Superman in the Silver Age

[Uncle Mxy]

Is Dimension X, Dimension 10 or X?  :wink:

Planet 10 in the 8th Dimension, buckaroo...

[Super Monkey]

Well, I finally started reading Showcase Superman Vol.2. I am about 100 pages into it, without giving away story details, so no real spoilers here folks, here are my thoughts thus far:

The Cosmic Man tale was pretty cool, in that I got to see a character I never knew even existed. Bill Finger is always good for packing in a TON of story into a few pages.

The Revenge of Luthor was a really wacky tale! I mean if Post-Iron Age fanboys actually read these books I can see this story becoming an Internet cult hit. Countless funny quotes. Jerry Siegel said he liked to write humor tales and which he could include them more into Superman, I am glad he finally got the chance. (They wouldn't let him during the Golden Age)

The famous Super-Menace epic certainly lived up to the hype! Otto Binder made Captain Marvel the greatest Golden Age hero of them all, and he works his magic here.

The Mighty Maid tale was just more freaky Silver Age kink to be place in that rather large pile. Otto Binder has issues

The Lois Lane/Clark Kent tale was a neat little tale which was pretty funny. Jerry Siegel  shows off his humor once again.

Superman's Mermaid Sweetheart featured great sweeping artwork by Wayne Boring, he was really at his best with these types of tales. Jerry Siegel is also good at darker tales as well.

The Trio of Steel seems to be one of those stories that started as a cover 1st and poor Jerry Siegel had to figure out how to turn it into a story, at least that's the way it reads.

And that's where I left off.

[Aldous]

I'm still enjoying this book. As with any volume this size, there are a few duds, but not many. To balance that out, there are some really top tales from the era. One of my favourite stories has always been "Superman vs. Super-Menace" (The Super-Brat From Krypton) by Jerry Siegel at his black and white best, and I was glad to see it in the book.

SPOILER for "The Reversed Super-Powers" in Showcase Vol. 2, although I won't give away the ending...

Jerry Siegel gives his thoughts on Lois Lane's infatuation with Superman in "The Reversed Super-Powers", and Kurt Schaffenberger is the right choice of artist for a simple story that shows Lois in a bad light -- to my mind anyway.

The Man of Steel loses his powers in an experiment with Kryptonite, and becomes an ordinary man. Of all the things now running through the powerless Superman's mind, the uppermost seems to be his desire for Lois, and not a minute after he has ceased to be super, he is proposing to Lois; with his career as a super-hero now over, his future wife will no longer be in danger from his enemies. (I'm not so sure about the logic of that.)

"At last!" thinks Lois. "Superman is proposing marriage! This is what I've wanted to hear for years, and years, and years..."

Our romantic story could end right there on page 4, but Lois shows her true colours, thinking: "Wait! I... I mustn't accept so quickly! Will I remain in love with a Superman who has no mighty powers? I... I don't know...!"

Not a good showing by Lois? It's not an Imaginary story either. I suppose the question is, How much of Superman's personality, courage, and character is dependent upon super-power. Stripped of super-power, what exactly would be left? -- who would that man be, and what would he be. Obviously Lois isn't sure.

[Super Monkey]

BTW, doesn't Wayne Boring artwork look so much better in B&W?

[Aldous]

How many times have Superman's Silver Age power levels come up for discussion, and how many times has someone wheeled out the old "juggling planets" device, rusting and squeaking?

Still with Showcase Vol. 2, in "The World of Mr. Mxyzptlk," the imp drops a load of sneezing powder on the city and Superman vacuums all of it up by inhaling it through his nostrils. Unfortunately, it's "magical" sneezing powder, and Superman is susceptible to it just like anyone else.

About to sneeze, he flies up and away from Earth as fast as he can, then, "far, far out into the cosmos," in a distant solar system, Superman sneezes, and his sneeze destroys the entire solar system -- to the extent that each and every planet is blown to bits!

Off the top of my head I can't think of any super-feat more powerful than that, so it must be the new gold standard.

[MatterEaterLad]

Especially, since...

"In Space...No One can Hear You Sneeze"...

[Continental Op]

That super-sneeze story made a big impression on Denny O'Neil. I have read several interviews with him and, whenever he was asked about his days writing Superman, he always seemed to mention that story as the reason he reduced Superman's powers in the Sandman saga. As if he couldn't just consider that scene an anomaly, and Superman was destroying galaxies with his magic super-sneeze every month.

[MatterEaterLad]

Its funny how single incidents make such an impression on people, to the point of wanting to go in a very different direction...the difference in taking over a comic title I suppose is that you are building on what many others have done, rather than starting out with something new that you have created.