TALES FROM
THE COMICS CRYPT
True Stories from the History of Comics
PART ONE: THE FIRST SIX DECADES OF SUPERMAN
THE 1960s
THE 1960s
The 1960s would be an interesting
decade for Superman as his creative staff tried their best to have the
character keep up with the rapidly changing times not just in the comics
industry, but in the outside world itself. The decade would see the
end of the 10 and 12 cent comic, shrinking page counts and an ever-changing
readership. For in the 1960s there was an increasing trend towards kids
growing up reading comics into their adulthood and demanding more mature
material from their comics. Often they would not find it in Superman's
comic line and thus the editors at DC would be forced to present a different
kind of comic that they were used to producing.
1960 featured the aforementioned
Bizarro World, the son of Bizarro, increasing use of Supergirl, The Legion
of Super-Heroes, Red Kryptonite, etc. Superman remained the same but DC
was forging right ahead with its revamping of old heroes. Already Green
Lantern was being introduced in Showcase, Flash had his own
comic, and DC was about to re-introduce the super-hero team concept.
Superman was given another title as he and Batman, Wonder Woman,
Flash, Green Lantern , and Aquaman were teamed up in a tryout in Brave
and Bold--The Justice League of America. That fall Justice
League of America #1 was released and became a huge hit. Here the
super-heroes were often treated more seriously than they were in their
own comics. In Batman's titles sci-fi had permeated the series with the
proliferation of aliens, spaceships, adventures on other worlds, etc.--a
far cry from the down-to-earth nature of earlier classic Batman. And Wonder
Woman's comic resembled that of the Superman family with Wonder Tot,
Wonder Girl, and other silly concepts. But in the JLA these
three top guns were treated as maturely as the new crop of super-heroes.
And within the next few years, DC had come full circle with characters
featuring the names of old--The Atom, Hawkman, etc. At the same time the
concept of Earth 2 came into being. In the classic tale "Flash of Two Worlds"
the Flash learned of the existence of a parallel world where the heroes
of the Golden Age still existed, albeit retired. He met his Golden Age
hero and counterpart and set the stage for an annual series of crossovers
in the pages of JLA where the Justice League would cross
over the dimensional plane from Earth-1 and team-up with the older but
still active members of the Justice Society of America. Older fans were
happy to see their old favorites return, but in coming years DC would create
even more parallel universes to accommodate the crossover. By the time
of the 1980s there was Earth-1 and Earth-2, Earth-A (featuring super-villains
instead of heroes), Earth Prime (our world), Earth-S (the world of the
Captain Marvel Family) and others including one featuring the Quality Comics
super-heroes. While the concept got out of hand and became confusing for
new readers, it did provide a reason for early inconsistencies in Superman's
mythos. However, it would be years before the Superman comics would fully
acknowledge the existence of the existing Earth-2 Superman---in much the
same way as the comics once ignored the stories of the Superboy stories.
Arguably, the most memorable story of 1960 was "Superman's
Return to Krypton" that wrung out as much pathos and irony as a Superman
story could muster. Over the years as the editors increased Superman's
powers he somehow gained the ability to break through the time barrier,
although he often would learn that he could not change history. Here Superman
is mistakenly hurtled through time to Krypton before it exploded and because
of the red sun & lighter gravity is stranded. However, Superman takes
the name Kal-El (apparently El was a common surname on the planet)
and proceeds to involve himself in the lives of his parents . He becomes
friends with them and aids Jor-El in building a fleet of space arks to
escape Krypton's impending doom. Kal also meets a well-known actress Lyla
Lerrol (again with the initials L.L.) and the two fall madly in love. Not
realizing the time paradox that might be created, Superman continues to
help Jor-El. However, fate intervenes in the form of Brainiac who arrives
and keeps his date with history---shrinking and capturing the capital city
of Kandor, where the space arks were being built. Superman is now resigned
to the fact that history cannot be changed and he and Krypton are doomed.
