“Superman’s Neighbors” is a little gem from SUPERMAN #112 (1957), written, I believe, by the sensitive Bill Finger, and drawn by Wayne Boring.
We are introduced to 344 Clinton Street as Clark Kent comes home one evening. It’s clear Clark sees his apartment as a sanctuary of sorts: “It’ll be a relief to relax at home tonight.”
Alexander Ross, one of Clark’s neighbours in the apartment building, is spying on Clark with the aid of binoculars, and notes that Clark is returning, as usual, close on six o’clock.
In his apartment, Clark relaxes in an armchair and, with telescopic vision, reads a book which is still at the public library! He is distracted by the smell of burning paper and uses his super-vision to check on his neighbour, Joe Rollins, who is deliberately burning a sheet of his own artwork. According to a letter Clark sees, Joe Rollins’ job is on the line because he cannot come up with fresh ideas for a cover. Clark is clearly familiar with Joe’s work, thinking that Joe “usually has wonderful ideas”.
Clark “can’t relax” with Rollins’ career at stake, and decides to give the artist a little help. Minutes later we see a warning light activated in the apartment of the spy, Alexander Ross, signalling to Ross that Kent has opened his window. “It’s too cold,” says Ross, “to have opened a window merely for ventilation.” Ross believes Clark must have left his apartment via the fire escape, and notes that the time is 7:03pm.
In a nearby junkyard, we join Superman as he “kneads ton-heavy lengths of metal like putty”. As he manipulates the scrap metals with super-strength, Superman says to himself, “My super imagination should be able to cook up some good science-fiction notions...”
Superman’s metallic creations, all sorts of weird alien creatures and space ships, are thrown so they pass right by Joe Rollins’ window. Joe’s imagination is now fired up by the “terrific ideas,” which he thinks are a vision brought on by so much concentration on his part.
With Joe’s problem solved, night falls and everyone in the apartment house sleeps peacefully except our spy, Mr Ross. He is now examining a chart on his wall headed, “The Strange Case of Clark Kent.” It is a meticulous record of Clark’s comings and goings. “Kent returned less than an hour after he left,” says Ross. “I’ll have to check tomorrow’s papers...”
The next morning, as Clark leaves for work, he pauses at the sight of another of his neighbours, Tommy Snead, a boy who is lame. Tommy looks miserable, wishing he could play ball, jump and run like other kids. Tommy has been on Clark’s mind: “If only I could get him to stop feeling sorry for himself, he might be able to help himself.”
We now begin to see just how much of a guardian angel Superman is to the people of 344 Clinton Street. “Yes, unknown to themselves,” the narration goes, “the people of 344 Clinton Street lead strangely enriched lives -- for a special kind of magic weaves a kinder fate for them...”
A young housewife is busy in her kitchen, but what she can’t see is that her neighbour is sending beams of heat vision from his apartment into hers. “Mrs Higgins’ heart will be broken if that defective stove prevents her from cooking dinner for her company,” thinks Clark, “but the rays of my heat vision can cook better than gas!”
The life of Ethel Cane’s beloved dog is saved when her neighbour surreptitiously uses his super-strength right outside the entrance to 344 Clinton Street to halt a big truck about to run it down.
Even as Superman performs his super-feats for an admiring public, like driving railroad spikes into the tracks of a special new railway (with his fist instead of a sledgehammer), his mind is busy thinking over the problems of the people he lives close to at home. The lame boy, Tommy Snead, is on Superman’s mind. “If only, just once, Tommy could do what other boys do...”
That evening, the Man of Steel flies into Tommy’s room. “Come with me,” he tells Tommy, “and you’ll have what you’ve been wishing for!”
Within seconds they are flying, with Tommy protected by a space-suit and helmet. Minutes later, on the moon, the boy is exhilarated to find his lame leg does not hold him back from running and leaping. “Wow!” exclaims Tommy, “I can jump farther and higher here than
anybody!”
This extraordinary adventure is already having a lasting effect on Tommy. “Gosh -- I’ll never feel sorry for myself after
this! Now I can forget about being jealous of other kids!”
“And,” says Superman, “you’ll be able to concentrate on developing your talents and living a normal life -- instead of brooding!”
A happy Man of Steel, with the delighted (and now radiant) boy in his arms, flies in for a landing at 344 Clinton Street, but is disturbed to catch sight of his neighbour, Alexander Ross, on Clark Kent’s fire escape.
Leaving Tommy to his own devices, Superman manages to get into his own apartment without the spy on the fire escape seeing him, then he makes an examination of Ross’s apartment with his x-ray vision to find out why Ross is so interested in Clark Kent. Clearly, Superman is unsettled by what he sees: “Incredible! He doesn’t suspect that I’m Superman, but I’d better do something about what he
does think, before he stumbles on the truth!”
Superman changes into Clark Kent and decides to wait till Ross leaves the fire escape so he can “start planning a counter-move”.
