Look Over There! Keep Looking! SHAZAM!!!!!

We're going to plow into some Captain Marvel stories in the future, to be sure.  But here's some material from the 1970's revival of the character courtesy of Robert Gillis!

Here are a few examples of how fast and loose Billy Batson was with the old secret identity:

Yup.  Right in front of the bad guy.  I realize that the notion of a boy changing into a full-grown man after getting hit by lightning is pretty unbelievable, but I would think that Frenchy there would have been able to put it together.

And apparently, Billy was perfectly comfortable bringing lightning down near people as long as they weren't looking directly at him.  Thusly: 

I suspect those aren't the last examples we'll see of that.

Good stuff, Robert!  Thanks!

Now, let's ease into Superman #14.  Lois is on a date with Bob Branigan, a metro police officer.  Of course, Bob Branigan is badass.  I mean, you don't go walking around with a name like "Bob Branigan" unless you can back it up.  But he had a disregarded superpower that no one seemed to notice.

This is Bob in the maroon suit:

Next panel, we see Bob in a tan suit:

Next panel, Bob's suit has turned gray:

Yes, Bob apparently had the ability to make his suit change colors with his mood.

Remember the Question?  I always thought the way he changed the color of his suit was pretty awesome.

Anyway:

NOOOOOOOOO!  NOT A LECTURE FROM SUPERMAN!   NOOOOOOOOOO!

Crime doesn't pay.

This was funny.  Lois was going door to door trying to figure out the identity of a dead woman.

Then she ran into this guy:

HA!  That was great!

See you tomorrow!

In Which Superman Doesn't Fly, Fights Giant Fish and Kills Another Guy

Superman #14... still over a year away before he'd be flying in the comics.

Let's look at Superman "not flying":

That was Superman not flying.

And here he is fighting a...

Okay, I'm not a marine biologist.  What the heck is that thing supposed to be?  It looks like it's a cross between a swordfish and a shark of some kind.  I don't think the artist had much interest in accuracy, because he just kind of gave up with the next fish:

But that is an awesome sea monster!

Easy now!  I enjoy that thing and want to see it show up again in future issues.  In fact, I want it to have its own monthly title, or at least a backup feature in Action Comics.

And then we see Superman kill a guy:

No, that wasn't Luthor, which kind of surprised me.  It seemed like whenever there was a new villain, the big reveal was always something along the lines of "GASP!  IT'S LUTHOR!"  Like it mattered.  Lex Luthor was scarier than any fake alias he might have used.

But despite the physical similarities, that wasn't Luthor.

And he's dead.  Superman killed him.

To review:  Superman killed a guy for no particular reason.  Again.

See you tomorrow!

Superman vs. Guy Wearing Green who Shoots Arrows. Prepare for Disappointment.

Let's start the week with a finish of Superman #13, which had a character that made me pause:

Green Arrow, is that you?

Turns out it was "the Archer," which is a very descriptive name but not much pizzazz.  He's more interesting because he certainly looks like Green Arrow

WHO.... true story, first appeared in More Fun Comics #73, which was the November, 1941 issue.

This issue of Superman?  November, 1941.

Mind.  Blown.  Right?

I'll let you absorb that for a moment.

Okay.  Moving on:

Well, that sure went from "official police business" to "release it all to the media" rather quickly.  The Fourth Estate had some considerable sway over law enforcement in Metropolis.

This story is considered by most to be the first "official" appearance of Jimmy Olsen:

Jimmy apparently liked to change his hair color as he went from room to room:

Jimmy hadn't yet partaken in the sweet, sweet jauntiness of a bow tie, but he developed his death wish quite early in the series:

And so begins the never-ending cycle of Lois getting in trouble and Jimmy being only slightly helpful by barely keeping Lois alive until Superman shows up:

And then we had this:

Insert your own Walter James Palmer, DDS joke here.  We like to keep it topical here at CMNS!

Let's leave today with a cheap gag, shall we?

It was at that moment that Lois decided to give up finding dates on Craigslist.

See you tomorrow!

Superman Has Powers I Don't Understand

Let's begin a two-part look at Superman #13, which had the first appearance of a super-power I have yet to understand:

I understand powers Superman has that are extreme versions of things we can do anyway.  Heck, I even accept the power of flight as just being an evolved form of jumping.  But I just don't know under what circumstance I can make my voice appear behind you.  I just never get that one.

But there it is:

And here's one I don't think I've ever seen before or since: The ability to knock women unconscious with my glare: 

That would be mighty handy when Beloved is feeling chatty while I'm trying to play video games.

And when we've run out of powers to make up, we'll fight dinosaurs.  Again:

That's the second time in two issues.  Fortunately, fighting dinosaurs is always awesome.

See you Monday!

In Which Bulletman's Lithe-Muscled Body Expands

I can't take any more Hit Comics.  Moving on to Nickel Comics to supplement Superman.  You know what that means!

Yup!  More Bulletman!

Okay, you're supposed to take the "an amazing change" stuff seriously, I guess.  I'm really not sure why that would be.  This comic was FIVE cents.

Anyway, Sergeant Kent is every bit the amazing law enforcement official we remember:

Or you could... I don't know... call the fire department.  I'm not a police sergeant, though.

In these early stories, Susan isn't Bulletgirl yet, which makes her even less useful than we've seen so far:

I see Susan got her keen powers of observation from her father the police sergeant.

I wouldn't say it's really a question of priorities.  It's not like either one of them really does anything.  He could really just head straight back out the hull and I don't think the series would suffer much.

Oh, brother.  So Susan doesn't know who he is, either?

Look at this:

She's looking right into the man's unobstructed face and has no idea who he is...

... even though she sees him all the time.

Yeesh.

This is Captain Venture and Princess something...

Giant spider about to perform a brain transplant?

You've got my attention!

Fighting an army of giant spiders is always good readin'.  Hopefully we'll see a lot more of the conflict between Captain Venture and the spider....

Oh.  Okay.

I had this leftover from Hit Comics.  It's Hercules fighting grizzly bears.

Because... you know... Hercules fighting grizzly bears.

See you tomorrow!

In Which Superman Fights a Purple Dinosaur and... Waitaminute

Let's check out Superman #12.  And just so you'll know it's worth reading, here's Superman fighting  a giant octopus:

CMNS... For all of your Superman-fighting-a-giant-octopus needs.

Time for another installment of Well... Alright, Then (tm!), as Niles gives some of the least helpful advice ever:

Well... Alright, Then! (tm!)

Check it out!

It's the Dionne Quintuplets again!  We last saw them hawking typewriters, remember?

They were that old when they first got candy?  No wonder they looked so miserable all the time.

But check out this bit from the ad:

Wow!  Does Dr. Allan Roy Dafoe, M.D. know how to bleed the fun out of candy or what?

Moving on...

Okay, did he really kill the thing by cracking its spine, or did he throw that poor thing wounded into the ocean?  Did it lay there on the ocean floor for decades, waiting for its chance to wreak unholy vengeance upon mankind?

I have my own theories....

Yup.

See you tomorrow!