditko (Caputo), while still inheriting the colonial baggage inherent to the genre. 

Dr Droom's transformation (Amazing Adventures #1)

    Here, we see Strange with a bit of a different look than the first few issues, and learn that he was an American surgeon whose hands were broken in a car crash. Unwilling to work under one of his former collegues, Strange becomes a drifter, until he hears rumors of “the Ancient One”, who some say can heal any affliction. The non-linearity of it is pretty neat too, partially told in flashback as Strange recounts his story to the Anicent One, as flipping between respected surgeon Strange in his crisp suits and drifter Strange with his scraggly beard and worn-down clothes creates a strong visual contrast between the two periods of his life. Upon meeting the Ancient One, Strange is understandably skeptical, but eventually tries to intervene to tell the Ancient One about Mordo’s evil plans. He realises the dangers of sorcery in the wrong hands, and finds a purpose greater than himself. Again, Lee’s hand is obvious here.

    In terms of art, this might be Ditko’s best work yet in the series. While the first story has great atmosphere with its unique blend of noir and surrealism, this one manages to be dynamic and compelling while sticking mostly to closeups and dialogue. Every panel is so expressive, full of emotion and drama conveyed almost entirely through faces. It’s a minor miracle that it works at all. Mordo’s introduction makes great use of framing, first cloaking him in shadow and then positioning him closer to the “camera” so that he makes Strange look tiny. He is suitably imposing, as Strange is powerless to fight him at this stage. It’s also the first mention of Dormammu, who would go on to become a recurring villain. Ultimately, the stuff with Mordo is there a a catalyst for Strange’s character development rather than to explore that character any further, which is probably for the best when we just got two relatively similar adventures about Strange fighting him. Still, having Strange as a novice does give it a different dynamic than the previous two, and this story hits all the important thematic and plot beats you need for an effective origin story. Not too shabby for 8 pages. 

Sources

Dr. Strange: The Early Stories (Circa 1963-64) by Nick Caputo, 2016

Action Comics #10: Superman Goes to Prison

This is part of an ongoing series where I review Golden Age Superman, weekly, issue by issue, starting from the very beginning. 

    Superman Goes to Prison is a story about police brutality. It does not look into profiling or police violence in the outside world, rather, it is focused on the cruel treatment of convicts in the prisons themselves. Clark is tipped off to the brutal conditions by an escaped convict and goes undercover to gather evidence and get Superintendent Wyman arrested. It’s a pretty straightforward story that follows the formula of the first three issues, where Superman finds someone in a position of power who is abusing their authority and forces them to confront the suffering they cause firsthand, leading to their reform, in Christmas Carol fashion. There’s some comedic moments as Superman completes back-breaking labour with ease and glee, an attempted escape, and some subterfuge before the plan is finally complete.

    Wyman is running a chain gang. Chain gangs are a form of punishment where workers are chained together and forced to perform physical labour. In the United States, chain gangs became prominent after the Civil War, as the South needed a source of free labour to replace slaves and maintain their economy. Though this comic does not bring race into the picture, chain gangs where a key part of maintaining institutional racism during Reconstruction. Superman refers to stocks (a form of corporal punishment that binds limbs in a wooden block with small holes) as reminiscent of “puritan atrocities”, where stocks were often used to expose lower class prisoners to public humiliation. Wyman conducts various forms of torture, such as whipping, a “sweat-box”, and starvation. Focusing on Wyman specifically gives a physical form to an institutional injustice, but it never feels like a “one bad apple” type of story- Siegel and Shuster are earnestly engaging with social problems here, just using individual to explore these ideas as concrete parables. 

               Action Comics #10 marks the third time Superman would get the cover of the book, and while he begins to headline more frequently now, it wouldn’t be until Action Comics #19 and onward that he would become the de-facto star on every cover. It’s vaguely similar to a sequence in Action Comics #2, so they’re still not really doing original covers, but it’s good to see Superman get top billing nonetheless. The header image that starts this story off would also be the basis for the cover of Superman #1, when he finally spun off into his own book. 

    Art wise, it’s one of the weaker issues up to this point. There are several moments where the angle on characters switches panel-to-panel in a way that muddies the sense of space, and a couple of action beats that feel rather abrupt, and could’ve used another panel or two to flow better and build up some suspense. The dialogue is also framed in rectangular, right-angled boxes rather than the bubbles the book normally uses, another one of those weird, one-off touches that doesn’t really come back. There’s still some solid visual gags: all the Superman interacting with Wyman stuff is great, but a lot of the smaller moments don’t really land. Even Wyman looks off a lot of the time, as his beard seems to go in and out depending on the panel, and he doesn’t really have a distinct look, which is a step down from the immediately identifiable detectives and their funny hats from last issue. Still, when a competent yarn with an ever-relevant political theme is one of the weaker stories of a run, it’s ultimately a sign of the book’s overall quality. 

