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Post by MWGallaher on Oct 14, 2019 12:32:09 GMT -5
You know Lois and Jimmy and young Clark and Kara, Nightwing and Flamebird and even Bizarro... But do you recall... The most obscure Superman backups of all? Mentioning Terra-Man in a recent thread, I noted that he was the first Superman villain (not counting Bizarro) to receive a solo story, a back-up that told his origin story in his debut in Superman #249. The Superman franchise was well known for capitalizing on its rich supporting cast to fuel spin-offs and auxiliary series: Superboy, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Supergirl, the Legion of Super-Heroes, and Bizarro all had substantial runs in their own headline features. Superman Family added in notable features like Nightwing & Flamebird, Krypto, and Mr. & Mrs. Superman, with occasional additional features. But often forgotten are the back-up features that ran in Superman and Action Comics in the late 1970's and early 1980's. Did you remember that sportscaster Steve Lombard had his own solo stories? Lori Lemaris? Morgan Edge? There were 12 different Superman-related ancillary features that supported the lead Superman stories in this era, and I thought it might be fun to take an in-depth look at them all. Starting with: The Private Life of Clark Kent"Two For the Taxi!" E. Nelson Bridwell, Curt Swan, Bob Oksner Action Comics #459, May 1976 Synopsis: When WGBS sportscaster fails to get the story of the disappearance of boxing champ Wade Armstrong the day before his scheduled bout, Morgan Edge assigns Clark to the job. Clark grabs a taxi cab discharging one passenger, angering another who really, really wanted that particular cab! The loser tails Clark in another taxi, while Clark, using X-ray vision and super-hearing, realizes the guy is after the $10,000 cash left in the back seat. He also realizes that the guy previously in the cab was a promoter of the upcoming fight. The cash is obviously ransom for a kidnapped Wade Armstrong! To avoid putting the cabbies in danger, Clark exits, followed, of course, by the angry man, by whom Clark allows himself to be "mugged".  With his super-vision, Clark has no trouble tailing the man to his hideout, where he calls out for his accomplice, who's curiously absent. And who's tied up and under the hood? Not Wade Armstrong, but Clark Kent!The kidnapper is confused to see the guy he mugged here, and Wade, who's now free, slugs him good! Clark gets an exclusive on-air interview with the champ, where Clark gets one of Armstrong's "famous rhymes" composed for our hero: "Clark Kent is my buddy--of the first rank, not the second; and if anybody hassles him, with me they'll have to reckon!" Steve groans, both in jealousy of Clark's position of affection in the champ's heart and in the wretchedness of Armstrong's verse! Thoughts: Armstrong, obviously, is a stand-in for Muhammad Ali. Apparently the conceit of this series is that Clark has exploits in which he doesn't don his costume or use his powers openly, although he does in fact use his powers: to avoid injury when he's mugged and, presumably, to beat the kidnapper to the hideout. It's kind of interesting how the creative team covers the seams in the story. Clark has to get in the shack, free the champ, tie up the accomplice in the closet, and take the Champ's place in bondage. How does he have the time? Well, Clark notes that the route the 'napper was taking "led to only one place, an abandoned shack." We can fill in the blanks: Clark confirmed the situation with x-ray/telescopic vision, handled the accomplice at super-speed, then had 10 minutes or so to swap places with the Champ and fill him in on things, while the car was approaching on a presumably long road. And Clark's not a convincing fill-in for the Champ, who is African American, so the victim was established as tied up with a hood, with his arms hidden behind the chair. And how did these guys kidnap a powerful boxer? Just in case you were wondering, we're informed they put a gun to his ribs. OK, not exactly the kind of story I'd have been enthusiastic to read at the