In Which Superman Fights a Giant Rat and a Dinosaur and We Learn About Oklahoma Official State Foods

Still looking at Superman #4, I learned that Supes visited my home state!

Well, yeah try and stop him!  Who would turn down a chance at visiting Oklahoma?

Hmmmm... he "ran like a startled antelope" all the way from Metropolis?  I mean, no one knows for sure where Metropolis is actually located, but it's well-established that it's on the East Coast.  Oklahoma, meanwhile, is dang near in the middle of the Country.  We get a lot of things coming through our state that isn't so good because we're on the way to most places.  In any event, that's a long way to run, but I suppose if I could do it, that would be more scenic than a plane, train or automobile.

Well, Supes, we don't take too kindly to strangers in Oklahoma and kind of like to introduce ourselves via firearms of various calibers.  Consider the size of that rocket a compliment!

Anyway:

Once upon a time, an earthquake might have been unusual in Oklahoma, but seriously: We get those now.  We get wildfires, blizzards, tornadoes, hailstorms, nearly 80 days of sub-freezing temperatures, summers that get well above 100 degrees on a regular basis and now Oklahoma has the most seismic activity in the nation.

Know why?  Scientists say it's because of all the fracking that's been going on here.  But at least (as of July 7th), we citizens can now sue oil companies for destroying our homes.

But back then, earthquakes weren't common so that's why everyone seems so surprised.  These days, Oklahoma residents just shrug and move on.  It's what we do.

I don't know that the snark was justified.  Did Superman expect me to help hold the tower up?  We need to clarify our roles in this situation before you get all smarmy.

But then the local paper tells Clark there are better places for him to be, because again.... strangers.

But even more importantly, did you know that our official State meal is fried okra, squash, cornbread, barbecue pork, biscuits, sausage and gravy, grits, corn, strawberries, chicken fried steak, pecan pie, and black-eyed peas?  And watermelon is our State vegetable.

Well, I guess that's it for Oklahoma... and it pretty much was, as far as this story goes.

Then Superman shows his aggressive side.  First, he gives Lois a nerve pinch to knock her unconscious, and not for the first time, either.  I guess that once she tried to slip him a mickey, all bets were off.

Yup.  Two dead crooks.  Because that's how Superman rolled back in the day.

I'm a little torn on this:

Okay, first?  Pterodactyl attacking a plane is awesome.

But check it out:

Superman made no attempt at keeping the pterodactyl from killing the pilot.  Granted, he couldn't fly, but we've already seen Supes do some pretty amazing things, so I have the uncomfortable suspicion that he let the pilot get killed because he would otherwise have to give up his secret identity.

But then we see Superman fight a giant rat, so it's okay!

Although I'm not sure someone with Superman's powers had to resort to killing the creature.  But then again, we just saw him take two human lives, so why not?

Let's not focus on that, either.  Let's watch Superman fight a dinosaur!

If you're wondering why things seem a little squeezed there, artwork-wise, it appears that in the early days, they were really stuck on the whole 8-panel-per-page system.  It was probably a holdover from when comic books were just reprints of newspaper comics.  I'm just spitballing that explanation because I'm not so curious as to actually research it.  I told you what the Oklahoma State Meal is, and I think that's plenty of learning to justify your visit here today.

See you tomorrow!