In listening for the movements of Alexander Ross with his super-hearing, Clark now stumbles upon a new problem with another of his neighbours. The pretty girl in apartment 3-E is rejecting a marriage proposal because, as she explains to poor Harry, she is in love with Superman. Clark now begins mulling over this predicament. “I don’t want her wasting her life pining for me.”
Another evening ends at 344 Clinton Street, with Clark lying sleepless in his bed, trying to think of a way to stop the girl loving Superman. The next morning, the Man of Steel has come up with a solution, and Clark Kent calls at the girl’s door. “Miss Wentworth,” says Clark, “would you like to accompany me to a dance tonight. Superman will be there, and...” At the mention of Superman, Miss Wentworth jumps at the chance to go to the dance. That evening, however, it is not Clark who calls for her, but the Man of Steel.
“My friend Clark Kent,” explains Superman, “was supposed to take you to the dance tonight, and couldn’t make it! He asked me if...”
“If I could go with
you?” squeals the girl. “Oh, yes!
Yes!”
And so Miss Wentworth’s companion for the evening proceeds to give her a somewhat cruel lesson in what life with a Superman could be like. They haven’t even left the apartment when Superman dashes off. Miss Wentworth is confused, and Superman explains as he flies out the window: “Runaway truck... other side of town...”
He returns, and now they have only just stepped into the street outside 344 Clinton Street when Superman takes to the air, interrupting Miss Wentworth in mid-sentence. “Giant meteor... off in space...” Superman tells her before disappearing.
When he gets back, Miss Wentworth informs him they are late for the dance, but, to make matters worse, she suffers a coughing fit. “Meteor dust,” says Superman. “I came back so fast, I forgot to brush it off!”
They finally arrive at the venue, but before they can go in, Superman, although apologetic, is forced to fly off once again to another emergency. Miss Wentworth doesn’t forget her manners, telling him, “It’s -- er -- all right.” But inwardly she is far from pleased: “Hmph! He’d probably leave me alone, in the middle of the floor, to stop an elephant stampede in Borneo!”
A little later, Superman observes Miss Wentworth on the dance floor having a good time with Harry. “I’m glad I sent a ticket anonymously to her boy friend,” he thinks. “Without Superman on her mind, she certainly seems to see him in a new light.”
No doubt relieved to have that problem off his mind, Clark now decides to deal with Alexander Ross before his “fantastic idea becomes embarrassing to me”. Clark decides to catch Mr Ross in his own trap, and crawls down the fire escape from his apartment making sure Ross can hear him. Clark pretends to sneak away, and Ross gleefully follows, tailing him through the streets of the darkened city. Clark makes a show of breaking into a warehouse, fully aware that Ross is observing him. Clark enters the warehouse, and is momentarily out of sight. When Ross enters the warehouse, it is no longer Clark Kent but Superman he has to contend with. Superman makes a startling appearance by smashing through the wall of the building (“this warehouse is scheduled to be torn down tomorrow, so the little damage I cause with this spectacular entrance won’t matter”), and Ross nearly jumps out of his skin.
Superman lays it on thick: “I spotted you breaking in here... I’m taking you to jail!”
“No! No!” screeches Ross. “I’m on your side -- the side of law and order!”
Ross tells Superman that he followed a desperate criminal here. He shows Superman his card, from the “Eagle-Eye Correspondence School for Detectives”. The card is hardly a surprise for Superman, as he had spotted it earlier with his x-ray vision. “Kent is always coming and going mysteriously,” the amateur detective explains. “I’m positive he’s a crook disguised as a reporter!”
Superman admits it is an interesting deduction, but he suggests another possibility, that he and Clark are close friends -- and Ross is only too eager to grasp at the idea. “I get it!” grins Ross. “He gets tips on his job, and you don’t want anyone to suspect
how close you are -- so you meet secretly!”
The Man of Steel puts his hand on Mr Ross’s shoulder in a gesture of camaraderie. “Fine. Now you’re in on a secret -- but I’m sure you can be trusted with it!”
“So that night,” the narration goes, “the people of 344 Clinton Street sleep well again, unaware that they live in something very like an enchanted castle -- because of the occupant of apartment 3-B.”
Our closing scene is the occasion of a residents’ party in the basement of 344 Clinton Street, with Miss Wentworth introducing her fiancé to Clark. Alexander Ross is regaling another neighbour with news of his new correspondence course, “How to become an African Explorer by mail.”
But Clark is not giving the gathering his full attention. He has another of his neighbours on his mind: “Bill Waters doesn’t know it -- but the company he works for will fail in a few days! He has a large family... I must think of a way to help!”
Over near the piano, a lady is whispering to a gentleman, “Hmm... Everyone is happy -- except poor Mr Kent! I wonder -- ? Why does he always look as if he has the troubles of the world on his shoulders?”