time, but I suppose there was some fun factor in having thinly disguised celebrities in Superman stories (like Johnny Nevada and Lola Barnett) or real celebrities, like Don Rickles, who is mentioned here in a subtle call-back to Jack Kirby's notorious Goody Rickels story in Jimmy Olsen. I guess "Muhammad Ali" isn't the kind of name you can create an obvious alternate for, so Bridwell opted for a generic name. You don't even see a depiction of the boxer at the start of the story, and the first mention of his "famous poems" appears on the next-to-last page, so this aspect is blunted, and Bridwell's attempt at rhyme falls flat (I wonder, was Steve's final panel groan intended as an acknowledgment of Bridwell's awkward verse or as a critique of Ali's poetic put-downs and braggadocio?). Clark would, of course, encounter the real deal soon after, in a much better-remembered story, but this is mildly interesting as a prototype encounter. The story doesn't seem like such a resounding success that Julius Schwartz would have gone back to this concept, but Clark Kent would prove to be the most frequently-appearing in this slate of back-up features. Judging by the letters page of issue 463, reaction was mixed. One reader wants Action Comics to remain a multi-hero comic like it was in the Golden Age, and argues that this story belonged in Superman Family. Another faintly praises its "mild-manneredness" as being appropriate for the concept and encourages Bridwell to "take a bow". |
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Post by MWGallaher on Oct 14, 2019 12:35:35 GMT -5
Mr Mxyzptlk"Welcome Home to Mxyzpolis!" Elliot S! Maggin, Kurt Schaffenberger, Action Comics #460, June 1976 Synopsis: While Superman is off in space, Mxy arrives from the 5th Dimension and decides to pester Clark's childhood pal, Pete Ross and his son Jonathan. Mxy enlarges the Ross's house, and freezes the adult Pete to form a counterpart to his lawn jockey statue...which he then compares to "salt and pepper shakers"?! (While they may or may not be inherently racist, these lamp-bearing statues of young Black boys in jockey outfits were once popular walk- and driveway decorations, but are now considered highly inappropriate, to say the least. Maggin's pretty casual about this gag, so that particular message about cultural sensitivity hadn't made it to him and the Superman crew as of 1976.) Mxy invites Jonny to help him "get the world ready for old Supie's return", and Jonathan plays along, planning to get Mxy to say his name backwards and return to his home dimension. Mxy's scheme is to make Metropolis look like his own 5th-dimension world,altering skyscrapers, transportation, and the welcome sign (from "Welcome to Metropolis, Home of Superman" to "Welcome to Mxyzopolis, Home of Mxyzptlk. Mxy shares his power so that the apparently enthusiastic Jonny can join in on the fun as they move on to the beach, where among his bizarre changes, Mxy lays a trap: a magical globe that will snap closed around Superman's body the instant he arrives, and the only escape is for him to say his Kryptonian name backwards. Jonathan kicks Mxy into the globe.  Mxy has to say his name backwards, returning to the 5th Dimension. As his alterations vanish, he departs with a compliment to Jonny, who'd make a good imp because he's "sneaky"! Jonny admits that his jaunt with Mxy was fun, but not as fun as the flight over "Jungle Habitat" that Superman has promised on his return. Thoughts:Another trivial tale, but this one's a lot more fun thanks to Schaffenberger's subdued but still imaginative illustrations. Going further overboard into Mad territory would have been even better, but the handful of sight gags we get are amusing. It's not much, but I have an easier time imagining positive reader response to this kind of thing: while many readers enjoyed the lowbrow humor of Mxy's pranks, I doubt there were many anxious to see more of Clark Kent's reporting adventures.
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Oct 15, 2019 3:04:34 GMT -5
Cool! I haven't read a lot of these.
You should definitely talk about Superbaby. I freaking love Superbaby.
