The Superman Chronicles, Vol. 4 by Jerry Siegel

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is the fourth Volume of Superman stories following all of Superman's Adventures in Chronological order, collecting adventures from Action Comics 26-31 and Superman #6 and 7 all from the second half of 1940.

At this point, it really feels like Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, and other artists working on Superman had truly found their stride. The art is certainly improved from the more crude style Superman began with and there are some truly nice drawings of Superman's daring feats.

The stories are all enjoyable, even though most aren't all that unusual but that's okay. It's Superman acting as champion of the oppressed, taking on all comers including racketeers, robbers, and political corruption. The book portrays a lot of civic corruption in Metropolis which lends some sympathy to Superman's heavy handed methods. However, Superman is often able to generate a truce with the law in order to solve a case. Siegel and Shuster originally planned to write Superman exclusively as a newspaper strip and several of these comics read like that.

Highlights of this book include:

Action Comics #26: Superman takes on a phony doctor who is cheating child polio patients with quack treatments. The comics served to support President Roosevelt's campaign on behalf of Polio victims.

Action Comics #28 is a mystery story where the most likely suspect in a series of robberies is a circus strongman who clashes with Superman and who also earns the attention of Lois Lane.

Superman #6 features two great stories, one in which Lois Lane is framed for murder and the other where Superman investigates strange goings on in the South American country of San Caluma where a crook uncovers his identity. The last story also gives you an idea of how much the Superman mythos had developed at this point as it involved Clark Kent giving Lois Lane blood for a transfusion.

Action Comics #30 is probably the weirdest and most wonderful story in the book but I love how cleverly inventive it is. It's snowing in August but there's a logical explanations and it involves Arabs kidnapping a blonde so they can take over a lost city in the Sahara desert with the aid of deadly yellow globes. Superman actually gets knocked and Zolar is as close as we get to a supervillain in this book. It's a great read even though the final plot twist makes no sense even in this story.

Superman #7 has an example of how there was no continuity during the golden age of comics. The first story in the comic has a crusading (albeit egotistical) Metropolis prosecuting attorney targeting the mob and being targeted behind them, the third has a completely different character in the same job who is corrupt.

However, the highlights of the book are the second and fourth stories. "The Exploding Citizens" is a well-written story of an absolutely insane plot involving people blowing up in "Gay City" and Clark Kent and Lois Lane going to investigate. The motive of the perpetrators is just jaw-dropping.

The last story features Clark Kent and Lois Lane going undercover to catch a gang of robbers. Lois dyes her blonde and Clark Kent removes his glasses. I love the art of Lois as a blonde and the story works beautifully.

The last story in the book from Action Comics #31, "In the Grip of Morpheus" is another great tale as Clark Kent and Lois Lane drive into a town where everyone has been put to sleep and Clark tries to find the truth. This features some memorable art with the best being when Superman is hit with an atomic ray gun.

Overall, this collection is a joy and gives great insight into how America fell in love with Superman.




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