Time to Pay the Bills!

Yes, after Superman fixes London Bridge's imminent downfall and flies away, we now pause for this brief message from a sponsor, Trix.

Is it an artist's mistake that the groceryman's clamp goes "CLANK!" around The Rabbit's neck, but in the next panel it's around The Rabbit's ears? That clamp looks a lot less like a choking hazard when it's around the ears.

The bottom quarter of the page is taken up by one of DC's recurring text boxes of background info. Who wrote these? My first bet would be E Nelson Bridwell, DC's resident brain trust when it came to Super-Lore. Of course, perhaps I'm saying that because ol' ENB was from Oklahoma City!

The art for this text piece is by Wayne Boring, proof again that Boring's art could be more cartoonish than Curt Swan's.

And, don't forget that here again we have the CORRECT pronunciation of Mxyzptlk. Not a "Spit-lick" to be found, unlike some mispronunciations I've heard on TV.

At Least He Didn't Say "Ashes, All Fall Down"!

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Next, Superman flies to England and again shoots his mouth off. It is a great and charming touch that the Man of Steel finds the time to play kiddie games with some little ones.

Still, it looks as if once again Supes didn't watch his Ps and Qs. We should be happy that he didn't sing about a dish running away with a spoon, or Tolkien's poem, "The Man in the Moon Came Down Too Soon"!
But what is he going to do? He keeps forgetting about "The Curse of Magic" and, with a mere slip of the tongue, creating a mishap that only quick Super-Action can fix.
Boy, wait until Superman catches that Mr Mxyzptlk, he's going to give him such a pinch!

That Rascally Rabbit! -- umm, Imp!

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Aha! Now we know why and how Clark Kent was walking on air (unintentionally that is). It was that demented goofball from the Land of Zrfff in the 5th Dimension, Mr Mxyzptlk! Doesn't it do your heart good to see somebody who really enjoys his work? NOT!

Once again, notice how Curt Swan's art enlivens this story. Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel, who wrote this story's script, probably did not specify HOW Mxyzptlk would look when he popped in on Superman in the first panel of this page. No, it was probably Sir Swan who decided that Mxy would fly out doin' the ole flappy-ears schtick.

OK, so now Supes has "The Curse of Magic," and since the Imp is who he is, Superman can't use that power intentionally. He can't simply decree, "Forest fire die away," or, "Bank robbers walk to the police station and surrender." No, it only works when Superman makes an unintentional, off-the-cuff remark.

And somehow, when Mxyzptlk voluntarily says his name backwards and is yanked home to the Fifth Dimension, his magical curse remains.


Like, "I'm as hungry as a horse!" Ummm, oopsie. The story doesn't tell us what Superman did with the horse. Maybe put him to pasture on the dark side of the moon ...


We leave the Man of Steel in the final panel once again zooming around the world "on patrol," and wondering what in tarnation he's going to do.


Tune in next time to see if Supereman can figure out a way around dem ol' vocalizin' blues!

Chief Parker Reminisces!

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After fixing that ol' Double-L sign for the Shakespeare Festival, Superman as Clark Kent reports to work at the Daily Planet, to find he's been assigned to ... investigate himself!

Actually, it's more of an "untold story" kind of assignment. Perry White figures there's a market for a series of reminiscences about Superboy from Smallville residents. So, it's off to Smallville for Lois & Clark, to interview first retired Chief of Police Parker, and then the current residents of Lex Luthor's boyhood home.

All of this is prelude to an excuse for CK to win an award and become so happy he's "walking on air" -- oops! for real! Yes, suddenly Kent is airborne, accidentally! Only his quick action in whipping up a mini-tornado with his super-breath gives him an excuse for that inconvenient levitation.

What next!?! What's behind this? Stay tuned.

Inter alia ... Please pause to enjoy the fine Curt Swan art. Chief Parker looks just as Swan portrays him in Superboy, only even more codgerish. And the folks living in Luthor's old home are great examples of Curt Swan's talents for portraying everyday, salt-of-the-Earth types. The guy's in his everyday suspenders, and the Mrs. looks pleased as punch that they're getting attention from these big-city reporters.

And Lois never looked more lovely! In the first panel, her curves -- va-va-voom! And in the next-to-last panel, as the cocks one eyebrow and looks over her shoulder towards Clark -- this is one smart gal who knows something's a little wonky with this guy.

See you again soon!

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Well, I had to type that Photobucket link by hand, so I hope it's right!

Today, in our page-by-page survey of Superman 171, we begin the second of its three stories. According to the Comic-Book Database, Jerry Siegel wrote it. As you can tell by the masterful lines, Curt Swan provided the art. What a team!

Here we have the beginning of "The Curse of Magic," with the splash panel providing a pretty good clue what's going on.

