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Home , Al Plastino, Curt Swan, Dean Mullaney, Edmond Hamilton, George Klein (comics), George Papp

S $49.99 (Different in Canada) UPERMAN

IN THIS VOLUME:

More than 700 daily strips featuring artwork by the predominant artist of the 1950s and 1960s— . The twenty-two stories were scripted by Superman co-creator , adapting then-current—and now classic— tales by Robert Bernstein, , , , , and himself. The covers are specially created by Pete Poplaski to evoke the look and artistic style of the times. Volume Two is an homage to Wayne Boring, and to Ira Schnapp, whose distinctive lettering defined DC’s style of the era. The Man of Steel’s newspaper adventures ran for EDITED AND DESIGNED BY more than twenty-five years, from 1939 until 1966, -WINNER yet only the first three years have ever been reprinted. INTRODUCTION BY SIDNEY FRIEDFERTIG THE The vast majority of the strips remain among the rarest of all collectibles. “When Superman comic book editor brought Jerry Siegel back to DC SILVER Superman • • • • • it meant coming full circle for Superman’s co-creator—from assembling his original strips AGE In a partnership between The Library of into a comic book story to transforming Superman comics into newspaper strips. The work American Comics and DC Comics, this second Superman was created in 1938 by two ambitious he produced upon his return was among the finest of his career. DAILIES volume of “The Silver Age” strips helps remedy youngsters, and Jerry Siegel. “The re-publication of these strips spans a chasm in Siegel’s canon and is a welcome that gap in the Superman mythos as part of a Their defender of the oppressed became an enduring addition to a complete library of his work.” comprehensive archival program to bring back into smash sensation in comics, radio, animation, television, —from the Introduction by Sidney Friedfertig print every one of the Superman newspaper strips. and motion pictures. He remains the little guy's White The complete comics are being published in three Knight, battling terrestrial and extra-terrestrial menaces sub-sets, starting with The Silver Age (1960s), then while standing for Truth, Justice, and the American Way. The Atomic Age (1950s), and finally, (1940s). The black-and-white dailies and color Sundays contained distinct storylines and will be released in separate, concurrent, series.

LibraryofAmericanComics.com • $49.99 SUPERMAN ® The Silver Age Dailies

Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster

SUPERMAN ® The Silver Age Dailies VOLUME TWO – 1961-1963

IDW PUBLISHING San Diego SUPERMAN: THE SILVER AGE DAILIES OTHER BOOKS IN THE LIBRARY OF VOLUMETWO: 1961 –1963 AMERICAN COMICS SCRIPTS BY JERRY SIEGEL BASED ON THE ORIGINAL COMIC BOOK STORIES BY ROBERT BERNSTEIN, OTTO BINDER, LEO DORFMAN, BILL FINGER, EDMOND HAMILTON, AND JERRY SIEGEL ARTWORK BY WAYNE BORING • LETTERING BY IRA SCHNAPP

Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel family.

THE LIBRARY OF AMERICAN COMICS EDITED AND DESIGNED BY Dean Mullaney • ART DIRECTOR Lorraine Turner ASSOCIATE EDITOR Bruce Canwell • INTRODUCTION Sidney Friedfertig COVERS Pete Poplaski • MARKETING DIRECTOR Beau Smith

STRIP RESTORATION BY Dale Crain and Dean Mullaney

IDW Publishing, a Division of Idea and Design Works, LLC 5080 Santa Fe Street, San Diego, CA 92109 www.idwpublishing.com • LibraryofAmericanComics.com

Ted Adams, Executive Officer/Publisher • Greg Goldstein, Chief Operating Officer/President Robbie Robbins, EVP/Sr. Graphic Artist • , Chief Creative Officer/Editor-in-Chief Matthew Ruzicka, CPA, Chief Financial Officer • Alan Payne, VP of Sales Dirk Wood, VP of Marketing • Lorelei Bunjes, VP of Digital Services

ISBN: 978-1-61377-923-1 • First Printing, March, 2014 Distributed by Diamond Book Distributors 1-410-560-7100

Special thanks to Sid Friedfertig, who eagerly loaned his collection of clipped strips that is the primary source for this volume. He would like to dedicate this book… “This book is lovingly dedicated to my son David, who was favored with a wise head, a generous heart, and a kind nature; he is my strength, my conscience, my future.”

We are also indebted to the following for their help, advice, and research: Giampiero Giovani for providing access to his months of syndicate proofs, , Mike Tiefenbacher, John Wells, Jared Bond, Martin O’Hearn, Jeffrey Lindenblatt, Eddy Zeno, Harry Matetsky, Hannah Friedfertig, Ricardo Nandin, Zygy Susser, Sara Schulman, , Heritage Auctions, Greg Goldstein, Scott Dunbier, Justin Eisinger, and Alonzo Simon.

