During Jerry Siegel’s and Joe Shuster’s employment with DC Comics, the pair worked on more than 450 Superman comic book stories. Of these, approximately 200 were produced during what is known as the Golden Age of Comics.
Since the inceptions of DC’s Archive Editions line in the early 1990s, the Chronicles line in 2005 and other reprint volumes throughout the years, the company has done an excellent job of presenting many of these classic Golden Age stories to brand new readers. However, a small, yet manageable, handful of those Golden Age stories remain unreprinted and, as such, unavailable.
Of the Golden Age Superman stories written by Siegel or illustrated by Shuster, only 17 have not been reprinted in some form since 1990. Excluding slightly rarer but still accessible Bronze Age reprints brings that number to 12. And of those, three received foreign reprints in the 1940s or ’50s. That leaves only nine Golden Age stories worked on by Siegel or Shuster that never never been reprinted.
An amazing accomplishment to be sure, but not quite good enough for those interested in the Man of Steel — as well as his creators. Though few in number, many of these as-yet-unreprinted stories hold significance for one reason or another.
Here’s a closer look:
Writer: unknown
Artist: Joe Shuster
Originally published: Action Comics #88
Cover date: Sept. 1945
Pages: 12
Why it’s significant: This story is the second appearance of Hocus and Pocus, “magicians by accident,” and the only of their four Golden Age appearances to not be reprinted. It also is the final appearance of the pair to be illustrated by Shuster, who co-created the characters with Siegel. It is the oldest Shuster-drawn Superman comic story to not be reprinted.
Note: This story was solicited to be included in SUPERMAN IN ACTION COMICS ARCHIVES, Vol. 6, which was slated for a June 6, 2012, release. However, in January 2012, Diamond Distributors announced the book had been canceled by DC Comics and would be resolicited at a later date. As of this post, that has not happened, though the book is still listed on DC’s website (strangely, with the original 2012 release date attached).
Writer: Jerry Siegel
Penciller: Ed Dobrotka
Inker: Stan Kaye
Originally published: Superman #37
Cover date: Nov.-Dec. 1945
Pages: 12
Why it’s significant: It is the oldest Siegel-written Superman comic story to not be reprinted. It also is among Ed Dobrotka’s final Superman work. Dobrotka is credited with pencilling one more Superman story and inking another, then moved over to inking and occasionally pencilling Superboy stories until the early 1950s.
Note: To date, eight volumes of SUPERMAN ARCHIVES have been released, the most recent collecting stories through SUPERMAN #35. A ninth volume likely would include this story.
Writer: Don Cameron
Penciller: Joe Shuster
Inker: George Roussos
Originally published: Superman #39
Cover date: March-April 1946
Pages: 12
Why it’s significant: The story relates how “The Adventures of Superman” radio serial came to be — in the world of Superman! The fun tale, somewhat in the vein of of Siegel’s “Superman, Matinee Idol” from four years prior, plays off the popularity of the Superman radio serial, which was at an all-time high when this story was published.
Note: Like with “The Rubbish Robbers,” this story likely would be included in a ninth volume of SUPERMAN ARCHIVES.
Writer: Jerry Siegel
Penciller: Joe Shuster
Inker: George Roussos
Originally published: Superman #43
Cover date: Nov.-Dec. 1946
Pages: 12
Why it’s significant: It is the final Superman comic story written by Siegel and pencilled by Shuster. Aside from Funnyman, the two would never again collaborate on a published story.
Writer: Alvin Schwartz
Penciller: Joe Shuster
Inker: George Roussos
Originally published: Superman #43
Cover date: Nov.-Dec. 1946
Pages: 12
Why it’s significant: The final Superman comic story credited to Shuster, and one of his final credits for DC Comics. (Shuster’s only credit for the company after this is an ADVENTURE COMICS cover featuring Superboy.)
Writer: Jerry Siegel
Artist: Ira Yarbrough
Originally published: Action Comics #104
Cover date: Jan. 1947
Pages: 12
Why it’s significant: This is Siegel’s final comic story (Golden Age or otherwise) featuring Oswald Loomis, a.k.a. the Prankster.