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Post by MWGallaher on Oct 15, 2019 6:21:38 GMT -5
The Amazing Exploits of Perry White"The Toughest Newsboy in Town" Art by Curt Swan and Tex Blaisdell Action Comics #461, July 1976 Very suspiciously, the writer's section of the credits box has been blacked out. Someone presumably wanted their name taken off of this...let's see if we can determine why? Synopsis:Perry's sitting back in his comfy chair, lighting up a cigar, and telling his four grandchildren an after-dinner story about his earliest days in the newspaper biz. Perry drops a few names like Orson Welles and Babe Ruth (one of the kids wonders how he could have met a candy bar--smart girl that doesn't buy the bogus cover story about the origins of the candy bar name!). (Now, Tex Blaisdell was a rather heavy-handed inker, but it sure looks to me like someone has completely redrawn some of the faces in these flashbacks, as young Perry's, for example, does not look like a Curt Swan face.) In the flashback, we see young Perry hawking papers during the Great Depression. Young Perry gets suspicious when someone pays 25 cents for a paper. Perry recognizes the buyer as a disguised Victor Larsen, the toy company heir who, according to the headline of the paper, has been missing for three days. (Inside joke: see the newspaper headline in the final panel below...and hey, is that kid a young Julius Schwartz?)  Perry snags a ride hanging onto first a truck, then the spare tire on the back of a car, and finally the handlebars of a bicyclist to follow Larsen's taxi. (He does advise the kids not to do such things themselves!) Larsen returns to his own office, where the snooping Perry discovers he has tied up Norton, a toy designer that Larsen suspects has been designing super-weapons, to which he wants the plans! Y'see, according to Larsen's late father, Norton was a genius working as a toy designer only because he couldn't get better work during the depression. Norton denies it vociferously, but his purchases include uranium and detonators, and yeah, that would make me a little suspicious, too. Listening through a skylight, Perry learns that Larsen is in debt to the mob and was hiding out to avoid getting "rubbed out", and that Norton has indeed completed plans for an atomic bomb (from reading Amazing Stories, a pulp magazine with which editor Julius Schwartz had been associated with in real life). Larsen intends to sell the plans ("to the highest bidder", of course...these villains never have any patriotic devotion!), but although he has Norton's notes and files, he doesn't have the plans themselves. Perry crashed down through the skylight, disarms Norton, and battles with him while Norton, tied to a chair, faints. Perry finally wins, but Norton didn't faint--he died of a heart attack. Perry goes to the Daily Planet and gets hired as a reporter based on the strength of this scoop--which the paper won't print because no one would believe in an atomic bomb. Thoughts:
The big question: why did the writer refuse credit? "Julie Schwartz and I were having an argument over editorial/writer turf. I was a fresh journalism school graduate and wrote this story to make a point about the right of the public to public information. Julie changed the ending to make a point about an editor's right to skew any story any way he liked. So I took my name off the story -- covered it over on the artwork with india ink while it was in production."- Elliot S! Maggin, 2002
"All the changes were dictated by Julie Schwartz. The most significant one was the one I quit over. At some point, I did a story involving Perry White and the idea that as a young reporter he had uncovered the story of the Manhattan Project. Julie changed the ending not for any artistic or narrative reason, but because he wanted to use the story to make a point to me about editorial supremacy. I told him to take my name off the story and he didn't, so I went into the production room and brushed out my name with black ink, and that's how the story was printed." That doesn't explain what appear to be altered faces, so maybe Curt Swan just drew Perry looking older than he should have. Before I read Maggin's comments, above, I was doubting even the unlikely toymaker/a-bomb angle, all of which is conveyed only in the easily-altered dialog. It looks like the a-bomb was always a part of it, but I still suspect the toymaking was an addition, and that originally, this was just a kidnapped scientist. Another sign of tampering/re-writing: before he faints, Norton wheels his office chair to reach the phone. The way the image is laid out, it's clear that Swan was depicting an attempt to reach the phone, but the fainting scene in the next panel looks fishy. Why waste time and space on showing a failed attempt to reach the phone when the character could have just fainted and died where he was? I think maybe Norton originally reached the phone and survived the story, and died only because Schwartz had to have a set-up for the ending he wanted. Whatever this story originally was, what was published was a mess.
