Action Comics #388

Action Comics #388 (On Sale: March 26, 1970) has a cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson. I remember falling for this cover gag and trying to count everything that was wrong on it.

Our cover-story is "Puzzle of the Wild World" by Cary Bates, Curt Swan and George Roussos. I think the answer to the cover question was that nothing was wrong, that on the planet it was depicting, everything was normal, but it has been a while and I might have that wrong. As I have mentioned earlier, I sold most of my Weisinger books in the late 70s.

The back-up Legion of Super-Heroes story is "Sun Boy's Lost Power" reprinted from Adventure Comics #302 and created by Jerry Siegel and John Forte. After attending the dedication of a Sun Boy statue, Sun Boy finds that his powers of heat and light have stopped working. With the help of the Legionnaires, he tries to recharge himself by duplicating the accident that gave him those powers, but to no avail. After his powers briefly return in an entomologist’s office, he invites Ultra Boy and Superboy to concentrate their heat vision powers on him, still with no effect. Heartbroken, he resigns from the Legion, just as Kranyak, his old foe, breaks prison and comes after him.

More worried than before, Sun Boy realizes what it will take to recharge his powers, and deliberately walks into the blast of a Kryptonian flame-beast. With his abilities restored, he defeats Kranyak, and rejoins the Legion. He then explains that he needed the heat-energy of a living being to restore his power, and the Ultra Boy and Superboy present are robots, sent to take those heroes’ places while they celebrate Pete Ross’s birthday in the 20th century.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #122

Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #122 (On Sale: June 19, 1969) has a cover by Curt Swan and Neal Adams.

We begin with "A Date with Miss Metropolis" reprinted from Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #27 by Otto Binder, Curt Swan and Ray Burnley. Jimmy Olsen agrees to interview the winner of the Miss Metropolis contest. He thinks it was a beauty contest, so he tries to impress her. When he arrives though he finds out that she is ugly. He doesn’t want to hurt her feelings, but he tries to get out of dating her. However, everything Jimmy tries backfires. Finally, he disguises himself as an Englishman to romance Gloria. She jilts Jimmy, freeing him from her attention.

Next is "Jimmy Olsen, Freak" reprinted from Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #59 by Leo Dorfman, Curt Swan and George Klein. An alien girl comes to Earth and meets Jimmy. She wants to marry him and gives him a belt, which allows him to gain super-powers. Jimmy agrees to the marriage, but when he learns that Ilona has four other husbands, he wants to back out. Superman arranges to make Ilona believe Jimmy has two other wives, causing her to leave without him. Lucy Lane now wants to date Jimmy since he was seen with a beautiful woman.

That is followed by "The Girl Who Was Lucy Lane's Double" reprinted from Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #60 and by Robert Bernstein, Curt Swan and George Klein. Jimmy Olsen spots Streaky and sees the super-cat travel back in time. Jimmy uses the Sunevian Magic Belt given to him by Princess Ilona to follow Streaky back to colonial Salem. He meets a girl there named Lucinda Lawrence who resembles Lucy Lane. Jimmy’s actions using the magic belt get him branded a witch. Lucinda, who is a real witch, saves Jimmy from being killed and sends him back to his own time.

Our next story is "Jimmy Olsen, Wolf-Man" reprinted from Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #52 and by Jerry Siegel, Curt Swan and Stan Kaye. Mxyzptlk returns to Earth and becomes infatuated with Lucy Lane. When he approaches her however she claims to have a boyfriend already, Jimmy Olsen. The imp decides to eliminate Jimmy by once again using the wolfman potion to transform him into a Wolf-Man.

Superman arranges for Supergirl, whom Jimmy knows only as Miss X, to kiss Jimmy. This time however it does not revert Jimmy back to normal because of Mxyzptlk’s magic. Jimmy also receives kisses from Lois Lane, Lucy, Lori Lemaris and Lana Lang, but none are effective.

Miss Gzptlsnz, Mxyzptlk’s girlfriend, arrives, kisses Jimmy, and cures him. She then tricks the imp back to his own dimension and explains that her magic allowed Jimmy to return to normal.

Next is "Jimmy the Soda Jerk" reprinted from Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #58 by Robert Bernstein Curt Swan and George Klein. Jimmy Olsen goes undercover as a soda jerk to discover how ex-con drugstore owner, Legs Halleck is passing messages to his gang. Jimmy fumbles through his job trying to locate the hidden messages until he gets an idea. He asks a fat woman, Elsie, who has a crush on him to step on the scales of a weight machine. The machine dispenses a card with directions for the gang on it if the person is over 300 lbs. This helps Jimmy get proof against Halleck and his fat partner, Willie Paxton, who was receiving the messages.

