The Chronological Superman: 1938 (July-December)
Action Comics vol.1 #2
Cover Date: July 1938
Revolution in San Monte (w/Jerry Siegel, a/Joe Shuster)
Nothing straightens out a crook like sheer, physical terror.
It’s inaccurate to call Superman’s earliest opponents his “enemies” – in truth, they’re more like his victims. Upon identifying a gangster, goon, con man, corrupt politician or criminal mastermind, the Man of Steel is likely to yank them from their offices and juggle them fourteen stories about street level, fling them bodily through the sky, or shove them helplessly into assorted paths of mortal danger until they repent their evil ways.
Despite the abundance of rotten crooks populating his world, the inherent message of the Superman comics seems to be that mankind is essentially good. It’s only when external forces – money and power, usually – intercede that people become bad.
In these cases, a short sharp shock is often the best tonic. Superman frequently uses physical threats and sheer terror as a tool of redemption, such as in this story where he convinces a war profiteer of the wrongness of his ways by forcibly enlisting the greedy coward in the army and personally flying him to the front where the bombs which made him rich are exploding right above his head.
Likewise, later in this same story, Superman ends the war by forcing the two opposing generals to duke it out themselves (or get a thrashing from the Man of Steel), at which point they realize that they’ve "forgotten" the source of their enmity and immediately call for peace. I'll bet they did.
It’s probably naïve, but the core of Superman stories has always been that even the most relentless villain is still ultimately redeemable -- and if not, at lest they'll get a well-deserved sock on the snoot along the way.
In this issue, Clark's paper of employ is made out to be The Evening News of Cleveland, Ohio. This is canon (for now).
Action Comics vol.1 #3
Cover Date: August 1938
The Blakely Mine Disaster (w/Jerry Siegel, a/Joe Shuster)
Superman makes only one brief appearance in costume in this issue, otherwise going undercover as a worker in a dangerously unsafe mine.
His outrage-driven moral code abides whether in costume or out – here, he leads the callous-hearted mine owner Blakely and his rich, shallow party guests into one of the extravagant profiteer's own, exceptionally dangerous tunnels. This is so that Superman can teach them all a hell of a lesson by engineering a cave-in around their ears and then rescuing them moments before they die or kill each other in a blind panic. A stern talking-to simply wouldn't do.
Naturally, it works, and a chastened Blakely dedicates his wealth, from here on out, to worker safety. If only you could trap some of today's wealthy elite under thousands of tons of rock until they commit their wealth to public safety, or just trap them under rocks anyway.
Appearing only briefly as either Superman or Clark Kent, and not appearing on the cover at all, you have to imagine that the Man of Steel's appearance in this issue might have been missed by any casual reader only flipping through the pages.
It's unusual to see Supeman in action but out of uniform. His costume is as singular and iconic as Hercules' lion-skin or Sherlock Holmes' deerstalker cap. Seeing Superman doing his thing in jeans and a white shirt is somewhat like seeing Dracula in jorts.
Action Comics vol.1 #4
Cover Date: September 1938
Superman Plays Football (w/Jerry Siegel, a/Joe Shuster)
He sure does!
Up to this point, Superman has been the righteous nemesis of vultures and opportunists. Now he'll be a Guardian Angel.
If part of Superman's agenda is that even the most rotten rat deserves to be rehabilitated, then it must also be true that every decent guy who just needs a little boost should get one. What's a superhero for if not for an occasional shot of self-esteem?
Superman adopts the likeness of disillusioned college leatherhead Tommy Burke in order to demolish a game-fixing ring in the world of college football. Mind you, to do this, he kidnaps and dopes Burke, disguising himself as the benchwarmer's identical duplicate and taking his place on the field.
Superman's exceptional on-field performance scuppers the gambling ring and has the whole school cheering for Burke. As Tommy shakes off the drugs and wanders into the stadium, even he is energized by the enthusiastic approval of his peers – although he gets demolished when he gets on the field himself following Superman’s charade.
Still, at the end, he has his confidence back and the full attention of the girl he loves – a happy side effect of Superman’s garden-variety crook-bashing.
Lest the abundance of romance and gridiron athletics suggest an unusually sedate story, Siegel packs the first couple of pages with capital-A Action. Superman pursues a speed-maddened hit-and-run driver whose car stalls on the railroad tracks. "You fool! You'll kill us both!" shouts a still largely-untested Superman, his quarry struggling against his grip as a speeding train bears towards them at deadly speed...