LibraryofAmericanComics.com

© 2014 DC Comics. All rights reserved. SUPERMAN and all related characters and elements are trademarks of DC Comics. The Library of American Comics is a trademark of The Library of American C omics LLC. All rights reserved. With the exception of artwork used for review purposes, none of the comic strips in this publication may be reprinted without the permission of DC Comics, Inc. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information and retrieval system, without permission in writing from DC Comics, Inc. Printed in Korea. Introduction by SIDNEY FRIEDFERTIG

When Superman comic book editor Mort Weisinger brought Jerry Siegel back to DC in 1959 to the Superman daily newspaper strip, it’s doubtful that even a man with Weisinger’s imagination could have envisioned the explosion of creativity over which he was about to preside. Reflecting on his career, the editor rightfully boasted that “my greatest contribution to Superman was to give him a ‘mythology.’” As the 1950s turned into the 1960s, the Superman mythos—with contributions by Weisinger, Siegel, Edmond Hamilton, Otto Binder, Bill Finger, and others—expanded to include new concepts, such as , Red , the Bottle City of , The Legion of Superheroes, , , Zone, and , to name but a few. Despite Weisinger’s often cantankerous relationship with Siegel, he nonetheless recognized that Superman’s co-creator could supply what he—and DC—needed. “[Jerry] Siegel was the best emotional writer of them all,” Weisinger recalled shortly after his retirement. The classic “Superman’s Return to ” (reprinted in Volume One of this series) remains one of the most touching stories of the era. The re-publication of these strips spans a chasm in Siegel’s canon and is a welcome addition to a complete library of his work. Siegel takes existing comic book stories that often use amnesia, impersonations, mistaken identities, and lookalikes to maintain coherence in sometimes convoluted plot twists—and makes them work more expansively in the format of a daily newspaper strip. He displays a deft sense of storytelling. Every strip episode is longer by panel count than its corresponding comic book version and Siegel steadily uses the additional length to add characterization and a deeper sense of story. In “The Man with the Zero Eyes,” for example, down-on-his-luck storekeeper Tom Dugan is a more sympathetic, thereby deserving, figure than in the 1957 comic book tale. In some stories, such as Siegel’s own “The Invisible ,” he presents a straightforward adaptation in which the percentage of invisible-Lois panels is nearly identical between comic and strip. In other episodes, it’s fascinating to see how he makes changes. ABOVE: Cover to Superman #161 drawn by and Scripter Leo Dorfman’s “The Man Who Hunted ” becomes “The Man Who Hunted featuring the comic book version of Superman” in the strip. Guest appearances by other costumed characters in the comic book stories are “Superman Goes to War.” written out of the strip. In the comic book version of “Superman Goes To War” by Edmond Hamilton, receives a battlefield transfusion from Supergirl; in the strip Superman finds his own solution.

