Showcase Presents Superman Vol. 2

Showcase Presents Superman Vol. 2

First Published: June 2006

Contents: Superman stories from Action Comics #258 (November 1959) to #275 (April 1961), Superman #134 (January 1960) to #145 (May 1961)

Key Creator Credits: Otto Binder, Jerry Coleman, Al Pastino, Wayne Boring, Curt Swan, Jerry Siegel

Key First Appearances: Bizarro-Lois Lane, Ronal

Story Continues from: Showcase Presents Superman Vol. 1

Story Continues In: Showcase Presents Superman Vol. 3

Overview: As Superman entered the 1960s, the stories found in Action Comics and Superman grew larger than life to match the spirit of the new decade. Superman’s Rogues Gallery – including Lex Luthor, Bizarro, and Mr. Mxyptlk – made more frequent appearances between the two titles. Thankfully, Superman’s friends and family stand by his side to help protect truth, justice, and the American way.

Other traditional stories are revisited in this volume, such as Lois Lane trying to discover Superman’s identity; or Superman finding some way to revisit Krypton, either by traveling back through time or from video archives. And on those occasions when Superman and Clark Kent must be seen together, Batman or the Superman Robots step up to assume one of the identities.

Why should these stories be Showcased?: If you are a Superman fan, by all means pick up this volume. The problem I have with these stories is that they are one-and-done stories. The Superman that appears in Action Comics #258 from late 1959 is no different than the Superman that appears in #275 from mid 1961. Nothing is done to advance the title character’s storyline. You could pick this up and read them in any order, so a reader could skip around and focus on the stories or villains that most interest you.

Pocketful of Kryptonite: In Superman #140, a new shade of Kryptonite was introduced. Thankfully for Superman, Blue Kryptonite is perfectly harmless to Kryptonians, but Bizarro and the other citizens of Bizarro World find its rays painful. Throughout the Silver Age of comics, many other variations of Kryptonite were introduced, each with it’s own unique impacts:

• Green Kryptonite is lethal to Superman, which weakens and drains his powers until it kills him.
• Red Kryptonite will cause some kind of short-term change in Superman, like giving him a third eye on his head, and it fades away within 24 hours.
• Gold Kryptonite will permanently remove Superman’s powers.
• White Kryptonite will kill all plant life, regardless if the plants are from Krypton or Earth.
• Other shades of Kryptonite have been introduced in other media, such as the Smallville TV show or other comics. That would include Black, Silver, Pink, Orange, Gemstone, and Periwinkle, to name a few.

Footnotes: The “Mighty Maid” story from Action Comics #260; the “Old Man of Metropolis” story from Action Comics #270; the “Untold Story of Red Kryptonite” story fromSuperman #139; Superman #140; and the “Orphans of Space!” story from Superman#144 are also reprinted in Showcase Presents Supergirl Vol. 1.

If you like this volume, try: Superman: Tales of the Bizarro World trade paperback. This volume collected Bizzarro World stories that originally appeared in Adventure Comics in the early 1960s. As of this writing, these stories have not been collected in any Showcase Presents volume. The Bizarro World stories are a different take, where everything is backwards compared to our world.