Let me tell you about myself and comic books.

                I don't remember when I first became aware of comic books. It might have been in the waiting room of my pediatrician's office, or it could have been in my local barber shop waiting for a haircut. It might have been at my cousin's house in Kentucky, or it could have been down the street at a friend's house.

                Whatever the case, comic books have always been part of my life. Very early on, I was a fan of Little Lulu and Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge featuring Scrooge McDuck, Donald Duck and his and nephews, Huey, Dewy and Louie. My older brother and I shared the love of these comics and, whenever we encountered them, we would eagerly read them together or get our babysitter to read them to us.

                There were a few other obscure titles I remember, usually because of some unique quality that set them apart from others. Television and I are about the same age. I am a member of the first generation who grew up with television. Comic book television tie-ins easily attracted my attention and I recall getting my mother to buy me a copy of Tom Corbett, Space Cadet, Mary Jane and Sniffles and Beany and Cecil because I had first seen them on the fuzzy gray screen of my living room TV set.

                Now let me tell you about Superman.

                I first met Superman on that same television set when a local Philadelphia station's kiddie show began broadcasting black and white versions of the 1940s Fleisher Superman cartoons. I watched "The Arctic Giant," wherein the Man of Steel battled a tyrannosaurus rex which had been thawed from the ice in Siberia. It thrilled and terrified me all at the same time. I remember watching it peeking around the corner of my dining room into the living room because the prehistoric beast scared me so.

                I had heard of Superman, of course, but that was the first time I saw him in action.

                Sometime later, (a few weeks or months, I don't recall) my family was visiting some friends across the river from our Delaware home in New Jersey. Playing in their living room, their television was on and I heard "Faster than a speeding bullet…" I looked up expecting to see the cartoon Superman…but no! This was no cartoon! This was live! Superman was real! I had encountered The Adventures of Superman television show starring George Reeves for the first time. Enthralled, I sat in awe as the real life Superman battled "The Runaway Robot", probably one of the best episodes for such an introduction to a young, first-time viewer. From that point on, I was a Superman fan, never missing the weekly show or the cartoon broadcasts.

                At the time, I made no connection between Superman and comic books. As far as I knew, he was strictly a television star.

                Now let me tell you about Kentucky.

                For the first fourteen or so summers of my life, my family would travel from our Delaware home to my mother's family who lived down in Kentucky. The family owned a large tobacco farm there and that is where we vacationed. Mine was a clichéd childhood: living in suburbia and visiting grandma "down on the farm". It was during one of these trips, in the summer of 1957, that I first discovered the comic book Superman.

                Stopping somewhere on our journey down south, at some unremembered rest stop, my mother told me I could buy a comic book. I went over to the wall of magazines and looked at the lower tier where they displayed their collection of comic books, searching for the usual Little Lulu or Donald Duck title. Suddenly, my eyes landed on an issue of a comic book entitled Action Comics. And there, in all his red, blue and yellow glory, was Superman. This was the first time I had seen the colors of his costume.

                I picked it up and was immediately taken with the differences in this comic as compared to the others I had read. First of all, it wasn't a Dell Comic. All of the others I had ever seen had been Dell Comics. I thought all comics were Dell Comics, but no, this was a Superman-DC National Comic! The other notable difference was that there were word balloons on the cover, something I had never seen on a Dell Comic. I rushed over to hand the man behind the store counter the dime my mother had given me. I couldn't wait to read this brand new sort of comic book.

                I was nine years old at the time and I couldn't imagine that my life was about to change.

                I spent the rest of my life collecting comic books, and, after a twisted and crooked road, ended up as an editor and writer at DC Comics. But that's a different story, and one I will, as time goes by, relate right here.

                You see, in due course, I discovered other comic book fans who told similar stories about their discovery of comics. I learned I was as eager to hear their tales and they were eager to hear mine, as we discussed the comic books we loved.

                And so, this blog. Each week or so, I thought I would detail here one of My Favorite Comic Books, exploring just why it is a favorite. Sometimes it will be because of the character and the story. Sometimes it will be the art. Sometimes, it will be the circumstances under which I found it. Sometimes, it will be the concepts introduced and the way the tales are presented. Whatever the case, I'll examine it in detail and reveal why this simple printed medium has been so important to me.

                I await your comments and suggestions and hope you have as much fun sharing my initial discoveries as I had when I first came upon…My Favorite Comic Books.

               

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                So, let me tell you about my first super-hero comic book, Action Comics #231, August, 1957.