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Post by MWGallaher on Oct 15, 2019 7:37:56 GMT -5
Cool! I haven't read a lot of these. You should definitely talk about Superbaby. I freaking love Superbaby. I loved the Superbaby stories that ran when I first started collecting comics, so I'll add the ones from Superboy 187, 189, 192, and 196 to the agenda! |
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Post by MWGallaher on Oct 15, 2019 8:27:27 GMT -5
Krypto the Superdog"This Is a Job for Superdog!" E. Nelson Bridwell, Curt Swan and Al Milgrom Action Comics #462, August 1976 Synopsis:Krypto, enjoying a giant bone in his Doghouse of Solitude, made from meteors and drifting in space, responds to his master's "supersonic whistle", dons his "costume" and heads off to Earth!But when he comes to the aid of what he thinks is his master, he's actually stumbled on a ruse: "Superman" is really a hit man fooling a mob snitch into thinking he's being protected. With the arrival of Krypto, the snitch is even more reassured, but the phony Superman must now fool the dog, too!Not a chance of that with Krypto's super-nose! Krypto protects the snitch from being shot, chomps the pistol, and flattens the bad guys with a whirl of his tail. He retrieves a human policeman to mop things up and heads on to find his real master. He finds the source of the whistling: it's the talent coordinator of the Johnny Nevada show, using a recording of the whistle that he suckered Superman into demonstrating (despite the whistle being beyond human hearing range!). He wants Krypto to be in an ad for dogfood, all profits going to food and shelter for stray dogs!Krypto agrees, and films the commercial, botching the first take by eating the can itself (which he in fact prefers)!  Thoughts: Johnny Nevada was DC's stand-in for Tonight Show late night television host Johnny Carson (Carson City is the capital of the US state of Nevada). Around this time, the dog food brand Alpo was a regular sponsor of the Tonight Show, and co-host Ed McMahon interacted with actual dogs on the Alpo advertising segments during the broadcast. Here, Swan does a good likeness of McMahon, disguising him with a mustache and white hair. Very lightweight filler, even though it essentially has two separate stories in its scant six pages! Milgrom does a nice job inking Swan, producing something slick enough to look contemporary, unlike Blaisdell last issue. Lightweight filler is about all we can expect from these back-ups, which did at least serve to remind readers that Krypto was still roaming happily, even if he didn't show up much in the main Superman stories, which was nice for those fans who still didn't have any problem with concepts like this in an increasingly serious superhero environment.
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Post by MWGallaher on Oct 15, 2019 9:05:41 GMT -5
The Private Life of Clark Kent"See Metropolis with Clark Kent" By E. Nelson Bridwell and Kurt Schaffenberger Action Comics #464, October 1976 Synopsis:Clark's boss Morgan Edge summons him to the roof of WGBS to meet Edward Kirkland, head of the Australian Broadcasting Company. Kirkland wants Clark (whose news specials have aired "down under") to show him the sights. They first go to the observation deck, where an emergency forces Clark to distract Kirkland, who has been itching to see Superman. He gets his wish:  After stopping a drunk driver and turning him over to the cops, Clark returns to his Australian guest, who's pleased but still dissatisfied, since he couldn't get a really good look at the Man of Steel.Next, Clark shows off the Metro Narrows Bridge, "the world's largest span!" They come across an attempted suicide, and Clark has Kirkland grab a television camera, while he switches to Superman to spoil the man's jump (the guy abandons his attempt since he knows Superman's there to catch him no matter what). Kirkland's now had a good look at Superman, but didn't get to hear him.Up next, the Superman Lighthouse! Apparently, Metropolis has a colossal statue of Superman, in full color, serving as a lighthouse, with beams projected from the statue's eyes!  Now Clark has to change to Superman to save a crashing helicopter that's about to hit the lighthouse. Kirkland is thrilled, but it turns out that despite having three sightings, he's still disappointed: he really wanted Superman's autograph ("for my son, you understand!"). Clark instead offers his own autograph! Thoughts:Although just as trivial as the other back-ups, this one seemed a bit more fun, thanks largely to the nicely appropriate Schaffenberger art. It's a bit odd to see serious subjects like suicide and drunk driving pop up, but the media wasn't quite as sensitive to those topics in the 70's. There's a whole lot of Superman in costume for a "Clark Kent" story, which makes the pages a lot livelier than the previous installment, but blurs the distinction implied by the masthead. We do get a couple of apparently new additions to the Metropolis landscape, with the world's largest bridge and the Superman Lighthouse. The lighthouse was the sort of crazy concept I associate more with the Silver Age Superman, and I gotta admit, I love that kinda thing! Definitely the highlight (or "high light") of the story! The finish felt a bit odd. We the readers know, of course, that Kirkland is getting Superman's autograph, but what I think Bridwell was aiming for was that this one, simplest desire of Kirkland's was the only one that Clark wasn't in a position to be able to fill, since he didn't have the opportunity to distract Kirkland and protect his secret identity. That didn't quite land (and of course, we've all seen Clark solve that sort of predicament before, so we know that if he really wanted to give him an autograph, he could have!)
