Superman: Man of Tomorrow Archives: Volume 1

Rating:
Summary: One of DC's best Archives ever!!!!!!!
Review: I just received my copy a few days ago. What a swell Superman collection from the 1950's. 20 fantastic adventures with the "Man of Tomorrow!" The stories from Superman and Action Comics are presented in original release order starting from June 1958. The first story is thought to be the starting of the Silver Age of comics for Superman, and is the adventure presenting Superman's first visit to the Fortress of Solitude. If I personally had chosen where to start in presenting the best Superman stories of all time, it would have been with the exact same issue!

"The Adventures of Superman" TV show had recently ended. For many years in the 50's the Superman comics emulated the TV show, and unfortunately did not use the full canvas available in the comic medium. This set represents the first steps in exploring all of the fun and crazy ideas that could only be presented in the comic format. The giant fortress and key alone in the first issue would destroy any TV budget. In this collection we get adventures from under the sea to outer space! The Kryptonian city in a bottle (Kandor) is introduced as well as arch villain Braniac! These stories are fun and appropriate for any age. Many of the stories are 8 pages long and can keep my 4 year old interested.

If you are curious about the best Superman stories ever created, then this is the perfect place to start. The artwork is presented beautifully and is drawn by some of the best Superman artists of all time including some early work from the greatest and most prolific Superman artist of all, Curt Swan!!!

I've been waiting for this set since the DC Archives began over 15 years ago, and here it is! If you get half of the enjoyment out of it that I have, it will be more than worth the purchase price! :-)

Here are the contents of the "Man of Tomorrow" Archive!

Action 241 (June 1958)
"The Super-Key To Fort Superman"
Writer: Jerry Coleman
Artist: Wayne Boring
[First appearance of Arctic Fortress of Solitude; generally considered to mark the beginning of Superman's "Silver Age"]
- reprinted in the Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told, and Superman Annual 1, among other places

Superman 122 (July 1958)
"The Secret of the Space Souvenirs"
Writer: Otto Binder?
Artist: Al Plastino
- reprinted in Best of DC digest 12

"Superman In the White House"
Writer: ?
Artist: Al Plastino
[Semi-imaginary story - Jimmy Olsen dreams of Superman becoming President]
- reprinted in Superman Annual 7

"The Super-Sergeant"
Writer: ?
Penciller: Wayne Boring
Inker: Stan Kaye

Action 242 (July 1958)
"The Super-Duel In Space"
Writer: Otto Binder
Artist: Al Plastino
[First appearance of Brainiac; first appearance of Kandor]
- reprinted in Superman Annual 2, and Superman 217 giant

Superman 123 (August 1958)
"The Girl of Steel"
Writer: Otto Binder
Penciller: Dick Sprang
Inker: Stan Kaye
[Prototype "Super-Girl" appears in this story]
-Reprinted in Supergirl Archives volume 1, Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told, among other places

Action 243 (August 1958)
"The Lady and the Lion"
Writer: Otto Binder
Penciller: Wayne Boring
Inker: Stan Kaye
[Superman vs. Circe - Kandor cameo appearance]
- reprinted in Superman Annual 3

Superman 124 (September 1958)
"The Super-Sword"
Writer: Jerry Coleman?
Artist: Al Plastino
- reprinted in Superman Annual 7

"Mrs. Superman"
Writer: Otto Binder
Artist: Kurt Schaffenberger
[Clark & Lois are trapped on a desert isle. Believing his powers permanently gone, Clark reveals his identity and proposes marriage (!!)]
- reprinted in 80-page giant 14 from 1965

"The Steeplejack of Steel"
Writer: Otto Binder
Penciller: Wayne Boring
Inker: Stan Kaye

Action 244 (September 1958)
"The Super-Merman of the Sea"
Writer: Otto Binder
Penciller: Curt Swan
Inker: George Klein
[Introduction of undersea Fortress of Solitude]
- reprinted in Superman 187 giant

Action 245 (October 1958)
"The Shrinking Superman"
Writer: ?
Penciller: Wayne Boring
Inker: Stan Kaye
[First Kandorian villain (Zak-kul), first use of an "enlarging" ray by a Kandorian]

Superman 125 (November 1958)
"Lois Lane's Super-Dream"
Writer: Jerry Coleman
Artist: Kurt Schaffenberger
[semi-imaginary story in which Lois dreams she acquires super-powers]
- reprinted in Lois Lane Annual 1

"Clark Kent's College Days"
Writer: Jerry Coleman
Artist: Al Plastino
[Flashback relates when "Superboy" became "Superman" during Clark's college years]
- reprinted in Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told, Superman 183 giant

"Superman's Mystery Power"
Writer: Jerry Coleman?
Penciller: Wayne Boring
Inker: Stan Kaye
- reprinted in Superman Annual 7

Action 246 (November 1958)
"Krypton On Earth"
Writer: ?
Penciller: Wayne Boring
Inker: Stan Kaye

Action 247 (December 1958)
"Superman's Lost Parents"
Writer: Otto Binder
Artist: Al Plastino
- reprinted in Superman 193 giant