Soon after, Kal-El is on the set of Lyla's latest "sci-fi" film and is
trapped aboard a prop rocket when it is ignited by the flames from a Kryptonian
monster. The ship not only hurtles out of Krypton's atmosphere but takes
Superman back through time. Knowing he cannot go back, Superman learns
his lesson again that history cannot be changed.
1961 was another milestone year that started as Superman's life
story told yet again but with a few new wrinkles in the pages of
Superman
#146. 1961 might have been remembered as the year that comics went
to 12 cents. Or it may have been known as the year the adult Legion of
Super-Heroes met up with the Legion of Super-Villains in
Superman
#147. Or it may have been remembered as the year of the debut
of the Phantom Zone. Created by Superman's real father, Jor-El, Krypton
used this timeless dimension to dispose of their criminals. Here some of
the scum of Krypton dwelled as phantoms waiting for their sentences to
run out. Ironically this "prison" also protected them as they escaped
their planet's destruction. However, now they were trapped and Superman
acted as a kind of warden to this weird prison, angering the criminals
inside for years. Through various plot devices the criminals would escape
and combine their mental powers to dupe others into letting them out. But
Superman would always win in the end and the criminals were always sent
back. Even more likely, 1961 would have been memorable for what many consider
to be one of the best "imaginary tales"--"The Death of Superman" in Superman
#149. Here, Luthor manages to dupe Superman and the world into
believing he's reformed by discovering a cure for cancer. Luthor
is declared a hero, given a pardon and his own space laboratory, built
by Superman. Shortly thereafter, Luthor shows his true colors by luring
Superman to the lab and bombarding him with Kryptonite radiation.
Witnessing this tortuous death are Lois, Jimmy & Perry White, kidnapped
by Luthor and forced to watch their friend's demise. Superman dies and
an elaborate funeral follows, eerily foreshadowing the real-life funeral
the United States would conduct for President Kennedy. DC wrung out tears
galore as all of Superman's friends & lovers wept openly as they proceeded
past the casket and gave tribute. Following this, the underworld
celebrates with Luthor as the gloating ringmaster. However, Supergirl reveals
her existence and brings Luthor to trial in the bottle city of Kandor.
Unrepentant to the end, Luthor is sentenced for all eternity into the Phantom
Zone. The story ends on a bittersweet note as Supergirl reluctantly becomes
Earth's champion, flying past the ghostly image of Superman in the clouds.
But the same month that this issue came out the Marvel Age began,
as Stan Lee & Jack Kirby debuted Fantastic Four #1. For
the next two years Marvel Comics took the world by storm with the debuts
of Spider-Man, Hulk, Avengers, and the X-Men as well the return of
Captain America. This mini-revolution in comics must surely have taken
DC by surprise and for the next few years they were very slow to act and
seemed to ignore how important the Marvel Age was becoming. On the
surface, these Marvel characters just seemed like any others, but readers
were quick to find out that they had problems, fought with one another,
and in short, were written as human beings. This high level of characterization
was what made people flock to Marvel Comics and why they were beginning
to get the lion's share of the rapidly maturing comics readership. And
as the sixties went on the "House of Ideas" added even more to their stable
of characters and comics. This was a success story that ranked almost as
highly as that of the creation of Superman. Still, it would take DC a few
more years to try and catch up to Marvel's overall level of quality. However,
by that time the tide was already turning in Marvel's favor and by the
1970s Marvel would be #1.