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Post by Deleted on Oct 15, 2019 10:30:04 GMT -5
Enjoying this thread ...  |
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Post by MWGallaher on Oct 15, 2019 13:43:59 GMT -5
The Sporting Life of Steve Lombard"Paper Hero!" By Martin Pasko, Curt Swan, Frank McLaughlin Action Comics #465, November, 1976 Synopsis:Sleazy sportscaster Steve Lombard has invited secretary Shirley Lavitsky to his Metro Park West penthouse pad. Shirley (who, Steve mentions, is charging a significant price for her services!) was hoping for some "indoor sport", but the only service Steve wants is dictation, as he relates the latest chapter in his life story. Steve tells of when he was asked to write the introduction to "Winning Is the Only Thing", an autobiography of Chuck Guraldi, his coach when he played football for the Central City Centaurs. There's an entire chapter on how Steve saved his life, making him the perfect choice.Unfortunately, Steve actually holds Guraldi in very low esteem, due to Guraldi's abusive, insulting manner. Although the public hailed his record, Steve wants to set the record straight in his own book. First off, the "life saving" incident was an accident: Steve knocked Coach out of the way as he was trying to avoid a toppling goal post injuring himself, not Coach. So he didn't commit to the introduction, wondering how he could avoid tarnishing the coach's story while remaining truthful. On the way out, Steve runs into a couple of thugs who escort him to the roof to "persuade" him to stop reporting on rigged prize fights.(Shirley interrupts here to complain about the awkward shift in the narrative, but Steve insists on telling his story his way!)Continuing the tale, Steve tells how he started to slug it out with the goons on the roof until he was shot!Err, no, actually they missed him! And Steve's story gets a little fishy as he tells how he knocked out the goons. Steve then kicks Shirley out, as she complains that this has nothing to do with Guraldi.  It turns out that Steve did end up writing the introduction, because when he read the book, Guraldi had posthumously apologized, and in fact had paid Steve back: the reason he had survived the gunshot was because the autobiography manuscript in his breast pocket had stopped the bullet! The tale ends on a reflective note, as Steve ponders changing from the scared player thinking only of his own skin when the goalpost fell, or who was quaking in his shoes at the thugs on the roof, to a real hero, not a "paper hero". Thoughts:Hey, this is the one I was looking forward to when I started this little effort. The very idea of a Steve Lombard solo intrigued me. New-to-comics-writing former letter hack Marty Pasko is a bit more ambitious than his immediate predecessors in the back pages of Action Comics, playing a bit with unreliable narration and meta-commentary on his lead character's inadequate sense of narrative cohesion. Frank McLaughlin, never a particular favorite inker of mine, does a pleasant enough job over Swan's pencils. Once again, we have the thinly-disguised celebrity, with Chuck Guraldi evoking Vince Lombardi. Lombardi, who had died in 1970, was still a household name in America, and like the fictional Guraldi, was lauded for on-field success while maintaining a reputation for an abrasive coaching style. Aside from a reference to Clark Kent (Steve admits he's no writer, unlike Kent), this one, like Perry's story before, has no connection to super powers or fantasy, it's just a human story (albeit a bit far-fetched) with a splash of requisite action. Again, it's unlikely that this was what fans were after in their Action Comics pages, but editor Julius Schwartz was a sports fan, and he probably liked the thought of bringing a sports-themed back-up into the mix. Not that we get much in the way of sports, either, but that's the intended backdrop. There was one more installment, and we'll see if that gets a little deeper into athletics.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 15, 2019 14:18:09 GMT -5
DC & Marvel need to re-examine comic books from this wonderful era and compare to today's modern comics. KIDS were buying comics and loving them, simple stories and those extra back-up stories were a bonus.
