The Superman Chronicles, Vol. 8 by Jerry Siegel

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This collection collects Superman Stories from Action Comics #44-#47 and Superman #14 and #15.

This book may be the best representative in the Chronicles of the very best of Golden Age Superman. The stories in this book vary greatly from a battle royale with Luthor in Action Comics #47 (where Luthor acquires super strength and near invulnerability) to Superman battling in an undersea kingdom, saving the day for a suicidal zookeeper to trouble at an amusement park. The variety here is very rich and all the stories are Superman golden age at their best.

The Luthor battle is the clear highlight of the book but I also find Superman #15 where Superman fights a pseudo Japan and a pseudo Germany in separate stories. Superman avoided direct involvement in the war and these stories illustrate why. Superman taking on a nation wouldn't be fair and would tend to undercut the nation's war efforts. Superman doesn't do that, but these stories do provide a kind of, "What if?" analysis.

Also, the cover of Superman #14 with the American Eagle on Superman's shoulder in awesome and one of the best comic book covers I've seen from the 1940s. It's right up there with Captain America punching Hitler.

Overall, this was the strongest volume of Superman Chronicles yet.



View all my reviews