Episode 92 - Action Comics #1 with Adam from Talking Superman
Before we look to more modern incarnations of the Man of Tomorrow, let’s stop and look at the story that started it all: Action Comics #1. For this chat, we’re joined by Adam from “Talking Superman”!
Find Adam on Twitter!
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Meeting summary:
● In the latest episode titled "92 - Action Comics1.mp3," the hosts delve into the influential significance of Action Comics #1 and its iconic character, Superman. The discussion begins with Adam's personal connection to retro comics and expands to examine Superman's contribution to the superhero genre and societal maturity, particularly through an analysis of the magazine's famous cover and costume design. The hosts analyze the brief 14-page origin story, focusing on character dynamics, including Clark Kent and Lois Lane’s evolving relationship. They explore complexities in Superman's character, including moral ambiguity and systemic challenges he faces, alongside a reflection on his confrontations with societal issues. Historical context highlights Superman's profound impact on the comic industry, while the episode concludes with a discussion on the legacy of Action Comics #1 and the enduring nature of its storytelling, encouraging listeners to further explore Superman's lore. Action items include updating the Twitter banner with a memorable quote from the discussion.
Notes:
● 🦸 Introduction to Action Comics #1 (00:00 - 11:41)
● Discussion of Adam's interest in Superman and retro comics
● Comparison of superhero comics to process of maturation
● Analysis of Superman's impact on the world without breaking it
● Examination of the iconic cover of Action Comics #1
● Discussion of the costume design and its futuristic appearance
● 📖 Story Structure and Character Development (11:41 - 22:57)
● Analysis of the 14-page Superman story in Action Comics #1
● Discussion of the origin story's brevity compared to later iterations
● Examination of Clark Kent's introduction and scientific explanation of powers
● Analysis of Lois Lane's character and her relationship with Clark
● Discussion of the story's pacing and multiple plot points
● 🦹 Superman's Moral Ambiguity and Powers (22:57 - 32:19)
● Exploration of Superman's potentially scary and ambiguous nature
● Discussion of Superman's powers and their limitations
● Analysis of the governor's paranoid security measures
● Examination of Superman's radical nature and willingness to act
● Discussion of the character's impact on corrupt systems
● 💪 Superman's Actions and Character Evolution (32:19 - 41:36)
● Analysis of Superman's confrontation with a wife-beater
● Discussion of Superman's secret identity and its importance
● Examination of Lois Lane's role and character development
● Analysis of Superman's method of dealing with criminals
● Discussion of the character's evolution in later iterations
● 🌟 Historical Context and Cultural Impact (41:36 - 51:15)
● Exploration of the historical context of Action Comics #1
● Discussion of Superman's impact on the comic book industry
● Analysis of the story's compressed narrative style
● Examination of the character's influence on popular culture
● Discussion of the creators' backgrounds and motivations
● 🏆 Legacy and Final Thoughts (51:15 - 59:53)
● Reflection on the importance of Action Comics #1 in comic book history
● Discussion of the creators' childhood homes as historical sites
● Analysis of the issue's lasting impact on the superhero genre
● Examination of how later iterations built upon this foundation
● Final thoughts and recommendations for further exploration of Superman lore
Transcription
00:00
Case
Oh, yeah. There's this radical nature to the character and, like, a willingness to, like, cut the Gordian knot, but not necessarily to disrespect the things that are still facts of life. Like, you know, like I said, he could have done physically more, but he did it the right way here. Sort of, you know, sort of.
00:19
Adam
Yeah.
00:20
Case
However you want to talk about that, he's still scary, and he's still ripped apart. Side note, who is this governor that has, like, a. Like, a steel vault for his bedroom?
00:27
Adam
It's like, what's that? Like, he's just a really paranoid governor, but, like, rightfully so, I guess, because people are always busting in.
01:00
Case
Hey, everyone, and welcome back to the Men of Steel podcast. I'm case Aiken. And as always, I'm joined by my co host, J. Mike Falsen.
01:06
Jmike
Welcome back, everybody. So happy to have you.
01:08
Case
So happy to be here today, because we are. We are getting down to the roots of what this show is about. Today we are talking about action comics number one. And to do that conversation, we are joined by Adam from the Twitter handle Adam talk, Superman.
01:23
Adam
Hello. Thank you for having me.
01:25
Case
You're right. Like, right before we start recording, there's just no awkward, non awkward way to introduce a person.
01:30
Adam
You can only say, like, thanks, guys. Okay. Yeah, I'm happy to be here. I don't know. Don't over hype me, you know?
01:38
Case
Well, there's plenty of hype for the topic that we're discussing, so that will probably be the bigger focus. But, you know, Adam, this is your first time on the show. You have a whole Twitter handle that's dedicated to Superman stuff. In fact, I think you used to just be talking Superman on Twitter. Right. Just give a minute to, like, talk about your interest in the man of steel.
01:56
Adam
Oh, jeez. So I like that I'm on this episode because my interest did start by kind of the more retro stuff, actually. Like, I kind of got into it because I started collecting, like, fifties and sixties, like, tens and, like, ads and, like, weird stuff. You know, I kind of liked rummaging through, like, old advertisements and stuff, and it. I liked, like, old weird stuff. And that led me to the oldest and weirdest stuff is, like, silver age comics. And I love. I just, like, walked in the shop and got, like, you know, whatever the weirdest covers I could find. Like, my first Superman comic is not, like, a traditional first Superman comic. It was, like the day they nuked Superman, and I got, like, a comic that was Superman's on trial in Bizarro world. And it just looked colorful and crazy.
02:52
Adam
And then I just started realizing, like, oh, wait a minute. Like, these stories are kind of helping me process feelings with all of these absurd ideas. You know, like, I then go into, like, new Krypton. It was like, oh, this is hitting me because my parents are getting divorced right now. And that's kind of like, what's happening.
03:13
Case
Here, you know, comics is therapy. Yes.
03:16
Adam
Yes. That's honestly what I was. I was like a weird teenager, and I liked that the heightened version of exploring all of these new emotions. And Superman just ended up being, I think, the best character for that.
03:31
Case
Yeah, I mean, I think there's definitely a reason why Superman is the vanguard of the medium and of the genre, but I definitely think that there's a certain amount of comics, well, specifically superhero comics, but comics in general lend themselves to being accessible, even if they're not written for younger audience. But being accessible to a younger audience and a lot of superhero material tends to be about the process of maturation. I think that there's a reason why teen superhero books often are very popular. In the forties, it was a big idea to have teen sidekicks, or young sidekicks to go along with the characters. Young wars. Yeah, exactly.
04:10
Case
Because the idea of a learning curve coming into your own and getting to know what you can do and how you can impact the world, I think, is such a tangible feeling that we all go through that. It's wonderful to sort of put that in this metaphor where it's writ large. I think that's why things like Spider man work so well, and like, why Captain Marvel, Shazam, works so well. And you can see those roots when you go. And what we're talking about today, the first superhero comic, like, we're talking about action comics, hash one, the introduction of Superman, and you can see how it is, a person trying to impact the world without breaking it.
