The Chronological Superman

Chronicling every appearance of Superman- from comic to newspaper, cartoon to film, and more - in the order it happened.

[thechronologicalsuperman]

The Chronological Superman 1969-1971:

While the Superman Family was getting slightly more serious, it didn’t mean that it still couldn’t be a little goofy. Action Comics No.388 sees the Earth replaced with Professor Nurd’s madcap Puzzle Planet. Given how openly, ridiculously silly the story was, I’d be surprised if it half of the script hadn’t been written while a little high.

That’s nothing on Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen No.117, which takes a pun to reprehensible levels in “Planet of the Capes.”

[thechronologicalsuperman]

The Chronological Superman 1969-1971:

With big changes coming, it seemed wise to get some of the canon in order. Superboy takes on the burden of organizing the family heirlooms in a series of one- and two-page “The Superboy Legend” features. 

[thechronologicalsuperman]

The Chronological Superman 1969-1971:

After Weisinger’s retirement, Superboy -- along with Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen and Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane -- ended up in the hands of Murray Boltinoff, one of DC’s most-accomplished editors. As a former assistant to Whitney Ellsworth, he was practically an heir to at least a portion of the Superman Family estate. 

While the Man of Steel was undergoing a raft of changes in his titles, Superboy’s alterations were limited to one -- modernization. Liberating the Boy of Steel from the ambiguous early 20th century environment he had occupied since his invention, Superboy was allowed to tag along with his older self at a safe distance of 29 years. 

In a way, this is as ‘hip’ a decision as any Sekowsky is making over at Adventure Comics with Supergirl. While his cousin is enjoying being very now, Superboy has the sheen of nostalgia. Fan response validated the decision. 

(In case you were curious: If Superman were 29 today, Superboy’s teen years would have been between 2003 and 2010)

[thechronologicalsuperman]

The Chronological Superman 1969-1971:

But please -- call her Nasty.

Supergirl has practically had more interactions with the Luthors than Superman has*. 

*I’m being facetious, please don’t @ me.

Besides frequently fighting -- and sometimes fighting alongside -- Lex Luthor, she’s also tied up with Luthor’s sister Lena Thorul and Lena’s occasionally super-powered nephew Val Colby. Now along comes Nasty, the daughter of Luthor’s sister -- no matter how the timeline works out. Sekowsky was famous for ignoring the continuity of the other Super-titles when writing his Supergirl stories.

In his world, Nasthalthia worked -- in part because his version of Lex Luthor was middle-aged, wealthy, stocky, dressed in a dark suit, and wielding power through his connections in the world of finance and influence. Yes, in 1971, Mike Sekowsky invented the Post-Crisis Lex Luthor. He deserves some credit for this.

Nasty draws her own focus, though. A suitably scheming enemy for Supergirl, her modus operandi largely involved using her wealth and privilege to cause chaos and disaster --of which she then takes opportunity. She’s portrayed as spiteful, vain, prickly -- a Veronica to Supergirl’s Betty. Nasthalthia is, in fact, very much like the antagonists in so many girls’ comics -- the vicious frenemy. 

[thechronologicalsuperman]

The Chronological Superman 1969-1971:

And speaking of threats, he also gifts Supergirl with a raft of new and revamped foes.

She faces the evil sorcerer ZOND (Adv 397), and a revamped BLACK FLAME (Adv 400). The Flame is assisted by three curious villains who, while appearing to be human and non-Kryptonian in every fashion, had been imprisoned in The Phantom Zone. These are a leprechaun-like L.FINN, the vulture-ish INVENTOR, and the at-this-point-he-seems-familiar TOYMAKER. The trio are near lookalikes for Mxyzptlk, Luthor and Toyman, although exactly what was going on here is anyone’s guess. In any case, they never returned.

A cunning criminal mastermind, STARFIRE, torments Supergirl’s heart, body and soul beginning in Adv 402, but she’s only one femme fatale to make Supergirl’s life miserable. In Adventure Comics vol.1 No.397, Sekowsky introduces NASTHALTHIA LUTHOR...