This is not to say that DC was
not producing good Superman comics in the early 1960s. Of course there
were plenty of silly covers and story ideas abounding, especially as Lois
Lane & Jimmy Olsen both seemed to face odd transformations in each
of their titles. Jimmy alone at various times turned into a human porcupine,
a corpulent Jimmy, giant Turtle, wolf-boy, etc. In fact, one transformation
even gained him honorary membership in the Legion---Elastic Lad. Pre-dating
both Elongated Man & Mr. Fantastic, Jimmy accidentally drank a secret
formula created by eccentric Professor Potter and became a stretchable
super-hero. On several occasions, Jimmy used his power to foil some criminal
scheme, and use this artificial power several times all the way through
the 1960s. Lois's transformations mimicked Jimmy's, although a favorite
writer's trick was to give her Superman-like powers and enhance her chances
at marrying Superman. The various types of Kryptonite had grown and it
seemed that all manner of Kryptonian artifacts were making their way to
Earth. Superman himself seemed to have all sorts of "super" traits--super-hypnosis,
super-intelligence and super-memory recall. This latter "power" came in
handy as many of the untold tales from Kal-El's early life as an infant
on Krypton came from Superman himself. And when Superman needed help or
was away on a "mission" he could rely on the Superman Emergency Squad or
his own self-created group of Superman robots. And there were also other
super-beings---Comet the Super-Horse, Beppo the Super-Monkey and
Streaky the Super-Cat who would join up with Krypto as members of
the Legion of Super-Pets. In spite of silly ideas like this, Mort Weisinger
still firmly believed that the kinds of comics DC was producing were still
the type that kids liked, not realizing that older readers were going elsewhere.
However, there were still significant developments in the Superman saga.
1962 alone as full of milestones: the sad and untold story of the deaths
of Ma & Pa Kent; the Legion got its own slot in Adventure, thus
the title remained in the hands of another part of the "Superman Family";
and the biggest "Superman Family" event was Supergirl finally getting her
existence revealed to the world. In a lengthy multi-part saga that actually
began in 1961, Supergirl went through a number of challenges before the
event took place. But in Action Comics #285, Supergirl
got her wish and became an instant celebrity (albeit in the confines of
the DC Universe). It would be a number of years before she got her own
title and she would remain an important part of the Superman mythos for
years to come.
In 1963 DC published
what might be considered the ultimate "imaginary tale" ---"The Amazing
Story of Superman-Red & Superman-Blue" in Superman #162--
an upbeat, almost utopian tale in sharp contrast to the more melancholy
tone of the "Death of Superman" saga from a few years back. In this tale
Superman makes out a laundry list of Earth's many problems and is determined
to solve them once and for all. He uses a weird apparatus made up of all
the different types of Kryptonite in order to increase his brain-power.
It works but with a startling side effect--Superman is split into two,
one wearing all red the other wearing all blue. With two heroes on the
job they cure all the world's diseases and ills, including crime. This
latter problem is solved by an orbiting satellite that removes evil thoughts
from Earthlings--a kind of traveling lobotomy. Even the Phantom Zone villains
are affected and released. Kryptonite is destroyed by an elaborate
process where the the two Superman and the rest of their super-powered
friends reverse the process of the explosion of Krypton and all the radioactive
fragments reform the mighty planet. There Kandor is enlarged and Supergirl
goes to live. With the major work done each of the Superman decide
to get married---Superman-Red marries Lois, while Superman-Blue marries
Lana.
The first couple then goes to live on New Krypton, the second stays
on Earth and both raise families. The only thing left to ponder is which
couple is the happiest. Like the "death of" story, this comic was full
of guest stars and blessed with perfect art. At this time premiere penciller
Curt Swan was being inked by George Klein, a collaboration which many still
consider as one of the best in the history of Superman art. Their clean,
pristine style easily reflected the style of Superman stories being published
at the time and would serve as a standard for future artist teams to follow.
In fact it was difficult for DC to find a replacement for Klein when he
left in '68 for Marvel, and it would take them several tries to find the
right inker for Swan's style.
For the next few years there
were attempts at adding an element of continuity to the Superman titles.
Luthor actually became a hero on a faraway planet after saving their civilization.