In a pretty similar fashion to those extraterrestrial creeps from the first story, ol' Mxyzptlk just swoops in with his own agenda, and damned be the consequences.

Our story begins with Superman swooping by to perform a small service for a theatre owner whose sign was damaged in a wind storm. Hmmm, the two "L"s in "William" were dislodged. What a strange twist of fate!

This provides Superman with the chance to ruminate on that weird ol' double-L confluence that he notices so much.

Next time, we'll get into the meat of the tale, with a visit from a little ol' sociopath from the 5th Dimension!

The Wonder Toy of the Twentieth Century!

No, it's not a PC or a Corvette, it's Silly Putty!

Now, while you or I may not be able to break a part and reassemble, or bounce high when thrown, I bet Proty, Chameleon Boy's pet, could!

PS 1st post on the new computer. Anybody know why it will not let me paste thePhotobucket link to the image, as in the past? Remember, on previous posts I had the Photobucket link directly below the image.

Sound Advice from Bullwinkle!

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The next page in our survey of good ol' everyday Superman 171 is a full-page ad for Cheerios, starring our good friends, Rocky the Flying Squirrel and Bullwinkle J Moose.

Our pal Bullwinkle is as usual a little prone to running off faster than prudence would allow. But he's just so darn energied-up by the goodness of Cheerios and milk that he just can't contain himself!

Which leads to the inevitable denouement: If you're gonna be full of pep, vim, and vigah, then you should watch where you're going!

Notice there's none of this "part of a complete breakfast" crap. You can eat only Cheerios, or Cheerios and milk. This is America. You can eat the empty box if you want to!

Another shameful difference between then, and today's nanny state.

Workin' on a Groovy Thing

Well, I hope so! Our page-by-page survey of Superman 171 has been paused by many things. Right now, I'm in the midst of a switchover from Windows XP to Windows 7, and a different computer that has multi-generations of RAM improvements. So while I learn one and clean out the other, please bear with me.

This little jewel came into the Thrift Store a couple of weeks ago. In my online searches for what the heck it's called, I came across the term "hand-drum." As you can imagine, you hold the stick and with your fingers spin the thing rapidly in opposite directions. Centrifugal force pulls the little balls out and when you reverse direction on the spin, the balls strike the membrane, hends the term "drum." This Super hand-drum was made in Eduador, as declared by its sticker. Wow, our hero is known around the world, eh!?!

Hope to scan and share more from Superman 171 soon!

So Ends the First Story in This Issue

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The last panels of the story answer the burning question I mentioned in our last post. If Rokk and Sorban mentally erased memories of Superman's "kill somebody" dilemma including his murder of Clark Kent -- how would the world account for that missing time?

Actually, Superman just says, "Don't worry, folks. Everything is fine" when Professor Potter notices his Personal Petrifier has been tampered with.

And, strangely, Superman just lets the two aliens gallivant away into space to torture some other hapless planet full of people.

Now, if I were Superman, I just might wait until those two clowns were near an uninhabited but livable planet, and "accidentally" use long-distance heat vision to make them crash and maroon them there.

Vindictive little tyke, ain't I?!?

At the bottom of the page is an ad for Tootsie Rolls. You know, in TV versions you could actually sing this as a jingle:

Long time, long time!

Chewy chewey Tootsie Roll last a long time, long time, long time ....

Mmm-mmm!

And this was only the first story in our page-by-page sharing of Superman 171, an at-random selection of how cool comic books were in the Silver Age of American childhood.

Don't Look Deep into Sorban's Eyes!

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Actually, it doesn't matter if you do or don't. He'll make you forget ... forget ... FORGET !

To take Sorban at his word, he is selectively deleting ONLY Earth peoples' memories of his and Rokk's coming to Earth and their visit's effect on Superman -- including the murder of Clark Kent.

Hmmm -- so, a news reporter would have hours or days of missing memories, while somebody out camping somewhere for the whole time would not have any holes in their memories?

That's probably reading a little too deep into a kids' story.

Well, it looks like things are winding down satisfactorily. We'll read the denouement of this story next time, as we march page-by-page through Superman 171.

Wuxtry! Wuxtry! Superman Snuffs Clark Kent!

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OK -- to satisfy those amoral aliens' decree that he kill someone or they will destroy Earth, Superman has tried to kill himself with Kryptonite; his friends have tried to kill themselves for him; and now Superman's Clark Kent persona has been sacrificed, in front a a worldwide TV audience.

Will that satisfy the outworlders?

Evidently so, even though we also discover that they knew Superman was Kent all along.

The whole thing was a bet between Sorban and Rokk over a lucky Prothey Tail, whatever that is. The bet was whether or not they could force Superman to kill somebody, thus breaking the Superman Code. Yes, these evil psychos caused all this grief and emotional torture for Superman and company over for a wager over a good-luck charm!