04:48
Case
And that is, I think, just a lesson that we're all learning as we're growing up and realizing, oh, if I slam my hand against the wall, I might put my hand through drywall. That's pretty bad. And maybe that happened to me a bunch when I was a kid.
05:04
Jmike
Are you telling me in some case.
05:06
Case
Or you kick a rock and all of a sudden the rock bounces off something and it breaks it. It's so easy to accidentally break a thing. And that is learning the limits of, like, how to control yourself. Because, you know, when you're a baby, like, that's, there's nothing you can do that's like, truly destructive. And then one of the things about becoming an adult is understanding, like, how to hold back. But at the same time, when is the time not to hold back? When is the time to actually impact the world around you and try to make it a better place for people around you?
05:35
Case
And I think that's, you know, such a fundamental part of Superman who is so capable, he has so much power of action in every moment, but at the same time, if he tries to solve all the world's problems, he's not going to succeed. Even the most powerful version of Superman can't make the world a utopia without doing some irreparable harm in the process. You know, like, we've seen that explored so much. So it's interesting to look here at action comics. Hash one and see it's a Superman who very much wants to stick to the shadows, who wants to do, like, he wants to do the right thing in a lot of spots, but at the same time, he doesn't want to have a cultural impact. He wants people to better, and he's just there to do what's right.
06:13
Adam
In the meantime, that's interesting. I kind of feel different not to. We're going to get deep into it right off the gate. But I took it as Siegel and Schuster. Superman does want to make massive changes. Like, they have that famous story that is, you know, who knows how well it's aged, but, you know, it's hedgesthem, world War two starting, and he flies over and grabs Hitler, grabs Stalin, and takes them to the UN. I think the roots of Superman is angry teenagers who want the strongest guy to come in and butt it, you know?
06:55
Case
Yeah, I don't think we're necessarily contradicting here. I think more to the point that he doesn't want his name in the story. He doesn't want the focus to be on him. He wants that the deeds to be important, but not necessarily. It's not like, it's not a publicity thing.
07:09
Adam
Okay, right on. My bad. I miss.
07:11
Case
No, no. I mean, like, I think this is a natural conversation point there because I think the golden age Superman is having a reckoning in pop culture right now of people understanding that it was a much more radical figure than what, like, the silver age sort of became, like, the, you know, like, the Weissinger era of, like, it's going to be a little bit more like, reined in kind of character versus, like, here, you know, immediately he's out there trying to stop.
07:39
Jmike
Someone from getting executed?
07:40
Case
Well, yeah. I mean, that's a big one. But, you know, like, there's that. There's, you know, immediately, like, it responds to a wife beater call. Everything he does is still in the service of, like, helping out the people who aren't normally helped. But the part I was responding to is him being like, oh, good, my name's not in the papers.
08:00
Adam
Yes, that was very interesting. I noted that too. This read.
08:04
Case
Yeah, but, so, Jay, Mike, before you got on the call and before we started recording, Adam and I were talking about how looking at this comic, which is, we're only looking at the 14 page Superman story in action comics number one, because most of the ways that you can get this only are that story. But it was anthology that had several other stories, famously Zatara and Tex Thompson, who we talked about last time on the golden age elseworlds story, appears for the first time in action comics number one. But we're only talking about, yeah. We mentioned that when we brought up the character where it's like, oh, it's crazy that they use this character, who has some history, even if he doesn't have longevity in popular culture, as the focal point in that story.
08:47
Case
But looking at this 14 page story, I conflate so much with Superman hash one. Like, I kept thinking, like, I kept thinking like, oh, it's really only one panel of, like, scientists from another world send Superman away. Like, and like, oh, there's no Jor El. There's none of the bounding. There's. There's no the mon poc. Yeah. All the stuff that I'm like, oh, yeah, that's all in Superman hash one. That's not an action comic.
09:10
Adam
You could have swore that there is the one panel that was like, the Kent's coming into the orphanage, and it was like, oh, we can't stop thinking about this little boy that's not there. Jor El's not pictured or named. It's. The origin is literally three panels on the top, and you just, yeah, you remember, not that they ever super went into it in the golden age, but it's so sparse and spread it throughout that you just assume it was all in action number one.
09:39
Case
Yeah. Also, I'm intrigued, looking at it, where I realized that they start calling him Clark and never like, oh, yeah, this is Clark Kent, by the way. It's his early Clark. He decided he must turn his titanic strength into channels that would benefit mankind. But they're not like, oh, he was raised as Clark.
09:56
Adam
Yeah, you're right. Yeah. It just drops you into, like, clark, you know him.
09:59
Case
Yeah. The first time they say his full name is at the bottom where it says a scientific explanation of Clark Kent's amazing strength. I love that. But I was surprised that it was on the first page. Like, I remember these panels, and I just swore it was like a later issue where they're just like, people have asked how Clark, could it have such powers? And like, oh, no, it's right up there, right up front. Like, immediately leaping into it.
10:21
Adam
Do you think that speaks to, like, hey, this was for kids.
10:26
Case
It's certainly good for kids. I think it speaks to just how, like, how weird the concept was in a way that we take for granted now.
10:35
Adam
Sure.
10:36
Case
The need to be like, no, we have to explain how it's even theoretically possible that someone could have the powers that we're going to deal with in the story. Like, you know, because they specifically cite the grasshopper for jumping and they cite ants for super strength, you know, and that's the main stuff that we focus on.
10:51
Adam
Can we backtrack a little bit? So I noticed we're on the first.
10:54
Case
Page, so I'm not sure how much we.
10:56
Adam
Well, let me tell you. Let me tell you skipped the iconic cover. Iconic cover, my dear boy, because, well, you mentioned, like, how do people process this new idea? And I just, because I wanted to talk about the COVID because I think it's a fascinating thought experiment to think of. If you were a ten year old boy in 1938 and you saw this cover with no preconceptions of what a superhero is, how do you perceive this cover? And I think people forget things. Like, first of all, you don't see a lot of things in color. And this is a guy in red, blue and yellow. Who else was dressing like that in the thirties? And you have, how do you process a cape in 1938? How do you process tights?
11:51
Adam
Because a lot of people point out that the tights look like a strong man, which is true. But the fact that it covers the whole body, what was, and I believe Schuster, like, mentioned that this was the goal, was it looked like a guy from the future, too. And I think that's kind of gone from our modern viewpoint, you know?
12:11
Case
Yeah, it's true. Like, the outfits have become so just a part of the medium now that we tended to sort of take for granted that someone would wear, like, a skin tight outfit to be a super being. And, you know, like, they've jumped through so many narrative hurdles over the years to make it work. Here again, the strongman comparison is brought up a lot, but, yeah, any kind of circus performer kind of has that vibe of, but it is still different. Like you mentioned the future element. We just did an episode on the novel. It's Superman, which basically leads up to this point, like it's set in the first of the Dust bowl and then leads up to basically action comics. Number one is the end of the book. Like, the epilogue happens after this issue, but we're sort of getting there.
13:00
Case
And in it, they have it being a rejected movie costume for an alien is how he came up with it. And it's like, why is it a desk if they're from Saturn? Do they have English?