5 The comic book edition of Hamilton’s “The Feud Between Superman and November 1960, whereupon Boring returned and remained the strip’s penciler Clark Kent” features Supergirl, , and the Bottle City of Kandor, all of until its demise in 1966. which disappear in Siegel’s newspaper remodeling. Adapting his own story, Boring’s depiction of Superman in the ’50s became the model for all “The Sweetheart Superman Forgot,” Siegel disposes of ’s timely artists who drew Superman afterward. Al Plastino remembered being told to rescue seen in the comic book; in the strip Kent saves himself from drowning. adapt his style to Boring’s. The Boring Superman has been called noble; it’s “The Sweetheart Superman Forgot” is one of several Red Kryptonite stories no coincidence that as a youngster the artist studied with J. Allen St. John, in this volume and it features the first appearance of star-crossed heroine Sally artist of the early “noble savage” stories by . Selwyn, who falls in love with an amnesiac, powerless Kent. The story was so The strips in this volume, reprinting the years 1961-1963, are Boring’s popular with fans that Siegel wrote a sequel, “The Man Who Stole Superman’s re-imaginings of stories penciled in the comics by Al Plastino, Curt Swan, Secret Life,” which appeared in both Superman #169 and as Episode #146 of , and . As noted in Volume One of this series, the newspaper strip (to be reprinted in the next volume of this series). the comic book and newspaper strip versions were often drawn simultaneously, Siegel was a lifelong reader of adventure comic strips (he had, after all, neither artist being aware of how the other approached the script. Three initially pitched “Superman” to newspaper syndicates), and knew how to work episodes are stories Boring drew in both the newspapers and the comics. the format’s mechanics. His recap panels seamlessly bridged the gap between A side-by-side comparison of newspaper strip and comic book dailies and were so succinct that you could easily follow the story without interpretations, both drawn by Boring, best showcases his mastery of the strip reading further. His end-of-episode preview panels expertly teased the next format. After two decades as the main Superman newspaper strip artist he had day’s thrills. He knew what his job was—to get the reader to buy tomorrow’s become adept at exploiting every inch of each panel. He drew in a detailed, newspaper. high-resolution style that paralleled VistaVision in then-contemporary movies. He established a three-dimensional world—window shades rested at staggered • • • • • heights, girders had support beams, garbage cans overflowed, beaches featured foaming, churning surf. Boring was a master of the set-up. Early in a story he The other significant decision made by Weisinger was to reunite Siegel would establish trees, ladders, hats, and other props that helped set the mood. with artist Wayne Boring. Boring was a member of the original staff assembled His stage sets seemed real—courtrooms, classrooms, and alleys all appeared to by Siegel and Joe Shuster in the late 1930s. Shuster’s eyesight was already have depth and volume. “pretty bad,” according to Paul Cassidy, who was Shuster’s first assistant. People generously populate his panels. Whereas Curt Swan often Cassidy and Boring assumed more and more responsibility, leaving the faces composed a single face dominating an entire panel, in Boring’s stories crowds for Shuster to ink himself. In 1942 DC assigned Boring the sole responsibility —even wordless bystanders—are common, with each character displaying a to pencil the dailies, inked by Stan Kaye. The pair continued until mid-1949, unique expression, direction, or height. In Jerry Siegel’s “Superman, Please when began as penciler, at first inked by Kaye and later Marry Me” Boring framed nine faces in one panel, each possessing a distinct completing the art himself. countenance. He packed fifty people into the courtroom to witness Superman’s Boring’s work on Superman broadened at this time. He became the sentencing in “The Man No Prison Could Hold” by Bill Finger. Compare primary penciler on Superman’s comic book adventures in the 1950s, and his more defined depiction of the vegetable people in “The Three Tough continued drawing the Sunday page (and was given byline credit) throughout Teenagers” to the version in the comic book. Faces became thought balloons; the 1950s and 1960s. Curt Swan penciled the dailies from 1956 until one can almost read their thoughts from their expressions. When a close-up

6 RIGHT: Covers to Superman #117 drawn by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye and Lois Lane #45 drawn by Kurt Schaffenberger featuring comic book versions of stories in this volume. was called for, a single arched eyebrow on Superman’s face spoke to the reader as clearly as any line of Siegel’s dialogue. In an era when the word “outer” usually preceded the word “space,” his scenes of the final frontier contained not only nearby recognizable planets but the nebulae of distant galaxies. Weisinger also considered Boring unequalled in stories taking place on Krypton. Boring was a fan of the medium throughout his career. He would never read a script through to the end, preferring to read and draw each panel one at a time, following as would any reader. “To read the script, knowing the answer,” he said, “would make it seem too much like work.” His fun continued into retirement. In his final years he would superimpose a new Superman drawing over the original artwork for the newspaper dailies. When Superman comic book editor Mort Weisinger brought Jerry Siegel back to DC it meant coming full circle for Superman’s co-creator —from assembling his original strips into a comic book story to transforming Superman comics into newspaper strips. The work he produced upon his return was among the finest of his career. , nameless fans who faithfully clipped, organized, and saved these strips decades who wrote the strip for most of the 1950s, said, “Jerry Siegel…improved ago. Most of the brittle, yellowed, precious clippings I collected were from considerably and remarkably as he matured.” Siegel and Boring combined local area newspapers; missing strips were often from holidays, days talent, experience, and feeling to create one of the finest examples of the off, which suggests that the fans who saved these strips were working people episodic . who bought the newspaper each morning before descending into the subway, fans who then devotedly carried the newspaper home that night, to be clipped • • • • • and saved for posterity. In some ways we can think of this series of books that will reprint every Superman newspaper strip as a gift bequeathed from fans of Reaction to Superman Silver Age Dailies Volume One can best be one era to fans of another. described as gleeful astonishment. Many lifelong Superman fans—including These stories were written at a time and for a generation that was perhaps silver-maned grandfathers who were instantly transformed into grinning more able to embrace a willing suspension of disbelief. A new generation of fanboys—thought they knew every story written about the Man of Steel fans may find the stories goofy, yet they remain an accurate reflection of a and were not aware that many years ago newspapers published alternate simpler, more innocent time—a time when men carried newspapers and versions of stories they knew from Action, Adventure, Superman, Lois Lane, newspapers carried the funnies and the funnies carried us to far away places; and Superboy comics. and Jerry Siegel, father of an icon, creator of a universe, rocketed us farther That these reprints are available to enjoy is due to the efforts of many than anyone had before.

