Thursday, August 16, 2007

Superman in the Forties Mini-Review


The stories selected for Superman in the Forties might be representational, but are surely not his best. It is worth noting that the raw, tough Superman of 1938 is my favorite, while Megan [my girlfriend] read it as well and preferred the whimsical romance circa 1946. Perhaps one of Superman’s most endearing traits is how many different interpretations of him there are – one for every preference.

Untitled from Action Comics #1 – A+
Untitled from Action Comics #2 – A+
“Lois Lane Loves Clark Kent” from Superman #58 – B
Untitled from Superman #1 – A-
“The Origin of Superman” from Superman #53 – B+
“Superman Returns to Krypton” from Superman #61 – B-
“Superboy Meets Supergirl” from Superboy #5 – C
“Superman Meets the Ultra-Humanite” From Action Comics #14 (i.e. 13?) – A
Untitled from Action Comics #23 – A
`The Terrible Toyman” from Action Comics #64 – C+
“Journey into Ruin” from Action Comics #107 – C
“The Mxyztplk-Susie Alliance” from Superman #40 – C+
“America’s Secret Weapon” from Superman #23 – B
Untitled from daily newspaper strip – A-
“How Superman Would End the War” from Look Magazine – A
“The Superman Story” from World’s Finest #37 – B
“Christmas `Round the World” from Action Comics #93 – C+

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Any other anthologies that might have better stories from Sups from the forties?

Scott said...

Thanks for asking, Josue. Honestly, I would recommend skipping the anthologies that jump all over and just sit down with The Superman Chronicles, vol. 5-10 and read them straight through.

Unknown said...

Why not with the first one?

Scott said...

I'm not sure I follow your question. The first what now?

Unknown said...

I'm sorry, the first volume (of Superman Chronicles), is it because they were all written in the 30s?

Scott said...

Right. I actually prefer the raw energy of the earliest Superman stories, but if you wanted to concentrate on just the 1940s, I would still stick to the earlier ones.