Not only that, but Sorban, the winner, is victorious because he bet that Superman wouldn't commit murder.

Over such a silly, worthless thing, Superman's Clark Kent disguise is now history.

What next? Stay tuned ...

Superman, the Hypocritical Heel!

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After sprinkling fairy dust -- oops, I mean cactus juice -- over Lana Lang and rescuing her from the fatal crystalline effects of Professor Potter's flawed suspended-animation device, Superman is running out of options, and time.

The Earth only has a few hours left before the mind powers of the evil aliens Sorban and Rokk crush it into cosmic dust.

The only way to stop that outcome, they've told Supes, is if he -- the defender of life on Earth -- if he kills somebody!

Well, he's tired of endangering the lives of his friends, and risking the lives of all Earth's people, by dithering around. There's one option left.

Thus it is that the world soon sees Clark Kent chained to a petal pole at Ground Zero of an A-Bomb test. Moreover, the automated cameras are wired for sound, and pick up Kent's howls that it was Superman who chained him there!

The last panel of this page from Superman 171 depicts an awed TV audience seeing Kent swallowed up in the explosion.

Now, you and I, dear reader, know that CK is really Superman. But what will the aliens do next? Has this ruse satisfied their dictate?

See you soon for the answer!

A Baptism Into the Andes Cactus Church?

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When last we left Superman, Sorban and Rokk had thwarted his attempts to kill himself to fulfill their demands that he slay somebody -- anybody -- on Earth, or else they willblow up our world. When Superman tells his Planet pals about the evil edict, Lois gets the idea to sacrifice herself by using a new suspended-animation invention of Professor Potter's.

As you can see in today's page from Superman 171, Lois is too late! Lana had beat Lois to the punch as sacrificial lamb -- only to be expected, perhaps, since Professor Potter is, after all, Lana's uncle.

And, as with many of Potter's inventions, this one has a slight problem -- instead of slipping you into a short century-long nap, it instead turns you into a very-dead crystalline statue of yourself. Professor Potter's Perfectly Petrifying Panjandrum!

Of course, both Lana and Lois knew that the device was a one-way ticket to eternity -- how else could they fulfill the aliens' death wish?

However, Superman's super-vision reads through Potter's notes to discover the antidote to crystallization, a certain rare Andes cactus. Just look at Superman squeeze that cactus!

And look at Superman baptize Lana with cactus juice. Well, he has saved her -- but still needs to produce one dead body or Rokk and Sorban will blow up Earth! What next!?!

Stay tuned!

Superman Comes to His Senses -- But Now What?

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Superman comes to his senses just before strangling Rokk the alien. After all, the guy and his friend Sorban DID tell him to kill somebody!

Only when Superman's Code comes back to his mind that the Man of Tomorrow -- reluctantly -- lets loose of Rokk's scrawny neck.

Even Superman's super-brain is temporarily stymied. He's got to have some time to rethink things -- time which the aliens will scarcely grant.

Still, he returns to the Planet and tells his friends his predicament. They obligingly destroy the farewell letters he'd left for them that morning.

Jimmy Olsen, living up to his press as "Superman's Pal," volunteers to die to save Earth. The Man of Steel immediately demurs, but the proposal sparks an idea in Lois's little bean.

What will Superman's Girl Friend do? Stay Tuned!

PS -- our next post will be next week. My dear Mom's funeral is Thursday. After several years of missing Dad, she finally got to go home to be with Charles. And the Lord!

In the midst of life, we are in death. Are you ready? Sinner, do you know my Jesus?

We'll talk after the weekend!

Kill Somebody? Why, Sure!

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Those psychopathic aliens, Sorban and Rokk, have demanded that Superman kill somebody, or they will destroy all of Earth.


So, Superman reasons, his own death should satisfy these offworld creeps! After leaving farewell notes at the Daily Planet for his friends, he flies to a desert area where a huge cache of Green Kryptonite lies buried.


The noble Man of Steel burrows into the pile of deadly ore, taking comfort in the thought that at least he is saving all the inhabitants of his adopted world in this way.


But, wait! what's this! Superman's honorable solution to the aliens' dilemma is ruined. Not only can their mental powers destroy faraway worlds at a glance, they can also ... transmute Kryptonite! Superman can't even kill himself!

This is the last straw for Superman. These giggling, evil idiots have put him through the emotional wringer for long enough. Kill somebody?!?


Why not start with THEM!

A Mind-Blowing Threat!

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(Those alien demons Rokk and Sorban have ordered Superman to kill somebody -- anybody -- on Earth.

Nertz to you, says Superman. You can't make me!

Oh, yeah? reply the cosmic bullies...)

They tell Superman to watch with his Super-vision, as they use a mental blitz to wipe out a couple of planets on demand, demonstrating the brain power of their ancient race.

OK, OK, the Man of Steel now believes them. What to do? He can't just kill somebody to please these fiends!