That is followed by "The Human Porcupine" reprinted from Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #65 by Jerry Siegel, Curt Swan and George Klein. Miss Gzptlsnz from Mr. Mxyzptlk’s 5th dimension visits Earth seeking a husband. Jimmy tells her that he is not interested, then makes a cruel comment to Superman about her. Miss Gzptlsnz gets revenge by changing Jimmy into a human porcupine. She forces him to remain that way until he agrees to marry her. Jimmy tries and finally manages to get the imp girl to say her name backwards, returning her to the 5th dimension, reversing the spell, and returning Jimmy to normal.

We end with "Jimmy Olsen's Viking Sweetheart" reprinted from Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #69 and by Leo Dorfman and John Forte. Jimmy and his fan club visit a ski resort where Jimmy is once again jilted by Lucy Lane. The fan club uses a female robot to make Lucy jealous. Jimmy is unaware that his new girlfriend is a robot, but Lucy finds out and makes the robot dump Jimmy. When she is about to gloat, Lucy discovers that Jimmy was about to dump the robot himself because of his love for Lucy. Finally she decides to give Jimmy another chance.
Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Action Comics #377

Action Comics #377 (On Sale: April 29, 1969) has another Curt Swan and Neal Adams Superman cover.

Superman stars in "The Cage of Doom" by Otto Binder, Curt Swan and Jack Abel. Except for a mystery story in next month's House of Mystery and another mystery story to appear in nine years, this is Otto Binder's last story at DC as he retired this month after working in comics since 1939.

In 1930 Otto Oscar Binder began writing science fiction in tandem with his brother Earl; they worked under the pen-name Eando Binder ("E" and "O" Binder). Though Earl stopped the writing partnership at some point, Otto kept the nom de plume. In 1935 Otto began writing for Mort Weisinger who was editor at Thrilling Wonder Stories at the time and Ray Palmer (can anyone say "Atom?") who was editor of Amazing. It was for Palmer that Binder created the Adam Link series, including the famous "I, Robot" short story which later inspired Isaac Asimov's book of the same name.

In 1939 Otto Binder took a job working with his artist brother Jack Binder at the Harry "A" Chesler shop and in 1940 began writing for Fawcett Comics on such features as Captain Venture, Golden Arrow and Bulletman. But Otto Binder's best known work at Fawcett was Captain Marvel. In 12 years Otto Binder wrote 986 of the 1,743 Marvel Family stories and co-created such characters as Mary Marvel, Uncle Dudley, Black Adam and Mr. Mind.

Binder didn't limit himself to Fawcett. For Timely Comics he wrote Captain America, The Human Torch, Sub-Mariner, Destroyer, Whizzer and the All-Winners Squad. He also co-created Captain Wonder, The Young Allies, Tommy Tyme and Miss America. For Quality Comics he wrote Blackhawk, Doll Man, Uncle Sam and the Black Condor as well as co-creating Kid Eternity. At MLJ Comics he wrote Steel Sterling, The Shield, The Hangman and The Black Hood.

He started writing for DC in 1948 where he wrote Merry, Girl of 1,000 Gimmicks for Star-Spangled Comics. Over the years he wrote Green Arrow, Johnny Quick, Robotman, Aquaman, the Start-Spangled Kid, Tommy Tomorrow, Shining Knight, Captain Compass, Congo Bill, Space Cabbie and the Metal Men. But most of the time he wrote for the Superman Family. Superman would never be the same. Otto Binder created or co-created The Legion of Super-Heroes, Jimmy Olsen's signal watch, Elastic Lad, Lucy Lane, Beppo, Titano, Brainiac, The Phantom Zone, Krypto and Supergirl.

After leaving DC, Binder would return to writing science fiction until he died at the age of 63 in 1974. In all Otto Binder wrote almost 50,000 pages of comics in more than 198 different titles. He was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2004.

The back-up story is a reprinted Legion of Super-Heroes tale, "The Face Behind the Lead Mask," from Adventure Comics #300, produced by Jerry Siegel, John Forte and Al Plastino. During a routine meeting, the Legionnaires suddenly begin losing control over their powers. Even Superboy, whom they have summoned to the future, cannot discover the cause of their problem. After the World-Wide Police threaten to banish them from Earth, a lead-masked villain calling himself "Urthlo" appears and takes credit for their predicament.

Because Urthlo possesses a device that controls their powers, the heroes find themselves unable to stop him, until Saturn Girl and Superboy release Mon-El from the Phantom Zone, where he has been for 1000 years. After she provides him with Serum XY-4, a temporary lead-poisoning antidote, Mon-El defeats Urthlo, who turns out to be a robot sent into the future from Superboy’s time by a vengeful Lex Luthor.

After the battle, Mon-El must be returned to the Zone, but only after being voted into the Legion.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Young Romance #159

Young Romance #159 (On Sale: February 13, 1969) has a cover, I'm thinking, is penciled by editor Joe Orlando.

"Love Put Out the Light" is by persons unknown, "Ring of Gold" is a reprint from Heart Throbs #55 drawn by John Forte and Bernard Sachs, and "Enter Marriage... Exit Romance" is by persons unknown but was reprinted in Young Romance #204.

Edited by Joe Orlando.