[thechronologicalsuperman]

The Chronological Superman 1969-1971:

Mike Sekowsky had been writing and drawing a handful of titles at DC -- including, most recently, Wonder Woman. He had a hip but sleek sensibility, and his work skewed “young.” Before taking the reins on Supergirl, for instance, he’d created Jason’s Quest in DC’s Showcase title -- a motorcycle drama which hinted at Skeowsky’s late-night cinema tastes.

Supernatural horror, murder, suspicion, and costume changes, costume changes, costume changes! Starting with Adventure Comics vol. 1 No.381, Kara Zor-El’s whole world gets groovy. Sekowsky makes more mature themes and a jazzier wardrobe de rigueur for the Girl of Steel. What liberties he has to slip slightly-bowdlerized drugs-and-hedonism into her stories is one of the privileges of editing your own work.

One of the most memorable changes was simply to get her out of her dowdy little Super-dress and into something with style. Adventure Comics vol.1 No.397 teases the audience with some of Supergiirl’s potential new looks -- and they are hip as hell. Sekowsky proceeds to introduce a sizable assemblage of costumes (as far as your average superhero goes, anyway) of contemporary fashions, including hip hugging ornament belts, thigh-high boots, and even modern hairstyles. In fact, outfitting Linda Lee Danvers with her new uniforms is no one other than Wonder Woman, who is running a fashionable clothing boutique at this time.

The costume changes in part mask an unreliable set of super-powers. This was Sekowsky’s way of adding additional threat to the book without removing the potential for super-powered antics (In fact, it closely mirrors exactly what was happening over in Superman’s eponymous title around the same time). 

[thechronologicalsuperman]

The Chronological Superman 1969-1971:

As an example of the sometimes inarticulate priorities of the suddenly-political Man of Steel is this story from Superman vol.1 No.234. 

Superman accedes to a slaveowner’s property rights despite the real danger of a volcano exploding in the middle of the plantation and killing the resident islanders. 

This uncomfortable mishmash of Superman’s sudden immersion in political issues with his Comics Code-mandated subordination to the law makes this story seem almost like vicious satire of the super-status quo -- which it may have been. 

Try to imagine the Superman of 1938 -- who counted among his enemies racketeers, war profiteers, the cops, the army and the bosses -- walking away from a slaveowner whose men were taking potshots at innocent, unarmed people. Whatever the intention, in 1971, this Superman did.

[thechronologicalsuperman]

The Chronological Superman 1969-1971:

The Daily Planet’s daring girl reporter finds herself the object of distrust and suspicion when she comes to Little Africa, Metropolis’ almost-exclusively black community. The snub seems to have struck a nerve, because Lois immediately hatches a plan. Deciding to get to the bottom of all of this racism business once-and-for-all, she seeks Superman’s help in using an alien sarcophagus to become, for twenty-four hours only -- black.

The notorious I Am Curious (Black) from Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane vol.1 No.106. What else is there to say?

The book’s title was inspired by a pair of award-winning Swedish films, both of which contained political content involving the civil rights movement. They were also infamously erotic -- did Lois know what she was getting into?

Lois uses Kryptonian technology to briefly become black, experiencing everything from petty bigotries to the indignities of systemic poverty. It’s slightly bowdlerized and “crooks” do a lot of heavy lifting, standing in for authorities and institutions which victimize black communities.

The book is frequently made fun of, largely on the basis of the cover and the title. 

White journalists had done something much like this in the real world (Ray Springle in 1948 and Black Like Me author John Howard Griffin in 1961).

[thechronologicalsuperman]

The Chronological Superman 1969-1971:

Native American issues were on the public’s mind in the late Sixties, and DC did what they could to represent the injustices being contended. Above: Bigots from Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane vol.1 No.110. Below, from Action Comics vol.1 No.401, a strong message from the ultimately sympathetic “Navarro” nation (they reclaim their land and end up with a healthy wad of gold, to boot).

[thechronologicalsuperman]

The Chronological Superman 1969-1971:

In the tense political atmosphere of ‘69, Superman was asked to weigh in on the Vietnam War -- and his answer, uncomfortably, is that “It’s Good!” and “I like it!”