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Post by MWGallaher on Oct 15, 2019 19:16:58 GMT -5
Krypto the Superdog and Mr. Mxyzptlk"A Superman's Best Friend is His Superdog!" By Bob Rozakis, Curt Swan, and Tex Blaisdell Action Comics #467, January 1977 Synopsis:Krypto is left to handle Superman's Metropolis patrol route while the Man of Steel attends a JLA meeting. Krypto is startled to see a giant disembodied hand using an eraser to rub out a skyscraper, courtesy of Mxy!Krypto tries to stop it, but his powers have no effect, and a giant left hand joins its mate and flicks Krypto away!  Mxy, operating the hands magically, intends to erase the city while Superman's away, but he'll have to keep Krypto busy.Krypto--smart dog!--recognizes Mxy's scent, but Mxy flees in the form of a cloud, fearing Krypto's bite would infect him with Zrfffian rabies! Krypto's on the trail, but he's interrupted by a stupid human telling him to stop the giant hands. Mxy, now in the form of a trash can flies away, to hide at a dog food company, disguised as a dog biscuit!Krypto--smart dog!--guesses Mxy's plan, and begins to eat all of the biscuits. Rather than be caught and eaten by the Dog of Steel, Mxy turns back into his imp form and escapes to his home dimension by saying his name backwards. And so the hands vanish and Metropolis returns , "seconds before the last sweep of the erasers would have consigned it to Limbo forever!" Superman returns to a city that appears cleaner--"like somebody erased all the dirt!" Thoughts: Well, I admit I don't quite get the ending. We see the erasing hands rubbing out huge portions of the buildings. I can buy that the erasure didn't fully "take" until the aborted completion--that's how these super-villain plans always work--but I don't understand how that made the city cleaner! And why would Krypto have rabies of any kind? Or is Zrfff (Mr. Mxyzptlk's home planet in the 5th dimension) so wacky and backwards that healthy dogs cause rabies? Sounds more like Bizarro World... But hey, it's a story that brings together two of Superman's goofiest supporting cast members, so what can you expect? I love that Krypto has thought balloons, indicating intelligence superior to Superbaby (as we shall see when I drop back in time to look at the Superbaby back-up stories). The giant hands remind me of two of my favorite oddball comics features. The Hand (a Golden Age back-up that appeared twice) featured a disembodied crime-busting hand, which could also grow huge. Captain Marvel (1966) was an off-brand android who split into multiple body parts, and was the star of the first comic book I remember reading.
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Post by MWGallaher on Oct 17, 2019 8:00:57 GMT -5
Introducing--A Brand-New Feature... Close-up: Morgan Edge"My Son, the Orphan" By Martin Pasko, Curt Swan and Frank McLaughlin Action Comics #468, February 1977 Synopsis: Galaxy Communications President Morgan Edge is dressing for the Award Banquet in his penthouse office, when he's surprised that the cleaning woman is not the usual Madge, but his own mother, who calls him "Morris"! Mama lays a guilt trip on Mr. Edge...no, make that "Mr. Edelstein". Edge has rebranded himself, and accuses his mother of acting like an offensive stereotype (of a Jewish mother, which goes unstated). Mama's not just pretending to be a cleaning woman, she actually is one, though not in this building. Yes, Morgan has been supporting her with money and a home, but she enjoys working, and has come hoping to join her son at the banquet where he'll receive a Man of the Year award. Edge says no way, he needs to keep up appearances consistent with his new image, and Mama, of course, is disappointed. While walking in the park, Edge overhears a grumpy old man talking with his friend on a park bench: Old man on bench: "So I watch tv all day! I've got nothing better to do!"
Friend: "You could get a job--something part-time."
Old man: "Who wants a job? I worked hard for 50 years--that's enough!"
Friend: "But are you happy, Jack?"