The citizens even viewed Superman as their enemy. Later, Luthor gained
a wife, Ardora and a son. Brainiac was revealed to be a "living computer"
and there were more attempts at multi-issue stories, a trend which had
contributed greatly to Marvel's success. There was even a new villain created,
Parasite, who was so powerful that he almost beat Superman. And herein
became DC's main problem with Superman. He was so powerful that he
could move planets, blow out suns, travel through time & space with
great ease, and never break a sweat. He was losing reader identification
rather quickly. Even so, in 1966, DC Comics got a little help from an outside
source---television, the media which at one time in the 1950s had given
Superman exposure. This time it was Batman who got the shot in the arm
and the rest of DC would benefit from it.
In the late 1950s Batman's line of comics
had taken an odd turn with the injection of science fiction themes. Batman
was facing aliens, adventures on other planets, and was hardly recognizable
as the original Dark Knight from his heyday. There were even elements of
"imaginary tales"--fictional accounts by Alfred of Batman's life in the
future. Batman's famed Rogue's Gallery was barely in evidence save for
the Joker, Cat-Man, and a new addition---Clayface. In 1964 Julius Schwartz
came on board and revamped the character. With artist Carmine Infantino,
Schwartz redesigned Batman's look. Gone was the huge square-jawed
smiling Batman, replaced with a more human countenance and a more natural
overall anatomy. A yellow circle enclosed his chest's Bat-emblem, his Batmobile
was modernized and more (see Batman--A Retrospective coming
soon). The result of the changes was that Batman regained some of his lost
popularity and the best was yet to come.
In 1965 20th Century Fox started production
on a Batman TV Show and introductory feature film. By January 1966, the
twice weekly show was airing on ABC-TV and quickly became a ratings smash.
At the time, one of the trends of pop culture was "camp"---outrageous send-ups
of just about anything. And the new Batman show followed the same trend---silly
cliffhangers, hammy acting, weird camera angles and a proliferation of
costumed baddies. The result of this was an injection of some of these
elements into the Batman comics and into DC. The villains were back in
vogue, Robin was using his TV counterpart's "Holy....!" epithets, the Bat-Signal
was back, etc. DC's covers now were adorned "go-go checks", Batman was
a frequent guest star in various titles, and soon the country and DC was
"Bat-mad". Super-hero comics also got more attention by TV, which created
two new series, Captain Nice and Mister Terrific,
to capitalize on the trend. Superman benefited from this as well. In the
fall of '66 Filmation Studios began airing its New Adventures of
Superman cartoon on CBS Saturday mornings and Broadway saw the
debut of the campy musical. It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman!
The
cartoon however was fairly straightforward, avoided the camp aspects and
lasted for a few more seasons. Back as the voice of Superman was the radio
actor Bud Collyer, who had perfected a Clark/Superman dichotomy. The relationship
between Superman and Lois was a bit formal--like the 50s TV show---but
animation did allow for more interesting visual effects. Another addition
were installments of the adventures of Superboy, complete with Ma &
Pa Kent, Lana Lang. etc. The success of the show lead Filmation to produce
cartoons with Aquaman, Flash, the JLA, etc.
Camp was a trend that quickly lost its
appeal and the Batman show saw a ratings nosedive. By 1968 the show was
gone, in spite of the introduction of Batgirl (who had also made her debut
in comics). DC sought to move away from the TV show's influence, but a
backlash against Batman's comics was underway. Soon the go-go checks were
gone and DC tried to get back to serious storytelling.
As early as 1967 DC had hired new talent
to help their line. On board were Steve Skeates, Jim Aparo, Steve Ditko,
Denny O'Neil, Dick Giordano, and Neal Adams. Adams would perhaps be the
biggest influence on the comics of the era. His super-realistic layouts
and dynamic style took DC by storm. Soon he was doing the majority of the
company's covers--including those of Superman's titles. For the next few
years DC tried to establish itself as a competitive force. The editors
did not actively try and copy Marvel's style, but rather offer an alternative--DC
felt it had stronger characters and wanted to make the best use of them.
But DC also had realized comic readers of the time were demanding more
characterization, serious plots, and better continuity----all Marvel staples.
For the next few years DC tried harder.