Action Comics vol.1 #5
Cover Date: October 1938
Superman and the Dam (w/Jerry Siegel, a/Joe Shuster)
For the first time, Superman pits his mighty strength against the unfettered force of nature! The Vallyho Dam is collapsing, and Superman must hold back the raging waters long enough for the townpeople to escape. Worse yet, when the tumultuous torrent finally breaks free, Lois Lane finds herself right in its path!
For readers who wanted to see Superman put through his paces, this story has it all: Superman outraces an express train, supports a crumbling bridge upon his back, holds back the splitting dam until the town is fully evacuated, and races the rushing torrent to save a drowning Lois Lane. He even manages to create a flood-diverting avalanche and save the nice folks of Valleyho Town!
As milestones go, it's worth mentioning that Superman and Lois share their first kiss in this comic -- what better reward for saving a town? "Wow!" declares a surprised Superman, "What a kiss!" Lois, her arms wrapped around his neck, dreamily replies "A super-kiss for a Superman."
This is also the issue in which Lois makes her intentions plain. Borne aloft as the Man of Tomorrow takes her to safety, she enthuses "The first time you carried me like this, I was frightened, just like I was frightened of you. But now I love it -- as I love you!"
Action Comics vol.1 #6
Cover Date: November 1938
Superman's Phony Manager (w/Jerry Siegel, a/Joe Shuster)
A con artist sets himself up as “Superman’s agent”, capitalizing on the hero's air of mystery to unethically enrich himself with merchandising and endorsement deals. He even goes so far as to hire an ersatz Superman and a trunk full of gadgets that let him fake the Man of Steel's amazing powers.
The sight of Superman on banners and billboards is broadly prophetic -- that character exists today as much as a mascot or licensing brand as it does a comic book superhero, maybe even moreso. But more specifically prognosticate was this story depicting Superman as a radio show hero, right down to the breakfast cereal sponsor, two years before the real-world broadcast debut of The Adventures of Superman.
The story also suggests Superman's runaway popularity by positing a torch song taking the nightclubs by storm: You're A Superman...
"You're a Superman
You can make my heart leap a thousand feet
You're a Superman
But I'm the one gal who kin get under your skin
When you crush me in your arms I must reveal
I'm only flesh and blood and not resistless steel
You're a Superman
Your ardor's stronger than a human man's
You're a Superman
And when you spring to me I'm in ecstasy
Some day you're gonna leap to the altar at my feet
Then the whole world will know
That you're my Superman"
For the sake of a scoop, Lois endures a second date with Clark -- if only to spike his drink and leave him snoozing while she chases down the story. "Double-crossing a pal, eh?" he chuckles as he quickly shakes off the soporific effects, "Just like a newspaperwoman!"
Lois and Superman work together in this story, for the first time. Arguably, this is the template for their relationship going forward -- While they don't coordinate their efforts, it's Lois who exposes the crooks and Superman who steps in to clean up. Part of that clean-up involves catching Lois when the crooks throw her out of a window -- another first! They say you'll never forget the first building you fall out of ...
Also, appearing in this issue is an unnamed "inquisitive office-boy" - come and gone in two panels - which many fans and even some historians have retroactively decided is Jimmy Olsen, declaring this the character's canonical first appearance. That's ballsy of 'em.
Action Comics vol.1 #7
Cover Date: December 1938
Superman Joins the Circus (w/Jerry Siegel, a/Joe Shuster)
If they knew what they had in Superman, it would have been easy to tell.
For one thing, he would have appeared on the cover more often. Depicted here leaping over the city with some poor prick dangling from his grip, this is only Superman's second cover apperance in seven issues.
The holdup is National Allied Publications owner Harry Donenfeld, whose prosaic sensibilities revolted at the concept of the science fiction adventure strip -- at least until several months' worth of sales made it clear which feature was responsible for Action Comics' runaway success. The anthology title was pulling in twice the readership of any other comic book, and it wasn't because of Zatara the Magician.
Superman returns to the cover again in issue #10, then begins appearing as an inset on covers beginning with #12, before nailing down a permanent position as uncontested fixture feature from #19 onwards.
Inside this particular issue, Superman saves a struggling circus from ruin by signing on as their star attraction, drawing huge crowds with his fantastic showmanship. The circus' primary creditor is calling in its notes in an attempt to take over the business which is, ironically, exactly how Harry Donenfeld got his hands on National Allied Publications in the first place.
The Daily Star is established in this story as Clark's employer. To celebrate, we meet another reporter, named Curly, who -- shades of Steve Lombard! -- lives to torment poor, meek Clark Kent. Curly yanks Clark's tie out of his jacket a few times and, in response, Superman strips him naked at superspeed in the middle of the newsroom. Make a note: Superman escalates!
Next: January-April 1939
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