Wait a minute ... they didn't say WHO had to die. The noble hero will sacrifice HIMSELF. It's the only way out!

With this sad decision made, Superman writes farewell notes to his Planet pals, and heads to the newsroom to leave on their desks.

What's next in this page-by-page explication of Superman 171? Stay tuned and see!

The Aliens' Condundrum!

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Now, Superman steps in to answer the military's alert about the alien ship that's zoomed into Earth orbit.

What the heck!?!? as Cecil the Sea-Sick Sea Serpent used to say. These creepy, bug-eyed aliens have come from wherever-land for him? One's named Rokk, and the other Sorban. Sounds like a law firm.

But these clowns don't want to play around. They simply order Superman to kill somebody on Earth. They don't care who, and they won't say why. They seem to know all about him, too, putting up pictures of the Daily Planet staff on their viewscreen.

Of course, the Man of Steel refuses. Kill somebody? That's exactly what the Superman Code prohibits. Superman does not kill. And they can't make him!

Or can they? Tune in tomorrow for the next page of Superman 171, and see how these alien creeps intend to make sure that Supes does indeed snuff an Earthling.

Superman's Sacrifice!

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With art by Al Plastino, the first story in Superman 171 is called "Superman's Sacrifice!"

In the splash section of the page, we see a couple of creepy aliens threatening to destroy the Earth unless Superman selects somebody to die.

Do you suppose these alien guys were influenced by the 1962 Topps cards Mars Attacks! ? I think it's possible.

As the story opens, Earth defences notice a rocketship-type spacecraft on its way towards Earth. Shades of ST:TMP and Vejur 25 years later, Earth tries linguacode messages on all frequencies, to no avail.

So they try sending up interceptor rockets, but the craft has a forcefield around it that rebuffs all attempts to bring it down.

Last resort: send for Superman or Supergirl!

Say -- don't you think it's kinda keen that we poor Earthlings at least TRIED to solve the problem ourselves, before asking for help?

Finally for today ... read the "fine print" at the bottom of the page. This is the obligatory copyright notice, etc, found on the first page of all comics. We find that Superman is published monthly, except for March, June, September, and December. Mort Weisinger is the Editor. Subscription price is given, and the standard disclaimer about the contents being fiction and not intended to resemble anybody living or dead.

Printed in U.S.A.

A Public Service Tip

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The inside front cover of Superman 171 featured this public service announcement, "Rx Against Accidents!"

These were several of these one-page features. I remember one had a panel debunking the "put a steak on a black eye" myth. Another had a gal (Miss Teen USA perhaps?) explaining how smoking doesn't make a guy look tough, just stinky & dumb.

"Hey!" exclaim the would-be cool cats. "If a kitten like Miss Teen USA doesn't like cigarettes, who needs 'em!"

This particular page simply presents the case for thinking first before doing something risky. The slight storyline ends with the kid who learned the lesson passing it on to others as if it were his own.

Wow -- the idea that actions can have unforeseen consequences. What a concept! Of course, it's been a while since I've heard someone use the term "fellers."

Tomorrow ... the first page of "Superman's Sacrifice"!

Welcome to a Dynamite Concept!

You know, when I was growing up as a kid, in the mid 1960s, hundreds of comic book titles were being published by Marvel, Dell, Golden, Archie, Disney, and DC.






Every month (bi-monthly in some cases) a complete issue of several stories, ads, and letter columns would appear, as if by magic, to gravitate into the sweaty mitts of any kid with 12 cents.





Pretty much at random, I have selected Superman 171, cover-dated August 1964, for a little experiment.





Over the next week or two we will look at EVERY PAGE of this comic in sequence, from cover to cover, with my observations thrown in. When we're done, perhaps we all will have a little more appreciation for what an undertaking such an everyday thing as a comic book was in the 1960s.





And, in my opinion, how much the poorer we are today, in not having such common treasures kicking around as part of our children's lives.



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Well, on this cover we have a fistfight portrayed by the great Curt Swan. Did you know that Curt was a boxer in his youth? You can tell it here in the way Superman has his hands held up in the "put-'em-up" position, while that caveman lays into him with a mean right cross.
Everybody but Supes is smiling.
Those big domes in the background are supposed to be tipis or some such. But look how huge they are! They must be ten feet tall or higher. There must be some big critters on this planet.
For anybody who didn't know about the effects of a red sun's rays on a Kryptonian, the thought balloon lays it out for us. Superman doesn't have any powers here, and so he's getting his teeth handed to him.
Note the postage-stamp-shaped box in the top right-hand corner, which announces that this issue was approved by the Comics Code Authority. Do you think that the CCA is behind Superman's missing nipples and lack of chest hair?
Tomorrow, we'll dive into this stack of everyday miracle called Superman 171.