Does Lois suspect?

Superman let his secret identity slip in Action Comics #17, but he's more careful about it in Action #18 (also by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster). When he's attacked by a crooked journalist named Gene Powers, Clark pretends to cower and stumble and then "accidentally" knock the guy out. I'm not sure that Lois is convinced by the act though. Could this be the beginning of her suspicion about him?

Incidentally, the social injustice Superman fights this issue is yellow journalism, something that as a reporter, Superman is extraordinarily qualified to combat and comment on. In this story, it takes the form of a tabloid paper that's not only scandal-mongering, but also blackmailing a local politician with faked photos that the tabloid cooked up itself.

Superman uncovers the plot and prevents the distribution of the false story, while destroying the tabloid's business in the process. That's the kind of thing we look for in a series called Action Comics, but I was pleased to see that Superman's campaign for the truth didn't end there. He did some strong work as Clark, too.



One final thought: it's interesting to me that there always has to be a bona fide crook behind all of these social injustices. It can't just be a sensationalist newspaper; there also has to be deception and blackmail. It can't just be the rich getting richer off the poor; there has to be an actual swindle taking place. It can't just be a gambling problem; the gambling has to be crooked and there has to be government corruption supporting it. The unsubtlety is probably to eliminate confusion for Action's young readers, but I'd love to read stories where the injustice itself is the villain and not some mastermind behind it.

Unless that mastermind is the Ultra-Humanite, of course.

Superman and the doldrums of social justice

Continuing his defense of the oppressed, Superman takes on gambling rings in Action Comics #16 (by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster).

My first reaction was to be bored with it and impatient for more Ultra-Humanite or the introduction of Lex Luthor. There are only so many Superman vs. social injustice stories that I want to read. That makes me kind of sad about myself, because I really love that Superman spent the early part of his career focused entirely on sticking up for the needy. But is that enough to drive a whole series, indefinitely? If I'm an example of the average reader, the answer is "no."

I guess that's why I love the two Ultra-Humanite stories so far. They start off as social justice stories, but then there's a big, nasty supervillain behind them. Even that would get dull though if Siegel and Shuster made it a monthly formula.

I'm starting to see why the Golden Age Superman eventually morphed into the whackadoo Silver Age Superman. I prefer the idea of the Golden Age version, but when I'm skimming forward in the series for signs of more exciting villains, I realize why things needed to change.

Daily Panel | 'The fate you deserve'

From a May 1939 Superman newspaper strip by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

Superman investigates the death of a scientist who developed "the most deadly weapon modern warfare has ever seen." Of course, the scientist was going to give it to the U.S. government only for use in a "defensive war," but he's murdered by a gang of war profiteers and the formula is stolen for sale to a foreign power.

Daily Panel | Black Gold. Texas Tea.

From Action Comics #11 (April 1939). Written by Jerry Siegel; drawn by Joe Shuster.

Superman fights probably his most despicable opponents yet: stock brokers who are selling shares of what they think is a dry oil field. I'm pretty sure that stocks don't work the way they're described in this story, but suspending disbelief, these guys are unrepentantly heinous.

Superman gets back at them by buying up all the bad stock, then personally drilling for oil on the property until he finds it. He then sells back the stock to the crooks for an enormous sum and destroys the well.

Daily Panel | Filthy, crime-festering slums

From Action Comics #8 (January 1939). Written by Jerry Siegel; drawn by Joe Shuster.

Another example of Superman's fighting for social justice: he demolishes inhabited slums, knowing that the government will send aid to rebuild nicer homes for the residents. This kind of activity got repeated in future versions of the character, but always with the government's endorsement and support. In Action Comics #8, he's working all on his own.

Daily Panel | This party is not going to end well

From Action Comics #3 (August 1938). Written by Jerry Siegel; drawn by Joe Shuster.

Another example of Superman's fighting social injustice by sticking it to the Man. In this issue, he battles a greedy industrialist who's skimping on safety measures in his mine. What's interesting about the story is that Superman only appears in costume in one panel. Most of the time he's undercover as a mine worker. This wouldn't be the last time Superman took the undercover approach either.

Daily Panel | For Truth and Justice

From Action Comics #2 (July 1938). Written by Jerry Siegel; drawn by Joe Shuster.

In his earliest appearances, Superman didn't fight supervillains; he fought against social injustice like war profiteering, usually by exposing the greed of whomever was behind the injustice and them forcing him to stop. Hence his "never ending battle for Truth and Justice." The American Way part wouldn't be added until he became a rallying point for patriotism during WWII.