Superman in the Sixties by Jerry Siegel

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is the third Superman decade collection and it may or may not be the best, but its the most fun. It begins with a great introduction from Comic Book superstar Mark Waid who clearly has a fond love of this era.

Then were off to the stories and I honestly was surprised by how poignant the first few stories in the book were. "The Last Days of Ma and Pa Kent" was a tragic tale of how a time traveling trip led to his parents' death. The second story, "Superman's Return to Krypton" featured the man of steel travelling back in time and ending up stranded on the doomed planet of his birth and meeting his own parents as they were getting married and Superman even fell in love with a woman, and engaged to marry her, only to escape Krypton quite by accident and lose her forever.

However, the stories don't stay that sad, we get to see Superbaby getting kidnapped from Krypton and wreaking havoc on Brainiac. Then Superman's lovable cousin tries to fix him up with a bride in, "Superman's Super Courtship." which includes Superman's somewhat startling statement that he would marry Supergirl if it weren't for Kryptonian law on marrying cousins.

Then we're given another emotional issue in which Superman believes he's dying of a Kryptonian Virus, Virus X and spends his last days trying to leave a lasting legacy for Earth. Even though the ending was a necessary cop out, it was also a beautiful story.

"Lois Lane's superdaughter" has to be my least favorite story in the book as in this imaginary story, Lois and Superman are married and adopt Supergirl and she struggles with being a stay-at-home mom after the social worker demands she quit her job to adopt..

"The Impossible Mission" features Superboy travelling back in time to try and save Lincoln, yet one supervillain unintentionally gets in the way and regrets it leading to the line, "I had nothing against Lincoln! I may be evil--but I had no hate for him."

"The Showdown between Luthor and Superman" features a battle between the two enemies on a red son planet where Superman has no natural advantages. However, it quickly becomes a tale in which Luthor ends up showing some nobility and humanity in the end.

"The Sweetheart Superman Forgot" is another tragic tale as Superman loses his power and memory, as Superman's yearning for a woman who'd love him for himself not for his powers is answered but quickly taken away.

"Superman's Mission for President Kennedy" features Superman trying to get unfit Americans in shape at the request of the late President. Sadly, many of the statements in this 50 year old story turned out to be prophetic.

After that we get a series of wacky adventures, there's Jimmy Olsen becoming "The Giant Turtle Man", and the highlight of the book is a look at opposited mind Bizarro world as Bizarro Krypto seeks out abuse and neglect in, "The Halloween Pranks of the Bizarro Superman."

Lois takes a konk on the head and decides to blackmail Superman into marrying her, but she's tricked into spray herself with a liquid that makes herself start to become younger. She sprays Superman back, the result is the charming, "The Romance of Superboy and Baby Lois." Then we get treated to another Bizarro story in, "The Bizarro Invasion of Earth," and the book wraps up with Beatles-obsessed Jimmy Olsen travelling back to Bible times.

Overall this is a fun collection which shows a Man of Steel that inhabits a nutty world while he fights for truth and justice, but has his own pain and insecurity. It's a great package. Highly recommended.



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