Action Comics #7: Superman Joins the Circus

This is part of an ongoing series where I review Golden Age Superman, weekly, issue by issue, starting from the very beginning. Action Comics #7 is the first issue to be published in 1939.

    In keeping with the depression-era socialism that runs through Siegel and Shuster’s work in the early days, Superman Joins the Circus has the Man of Steel help a small business protect itself from racketeers, using his abilities in order to generate capital for someone else, rather than for his own gain. The setting allows for entertaining stunts and great physical comedy. It’s also the first issue since Action Comics #1 to feature Superman on the cover, replicating a scene from the end of that issue. I love the way Shuster draws dangling ties, something that shows up on the Action Comics #1 cover as well. There's so much expression to how the clothes flap around; it does a lot to capture momentum in still panels. I imagine it's a big part of why so many superheroes wear capes, as all those skintight onesies are harder to endow with movement on the page.

Action Comics #1 interior

Action Comics #7 cover

    Wayne Boring, who would go on to become one of the defining Superman artists of the Silver Age, is credited as the ghost artist on both the Grand Comics Database (GCD) and the DC Fandom wiki, though Shuster still gets the credit on the official Golden Age edition, and neither source to the contrary have a particular citation; they seem to be based off of close observation rather than definite proof. I can't say I'm enough of an expert to spot the difference here, especially since the intent of a ghost artist is to mimic the original and fly under the radar, so a lot of Shuster's trademarks are still present. If it is indeed ghost drawn, Boring did a good job taking on Shuster's style.

    

    The story starts with Clark being a pushover, as his coworker, Curly, picks on him and Clark won’t stand up for himself. He’s then sent to interview the owner of a travelling circus, where he overhears a gangster trying to strongarm the owner into selling him the business. The closeups on the gun show Shuster/Boring experimenting a bit more with framing, which was quite rare at the time. There’s some weird inconsistencies, though, like when Superman crushes the gun on page 5 the angle doesn’t look quite right (and you can't see his sleeve), and he’s wearing yellow boots the whole story, even though they’re the proper red on the cover. In fairness, though, Superman's uniform had been a bit in flux for the first few issues: though the red boots are on the Action Comics #1 cover, in the interiors he's got blue footed pants. This would continue until #5, where he has the red boots in the interiors as well. In #6, even the fake Superman has red boots, which makes the yellow here feel especially weird, all the more so because it never happens again. It's unclear who did the colouring for these issues, so I'm not quite sure what exactly happened here. 

Action Comics #4: blue footed pants

Action Comics #5: red boots

    

   

Action Comics #6: phony Superman with red boots

Action Comics #7: yellow boots

 

 

 As the title would suggest, Superman because the circus’ new strongman in order to help the owner settle his debts and foil the buyout scheme, stopping some attempted sabotage along the way, while Lois is on the prowl for a good story. It ends rather abruptly, with the crooks of course getting caught by Superman as they try to hold Lois hostage. Then, we see the payoff to the intro, as Clark pranks Curly. It’s a bit odd since it’s not really an arc- we know Clark could easily beat that guy up if he wanted, but he’s choosing to blend in. It doesn’t really tie in with the rest of the narrative either, which feels a bit off for a 13 page story. The circus stuff itself is good fun, but overall it’s not the most remarkable issue.

 

    

Sources

Fandom

Grand Comics Database

Strange Tales #114: The Return of the Omnipotent Baron Mordo!

This is part of an ongoing series where I will be reviewing Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s Doctor Strange, covering his appearances in Strange Tales #110-111 and #114-146. 

Strange Tales #114 chronicles another faceoff with Baron Mordo, as the evil sorcerer impersonates one of Strange’s acquaintances and lures him to a castle in England. The locale fits in well with the old-world mysticism of the book. Strange arrives at a "dark, foggy London street" where Jack the Ripper wouldn't look out of place. It’s also the first appearance of the blue cape, which is eventually supplanted by the red one in issue #127. Usually, Ditko inks over his own pencils, but here, he is inked by an uncredited George Roussos, who doesn’t have quite the same level of precise linework that Ditko had (Caputo). It leads to strange himself looking a bit off, especially with the simplified inks on his face, and the hair is all over the place. Despite that, the overall narrative is more interesting than #113, the colours are more vibrant, and the setting continues the book’s general aesthetic of old world mysticism and long forgotten lore. Strange refuses The Master’s help here, continuing to grow and become self sufficient over the course of the first three stories. 

