The Superman Chronicles, Vol. 10 by Jerry Siegel

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The final paperback Superman Chronicles book collects Superman tales from Action Comics #53-55, Superman 18 and 19 and World's Finest #7 covering late 1942,'

It's not quite as good as its predecessors which isn't to say there aren't some good stories in it.

World's Finest #7 features a fun but somewhat cheesy "And Then There Were None" take-off with one guest after another being bumped off.

The lead off story of Superman #18, "The Conquest of a City" is a tale meant to arouse public dedication to the war effort. Nazis take over Metropolis by pretending to be concerned citizens pretending to be Nazis to simulate a take-over. There's a flaw in their plan but it's wonderfully bonkers and Superman finds it.

Superman #19 has four stories in it and each is a gem. "The Case of the Funny Paper Crimes" has newspaper comic strip characters come to life and it's up to Superman to fight them, which is surreal because at the time, Superman was a newspaper strip character (in addition to the comic books.) "Superman's Amazing Adventure" has Superman crossing dimensional lines and is the first story of many in which we're faked out into believing Lois has learned Superman's secret identity. The ending is a cop out but it's the first of many which I guess makes it a landmark copout.

"The Canine and the Crooks" finds Superman protecting a dog who's been targeted by criminals, "Superman, Matinee Idol" finds Lois and Clark going to a theater to watch the premier of the Paramount Superman cartoon shorts (which were actually in theaters at the time of release) and Clark has to get Lois out of the theater for those portions in which his secret identity is shown. This does imply that Lois is the only one who doesn't know.

The book wraps up with, "A Goof Named Tiny Rufe" about a cartoonist who is desperate for ideas and manages to find one for a new strip in a young country bumpkin couple. However, when they're about to get married, the strip is imperiled and the cartoonist tries to break them up. Saving the young lovers is a job for Superman.

Sadly is not all so good in this book. Even the Luthor tale, "The Heat Horror" in Superman #18 was disappointing compared to his previous appearance. Though at this point , Luthor was being overused. (The story was also hurt in my opinion by Lois taking over as Editor for a day, saying it was too much and asking to return to the lovelorn column.) The search for effective foes for Superman continued in this book but both The Snake (Superman #18) and the Night Owl (Action Comics #53) were disappointing so-so stories.

Also landing in the sub-par category would be the story, "The Man with a Cane" (also in Superman #18) and Jerry Siegel's attempt to write a Superman ghost/pirate story in Action Comics #54.

Still, there's more good moments than bad and when Superman is good in the 1940s, it's brilliant with fun and often surreal tales that hold up very well.




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