Writer: Jerry Siegel
Artist: John Sikela
Originally published: Action Comics #105
Cover date: 14
Pages:
Why it’s significant: Siegel writes a rare (for the Golden Age) Christmas story featuring Superman.
Note: This story was reprinted twice by K.G. Murray Publishing Company in Australia: first in SUPERMAN ALL COLOR COMIC #6 (cover date Nov. 1947), and in black and white in THE MIGHTY COMIC ANNUAL (published around 1956). It has not been reprinted in the United States.
Writer: Jerry Siegel
Penciller: John Sikela
Inker: George Roussos
Originally published: Superman #46
Cover date: May-June 1947
Pages: 13
Why it’s significant: This is Siegel’s final Golden Age comic story featuring Mr. Mxyztplk (who would become Mr. Mxyzptlk about a decade later).
Writer: Jerry Siegel
Penciller: John Sikela
Inker: George Roussos
Originally published: Superman #46
Cover date: May-June 1947
Pages: 13
Why it’s significant: This tale contains a major milestone: the first mention of Superboy in a Superman story. It also is notable for being Siegel’s only second Superboy story (the first being the character’s debut in MORE FUN COMICS #101 two years prior) and final until Siegel returned to DC Comics in 1959.
Note: This story was reprinted in 1947, 1956 and 1965 by Australia’s K.G. Murray, as well as in 1947 by Brazilian publisher Ebal. It has not been reprinted in the United States.
Writer: Jerry Siegel
Penciller: Ira Yarbrough
Inker: George Roussos
Originally published: Superman #47
Cover date: July-Aug. 1947
Pages: 12
Note: This story was reprinted by K.G. Murray Publishing Company in Australia in SUPERMAN ALL COLOR COMIC #5 (cover date Oct. 1947). It has not been reprinted in the United States.
Writer: Jerry Siegel
Penciller: John Sikela
Inker: George Roussos
Originally published: Superman #48
Cover date: Sept.-Oct. 1947
Pages: 12
Why it’s significant: This is Siegel’s final Golden Age comic story featuring Superman’s most fiendish and well-known villain: Luthor.
Note: In 1953, DC Comics published a one-shot special, THREE-DIMENSION ADVENTURES: SUPERMAN, which contained this story, albeit with new art by Curt Swan and Al Plastino, as well as a slightly tweaked script to update the dialogue. That version was reprinted in a replica edition of the comic published in 1997. The original John Sikela- and George Roussos-illustrated version, however, has not been reprinted.
Writer: Jerry Siegel
Penciller: John Sikela
Inker: George Roussos
Originally published: Superman #48
Cover date: Sept.-Oct. 1947
Pages: 12
Why it’s significant: This is Siegel’s penultimate Golden Age Superman comic story. It also is Siegel’s last use of Lois Lane and Perry White in a Golden Age story.
Five Siegel-written Superman stories were reprinted as back-up stories in 1970s issues of SUPERMAN:
– “There is No Superman” from SUPERMAN #40 (cover date May-June 1946), reprinted in #246
– “The Magician’s Convention” from ACTION COMICS #97 (cover date June 1946), reprinted in #272
– “A Modern Alice in Wonderland” from SUPERMAN #41 (cover date July-Aug. 1946), reprinted in #284
– “The Case of the Living Trophies” from SUPERMAN #45 (cover date March-April 1947), reprinted in #251
– “High Man on a Flagpole” from SUPERMAN #46 (cover date May-June 1947), repinted in #249
Each story also received a reprint in the 1970s by a non-U.S. publisher, but none have been reprinted otherwise or more recently.
All together, these 17 stories comprise 209 pages of stories (147 if the stories reprinted in the ’70s are excluded). This is the perfect size for a trade paperback or hardcover that could be placed alongside the Archive Editions and Chronicles collections. What a tremendous accomplishment it would be to have every Golden Age Superman story worked on by his creators reprinted and available for new audiences. With the Man of Steel’s popularity surging thanks to this past summer’s blockbuster movie, now is prime time to take the one small step left toward reprinting these final few stories.
So, how ’bout it, DC?
Unreprinted is an occasional series looking at Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster material unseen since its original publication. The effort to shine the spotlight on these items is done in hopes of making more readers aware of them — and publishers aware that their is interest in being able to read them once again!
