In Which Superman Tortures a Guy

It's Superman #19!  With a story that has not one...

... not two... 

... but THREE separate instances of Random Ray Usage! (tm!)

Yes, back in the day you could do just about anything to Superman as long as it was in ray form.

And then there was this:

It was just a dream... or WAS it? (tm!)

I haven't really focused on this, but I think now is the time to bring it up:  Lois gets kidnapped a lot.

See?  Even a dog near Lois will find himself kidnapped.  That woman is kidnapped at least once ever issue or two.  I would seriously be afraid to hang out with Lois.

Hmmmm... here's a little "truth, justice and the American way" for you:

Is it just me, or did we just establish Superman as pro-waterboarding?  That's just wrong.  Superman really crosses the lines sometimes.

See you tomorrow!

Superman vs. Mister Sinister. Prepare for Disappointment.

Let's finish up our look at Superman #16, which had the first appearance of:

Yup.  Comic book nerdlingers will know that there is a boring but rather well-known X-Men villain by that name.  Turns out we have a case of Recycled Names! (tm!)

Um... I understand the concept of free verse and everything, but that didn't rhyme at all.

Hey!  Random Ray Usage! (tm!)

Then things got kinda weird:

Okay, thickness I understand, but if the dimension was only length or width exclusively, wouldn't everyone be a vertical or horizontal line, respectively?  I don't really know.  Geometry was not my thing.  You know how people say "you'll have to use this every day" when you're taking nonsense in school?  They totally lied about geometry.  I've been out of high school 30 years and have yet to use a proof.

Here was a rather sad moment Superman would rather you forget:

Yeah, you didn't slip.  You were pushed.  By a guy with no powers.  And arguably not for the first time.

Let's check in on Lois Lane: Investigative Reporter:

This has been Lois Lane: Investigative Reporter.

See you tomorrow!

Superman vs. Astrology

Hey!  Let's check in on Superman #16!

Yes, it's the first issue of Superman with dialogue on the cover, and that was it.

Shut up, Lois.  (tm!)

Enough of that.  We should see Superman fighting a bull!

Yeah... that's the sweet-sweet.

Still not flying, though.  Here he is not flying:

Yup.  Not flying.  Can't fly.

Let's check in on Clark Kent!

Nice, Perry.  The Daily Planet: If there's nothing to be troubled about, we'll come up with something ourselves.

Wow.  That's pretty bold journalism there, Clark.  Next thing you know, you'll be doubting the veracity of the Nigerian Prince who has asked for my help.  Which reminds me, I need to check in on Gwazazang and make sure he got my banking account information.  He's going to make me rich!

See you Monday!

Superman vs. A Guy Who Is Totally Not Hitler

Let's finish up our look at Superman #14.  He's still not flying, but he can jump like nobody's business:

You know, I can kind of accept this because they never tell you how long it takes Supes to jump the length of the continent.  Although I always thought Metropolis was near the East Coast, so I'm not sure if he was really jumping over the length of the continent if he was heading to Europe.  Then again, I'm an American so my knowledge of geography is highly suspect.

It's this part I have a hard time with:

Okay, are they saying the Superman could jump the entire length of the ocean at once?  Because if not, he's got a problem.  He's not going to be able to jump again without planting his feet on something, and I don't think the surface tension of the water is going to cut it.  I suppose he could go down to the ocean floor and propel himself up, but that's some mighty slow going.  I'd just jump as far as I could and swim super-fast the rest of the way.

Anyway, he's on his way to open up a Checking Account of Whoopass under this guy's name:

Yeah.  Totally not Hitler, right?  It's Razkal, dictator of Oxnalia.

Totally not Hitler.  In fact, let's just call him "Not Hitler."

Here "Not Hitler" meets a disguised Superman:

So then Superman decides to take out the country's military forces:

Which is fine, but not nearly as satisfying as if he had done to someone who looked like Hitler who actually was Hitler.  I mean, it's not like anyone can't tell who "Not Hitler" is supposed to be in reference to.  Then again, I guess you couldn't end the story  the same way if it was Hitler.  Although that just made me wonder why Superman didn't turn around and go after Hitler next.

I'm waaaaaay overthinking it, aren't I?   Let's smooth my furrowed brow with some Random Ray Usage! (tm!):

Random Ray Usage!  (tm!)

See you tomorrow!

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!