It’s a departure for Clark Kent as he adopts a combat medic position with US forces in Vietnam and lends American troops a very partisan hand against near-naked Viet Cong soliers driving massive tanks out of the dense jungles. They’re after the orphanage!

The story seems to have been floated to test the interest in Superman being involved with the conflict, in the fashion of his World War 2 adventures. The lack of followup suggests little appreciation of the offer.

Also in the conflict is King Cong, an American G.I. who is forced by enemy agents to grow big and get nuts on his own unit. 

[thechronologicalsuperman]

The Chronological Superman 1969-1971:

Leo Dorfman sends Jimmy to the slums in Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen vol.1 No.127. More specifically, it’s Perry White sending Jimmy on an undercover assignment to the roach-infested rat-traps of Metropolis. Slum-lords are specifically called out for their inhumanity and greed, and it’s a very satisfying tale if one can overlook the unwillingness of Superman to get involved.

In Superman’s eighth adventure, in 1939, he single-handedly demolished all of Metropolis’ unsafe, disease-ridden slums in a single evening, battling the cops and the army the entire way, in order to force the government to build safe replacement housing. Merits of that plan aside, it’s a big difference from the Superman here who -- almost literally -- washes his hands of Jimmy’s entire venture.

It’s worth examining what kind of Superman one is left with when the fantastic trappings of the Silver Age are put into storage, and his powers are quietly downplayed. More like his original self than he had been in decades, it’s clear that -- in the intercessionary year of 1970, anyway -- the ferocious intolerance for injustice which defined the Superman of 1938 had somehow been lost amidst the glitter.

[thechronologicalsuperman]

The Chronological Superman 1969-1971:

DC Editors cranky that nobody mentioned the brand names.

[thechronologicalsuperman]

The Chronological Superman 1969-1971:

In the name of attracting the much-coveted youth audience, Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen vol.1 No.118 offers up this enticement. 

Cover artist Neal Adams had begun working for other comics publishers at this time, citing in no small part an oppressive workplace environment at DC. Whatever the intetion, his “Hippie Olsen’s Hate-In” cover could have easily rubbed shoulders with these pieces which he’d done for satirical magazine National Lampoon around the same time.

[thechronologicalsuperman]

The Chronological Superman 1969-1971:

Psychedlia invades the 30th Century.

[thechronologicalsuperman]

The Chronological Superman 1969-1971:

The level of invention which Jack Kirby brought to the struggling Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen cannot be overstated. Kirby is alleged to have specifically asked to be placed on DC’s worst-selling comic, to allow himself the liberty of throwing everything he wanted to throw at the wall.

Above, a small selection of Kirby’s exceptional output.

[thechronologicalsuperman]

The Chronological Superman 1969-1971:

Another tale in which an elderly Superman contends with bitterness and irrelevance. This time, he’s lost his powers and must eke out an existence begging for change, living in a condemned home, and suffering all the humiliations of poverty.

Ironically, if he had just rebuilt the slums in Action Comics vol.1 No.393 “The Day Superboy Became Superman” in the first place, none of this would have been a problem.

[thechronologicalsuperman]

The Chronological Superman 1969-1971:

This unconventional tale, scripted by Cary Bates, runs from Action Comics Nos.385-387 and deals with the occasionally toyed-with concept: Can Superman Get Old and Die?

Thrust forward through time and unable to return through the past, Superman spends this three-part epic growing increasingly frustrated, bitter, apathetic ... and ever older without dying. The closest he comes to oblivion is passing out in the tail of a super-comet at the end of eternity.

When he wakes, he is an infant in his mother’s arms again. Superman goes on to relive his life, semi-detached as though watching it on stage, before catching up to where he was at the beginning of the tale. He has lived through the end of time and come through the other side.

With the upcoming changes being planned for Superman, this story can easily be read as a symbolic rebirth. Leaving behind the sci-fi weirdness of the Silver Age that no longer impressed, growing less enthusiastic, forgetting his purpose -- and then reborn, made young again, given new vitality and allowed to pick up where he left off!