Old man: "What do I care? I get up in the morning, I'm alive. It's enough. Who needs being happy?"Edge decides to make a phone call... That evening, receiving the award, Edge tells of his beginnings, starting with a big win at poker where his royal flush--in spades--beat his opponent's royal flush (of hearts)! The loser makes a nasty insinuation about "yore kind" when Morgan tries to bow out with his winnings, leading to the obligatory action:  To no reader's surprise, he acknowledges his heritage proudly, and presents his mother to the crowd upon receiving his award at the banquet. Thoughts:Morgan Edge was a sinister businessman introduced by Jack Kirby in his Jimmy Olsen run. But by this point, Jack had left the Superman family, and his Edge had been revealed as an evil clone, with the real Morgan Edge taking his place as owner of WGBS. This story served as further rehabilitation of the character. In addition to his real name, we also learn that Edge was in the Merchant Marine. Though it wasn't crystal clear on my first read, the overheard conversation convinced Edge that he had nothing to be ashamed of, because his mother was working as a cleaning woman only because that made her happy, not because she was poor and desperate. It didn't quite land for me, because I hadn't gotten the impression that this was what he was really embarrassed about. Hiding his Jewish heritage seemed to be the real motivation he needed to get past. Comics were just beginning to openly acknowledge the existence of Jews in the 70's, although it was still a sensitive enough subject that they avoided explicitly saying the word "Jewish", instead using insinuations like "yore kind". I've gotta say that, as I understand it, it is considered very bad form to quit a "friendly" poker game immediately after a huge win like this. And I can't really swallow the idea that anyone could wager a tv station in a poker game, even if they were the owner. Legal documents would have to be involved, and if this crew were willing to get into a knife fight over it, why should they honor the bet? Just all lie and say the owner never made such a wager. It would have been a little easier to accept that Edge invested his cash winnings wisely enough to become ultra-rich. It's another odd entry, probably not the kind of thing readers were hoping to find in the latest issue, but just the kind of curiosity I was hoping to find when I began delving into these back-up stories. While a story about the evil clone Edge engaging with Intergang and the Evil Factory probably would have been more exciting, there's some value in stories that exposed readers to messages like this one. |
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Post by MWGallaher on Oct 17, 2019 8:59:34 GMT -5
The Private Life of Clark Kent "Clark Kent's Lonely Christmas" By Bob Rozakis, John Calnan, and Tex Blaisdell Action Comics #469, March 1977 Synopsis:Clark's not in the Christmas spirit at the WGBS Christmas party, and goes home alone after the celebration ends. We're not in for much action this time around, but for moping Clark needlessly ruining an out-of-control driver's Christmas Eve by damaging his car:  Clark returns to Smallville, visiting his old home and recalling the Christmases of his youth with his adoptive parents. Wandering the streets in a funk, he happens across some orphans from the Smallville Orphanage, from which he himself was adopted by the Kents. Super-snooping reveals that the owners can't afford gifts for the kids. At super-speed, Clark raids the stores, spending his Christmas bonus on toys and decorations for the orphanage. Santa has made it to these kids, to the astonishment of the owners, and Clark jauntily marches off singing "Jingle Bells." Thoughts:
I won't be a Grinch over a Christmas story, but I have seen more heartwarming seasonal stories done at this length or less. I have to give this story credit for at least focusing on Clark Kent, the person, more so than previous installments have. And his mood seems out of character, but I guess that's the point Rozakis is making: despite what we typically saw, Clark couldn't have been so upbeat all the time, given that he did suffer genuine, human loss in his lifetime. Although maybe if he'd overheard Lois saying "I've been trying to give him some Christmas cheer all day!" he'd have been a bit happier. Meanwhile, Steve Lombard fires off an innocent but still somehow salacious comment to the office cuties: "I'd really love to stuff my stocking with you lovely ladies..." In returning to Smallville, the story reminds us that Clark still, apparently, owns his parents' property. While it may seem thoughtless to keep valuable property unused and off the market in a small community (presumably the farm land has been sold or is being managed, rather than left fallow), it does make some sense, knowing that Clark does have a history of losing track of various artifacts that jeopardize his super-heroic career. Probably plenty of traces of Superboy still in that basement! They still couldn't resist having Clark using some of his superpowers, even though they weren't particularly necessary (unless Smallville's not within driving distance of Metropolis, which has sometimes and sometimes not been the case). The scene of Clark zipping through the store at super-speed doesn't make much sense, but I suppose he pulled the ol' "leave the payment behind" stunt. Must have been disruptive to the other customers, who we seen reacting to Clark's whirlwind rush through the store. |
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Post by Prince Hal on Oct 17, 2019 10:22:10 GMT -5