13:15
Adam
That makes sense. Yeah, because obviously there's no, hey, my mom made it for me in this. He just puts it on. There's no explanation of why he's wearing this in this issue.
13:25
Case
And when they show his feats of strength as a youth, as a baby on the first page, and then they show him, I was surprised. He's in a suit leaping over buildings, and then he looks like he's a construction worker picking up an iron girder. And I was like, oh, that's pretty cool. And then he's back to a suit outrunning a locomotive. And then he's superman. He's in the blue tights and cape. It's such a different look from what anyone would really be wearing.
13:52
Adam
It's very odd if you really think about it.
13:55
Jmike
Always forget that opening where his neck comes through was so big back then.
13:59
Adam
I love that. I love when he got his full traps on display. I think that really adds a lot to the strength aspect.
14:08
Jmike
Wow, I forgot the costumes look like that.
14:10
Case
Yeah, full traps. How about thirst traps? Yeah. I mean, it is really interesting looking at how the costume is depicted here. Part of the schuster is sort of an inconsistent drawer, but the decision on what it's going to be colored as. Throughout the book, it alternates between him having red boots versus the sort of crosshatching, which I've seen them interpret more as straps in later versions of it all what everyone calls the underwear over it. That part is just straight up. Yeah, strongmen wear that because your pants will split.
14:43
Adam
Sure.
14:44
Case
If you have cheap fabric, like, it's really hard to make. Like, especially a unibody, but, like, even just pants that if you're a strongman, do, like, wear jeans and consistently pick up heavy stuff, guys, you'll know that. You'll at the very least feel the tension, the s symbol. Like, it's wildly different from the COVID it looks more like shield. And then when we actually get into the issue, some of it looks more like a triangle.
15:07
Adam
It's the issues. Now, this must be like a space or coloring issue, too, but there's no red in the triangle for a lot of the issue. You're right. I was kind of surprised recently how I always thought the first s was, it has that little divots on the side. And I was kind of surprised to learn that, no, that's just on the COVID And then for the rest, for a while, it's just a straight up triangle.
15:32
Case
Yeah, there's some sort of border on it, but it's not super detailed. Again, Schuster, very creative and instrumental part in terms of the action as a penciler, not the master of detail.
15:47
Adam
He was a kid too. People forget he's a kid.
15:50
Case
He had poor vision. Apparently, as his eyesight got worse, he had teams that would work on it and he would finish up the faces and so forth. But, yeah, he has a distinctive style. But poor kid who didn't have a chance to really, like, go to, like, nice art schools. Like, there was none of, there's no Joe Kubert, like, school of art at this point.
16:10
Adam
Yeah.
16:11
Case
Like, working that's going to teach you how to, like, be a penciler for a medium that was just being created at this point in history.
16:16
Adam
Yeah, it's not like we're shitting on him too much. He's great.
16:19
Case
But I'm not trying to shit on Joe Schuster. I'm really not.
16:22
Adam
But no, you're right. He was a 16 year old, 17 year old boy drawing this issue. And in a time when it was a lot cruder in comics.
16:33
Case
Yeah, yeah. And the ability to transfer it to paper was a lot cruder.
16:38
Adam
Yes.
16:38
Case
Like, we're not talking about, obviously, we're not talking about people like, digital tablets, but just, like, the photocopying technology is a lot cruder. The fact that this is in color indicates that there's a huge amount of work that goes into just getting this on the page in the first place. I was surprised at how dark Superman's costume is throughout this. Like, there's a lot of crosshatching going on, and it's almost enough that you could imagine, and I don't think this is the case, but you could imagine that it was thought to be black with blue highlights, the way that they do his hair. But it's more just that it's a lot of, like, night shots, but it's like, oh, it's still a very dark visage of this, like, imposing figure ripping through steel doors.
17:13
Adam
Yeah, there was a. This isn't an observation of mine. I think this was in the Larry Tighe's book, if you guys have ever read that. He talks about how they purposely kept it vague if this guy was good or not. Like, he kind of was supposed to be a little bit scary. But we just. We obviously just don't think. We just now just know he's Superman. But even, like, to go back to that cover, not to keep going us back, like he's smashing a car. And what's interesting about all the guys cowering is that they don't look like classic gangsters the way gangsters would be drawn during this time. Like, they have no scars. They don't have their thirties gangster hats on or whatever, carrying Tommy guns. So they're very. They want you to think, like, this guy might be trouble.
18:09
Adam
We don't know yet.
18:10
Case
Yeah, the moral ambiguity. Yeah, I read that part in Ty's book. It is interesting how, again, us looking at this in 2022, we grew up with Superman as, like, a pop culture figure all our lives. Like, look, going back and being like, could you imagine seeing this issue with completely fresh eyes for the first time? It's hard to even imagine.
18:29
Adam
I'm fascinated by that. But, yeah, exactly.
18:33
Case
And you're totally right. Like, looking at it like, the one guy who's, like, kind of under the car, doesn't even have a jacket on, which. So certainly not the more like, kind of like, zoot suit looking kind of like gangster style.
18:43
Adam
Yeah.
18:44
Case
But then when we actually get into the story after the one page introduction of being, like, rocket from alien world, not even called Krypton here. He's strong, he's fast, he's like a bug. Maybe it's Superman. We immediately jump into this whole thing where we've got him leaping with a bound and gagged woman looking for the governor. Breaks in, fights people, gets shot, like, in the process, but is like, nope, we've got a person who's on death row. We got 15 minutes. You can do something about it. And, like, forces his hands, like, here's.
19:18
Jmike
The evidence, do the right thing.
19:21
Adam
And, yeah, that's a pretty aggressive reveal right into motion. And violence, like, immediately.
19:29
Case
Yeah, but violence not. Like, because the other side of it is he could have just freed this person from death row and he is making sure that at least the part of it, like, he sees that there are systems in play that, like, you do need to respect this part because if he just freed the woman who's on death row. She still would be a wanted person. So, like, he's trying, he, you know, he's, he is using his power in the spots appropriately to force the action to have consequences as opposed to just being a Band aid, you know, like, it's what we're talking about. Like, oh, yeah. There's this radical nature to the character and, like, a willingness to, like, cut the gordian knot, but not necessarily to disrespect the things that are still facts of life.
20:16
Case
Like, you know, like I said, he could have done physically more, but he did it the right way here. Sort of, you know, sort of.
20:23
Adam
Yeah.
20:24
Case
However you want to talk about that, he's still scary and he still ripped apartheid. Side note, who is this governor that has a steel vault for his bedroom?
20:31
Adam
I was like, what's that thing? He's just a really paranoid governor, but rightfully so, I guess, because people are always busting in.
20:40
Case
It made me think of Dune, where when the hunter seeker just shows up in Paul's room and it's like, oh, that's a fact of life, where things just try to murder you in your sleep all the time.
20:48
Adam
But I have a question about. Because you mentioned the book that you read was like a prequel to this, kind of. Did they, was that the adventure of capturing this, the true murderer here? Because I was.
