Episode #117: Superman In TIME Magazine!

Superman, drawn by John Byrne, on the cover of Time Magazine for march 11 - 14, 1985!

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As we Commemorate DC Comics' 75th Anniversary, this episode we look at Superman as he was the week of March 14th, 1988, when Superman graced the cover of TIME Magazine. The article was written by Otto Friedrich, Beth Austin and Janice C. Simpson.

The cover can be seen at http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19880314,00.html, and the article can be read at http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,966978,00.html.

Next week: MEGACON 2010!

Join the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and MY PULL LIST groups on facebook, and follow the podcast and blogs on twitter @supermanpodcast.

SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST is a proud member of the LEAGUE OF COMIC BOOK PODCASTERS at http://www.comicbooknoise.com/league and the COMICS PODCAST NETWORK http://www.comicspodcasts.com/!

SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST is at http://thesupermanfanpodcast.blogspot.com/ . Send e-mail about this podcast to supermanfanpodcast@gmail.com.

MY PULL LIST is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com.

Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics.

Thanks for listening to the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

Episode #116: Happy Birthday, Irwin Donenfeld!

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Irwin Donenfeld was born on March 1, 1926, and died on November 29, 2004 (which would have been one day after my late mother's 66th birthday). His parents were DC Comics co-founder Harry Donenfeld and Gussie Donenfeld. Irwin and his wife had six children: Rita Lynn (a real estate agent who died in Kissimmee, Florida on November 24, 1990), Amy, Mimi, Ben, Harry and Luke (who received a Curt Swan sketch as recounted in episode 113: A CURT SWAN TOAST.

For more information about DC Comics' other founders listen to the following episodes: 94-Jack Liebowitz, 95-Harry Donenfeld and 108-Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson.

Next episode: SUPERMAN ON THE COVER OF TIME MAGAZINE!

Join the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and MY PULL LIST groups on facebook, and follow the podcast and blogs on twitter @supermanpodcast.

SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST is a proud member of the LEAGUE OF COMIC BOOK PODCASTERS at http://www.comicbooknoise.com/league and the COMICS PODCAST NETWORK! http://www.comicspodcasts.com/.

SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST is at http://thesupermanfanpodcast.blogspot.com/ . Send e-mail about this podcast to supermanfanpodcast@gmail.com.

MY PULL LIST is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com.

Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics.

Thanks for listening to the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

Episode #115: The Legion Of Super-Heroes!

Adventure Comics 247, the first appearance of The Legion Of Super-Heroes!

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As DC Comics celebrates its 75th Anniversary, this episode celebrates another important part of DC's legacy: The Legion Of Super-Heroes. They premiered in ADVENTURE COMICS 247, April 1948. This episode explores the various eras of Legion history:

- The classic Legion era: through ADVENTURE COMICS 380, May 1969.

- The "Disco" Legion, denoted by the art of Dave Cockrum and Mike Grell, whose art was published from SUPERBOY 184, April 1972 - SUPERBOY AND THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES 224, February 1977.

- The Baxter Era Legion, so named because of the type of paper stock used in this Legion title, LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES 1 (Volume III), August 1984 - 63, August 1989.

- The 5-Year Later Legion, named because it began 5 years, in story time, after the end of the Magic Wars which concluded the previous Legion title: LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES 1 (Volume IV), November 1989 - 125, March 2000.

- The 3-boot Legion, after the third change in legion continuity, which began with LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES 1 (Volume V) - 50, March 2009.

Also reviewed is current Legion stories and announced plans for the Legion for the near future, in the 21st Century at least, if not the 31st Century.

Next Episode: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, IRWIN DONENFELD!

Join the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and MY PULL LIST groups on facebook, and follow the podcast and blogs on twitter @supermanpodcast.

SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST is a proud member of the LEAGUE OF COMIC BOOK PODCASTERS at http://www.comicbooknoise.com/league and the COMICS PODCAST NETWORK! http://www.comicspodcasts.com/.

SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST is at http://thesupermanfanpodcast.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this podcast to supermanfanpodcast@gmail.com.

MY PULL LIST is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com.

Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics.

Thanks for listening to the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

Episode #114: Clark Kent's Forgotten Girlfriend!

Title panel for the second story in Superman 165!

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The featured Superman story for this belated Valentine's Day episode is THE SWEETHEART SUPERMAN FORGOT, the second story of SUPERMAN #165, November 1963, published around September 19, 1963. It was written by Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel and drawn by Al Plastino. It was reprinted in the trade paperbacks SUPERMAN IN THE SIXTIES and SHOWCASE PRESENTS: SUPERMAN vol. IV.

Also featured is the cover story for the issue, BEAUTY AND THE SUPER BEAST, written by Robert Bernstein, pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by George Klein. This story wsa also reprinted in SHOWCASE PRESENTS: SUPERMAN vol. IV.

Next episode: THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES!

Join the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and MY PULL LIST groups on facebook, and follow the podcast and blogs on twitter @supermanpodcast.

SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST is a proud member of the LEAGUE OF COMIC BOOK PODCASTERS at http://www.comicbooknoise.com/league and the COMICS PODCAST NETWORK! http://www.comicspodcasts.com/.

SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST is at http://thesupermanfanpodcast.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this podcast to supermanfanpodcast@gmail.com.

MY PULL LIST is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com.

Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics.

Thanks for listening to the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

Episode #113: A Curt Swan Toast!

Curt Swan, A Life In Comics by Eddy Zeno
Published by Vanguard Productions!