Krypto the Superdog"This Is a Job for Superdog!" E. Nelson Bridwell, Curt Swan and Al Milgrom Action Comics #462, August 1976 Synopsis:Krypto, enjoying a giant bone in his Doghouse of Solitude, made from meteors and drifting in space, responds to his master's "supersonic whistle", dons his "costume" and heads off to Earth!But when he comes to the aid of what he thinks is his master, he's actually stumbled on a ruse: "Superman" is really a hit man fooling a mob snitch into thinking he's being protected. With the arrival of Krypto, the snitch is even more reassured, but the phony Superman must now fool the dog, too!Not a chance of that with Krypto's super-nose! Krypto protects the snitch from being shot, chomps the pistol, and flattens the bad guys with a whirl of his tail. He retrieves a human policeman to mop things up and heads on to find his real master. He finds the source of the whistling: it's the talent coordinator of the Johnny Nevada show, using a recording of the whistle that he suckered Superman into demonstrating (despite the whistle being beyond human hearing range!). He wants Krypto to be in an ad for dogfood, all profits going to food and shelter for stray dogs!Krypto agrees, and films the commercial, botching the first take by eating the can itself (which he in fact prefers)! Thoughts: Johnny Nevada was DC's stand-in for Tonight Show late night television host Johnny Carson (Carson City is the capital of the US state of Nevada). Around this time, the dog food brand Alpo was a regular sponsor of the Tonight Show, and co-host Ed McMahon interacted with actual dogs on the Alpo advertising segments during the broadcast. Here, Swan does a good likeness of McMahon, disguising him with a mustache and white hair. Very lightweight filler, even though it essentially has two separate stories in its scant six pages! Milgrom does a nice job inking Swan, producing something slick enough to look contemporary, unlike Blaisdell last issue. Lightweight filler is about all we can expect from these back-ups, which did at least serve to remind readers that Krypto was still roaming happily, even if he didn't show up much in the main Superman stories, which was nice for those fans who still didn't have any problem with concepts like this in an increasingly serious superhero environment. Knowing Bridwell's love for DC history, I'm guessing even the name of the dog food was a subtle tribute to...  |
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 17, 2019 11:40:18 GMT -5
The Private Life of Clark Kent "Clark Kent's Lonely Christmas" By Bob Rozakis, John Calnan, and Tex Blaisdell Action Comics #469, March 1977 Synopsis:Clark's not in the Christmas spirit at the WGBS Christmas party, and goes home alone after the celebration ends. We're not in for much action this time around, but for moping Clark needlessly ruining an out-of-control driver's Christmas Eve by damaging his car: Clark returns to Smallville, visiting his old home and recalling the Christmases of his youth with his adoptive parents. Wandering the streets in a funk, he happens across some orphans from the Smallville Orphanage, from which he himself was adopted by the Kents. Super-snooping reveals that the owners can't afford gifts for the kids. At super-speed, Clark raids the stores, spending his Christmas bonus on toys and decorations for the orphanage. Santa has made it to these kids, to the astonishment of the owners, and Clark jauntily marches off singing "Jingle Bells." Thoughts:
I won't be a Grinch over a Christmas story, but I have seen more heartwarming seasonal stories done at this length or less. I have to give this story credit for at least focusing on Clark Kent, the person, more so than previous installments have. And his mood seems out of character, but I guess that's the point Rozakis is making: despite what we typically saw, Clark couldn't have been so upbeat all the time, given that he did suffer genuine, human loss in his lifetime. Although maybe if he'd overheard Lois saying "I've been trying to give him some Christmas cheer all day!" he'd have been a bit happier. Meanwhile, Steve Lombard fires off an innocent but still somehow salacious comment to the office cuties: "I'd really love to stuff my stocking with you lovely ladies..." In returning to Smallville, the story reminds us that Clark still, apparently, owns his parents' property. While it may seem thoughtless to keep valuable property unused and off the market in a small community (presumably the farm land has been sold or is being managed, rather than left fallow), it does make some sense, knowing that Clark does have a history of losing track of various artifacts that jeopardize his super-heroic career. Probably plenty of traces of Superboy still in that basement! They still couldn't resist having Clark using some of his superpowers, even though they weren't particularly necessary (unless Smallville's not within driving distance of Metropolis, which has sometimes and sometimes not been the case). The scene of Clark zipping through the store at super-speed doesn't make much sense, but I suppose he pulled the ol' "leave the payment behind" stunt. Must have been disruptive to the other customers, who we seen reacting to Clark's whirlwind rush through the store. If memory serves, the Kents sold off the farm when they moved into town and ran the general store; so, it would just be the house and lot. I put this down to young writers trying to emulate more serious literature, rather than something a bit more positive. It would seem to have been a bit better to have Clark spend every Christmas with orphans, given his upbringing and character; but, that wouldn't fit that emotional cliche that dogged a lot of stories in this period, from young writers. |
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