Strange with Rousso's inks (left) vs Strange with Ditko's inks (right, #110)

they gave him a pompadour 💀

Strange takes matters into his own hands

    Strange skipped out on Strange Tales #112 and 113, as Marvel “waited to receive your letters, to see if you would want him continued”. Evidently it was popular enough to continue on, as Strange never missed another issue, with the series being renamed Doctor Strange in issue #169. The story may not have been quite ready for #114 at the time, and since Ditko was likely busy with a little book called The Amazing Spider-Man (among other things), the last-minute finish from Roussos would make sense (Caputo). In the next issue, the stories would expand to 8 pages, giving them more room to breathe and experiment, and this issue is a fitting end to the opening trilogy. Next, we finally get to dive into Dr. Strange’s origin, with Strange Tales #115.

the astral fight is summed up in one panel this time

Sources
Dr Strange: The Early Stories by Nick Caputo (2016)

Action Comics #9: Superman: Wanted

 This is part of an ongoing series where I review Golden Age Superman, weekly, issue by issue, starting from the very beginning. 

    Though many of these early stories deal with serious themes and political ideas, at the end of the day Superman is still very much a comic book, with lots of silliness, one-liners, and slapstick. Superman: Wanted is the most overtly comedic story in the book this far, centering on two egotistical, brash, and somewhat incompetent detectives who compete to catch Superman for a 5000$ ($109,960.79 adjusted for inflation) reward. On the one side, there is Detective Captain “100%” Reilly, a Chicago detective sent to deal with Superman after the slums demolition last issue (in a nice bit of continuity), who has “been assigned to track down 800 men… and today, all 800 of those men are in prison”, and sets the reward in order to get more information on Superman before claiming it for himself. On the other side there is amateur detective Mortimer Snoop, who also wants the reward. He is by far the cartooniest character in the series up to this point, complete with a checkered jacket and a bowtie. It’s a great cartoon name, too. 

This unnamed police officer has the same outfit as Snoop for some reason

    It's also another issue allegedly ghost-drawn by Wayne Boring. At this point, Siegel and Shuster were putting out a 13 page Action Comics story every month, as well as stories for Slam Bradley and Spy in Detective Comics, Radio Squad in New Fun Comics, and the daily Superman newspaper strip. It's clearly too much output for one artist, so the ghost-artist setup would make sense. Again, it's not something I have enough expertise to really break down in depth, but here are some of the other ghost-artists working for the studio in the late 1930s and early 40s: Paul Cassidy (1938-1940), who later added the 'S' symbol to Superman's cape, Leo Novak (1940-1943), who was the first to depict Lex Luthor as a bald man, John Sikela, who joined in 1940 and would go on to be a lead artist on Superboy, inker Ed Dobrotka, who co-created the villain Toyman for Action Comics #64, 15 year-old Hi Mankin, and inker Paul J Lauretta (Lambiek Encyclopedia). More would join during the war, particularly once Shuster got drafted in 1943 (Siegel was considered unfit due to his failing eyesight), but that's a topic for another day. Anyway, that's all the ghost-drawing I will be covering in this series for a while. 

    This issue marks another first for the book, and likely for the genre in general: the secret identity drama. In trying to catch Superman, the detectives inevitably stumble on the fact that Superman has an alter ego, and try to track down the man behind the suit in order to make their case easier. The first time they see Superman in action is when a mental patient attempts suicide. It’s laid on really thick, referring to the man as a “lunatic”, “demented man”, and “maniac”, but it’s mostly there as an inciting incident rather than to explore anything to do with mental health. After catching the man, Superman shunts him onto an orderly at the hospital, in a hilariously callous scene that’s very much in keeping with early Superman’s characterisation. 

 

   During all this, Snoop and Reilly are waiting near the spot where Clark deposited his clothes, to see when Superman comes back for them. The two detective try to trick each other by pretending to leave, but by the time they both come back Clark has already swooped in and taken the clothes. However, Snoop managed to grab a note from Clark’s pocket, indicating where he’s going to be that night: the Duncan reception (good thing Clark doesn’t write “property of Clark Kent” on his suits). At the reception, the detective start to search everyone, which is bad news for Clark, as he’s wearing his costume under his suit. Despite the general light tone here, this sequence is actually quite tense, and the sell Clark's genuine fear of being outed really well. However, Reilly’s refusal to cut Snoop in on the reward leads the amateur reporter to turn off the lights, allowing Clark to change in the dark and easily defeat them both. In a rather abrupt ending, Reilly returns to Chicago in disgrace, now called “99% Reilly” in the headlines. However, the police still considers Superman a fugitive. He doesn’t clear his name or get the case against him thrown out, the police are just unable to catch him and don’t discover his secret identity. It’s a weak status quo ending to an otherwise strong, fresh story that continues to build the foundations of the genre that are still in place over eighty years later. 

Sources

Lambiek Encyclopedia, Superman: Assistants