21:01
Case
No. No. Okay. It's like a longer story of a young Clark Kent first getting through high school and then traveling around with a photographer. He meets up who had run afoul Lex Luthor when I say it leads up and basically cuts off heat at action comics one sort of, like Superman makes his public debut and people are still kind of discussing if it's a real thing or not. Okay. And then Lex Luthor, who he tangles with in that book, goes into hiding and sort of setting the stage for his return later in the series.
21:36
Adam
I was just wondering, because I was surprised on this read through. Like, I think I forgot that it starts, like, at the end of one of his adventures. Pretty much, yeah. It seems like a very. It's an unconventional structure for something so old. I don't know.
21:52
Case
Yeah, it feels like the serials, like, looking at, like, the, we've talked about the radio show a lot, and, like, when you just jump into any radio show episode, it's either a continuation of the current story arc or it's the end of the previous one or it might be like, or it was teased at the end of the last episode and they're picking up with, like, the tease just being expounded upon. Like, we just did the second Superman Batman crossover ever. Like, ever. And the opening of it, like, half the episode, is them dealing with a bunch of little people upstate who stole gold. And I started listening to this episode, and we had guests coming on who I wasn't sure how they were going to respond. And I'm like, did I start them off on just a random ass episode that has.
22:36
Case
And then halfway through, it shifts into, like, oh, no, that we're back from upstate dealing with the little people. Like, they call them dwarves and all that. It's like, oh, well, we're going to go head off to the y with Dick Grayson. Okay, cool. Oh, I guess we're back in the story. Okay, cool.
22:55
Jmike
That was a fun story.
22:57
Adam
It was.
22:57
Case
But it was a real weird opening, and it feels like that here. And that kind of storytelling would have been popular for radio shows. It would have been popular for the serial picture shows that you would see before you go to see a larger movie or, like, the Saturday morning stuff. So because everything's done in these formats where while the stories aren't necessarily connected, they bleed into each other so as to keep the audience on the hook. And this feels like the kind of writing for people who are, like, obsessed with those kind of things.
23:24
Adam
Get the wheels moving right away.
23:27
Case
Yeah, yeah, exactly. Like, these are. These are nerds. Like, there are people, like, they're into the pop culture of the day, and the pop culture of the day has lots of stories that pick up halfway through. It's the same way that Lucas, obviously not for the original release of it, but went back and made Star wars episode four to hint that, oh, yeah, it's a bigger story that we're just jumping into the middle of.
23:47
Adam
Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, that's a good observation.
23:51
Case
So someday someone's got to do the Superman prequels or not, or we're good without it.
23:57
Adam
I'm good without it. I kind of like just picking up midway. I like that.
24:02
Case
Oh, yeah. It's definitely the better way to do it.
24:03
Adam
We don't need prequels to everything.
24:05
Case
But then we get the spot that we mentioned. That really took me by surprise. The one thing that I honestly didn't remember where he says, good, I'm not mentioned. And that part I thought was such a cool element there. It's the thing I've said a bunch where Superman starts off more as a title. It's a Superman or the Superman, as opposed to just us having this familial nature with the character being like, oh, Superman's here to save the day.
24:31
Adam
Yeah. We think of it almost feels like what we think of Batman now of, like, his origins usually start with like, oh, he's a myth. No one's quite sure. A lot of these older Superman stories on the read through is very much like, oh, yes. And we don't think about Superman like that anymore. But that was a huge part of his early stories.
24:53
Case
Yeah. And again, like, in a world where we're all used to the idea of comic book superheroes, it doesn't seem so groundbreaking. But here it's like, the next panel is like, gentlemen, I still can't believe my senses. He's not human. Yeah. You know, it's because it would be like baffling to any person to actually encounter a being who could just, even the mundane examples he has here, which is he breaks a door, he gets shot, but doesn't die. Mundane is in quotes, and then rips apart a steel door.
25:23
Adam
Yeah.
25:24
Case
But relative to other stuff Superman can do, this is all fairly, like, low effort, but it still would just like, it changes your paradigm of how you would approach the world.
25:36
Adam
Yes. Everyone who's doing wrong in this issue, it's very much like, oh, this changes everything. We can't. Whatever system that thought it was on top is now turned upside down.
25:51
Case
Yeah. And then we pick up with Clark Kent at the newspaper Daily Star. The Daily Star, yes. Although I don't think they say George Taylor at any point.
26:01
Jmike
I just says, chief.
26:02
Case
Yeah. Again, just stuff I conflate between this and Superman one I do like, where it's just like, oh, we just got a hot tip that there is a wife beater. And he's just like, I'm on it.
26:11
Adam
A lot of newspapers get calls that like, hey, someone's getting beat right now.
26:16
Case
Go cover it. I mean, it's got to be real bad, I guess. And, like, good thing he shows up to stop it, because apparently it's bad enough that someone called the newspaper.
26:24
Jmike
Yeah, yeah.
26:25
Case
I mean, I guess, like, the guy specifically is, like, holding a phone. Maybe he might have some connection to, like, police lines or something like that.
26:31
Adam
A phoned tip, it says.
26:33
Case
Yeah, who knows?
26:35
Jmike
Maybe a neighbor typed in.
26:37
Case
But thank Christ, he shows up and is just like, yeah, like, what do you think you're doing? I'm going to throw you against the wall now.
26:46
Jmike
Dude, you asked for it. He's straight up. Like, he doesn't ask any questions. He just runs in and takes care of the problems.
26:55
Case
Well, when you walk in and there's a dude holding a belt like that, it's pretty obvious who's at fault here.
27:01
Jmike
Yeah. He gets stabbed.
27:03
Case
Yeah. And then the dude faints. Yeah. And. Yeah. Again, like, that is the type of thing where if you. I mean, obviously, this is not a good person who's, like, flabbergasted at this all, but if you had a knife and you tried to stab a person and the knife bent on their skin, that would be. That would make you question some things about the world.
27:21
Adam
Yeah. So much so that you faint.
27:24
Case
Yeah.
27:24
Adam
You get the vapors and you faint. Classic scene, though.
27:29
Case
Yeah, I know. It totally sets up this, like, Superman, who really does care about defending the weak.
27:34
Adam
There's a reason that when people talk about golden age Superman, this is like, the second sentence they say is these six panels as mentioned.
27:43
Case
You know, it's crazy to think, like, you can look at these and imagine these really being, like, a newspaper strip. They're all formatted in the horizontal line. Most of them are three panels. If they're two, they're wide panels. A lot of the language of comics hadn't really been developed yet, so there's no big splash panels. There's nothing quite like that. And you can see that they weren't sure what the medium was yet. Comic books as its own thing was a relatively new concept as a whole. Comics initially were collections of the newspaper funnies. So you can really see those bones are very much still apart here. But then the cops show up, and Superman's almost gambling on them, searching him to find out that he's got his costume on underneath. It's such a shame.
28:34
Case
And then he goes and asks out Lois on a date, and she's actually.
28:37
Adam
Says, yes, I suppose I'll give you.
28:41
Case
A break for a change.