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Curt Swan was born on February 17, 1920 (NOTE: I mistakenly said 1910). To honor his birthday this year I want to share some of their thoughts on working with Curt Swan, as recorded in Eddy Zeno's book, CURT SWAN: A LIFE IN COMICS. The comic pros mentioned here are Mort Walker, Murphy Anderson, Carmine Infantino, Julius Schwartz, Sheldon Moldoff, Elliot S! Maggin (no typo), Len Wein, Mark Waid and Joe Kubert.

Next Episode: CLARK KENT'S FORGOTTEN GIRLFRIEND!

Join the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and MY PULL LIST groups on facebook, and follow the podcast and blogs on twitter @supermanpodcast.

SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST is a proud member of the LEAGUE OF COMIC BOOK PODCASTERS at http://www.comicbooknoise.com/league and the COMICS PODCAST NETWORK! http://www.comicspodcasts.com/.

SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST is at http://thesupermanfanpodcast.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this podcast to supermanfanpodcast@gmail.com.

MY PULL LIST is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com.

Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics.

Thanks for listening to the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

Episode #112: Superman Vs. The Fiery Cross!

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Since February is Black History Month, I thought it would be appropriate to dedicate the first episode of the month to a very small, but notable, role Superman played in the civil rights movement. In episodes which ran from June 10 - July 1, 1946, Superman fought a racist organization called THE CLAN OF THE FIERY CROSS, which was the name of the story. The rituals and code words used by the Clan came from real life Ku Klux Klan, through the eyewitness accounts of Klan infiltrator Stetson Kennedy.

This episode will summarize the plot of the radio show and a brief biography of Stetson Kennedy.

The sources used as research for this episode were:

http://www.supermanhomepage.com/radio/radio.php?topic=radio-reviews/070146-fierycross,

http://scan.net.au/scan/journal/display.php?journal_id=118,

http://www.ferris.edu/JIMCROW/question/july09/ NOTE: this website does not celebrate the Jim Crow era. It documents the history of the era from the perspective of civil rights.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Superman_(radio),

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stetson_Kennedy.

Next Week: A Curt Swan Toast!

Join the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and MY PULL LIST groups on facebook, and follow the podcast and blogs on twitter @supermanpodcast.

SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST is a proud member of the LEAGUE OF COMIC BOOK PODCASTERS at http://www.comicbooknoise.com/league and the COMICS PODCAST NETWORK! http://www.comicspodcasts.com/.

SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST is at http://supermanfanpodcast.mypodcast.com/ . Send e-mail about this podcast to supermanfanpodcast@gmail.com.

MY PULL LIST is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/ . Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com .

Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics.

Thanks for listening to the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

Episode #111: Who's Who In ACTION COMICS #1!

Action Comics 1!

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Since 2010 is DC Comics' 75th anniversary, this is an appropriate year to focus on some unexplored areas of Superman's corner of the DC Universe. This episode explores the other characters and creators who were also featured, after Superman, in ACTION COMICS issue 1, cover dated June 1938. The websites http://www.comics.org/issue/293/ and http://dcindexes.com/features/comic.php?comicid=5 provided stories synopses, and http://lambiek.net/artists/index.htm provided creator biographies.

All of the stories in ACTION 1 were originally untitled but have since been provided names after DC began reprinting their early stories in Archive editions. After Superman's first story, CHAMPION OF THE OPPRESSED, the other stories, in order of appearance, and with a brief publication history, are:

CHUCK DAWSON: THE A-G GANG 6 pg. western adventure, ACTION 1 - 22, written and drawn by Homer Fleming.

ZATARA: THE MYSTERY OF THE FREIGHT TRAIN ROBBERIES 12 pg. occult, ACTION 1 - 132, 136, 138 & 141, NEW YORK'S WORLD'S BEST COMICS 1 - WORLD'S FINEST COMICS 51, written and drawn by Fred Guardineer.

STICKY MITT STIMSON, 4 pg., crime, only appearance, written and drawn by Russell Cole.

MARCO POLO: 4 pg. historical adventure, ACTION 1 - 17, written and drawn by Sven Elvin.

PEP MORGAN: THE LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP, adventure, ACTION 1 - 41, written and drawn by Fred Guardineer.

SCOOP SCANLON, THE FIVE STAR REPORTER, 6 pg. adventure, ACTION 1 - 13, written and drawn by William (Bill) Ely.

TEX THOMSON: MURDER IN ENGLAND, 12 pg. adventure, ACTION 1- 32, Mr. America: ACTION 33 - 51 and the Americommando ACTION 52 - 74, written and drawn by Bernard Bailey. Tex Thomson would be a major character in THE GOLDEN AGE, a four issue DC Elseworld's mini-series in 1993, collected in a paperback edition in 1995. It should still be available.

NEXT EPISODE: Since February is Black History Month, it's appropriate to feature a storyline from the 1940's Superman radio show where the Man Of Steel battled racism in SUPERMAN VS. THE CLAN OF THE FIERY CROSS!

Join the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and MY PULL LIST groups on facebook, and follow the podcast and blogs on twitter @supermanpodcast.

SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST is a proud member of the LEAGUE OF COMIC BOOK PODCASTERS at http://www.comicbooknoise.com/league and the COMICS PODCAST NETWORK! http://www.comicspodcasts.com/

SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST is at http://thesupermanfanpodcast.blogspot.com/. Expanded show notes are at http://supermanfanpodcast.blogspot.com. (Thanks to Capt. Zorikh for becoming a follower of this blog. Check out his blogs at http://zorikh.blogspot.com/.)Send e-mail about this podcast to supermanfanpodcast@gmail.com.

MY PULL LIST is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/ . Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com .

Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics.

Thanks for listening to the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.