7 CONTENTS

EPISODE 123 EPISODE 127 EPISODE 131 The Super Luck of Badge 77 The Man No Prison Could Hold Lois Lane’s Revenge on Superman Jerry Siegel and Wayne Boring Jerry Siegel and Wayne Boring Jerry Siegel and Wayne Boring Adapted from a story by Otto Binder, drawn Adapted from a story by Bill Finger, drawn Adapted from a story by Siegel, drawn by Swan and by Al Plastino in Superman #133 (November 1959). by Boring and Kaye in #248 George Klein in Lois Lane #32 (April 1962). (January 1959). EPISODE 124 EPISODE 132 Superman’s Hunt for Clark Kent EPISODE 128 When Superman Defended Jerry Siegel and Wayne Boring The Three Tough Teenagers His Arch-Enemy Adapted from a story by Binder, drawn by Wayne Jerry Siegel and Wayne Boring Jerry Siegel and Wayne Boring Boring and Stan Kaye in Superman #126 (January Adapted from a story by Siegel, drawn by Plastino Adapted from an unattributed story, drawn by Plastino 1959). in Superman #151 (February 1962). in Action Comics #292 (September 1962).

EPISODE 125 EPISODE 129 EPISODE 133 The Reporter of Steel The Day Superman Broke the Law Lois Lane's Other Life Jerry Siegel and Wayne Boring Jerry Siegel and Wayne Boring Jerry Siegel and Wayne Boring Adapted from a story by Binder, drawn by Boring Adapted from a story by Finger, drawn by Plastino Adapted from a story by Siegel, drawn by Swan and and Kaye in Action Comics #257 (October 1959). in Superman #153 (May 1962). Klein in Lois Lane #35 (August 1962).

EPISODE 126 EPISODE 130 EPISODE 134 The 20th Century Achilles The Man with the Zero Eyes The Feud Between Superman Jerry Siegel and Wayne Boring Jerry Siegel and Wayne Boring and Clark Kent Adapted from an unattributed story, drawn Adapted from a story by Edmond Hamilton, drawn Jerry Siegel and Wayne Boring by Plastino in Superman #117 (November 1957). by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye in Superman #148 Adapted from a story by Hamilton drawn by Plastino (October 1961). in Action Comics #293 (October 1962).

8 EPISODE 135 EPISODE 140 The Invisible Lois Lane The Man Who Betrayed Superman's Identity Jerry Siegel and Wayne Boring Jerry Siegel and Wayne Boring Adapted from a story by Siegel, drawn by Swan Adapted from a story by Dorfman, drawn by Swan and Klein and Klein in Lois Lane #38 (January 1963). in Action Comics #297 (February 1963).

EPISODE 136 EPISODE 141 The Man Who Hunted Superman The Sweetheart that Superman Forgot Jerry Siegel and Wayne Boring Jerry Siegel and Wayne Boring Adapted from a story “The Man Who Hunted Superboy” Adapted from a story by Siegel, drawn by Plastino in Superman by Leo Dorfman, drawn by George Papp in #165 (November 1963). #303 (December 1962). EPISODE 142 EPISODE 137 Superman, Please Marry Me Superman Goes to War Jerry Siegel and Wayne Boring Jerry Siegel and Wayne Boring Adapted from a story “The ‘Superman-Lois’ Hit Record” Adapted from a story by Hamilton, drawn by Swan and Klein by Siegel, drawn by Swan and Klein in Lois Lane #45 in Superman #161 (May 1963). (November 1963).

EPISODE 138 EPISODE 143 The Mortal Superman Dear Dr. Cupid Jerry Siegel and Wayne Boring Jerry Siegel and Wayne Boring Adapted from a story by Dorfman, drawn by Plastino in Adapted from a story by Siegel, drawn by Schaffenberger in Superman #160 (April 1963). Lois Lane #45 (November 1963).

EPISODE 139 EPISODE 144 The Trial of Superman The Great Superman Impersonation Jerry Siegel and Wayne Boring Jerry Siegel and Wayne Boring Adapted from a story by Hamilton, drawn by Plastino in Adapted from a story by Robert Bernstein, drawn by Plastino Action Comics #301 (June 1963). in Action Comics #306 (November 1963).

9

THIS PAGE: Covers penciled by Curt Swan featuring comic book versions of stories in this volume. Action Comics #248 and 257 inked by Stan Kaye, Action Comics #292, 301, and Adventure Comics #303 inked by George Klein, and Lois Lane #32 inked by John Forte.

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Episode #123 The Super Luck Of Badge 77 Strips #7071-7100

August 14-16, 1961 13 August 17-19, 1961 14 August 21-23, 1961 15 August 24-26, 1961 16 August 28-30, 1961 17 August 31 - September 2, 1961 18