28:42
Adam
For a change. It's kind of a thing that's outdated now, but I think it is undeniably something that made the character connect with people so early is that Siegel was really projecting. Oh, girls don't know that I'm maybe a better guy than I look on that, on the outside, you know, that's definitely in full effect here.
29:07
Case
Yeah. Like the whole, I mean, the secret identity part, like, the element of, again, talking about, like, how Superman kind of, like, relates with maturation. A lot of people, as they're coming into their own, aren't really sure of their own value. And if they're confident, it might be about a thing that other people maybe don't see. And I think that can be taken toxic levels for some people. Like, there's a lot of, like, I'm really the nice guy kind of energy nowadays, but I. That's. I don't think that the root of it is the problem. I think that too many people internalize it negatively and too much of our culture is built around it. But I think that here we can still see that it's, you know, it's well deserved. And he's confident in plenty of other spaces.
29:46
Case
He just is dealing with Lois Lane, the fiercest person in comics.
29:52
Adam
Did you ever hear that thing that it was famously drawn as? Is it Siegel's future wife?
30:00
Case
Yeah, Siegel's future wife.
30:01
Adam
Yeah, but it. Yeah, I really hid myself that I forgot the name. It's being the introduction of my book that I have now. But there's a little, if you research a little further, the personality very much seems like it was based on a lois in their classroom that he probably had a crush on.
30:23
Case
Yeah. Like, there's definitely a lot of, like, projection going on from Siegel going into the character of Clark Kent.
30:29
Adam
He was still. Yeah, like, Schuster. He was still a teenager writing this, and it does show in some places, but that's also why I think a lot of people connected with it.
30:39
Case
Yeah. And I gotta say, like, you know, Lois Lane is often used as the, ur, example of, like, the damsel in distress. And while she is in distress, at one point in here, I never feel like it's a result of any kind of flaw with her so much as just people are not great. Like, they go to this nightclub and gangsters are like, come on, toots, let's have a dance. And Clark's like, well, maybe if you just let it go, have a dance with them, we can leave right after that. And she's like, you spineless coward. And slaps the monster, tries to storm off, and they follow her in her car. It's a different kind of vibe.
31:14
Jmike
Also, the. Clark changed to go to the club because it looks like he's wearing the same suit that he went to work.
31:20
Adam
He's only got the one suit.
31:23
Case
I mean, it is the depression.
31:25
Adam
Yeah. You know, he's on a reporter's salary. He spent his last two nickels on that.
31:31
Case
Meanwhile, Lois is in, like, a very nice, like, fetching red dress and, like, a fur coat or not a fur coat. Like, a nice blue overcoat versus, like, I don't know what you would call it. I guess it's a blouse.
31:42
Adam
We don't know. We don't know. We don't know the fashion.
31:47
Case
I can see it's plaid. That's all I can say to it.
31:50
Adam
But no, it is cool. Like she is until a long time in the future. She'll be a damsel in distress for a long stretch of the comics. But she is famous for having a personality, at least. And she gets in those troubles because of her strong personality.
32:10
Case
Yeah, usually the trouble is she's a reporter who stumbled on some criminals. Literally anyone would get tied up because.
32:18
Adam
She'S busy and, like, has her own stuff going on.
32:21
Case
Are you watching Superman and Lois?
32:23
Adam
I'm a few episodes behind.
32:25
Case
I am too. But there was an episode this season where she and her father, who in Superman, Lois is the general Sam Lane, where they're tied up and she's like, the dad's trying to break free and she's like, that's the wrong kind of night. Just like, fighting is the wrong kind of knot. Fighting. It is just going to make it tighter. And he's like, how many times have you been tied up?
32:47
Adam
That's a good bit.
32:48
Case
And it's just like, that's just part of the deal. When you're lowest Lane, random ass gangsters are going to tie you up and try to do stuff, but you'll get away because you're lowest Lane.
32:58
Adam
I feel like we're going to, this is a little bit of a tangent because there's obviously a lot of backlash to how much Lois has saved and how much romantic interest should be saved. I feel like that's not a, it doesn't diminish her to be saved, I don't think. But it should be balanced out with more her saving Superman on the flip side, which is more rare because I don't think if they're husband and wife as they are now. If I'm talking about, like, modern era, I don't think there's any shame in saying, like, yeah, sometimes your loved one's gonna help you out.
33:33
Case
Yeah. Oftentimes with her being more focused as the reporter, like, clark's a reporter too, but her being, like, doing these, like, big deep dives, like, oftentimes the biggest change, you know, getting back to, like, what is the social good of their work? Oftentimes it's her, like, discovering corruption or, like, getting to the root of some sort of problem. And Superman is like, effectively, you know, his own. He is assisting in that as well, but he's also preventing her from getting killed and, like, being a bodyguard in a situation. And she's doing, like, honestly, the bigger, actual work.
34:02
Adam
Sure.
34:04
Jmike
Because we wanted the radio dramas that we did. They were in a plane and they dropped drive the plane because she was being too much of a nuisance to them. She was fighting them back. And they were like, well, just kick her out the plane.
34:19
Case
Classic Lois.
34:22
Jmike
Superman was like, oh, no.
34:25
Adam
And those radio dramas rule, though. They really. Lois kind of thrived in those too, didn't she? Because there was so, like, detective based.
34:33
Jmike
Yeah, because Lois was usually, she would be investigating and she would get herself kind of in trouble, but she never really went down easy. She always made them work to capture her. But a lot of times she could get herself out. But, like, Superman would just come in and, like, bulldoze his way through a couple of scenes.
34:51
Adam
Sure.
34:51
Case
Yeah. Like, we recently reread the man of Steel, John Byrne, Mini and I. What is it, issue three that reveals Lex Luthor where or no, issue four is Lex Luthor and he plans to have terrorists just show up on this boat. And her response is she kicks a guy in the nuts, steals the Uzi and definitely has a body count just for that. Superman shows up to save the day. But by save the day, I mean stop more casualties from happening from below. A slain, which is. It's a take.
35:27
Adam
Shit.
35:28
Case
So she storms out after Clark Kent is a coward and she calls a cab. But all the gangsters are like, that damn broad, she slapped my face. And they chase after her cab. But meanwhile, Superman is also stalking them. So they run the cab off the road. They take Lois, and then Superman shows up toy with them first by, like, in a real, like, vampire fiction kind of way, you know, or like a. Like a monster movie kind of way where, like, you see a person and, like, in your headlights and then, like, where'd they go? Where'd they go? They're behind us. It's chasing after, like, it's, like you said, like, it's. It's preternatural. It's. It doesn't necessarily feel like a good guy so much as, like, this scary outside of reality kind of thing.
36:10
Adam
Yeah. I take it, too, as this kind of bravado. This confidence is kind of lost in a lot of modern Superman too, you know, like that kind of the toying with them, as you say.
36:22
Case
Yeah.
36:23
Adam
Now he's maybe for better or worse, it's straight to business. But there is kind of a little charm, I think, lost in when, you know, he just has something totally under control and he plays a little bit.
36:37
Case
Yeah, I was thinking about that. When he leaps over the car as it's heading towards him and then runs after it. And I guess if he is so fast that he can easily catch up to a cardinal, a parent, kind of like chasing a toddler down or a cat chasing a mouse down, you know?
