The Chronological Superman

The Chronological Superman 1969-1971:

While the Superman Family was getting slightly more serious, it didn’t mean that it still couldn’t be a little goofy. Action Comics No.388 sees the Earth replaced with Professor Nurd’s madcap Puzzle Planet. Given how openly, ridiculously silly the story was, I’d be surprised if it half of the script hadn’t been written while a little high.

The Chronological Superman 1969-1971:

The Chronological Superman 1969-1971:

After Weisinger’s retirement, Superboy -- along with Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen and Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane -- ended up in the hands of Murray Boltinoff, one of DC’s most-accomplished editors. As a former assistant to Whitney Ellsworth, he was practically an heir to at least a portion of the Superman Family estate. 

While the Man of Steel was undergoing a raft of changes in his titles, Superboy’s alterations were limited to one -- modernization. Liberating the Boy of Steel from the ambiguous early 20th century environment he had occupied since his invention, Superboy was allowed to tag along with his older self at a safe distance of 29 years. 

In a way, this is as ‘hip’ a decision as any Sekowsky is making over at Adventure Comics with Supergirl. While his cousin is enjoying being very now, Superboy has the sheen of nostalgia. Fan response validated the decision. 

The Chronological Superman 1969-1971:

But please -- call her Nasty.

Supergirl has practically had more interactions with the Luthors than Superman has*. 

*I’m being facetious, please don’t @ me.

Besides frequently fighting -- and sometimes fighting alongside -- Lex Luthor, she’s also tied up with Luthor’s sister Lena Thorul and Lena’s occasionally super-powered nephew Val Colby. Now along comes Nasty, the daughter of Luthor’s sister -- no matter how the timeline works out. Sekowsky was famous for ignoring the continuity of the other Super-titles when writing his Supergirl stories.

In his world, Nasthalthia worked -- in part because his version of Lex Luthor was middle-aged, wealthy, stocky, dressed in a dark suit, and wielding power through his connections in the world of finance and influence. Yes, in 1971, Mike Sekowsky invented the Post-Crisis Lex Luthor. He deserves some credit for this.

The Chronological Superman 1969-1971:

And speaking of threats, he also gifts Supergirl with a raft of new and revamped foes.

She faces the evil sorcerer ZOND (Adv 397), and a revamped BLACK FLAME (Adv 400). The Flame is assisted by three curious villains who, while appearing to be human and non-Kryptonian in every fashion, had been imprisoned in The Phantom Zone. These are a leprechaun-like L.FINN, the vulture-ish INVENTOR, and the at-this-point-he-seems-familiar TOYMAKER. The trio are near lookalikes for Mxyzptlk, Luthor and Toyman, although exactly what was going on here is anyone’s guess. In any case, they never returned.

The Chronological Superman 1969-1971:

Mike Sekowsky had been writing and drawing a handful of titles at DC -- including, most recently, Wonder Woman. He had a hip but sleek sensibility, and his work skewed “young.” Before taking the reins on Supergirl, for instance, he’d created Jason’s Quest in DC’s Showcase title -- a motorcycle drama which hinted at Skeowsky’s late-night cinema tastes.

Supernatural horror, murder, suspicion, and costume changes, costume changes, costume changes! Starting with Adventure Comics vol. 1 No.381, Kara Zor-El’s whole world gets groovy. Sekowsky makes more mature themes and a jazzier wardrobe de rigueur for the Girl of Steel. What liberties he has to slip slightly-bowdlerized drugs-and-hedonism into her stories is one of the privileges of editing your own work.

One of the most memorable changes was simply to get her out of her dowdy little Super-dress and into something with style. Adventure Comics vol.1 No.397 teases the audience with some of Supergiirl’s potential new looks -- and they are hip as hell. Sekowsky proceeds to introduce a sizable assemblage of costumes (as far as your average superhero goes, anyway) of contemporary fashions, including hip hugging ornament belts, thigh-high boots, and even modern hairstyles. In fact, outfitting Linda Lee Danvers with her new uniforms is no one other than Wonder Woman, who is running a fashionable clothing boutique at this time.

