Superman's newspaper strip of the 1940s- Online

[Super Monkey]

here is his website if you want to know what he has been up to:

http://www.deniskitchen.com/

and here is the site of who publishes the re-prints:

www.sterlingpub.com

[binarysunrise]

Hey, if you guys have a chance, could you swing by my site and check out the "Pen and Paper" article?  I am trying to figure out the chronology of the writers and artists of the Superman strips.  What I have at the moment is a rough draft based upon internet research at a bunch of different sites.  If any of you have knowledge of this aspect of Superman trivia, please double-check my work.  My main questions are:

1) Do I have the current chronology correct?
2) The writers section is quite rough...who am I missing?
3) Who drew the strip from 1960 to 1966?  One source said Swan, but Zeno's book states he stopped in 1960 (though this was from an interview...haven't read the book yet).  Another source suggested Al Plastino, but I can't confirm it...

Thanks!!

[binarysunrise]

2nd request...

Does anyone have the "Giant Superman Annual #1" from 1960?  From what I see on the internet, it contains 3 dailies from 1953.  Just wondering what the story was, or if anyone knows of any other reprints of the dailies in the regular comics....

[Lee Semmens]

Binarysunrise,

here is a link to a site I didn't see listed in your references:

http://hometown.aol.com/comicsproj/credits.html

It is listing of credits to most U.S. newspaper strips up until comparatively recently.

It lists the following as writers on the strip, without specifying whether dailies or Sundays:

Jerry Siegel   1939-1943
Whitney Ellsworth   1941-1945
Alvin  Schwartz    1944-1958
Jack Schiff    1942-1962
Bill Finger    1959-1966 (this is what it seems to be saying)
Jerry Siegel   1959-1966

It lists Al Plastino as an artist in the 1960s, also Wayne Boring from 1948-1966 - although he definitely started earlier, and did not stay on the strip throughout this period, obviously.

With regard to Boring, he did not do any work on the comic books for the period 1962-1966, then made a brief comeback in the comics around 1966-67.

I am pretty certain I read somewhere - unfortunately I can't recall where, possibly a comment by Mort Weisinger in the letters' page of a Superman or Action Comic from this period - that the reason Boring was missing from the comic books for these four years was that he was doing the newspaper strip.

It may be that Plastino replaced Swan in 1960 on the newspaper strip, and he, in turn, was replaced by Boring in 1962, and stayed on it until the end, in 1966.

At least that's my hypothesis, but I have never actually seen any Superman newspaper strips from the 1960s.

I don't have the original of Giant Superman Annual #1, but I do have the replica edition, from 1998.

It does have three dailies from 1953 (no precise dates discernable), on the inside back cover - strip numbers #4503 ("It's Murder!"), #4504 ("Strange Corpse!"), and #4505 ("Everyone's Rushing!").

The overall title of the continuity is not given, but the story is credited to Alvin Schwartz (writer), and Win Mortimer (artist).

Incidentally, Schwartz was awarded the "Bill Finger Award" just the other day, for excellence as a comic book writer. He is still living, and was born in 1916 (see this link for details:
http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2006_05_25.html#011552).

I don't know whether any other dailies have been reprinted in the comics, but I have a feeling I may have seen some somewhere. I'll check my other Superman Annuals.

The next issue of Alter Ego apparently will have an interview with Al Plastino, so you may want to check that out.

[Lee Semmens]

Eddy Zeno's Curt Swan: A Life in Comics says Swan did the Superman dailies from 18 June 1956 to 12 November 1960, replacing Win Mortimer - he was apparently primarily, if not solely, inked by Stan Kaye.

Zeno also writes that Boring was the main newspaper artist by 1963 - it seems Boring was really only doing the Sundays in the very early 1960s (and maybe throughout the 1950s?) - perhaps Plastino was the main daily artist after Swan, and Boring took over dailies and Sundays around 1962, which is when he left the comic books for four years?

Swan did "ghost" two Sundays for Boring, on 4 and 11 June 1961, and Zeno's book shows these strips.

Interestingly, when Superman guest-starred in the Batman daily strip (drawn by Joe Giella), in 1966, Swan drew the Superman figures.

Les Daniels' Superman: A Complete History says that the Superman newspaper strip ran from November 1939 to May 1966, then was revived from 1977 to 1983.

[binarysunrise]

Someone was talking about the period in the strips where Lois and Clark marry.  I found this article from a 1949 Time magazine:
----
Oct. 24, 1949
After ten years of Superman's astounding antics, McClure Newspaper Syndicate and National Comics Publications thought that readers might be getting bored with their comic-strip hero's invulnerability. Last week the syndicators decided to put Superman in a position where he may lose an occasional round. In November, Writer Whit Ellsworth and Artist Wayne Boring will marry him off to his longtime sweetheart, Lois Lane. In the normal course of time ("even Superman can't hurry some things") Lois will present him with a Superbaby. The new challenge: "Can Superman cope with modern man's most intimate problem—namely, marriage?"
----

Sadly I don't have much more than the first few months of this story, so I don't know how these plans went, but the Superbaby sounds fascinating...

[binarysunrise]

So while I am awaiting the conclusion to the 1950 Clark Kent/Lois Lane wedding, I did get a batch of 1960s strips, that has the beginning of what I think is the Return to Krypton storyline.

From what I have so far, Superman chases a gigantic living asteroid away from Earth with such superspeed he breaks the time barrier.  When he stops, he realizes that a) he's in front of a Red sun, and b) he's above Krypton.  With his remaining strength, he manages to land on the planet.  He thinks "How ironic! I survived the destruction of Krypton as a child, and now may die as an adult in that same explosion!"  He comes across a Kryptonian-movie set, and is mistaken for an movie extra....which leads to the director telling everyone he'll give them a bonus to keep their costumes on as a publicity stunt.  So, Superman is able to keep his costume on as he explores Krypton without having to explain himself to everyone.

Sadly that's where this lot ends.  In a month or so, I should hopefully have access to the rest of the story...

[binarysunrise]

Finally got the rest of the "Return to Krypton" storyline.  Its sort of sad.  Lots of tragic ironies, Superman visiting his parents, and Superman falling in  love with another "L.L." (he even says "let me guess, her initials are L.L" upon first meeting her), and then there is his tragic choice of whether to return to earth or stay on the doomed planet...

On a postive note, I just got the 6 months of Sunday strips that take place immediately following the Kitchen Sink reprint...