36:54
Adam
Oh, man, that ran.
36:55
Case
There's no chance that car's getting away.
36:57
Adam
Yes.
36:58
Jmike
I was kind of disappointed that, like, at no part during this whole thing does he go, this looks like a job for Superman. I was waiting for it to happen.
37:07
Case
Yeah.
37:08
Adam
Is that a thing that must have been. First appeared in the radio show, right?
37:12
Jmike
Yeah, I think that thing to happen.
37:13
Case
The radio show.
37:14
Jmike
I was expecting it to happen here a couple times.
37:17
Case
That was a radio show thing because that always gave Bud Collier the opportunity to change his voice from Clark Kent to Superman at that moment.
37:24
Adam
This looks like a job for Superman.
37:26
Case
Superman, exactly. Well, I'll just duck into this closet over here, unbutton my tie, and this looks like a job for Superman. Then we get a shot that honestly might be the first spot where the argument of is Superman jumping or flying comes up. So after he, like, takes down, after he picks up the car, shakes the guys loose, smashes it in. Just a recreation of the COVID He grabs one of them and takes him up a telephone pole. I think what he's doing is he's holding onto, like, one of the climbing hooks.
37:57
Adam
Yeah.
37:58
Case
Like, in, like, a circus performer kind of way.
38:00
Adam
It looks like he's got his legs straddled around the pole.
38:04
Case
Well, that's when he's, like, climbing up in the next page. Like, the top left panel there. He's totally horizontal. And, like, I don't. Like I said, I think he's clearly holding onto the pole. So I think it's just showing that he's, like, so strong that he can, like, be full horizontal holding onto this, like, hook.
38:19
Adam
Sure.
38:19
Case
But I could definitely see how that could be, like, the first spot where you're like, wait, is he flying or jumping?
38:24
Adam
I do have something to say about first flight, because if we. If we. I like how this is kind of turning into talking about golden age Superman in general, but.
38:31
Case
Oh, yeah.
38:32
Adam
A lot. A lot of people say first flight is from the Fleischer cartoon. Right. I think, like, the change, it happened first in the radio show, and they beat the cartoon by, like, six months or something. If I looked it up once, like, because.
38:51
Case
Well, yeah. Cause the Fleischer cartoon was using the team from the radio show. They had all the voice actors reprise their roles.
38:56
Adam
Sure. But the story goes that they didn't want to animate so much jumping that it would be easier to animate flight. And so that's why flight was created, which is probably true. But it is also true that before that the radio show described, they either use the word hovering or floating above something.
39:17
Case
Like, a lot of times they're like, he was just flying through the air.
39:20
Adam
Sure. But you can see lots of language. They say floating. I think that's the solid. They did it first. And the radio show doesn't get enough credit for how much stuff they brought in.
39:32
Case
Oh, God. So, I mean, so much stuff. Like, last time we talked about the radio show, we, like, rattled off a bunch. But like, Perry White, the Daily Planet, Jimmy Olsenite.
39:40
Adam
Jimmy Olsen, by the way, I'm gonna go. That's another. I hate this. If you look up first appearance of Jimmy Olsen, they'll say, I forget the number, but they say, action comics number three or something. Right, right.
39:54
Case
It's like a newsboy with red hair.
39:55
Adam
Yeah, it's newsboy with blonde hair and a bowtie. Never named in one panel. That is. I say, no, that does not. The first appearance of Jimmy Olsen and radio show needs full credit for Jimmy Olsen.
40:09
Case
Oh, yeah. Especially for Jimmy Olsen as a character.
40:12
Adam
Yes.
40:13
Case
Even if you're trying to be like, oh, yeah, well, we headcanon, it's this guy. Like, no, it's Jimmy Olsen shows up fully formed in the show with an.
40:19
Adam
Intent to be Jimmy Olsen. The equivalent would have been if you looked up a silver age Batman comic and you see a lady dressed as a clown. You say, oh, no, the animated series didn't make Harley Quinn. This comic did.
40:31
Case
Right.
40:32
Adam
Yeah, that's just a little rant for me.
40:36
Case
We're always down to rant about the radio show. And, you know, it's fitting for us to, like, talk about everything that, you know, comes from it. Like, there's a conversation about what is the golden age Superman? And then there's a conversation about what is action comics number one Superman. You know, like, where are, where is that difference? Right there? Like we said, like, all these, like, trappings that have been part of the character for, like, 80 years just aren't here yet. It's so early there. And it's interesting to see those things versus then what we think are more, in quotes, modern stuff from the sixties.
41:13
Case
When we get to the world's finest stuff, the proper flying parts, the actual pentagon shape of the S symbol, all the kryptonites, all the things that become such a part of Superman, his giant rogues gallery of very weird supervillains.
41:30
Adam
Yes.
41:30
Case
All that is so much later from this 14 page story here.
41:34
Adam
For a lot of years. Yeah, it's just regular life stuff. He's the only one who is like Superman, which is kind of cool. Like, he's. He's just undeniably the strongest person on earth.
41:45
Case
Yeah.
41:46
Adam
Despite being much less powered than he is, how we think of him.
41:49
Case
Yeah. It's cool that after this, we, you know, so we get the lowest little bit again. Again. So many stories happen in this 14 page story. Yeah, we've got this lowest escapade where we get the famous panel of, like, you needn't be afraid of me. I won't harm you. That shot that people have recreated, Alex Ross is a really good version of that, painted really cool. We get him leaping, carrying Lois, then we have such a dick move earlier in the comics. It's like, I can't believe my senses. The superman's real. Lois is trying to explain it to the editor, again, unnamed. He's like, are you sure? He did see pink elephants?
42:27
Adam
Classic.
42:28
Case
It's such. I can't believe you. You're a woman and like, fuck off, man.
42:33
Adam
I do. I do love, this actually is like one of my favorite lowest moments ever. Because the panel before that is Superman saying, I'd advise you not to print this little episode. And then immediate cut next morning. But I tell you, I saw Superman last night. It's just immediate that seems like maybe I'm like, she did not take that advice.
42:54
Case
Exactly.
42:55
Adam
I feel like I probably don't give, like, the thirties enough credit, but that's like, kind of an advanced gag from Jerry Seagull. Like, he was kind of like a funny guy. He wanted to write, like, comedy stuff. And I think that he did. That's kind of a funny bit for Lois.
43:10
Case
Yeah. I mean, there's always been, like, a bit of irony to Siegel's writing. Like, the original, the reign of the Superman story that precedes this, where he's a bad guy. Like, one of the things that's part of it is that he goes off and has this hedonistic experience of being so powerful, and then his powers fade and he's back into waiting in line to get food at a shelter and that he could have made the world a better place, but he decided to be a douchebag first. And when his powers were fading, like, oh, I could have done the right stuff. It's like a twilight zone kind of vibe to it all where, like I said, it's this irony to it that I think shows the level of sophistication that we tend to dismiss in these early books.
43:56
Adam
I think definitely kind of underestimate what a teenager in the thirties like. His sense of humor, his sense of pacing. Here, it's pretty good.