Superman 126 (January 1959)
"Superman's Hunt For Clark Kent"
Writer: ?
Penciller: Wayne Boring
Inker: Stan Kaye

"The Spell of the Shandu Clock"
Writer: Jerry Coleman
Penciller: Wayne Boring
Inker: Stan Kaye
- reprinted in Best of DC digest 38

"The Two Faces of Superman"
Writer: Jerry Coleman
Artist: Kurt Schaffenberger
[Superman masquerades as Alfred E. Neuman (!?)]
- reprinted in Superman Annual 3






Rating:
Summary: Silver Age Superman goodness
Review: Much like "Batman: The Dynamic Duo Archives", "Superman: The Man of Tomorrow Archives" represents a jump ahead from the Golden Age material found the "Superman Archives", "Superman: The Action Comics Archives", and "Superman in the World's Finest Archives". And as with the "Dynamic Duo", there isn't any "official" reason for DC to have chosen to have done this, beyond a desire to get Silver Age material out there. Plus, let's face it, Superman and Batman have been, and ever shall be, DC Comics Big Guns. From the get go, both characters appeared in many differnt series, and multiple "Archives" sub-series is warranted (although why this leap is made NOW is anyone's guess).

With the Silver Age of comics begun in 1956, and a whole variety of characters from the Golden Age being rewritten from scratch, it made sense to revisit the company's flagship character. However, what DC with Superman was not a dramatic rewrite, a la, the Flash. Starting in 1958, "Action Comics" and "Superman" saw the science fiction elements of the Superman mythos developed. It also saw a renewed focus on the "Superman Family", as Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane, and eventually, Supergirl, got their own solo series. The New Deal Crusader Superman started out as was left behind, and the Galaxy Spanning Boyscout took his place. Everything popular culture remembers Superman for (the city of Kandor and the other survivors of Krypton, the Fortress of Solitude, etc.) appeared at this time, as did a more diverse and challenging rogues gallery.

We owe this creative shift to editor Mort Weisinger and his stable, most notably artists Wayne Boring (the definitive Superman artist for most the 1950s, and definitely one of my favorite Superman artists), Al Plastino, Kurt Schaffenberger, and Curt Swan, as well a writer Otto Binder, among others.

As this is material from the Silver Age, a reader of modern comics has to take these stories as they find them (thank you, Dr. Wertham). The focus on character development that is pretty much taken for granted in today's comics is absent. The stories are more plot-driven. This can be a mixed blessing. When the stories are good, well-thought out and imaginative, then the story is a treat, and you smile with joy. A good exmaple is the first story of the collection "The Super-key to Fort Superman", in which we see the Fortress of Solitude for the first time. Despite its reputed impregnability, someone has snuck into the fortress, leaving notes for Superman that threaten impending doom.

It was at this time the Superman villains got a much- needed boost. While Superman always tangled with Lex Luthor, most of his enemies weren't any physical match. This changed with the introduction of Brainiac (in "The Super-Duel in Space"), the evil android who travels the galaxy, shrinking cities for the purpose of building his own empire. The most important of these cities is Kandor, a Kryptonian city taken just before the planet exploded.

The stories weren't exclusively sci-fi. In "The Steeplejack of Steel" Clark Kent goes undercover on a construction site to catch a fraudulent builder. The crooks various attempts to knock-off this undercover snitch are amusing, and the story is a nice reminder that Superman is, by profession, a reporter, and does as much good in that job as when he's wearing a cape.

The relationship with Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen are also well explored. In "Mrs. Superman", due to a series of plot (amusing) contrivances, Clark and Lois are trapped together on an island. Believing their situation to be hopeless, Clark comes clean, and proposes marriage. Naturally, things change so they can escape, and the real conflict is how Clark fools Lois into thinking he's not Superman. In the "Girl of Steel", Jimmy uses a magic artifact to grant Superman three wishes, one of which is a proto-type Supergirl. While this character vanishes at the end of the story, she did pave the way for Kara Zor-el, Superman's cousin.

As I said, not every story is great. The most glaring example is "The Return of Superman's Lost Parents" in which Clark's Earth-parents, the Kents (long dead) come forward in time to visit him. Of course, that's not what's going on, but the big problem I had was swallowing the idea that Clark would accept this couple without suspicion.

Aside from occasional clunker, the whole collection is a treat. Of course, in 1985, DC did an elaborate restructuring of continuity, so none of these stories are canon. This was a bit of a mixed-blesing. Change can be good. Lois Lane's perpetual schemes to marry Superman don't seem a particularly enlightened view of women. On the other hand, change can be bad. Brainiac was much more interesting before 1985 than he is now..

There is an element of innocence in this book that's really quite enjoyable. So while the Silver Age will always be hit and miss for me, the hits are far greater than the misses, and reading extremely fun. I look forward to volume 2. I do wonder if Wonder Woman (the third character of DC's "Holy Trinity") will be getting the Silver Age jump. I also wonder if "DC Comics Presents", the more recent team-up book staring Superman, is considered "Archive" worthy.