The Chronological Superman 1969-1971:

As an example of the sometimes inarticulate priorities of the suddenly-political Man of Steel is this story from Superman vol.1 No.234. 

Superman accedes to a slaveowner’s property rights despite the real danger of a volcano exploding in the middle of the plantation and killing the resident islanders. 

This uncomfortable mishmash of Superman’s sudden immersion in political issues with his Comics Code-mandated subordination to the law makes this story seem almost like vicious satire of the super-status quo -- which it may have been. 

The Chronological Superman 1969-1971:

The Daily Planet’s daring girl reporter finds herself the object of distrust and suspicion when she comes to Little Africa, Metropolis’ almost-exclusively black community. The snub seems to have struck a nerve, because Lois immediately hatches a plan. Deciding to get to the bottom of all of this racism business once-and-for-all, she seeks Superman’s help in using an alien sarcophagus to become, for twenty-four hours only -- black.

The notorious I Am Curious (Black) from Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane vol.1 No.106. What else is there to say?

The book’s title was inspired by a pair of award-winning Swedish films, both of which contained political content involving the civil rights movement. They were also infamously erotic -- did Lois know what she was getting into?

Lois uses Kryptonian technology to briefly become black, experiencing everything from petty bigotries to the indignities of systemic poverty. It’s slightly bowdlerized and “crooks” do a lot of heavy lifting, standing in for authorities and institutions which victimize black communities.

The book is frequently made fun of, largely on the basis of the cover and the title. 

The Chronological Superman 1969-1971:

The Chronological Superman 1969-1971:

In the tense political atmosphere of ‘69, Superman was asked to weigh in on the Vietnam War -- and his answer, uncomfortably, is that “It’s Good!” and “I like it!”

It’s a departure for Clark Kent as he adopts a combat medic position with US forces in Vietnam and lends American troops a very partisan hand against near-naked Viet Cong soliers driving massive tanks out of the dense jungles. They’re after the orphanage!

The story seems to have been floated to test the interest in Superman being involved with the conflict, in the fashion of his World War 2 adventures. The lack of followup suggests little appreciation of the offer.

The Chronological Superman 1969-1971:

Leo Dorfman sends Jimmy to the slums in Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen vol.1 No.127. More specifically, it’s Perry White sending Jimmy on an undercover assignment to the roach-infested rat-traps of Metropolis. Slum-lords are specifically called out for their inhumanity and greed, and it’s a very satisfying tale if one can overlook the unwillingness of Superman to get involved.

In Superman’s eighth adventure, in 1939, he single-handedly demolished all of Metropolis’ unsafe, disease-ridden slums in a single evening, battling the cops and the army the entire way, in order to force the government to build safe replacement housing. Merits of that plan aside, it’s a big difference from the Superman here who -- almost literally -- washes his hands of Jimmy’s entire venture.

The Chronological Superman 1969-1971:

The Chronological Superman 1969-1971:

In the name of attracting the much-coveted youth audience, Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen vol.1 No.118 offers up this enticement. 

The Chronological Superman 1969-1971:

The Chronological Superman 1969-1971:

The level of invention which Jack Kirby brought to the struggling Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen cannot be overstated. Kirby is alleged to have specifically asked to be placed on DC’s worst-selling comic, to allow himself the liberty of throwing everything he wanted to throw at the wall.

The Chronological Superman 1969-1971:

Another tale in which an elderly Superman contends with bitterness and irrelevance. This time, he’s lost his powers and must eke out an existence begging for change, living in a condemned home, and suffering all the humiliations of poverty.

The Chronological Superman 1969-1971:

This unconventional tale, scripted by Cary Bates, runs from Action Comics Nos.385-387 and deals with the occasionally toyed-with concept: Can Superman Get Old and Die?

Thrust forward through time and unable to return through the past, Superman spends this three-part epic growing increasingly frustrated, bitter, apathetic ... and ever older without dying. The closest he comes to oblivion is passing out in the tail of a super-comet at the end of eternity.

When he wakes, he is an infant in his mother’s arms again. Superman goes on to relive his life, semi-detached as though watching it on stage, before catching up to where he was at the beginning of the tale. He has lived through the end of time and come through the other side.