44:08
Case
So then we get super. We get a little header at the top. Clark receives an assignment and he decides to go off instead of. What I can only imagine is he's given an advance and then decides to, like, go to a totally different place to deal with more serious corruption because he takes the train, which I did find kind of amusing just because the radio show, as soon as he gets hired, it's like, okay, we'll go get you plane fare. And immediately he's like, I don't need it. Just fucks off and leaps across the country to California in this. He's like, no, I'll take the train. It's fine. Rest my heels. And then he goes and picks on a senator and a lobbyist.
44:47
Case
Man, I felt so vindicated in that one because, like, modern era, we often talk about how there's too much money in politics and so forth. And it's like, it's nice to see that it's not good that it's still an issue. Like, it's not good that it was an issue then and we haven't fixed it. But it is, like, good to see that people were thinking about it then. Like it is. I'm trying to take this the best way. And being like, oh, yeah, Superman wants to stop that kind of shit. Like, all right, I'm here for that. Like, that's. That's the story that I do. Like, having been told. Like, Superman sees that this guy is trying to pay off senators and have private meetings and instead he decides torture him by dangling him from electrical cables.
45:27
Case
Yeah, no one dies as long as they're not grounded up. I might be about touch a thing.
45:32
Adam
Oops. You think about too. They grew up in, like you said, depression eradic Cleveland, which was very, from my understanding, you know, not a good situation, very mob run. And I think that really reflects, like, this is how he wished it could go down, you know?
45:53
Case
Yeah. This idea of introducing a person who doesn't have to listen to the existing power structures. Yeah. Because I'm sure, like, coming off, like, when this comes out. Because again, this comes out before World War two. So that means that we are in the wake of World War one. We're in the. We are in the midst of the tail end, but still the midst of the Great Depression. And World War two is not a surprise to anyone. It's not like, oh, hey, no one could have seen this coming. Literally everyone saw it coming. And in fact, the US involvement in it all comes after it's been going for a while. So there's certainly this feeling that there's a lot of inevitability.
46:30
Case
There is a lot of inertia to the world, that one thing leads to the next thing, that leads to the next thing, and, you know, like the roaring twenties leading to the depression, like, the fact that Germany's at it again. I mean, it's more complicated than that, but there's a certain vibe of, like, oh, well, no matter how hard we try to do things, like, we keep getting stuck in these cycles of violence and abuse. And Superman is a figure who is outside of all that and is able to interact and shift how things are supposed to work. Yeah, I mean, like, he goes to the Capitol in the first issue and, like, harasses a senator. Like, that's awesome.
47:09
Adam
Carries him by the foot through the city. It just humiliates him. They kind of, they kind of show him whining.
47:15
Jmike
Also, was he, was he hanging off the side of the building while he's listening to them, or is he just jumping up?
47:21
Case
Oh, it looks like he's hanging.
47:24
Jmike
He's dropping on it the entire time. Just hanging up there by his fingertips?
47:27
Case
Yeah, I think so. And then he jumps onto the cupola of the capitol and then jumps from it to a nearby building. And then this is a great spot where it's, like, missed, doggone it. Which makes me wonder, like, did that guy die? Even if he's being carried, like. And Superman crashes hard. Like, that's a lot of, again, inertia is.
47:49
Adam
That's the last panel.
47:52
Case
And then the next is like, superman's a sensational character. We'll be back next time.
47:56
Adam
I will say we may. That's a kind of a, a weak last line. This issue took off for a reason. You can definitely tell it would make an impression. But the last line being, shoot that. That's kind of, that's a little. That needed rework.
48:17
Case
Well, imagine if this issue only, like, if it was just this issue. Cause, like, looking at it's like, oh, yeah, it's kind of like amazing fantasy xv where it's like, not really. It's not a Superman book. It's just, they did a Superman story. And, like, if this issue never, like, if it didn't sell well, it could have just been a one and done and that story could have ended with, like, the last thing Superman ever says is doggone it.
48:37
Adam
Yeah.
48:37
Case
Yeah. It's just so weird looking at this snippet of time where the character wasn't the cultural phenomenon that he would be like. Even by the time you get to Superman hash one, he was, like, revolutionized a medium, established firmly, a genre that had never existed before in the way that it does. Obviously, there's comparisons you can make with Wily's the gladiator or pulp Fiction stuff like the Shadow or Tarzan or John Carter. And obviously, there's going back to grecian heroes and demigods and tall tales of people who could wrestle rivers and so forth. That by itself isn't new.
49:12
Case
But to have this sort of, through the conceits of the science of the world, a character that can exist this way, who has this sort of motivation to do good and is being depicted in this very visual format, it's so crazy to look at how revolutionary this all is and then realize that, like, we can't imagine. Like, our brains just can't imagine a world without superheroes.
49:33
Adam
There's so many things, like you said. Yeah. He's very inspired by Tarzan, John Carter, a lot of Doc Sampson, even though they wouldn't admit it.
49:41
Case
Oh, Clark with the fortress of solitude.
49:43
Jmike
Yeah.
49:44
Adam
There's so many factors in here, though. The suit, the identity, the constant action and the willingness of what he's going to do. You see how this is the spot of now those guys are superheroes, that the medium has been elevated and evolved into this next thing. It's such a clear point of that. That's why there's little debate why he's the first and not why Tarzan is not the superhero. Superman is the superhero.
50:14
Case
Yeah. I mean, like, that's not to say that those weren't influential.
50:16
Adam
No, they're very influential.
50:17
Case
There is a part of California named.
50:19
Adam
After Tarzan, and then I do. I know we aren't going to talk about this, but I just happen to, like, turn the page because my. The book I'm reading for does have Zatara after it. And it's. It's a. It's a tough read. It's. I'm just very conscious of, like, if I was a kid, and then I got to Zatara next. It's a lot of black, and it's a lot of kind of more basic ideas. I can see why Superman was. It's the clear choice to put on the COVID and it's the obvious winner of the series.
50:55
Case
Yeah. Can you imagine if they just went with a picture of Zataara pulling a rabbit out of his hat or something. People would just be like, oh, action comics. Astounding magic with Zatara. He says things backwards. Yeah. So again, it's astounding looking at this and realizing how much I had just inserted details. Again, the Krypton stuff, the Monpa Kent. All the stuff that's like Superman hash one. It's surprising to see how much story is packed into 14 pages. Again, this is only part of an issue. It's not even the full issue by itself. And we've talked about multiple arcs that if Brian Michael Bendis Washington writing this would have been like a year worth of stories.
51:35
Jmike
Yes.
51:37
Case
Not to put too much shade on Bendis, but he likes to decompress. And this is very compressed. Like, there's a lot. It's very packed. It's a really cool read.
51:46
Adam
Yeah.
51:46
Jmike
If it hadn't taken off like you said, miss Doggone, it would have been the last words we'd ever heard.
51:53
Case
So I'm really glad that we actually had a chance to look at this now because we had talked about doing a couple different things but specifically, were looking at some silver age stuff. So I'm glad that we extended our time in the golden age of Superman a little bit longer and actually got a chance to talk about the first appearance of Superman because it's amazing that we're 90 plus episodes in. We actually haven't talked about this issue yet.