Starting in 1967 the relationship between
Lois and Superman finally started to mature. It was decided that Lois'
look was hopelessly obsolete so she got a new hairdo and dropped the "pillbox
hat" look that she had worn for years. And in Lois Lane ,Lois
got fed up with Superman and left Metropolis to start a new life which
included a new job, new wardrobe, and a new beau. But Superman and Lois
are thrown together and by story's end Lois has learned (via a scientific
experiment which temporarily gives her ESP) that Superman indeed loves
her and truly cannot show it for fear enemies might harm her---one of Supes'
frequently used excuses. Afterwards the comic treated the Superman/Lois
relationship more seriously although it hardly came up to today's level
of maturity. However, the Superman titles lacked consistent continuity
and many times the steps forward DC made were either forgotten about or
glossed over. One story had Clark fake his on death and take on a new secret
ID in order to charm Lois. However, Lois spent her time mourning Clark
and regretting her previous treatment of him. When Clark returned Lois
was ecstatic and Superman decided that maybe he should make Clark more
dynamic, including a new more "hip" wardrobe. But not much was done with
this idea and although Clark wasn't always dressed in his blue suit, he
and Lois remained close friends.
In 1968 Superman celebrated his 30th anniversary,
but the big changes were going on all around him. Neal Adams, first in
Brave
& Bold, later in the other Batman titles, presented a darker
more mysterious Dark Knight, closer in style to his early incarnation.
This style became the standard for Batman that is still in practice today.
Wonder Woman, in an even bolder change, lost her powers and became a pants-suited
adventurer with a blind Asian mentor I-Ching. Even characters like Aquaman
and Green Lantern were involved in more dramatic human interest tales.
Superman's changes were more subtle, such as a new inker for Curt Swan
in the person of Jack Abel and new artists for Lois Lane and
the Supergirl strip in Action.
By 1969 DC was beginning to distinguish itself from
Marvel by presenting stories & comic books that were more "relevant"--that
is, stories that used topics prevalent in the turbulent times of the '60s:
race relations, drug abuse, the youth culture, war protests, etc. DC made
the controversial move of using these various hot-button issues as plot
ideas for their comics. This period of "relevance" would last a few years
and succeeded at giving DC some needed public attention and media publicity.
In comics like Hawk & Dove, the teen-aged protagonists
were youthful rebels, the sons of a prominent judge and on opposite ends
of the political spectrum. Later in the year Green Arrow's alter ego Oliver
Queen lost his fortune, grew a goatee, changed his costume, and became
a super-hero who would address many of the issues of the day. About the
most relevant story Superman was involved in was "Superman' Greatest Blunder".
Here, alien robot sentinels come to Earth and try to do what Superman-Red
& Superman-Blue attempted in the previous imaginary tale--create an
Earth utopia. But Superman remains suspicious to the end when he becomes
obsolete and destroys the sentinels. Only after he has destroyed the last
one does Superman realize his mistake and is unable to stop a fatal plane
crash. Again, while most of the changes were going on at DC, Superman was
out of the loop. However, a new decade would finally see the changes fans
seemed to be clamoring for. The 1970s would see a restoration of the Superman
mythos that would eventually culminate in a multi-million dollar motion
picture.
1960s MILESTONES:
Superman #141 : Superman's time trip
to Krypton; meets his parents
Superman # 158 : Superman & Jimmy become Nightwing
& Flamebird
Action Comics #340 origin & 1st appearance of Parasite
World's Finest # 142: First appearance of Composite
Superman
Superman #161 First full story of death of Ma & Pa
Kent
Superman # 199: Superman's first race with the Flash
SHORT HISTORY OF ADVENTURE COMICS
THE UNCANNY HISTORY OF MARVEL'S MUTANT EMPIRE
And Coming Soon....
JUST IMAGINE...
The History of DC's Alternate Reality Fables
From Imaginary Tales to Elseworlds
All Text © Copyright 1998 Antony Edwards