52:17
Adam
Calling us out, you guys, you should do more silver age stuff, though. I gotta defend the silver age a little bit.
52:24
Case
Oh, I love the silver age too. But, like, we've been doing some golden age material. So I'm, like, really glad that we could, like, going for a minute.
52:30
Adam
I have one more anecdote.
52:32
Case
Yeah, go for it.
52:33
Adam
I just thought it was worth mentioning because it's kind of a really cool, like, tourist spot that I recommend doing is I visited in Cleveland Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's childhood homes and.
52:48
Jmike
Oh, really?
52:49
Adam
Yeah. The interesting thing about it is I wanted to. This is, like, the nerdiest thing I've ever done. I wanted to.
52:56
Case
You're on a podcast with two people who talk about Superman on a bi weekly basis. You're in good company.
53:02
Adam
I thought it'd be neat to walk from Jerry to Joe's house because I had read that's how, you know, that's what they did. Jerry would walk to Joe's house and then they go up to his room and work on the story. And it was kind of cool. Like, Jerry Siegel's house is all, whoever's living there now, they're both, like, preserved, you know, monuments now, which is its own story, but it has, like, a bunch of Superman stuff on it. Like, whoever's living there now, like, really leaned into it. And then Joe's house seems very, like, guarded. Like, they have cameras everywhere, and they have a fence around it. But the cool thing is, on the fence are large, blown up pages of action number one.
53:43
Adam
So it was a very cool experience to read action comics number one right in front of the house where they worked out the character. Like, you would read a page, and then I'd look up on the window and be like, oh, was that the room where, you know. So that's just a very cool location. I recommend for superman fans if they want to make a pilgrimage.
54:06
Case
That's awesome. I remember on Twitter you had shared some pictures of that trip, and, like, it's cool that I don't think I processed that. Like, they have the actual pages up. Like, that's awesome.
54:15
Adam
Yeah, that's, like, my pinned tweet.
54:17
Case
That's so cool. Yeah. So, Adam, thank you for suggesting that we actually talk about this one. That wasn't originally on the docket for us, but in this particular run of doing golden age material, because we kind of, like, jump around. So I'm really glad that we got this in because it's so much fun to look at. There's so much energy and so much excitement in it, and it's so new at this spot.
54:39
Adam
My God, thank you. Thank you so much for letting me do this episode. First time guests getting action number one, that's, like, a big ass. But you guys, let me do it. That's, like, if I had asked if you're going on a podcast about restaurants, and you're like, fine, I want to do McDonald's.
55:00
Case
Well, I mean, there's. The nice part with Superman is there's so many amazing, important stories to talk about that kind of like what we keep saying. It's really easy to forget what is in this specifically as opposed to later iterations and all the things that we take for granted with Superman. Yeah. So, again, thank you for coming on. Do you have anything, any closing thoughts or anything you want to, like, any plugs you want to give? You know, this is your. This is a moment for you to beat all the spotlight on you.
55:29
Adam
Nah. Okay. No, I was just happy to be here. I got nothing.
55:34
Case
All right, well, and where can people find you if they want to follow you and look for that pinned tweet.
55:40
Adam
Oh, surecuperman on Twitter. That's it.
55:43
Case
All right, Jay Mac, do you have anything that's going on right now? Do you want to? Where can people find you?
55:49
Jmike
I'm really thinking about putting that mistog on it as like, the banner. I'm seriously considering that.
56:00
Case
That's a pretty good one.
56:03
Jmike
That'd be awesome. You can find me on Twitter.
56:07
Case
Yes. People should go to jmike 101 and then ask him why he hasn't made that his banner on Twitter yet. I really keep on bugging him until.
56:13
Adam
He does release of this episode. I'm checking, everybody. Check and just inundate it with messages.
56:20
Jmike
That's hilarious.
56:23
Case
You heard that, everyone? You have homework. You have to go and you have to harass this man. As for me, you can find me on twitter. Ace Aiken. You can find the podcast men of steelpod. You can find episodes of the show over@certainpov.com where we also have tons of other great shows, one that you should check out. That is a new addition to our network is the United States of women's podcast, which is a show that has migrated to certain pov from the now defunct geek Elite media podcast Network, where each season Elizabeth and Jessica go through state by state looking at eight important women from those states. That's a little less discussed in history.
57:02
Case
And I think it's such a cool format to really like, look, you know, they started with Delaware, which is, as their license plate will tell you, the first state and have worked there are, they're working their way through. So it's a really cool project, and I'm just so excited that we get to do something that's cool and educational on our network now. So that's a really cool one to check out. Lots of great shows@certainpov.com. Though, so you should check those out. I host a couple of other ones, but the big one you should check out is another pass. When this episode drops, we will have just talked about the movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer as a crossover with Saturday morning Confidential, which is doing a whole bunch of Buffy material. So check all that out. And until next time, stay super man.
57:45
Jmike
Men of Steel is a certain pov production. Our hosts are J. Mike Folson and case Aiken. The show is edited by Matt Storm. Our logo is by Chris Bautista. Episode art is by case Aiken, and our theme is by Jeff Moon.
58:03
Case
Missed. Doggone it.
58:07
Speaker 4
All right, Josue, let's go through our new comic day stack. We have a lot to review. I know maybe we've gone too far. Let's see. Marvel, of course. DC. I got image. Dark horse. Black mask.
58:19
Case
Boom.
58:20
Speaker 4
Idw. Aftershock vault. Of course. Madcave, Oni. Valiant scout. Magma, behemoth. Wow, that's a lot. Well, all we need now is a name for our show. We need a name for our show about reviewing comic books every week. Something clever. The not too clever, like a pun. It's kind of cheesy. Yeah, something that seems funny at first but we might regret later on as an impulsive decision. A few dozen episodes in. Yeah, we'll think of something. Join Keith and Oswei for we have issues, a weekly show reviewing almost every new comic released each week, available on Geek elite, Mediaev, and wherever you listen to your podcasts.
59:00
Case
Hey, Nerf herders, you sure you want.
59:03
Speaker 5
To go with that?
59:03
Case
Hey, everyone.
59:05
Speaker 5
There we go. More inviting.
59:08
Case
Have you ever had a movie that you really wanted to love, but something holds you back?
59:12
Speaker 5
Or one that you did love in spite of a flaw?
59:15
Case
Well, I'm case Aiken.
59:16
Speaker 5
And I'm Sam Alisea.
59:17
Case
And on another pass, we sit down with cool guests to look at movies that we find fascinating but flawed, and we try to imagine what could have been done when they were made to give them that little push.
59:28
Speaker 5
We're not experts. We just believe in criticism.
59:31
Case
Constructive criticism, sure. But come take another pass at some.
59:36
Speaker 5
Movies with us, and every now and then, we can celebrate movies that did it on their own, too.
59:41
Case
You can find us@certainpov.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
59:45
Speaker 5
Pass it on.
59:49
Case
Cpov certainpov.com.