                It was probably on sale in June, since back then, comic books were dated a few months ahead in hopes they would stay on display a little longer. The cover was drawn by Wayne Boring and Stan Kaye. Boring, as I would learn later, was one of the three main Superman artists of the time. As I mentioned above, what had grabbed my attention initially were the colors of Superman's costume. Since I had only seen him on black and white television, the bright red, blue and yellow colors were a total surprise to me. I had assumed he was dressed in shades of gray. Of course I would discover years later, that Superman's first television costume was actually two shades of brown to show contrast since red and blue shared a too-similar gray hue on the black and white screen.

                The second thing I noticed was Jimmy Olsen. Jimmy was an old friend from the television show, so the familiarity of him (and Perry White and Lois Lane) made the story all the better for me. After that, I noticed what I thought was a very strange look to the city of Metropolis. In the Fleisher cartoons, Metropolis seemed to be a city of mile high, art deco skyscrapers surrounded by mountains. On television, Metropolis was portrayed by Los Angeles, with City Hall playing the part of the Daily Planet building.

                Boring's Metropolis looked dirty. On the cover, Superman and Jimmy are in front of a dilapidated construction fence overgrown with weeds. They're in a dirt-covered alley with an old tin can lying in the foreground. The skyscrapers are only suggested in the pink background by a series of vertical lines.  In the story inside, all the paved streets of Metropolis looked as if they were dirt roads.

                The story was "Sir Jimmy Olsen, Knight of Metropolis," in which Jimmy Olsen was to inherit the island kingdom of Vumania, but only if he could perform three brave, knightly deeds, as prescribed by a medieval proclamation. Evil men tried to prevent his success because they were using the island to stash ill-gotten loot. With Superman's help, Jimmy fulfilled the tasks but finally realized his island kingdom is worthless. Superman discovered the crooks and exposed their plans.

                The story was written by Otto Binder. There were no artist or writer credits anywhere in the book as it was not the policy of DC at the time to list such creative acknowledgment. Later research yielded the names to me.

                Boring and Kaye did the interior art as well and, even with my young eyes, I found it unusual. While all the characters were familiar (Superman looked like Reeves and Perry White looked like John Hamilton from the television show), Boring's portrayal of Jimmy Olsen was very strange. For one thing, he sported a crew cut, and in some panels he was completely unrecognizable except for his red hair and checkered sports jacket.

                Needless to say, my first Action Comics 12-page Superman story was not the reason this comic remains a favorite.

                I was very excited to learn that Action Comics was not strictly a Superman comic. Two other features filled out the title, features completely new to me. The first one was Congo Bill. Congo Bill was a guide and fortune hunter in modern-day Africa, assisted by a young boy called Janu the Jungle Boy. The story covered familiar territory for me since I was a fan of the Ramar of the Jungle television show. Ramar was an American doctor in Africa, so the setting and pith helmet worn by Bill looked familiar to me.  I immediately accepted the story. Although I had no background information on Bill or Janu, the story, "Congo Bill's Useless Partner," written by Jack Miller, clearly illustrated the partnership relationship between the two.

                Fortunately for this first-time reader, the story was beautifully drawn by Nick Cardy. The villains had distinctive appearances and the local costumes and clothing were authentic-looking. The story had a rhinoceros, a leopard and an elephant for local color and detailed looks of rifles and bear traps. All in all, a solid and enjoyable 6-page romp, but still not the reason it falls into my favorite category.

                Now let me tell you about Tommy Tomorrow.

               

The third and final story in this issue was the one that won me over. Masterfully drawn by Jim Mooney, "The Academy Award of Space" was written by Otto Binder. It told of the annual awards given by the Planeteers for the greatest feats of bravery by their members, the interplanetary policemen of one hundred years in the future. The space villain, Planet Pete, had made it his goal to discredit Tommy Tomorrow so he would be disgraced and reduced in rank by winning the "Space Boner Award" (really!).

                Planet Pete repeatedly attempted to thwart Tommy's heroic deeds, but failed each time, unable to outwit Colonel Tomorrow's ingenuity. The 6-page story had everything: space ships, space monsters, robots, explosions, comets, a space dragon, a damsel in distress, a radioactive river, a lightning crater and more.

                Now I had encountered science fiction before. I watched Space Patrol, Rocky Jones, Flash Gordon and Tom Corbett, Space Cadet on television and even had a Tom Corbett comic book. But this Tommy Tomorrow story was what made me a science fiction fan. It wasn't the story, but just one panel on page two. In order to save the Earth, Tommy Tomorrow had heroically detonated a "super H-bomb" in outer space to snuff out a "comet tail's flame." Mooney had depicted this feat with a half-page illustration of breath-taking beauty showing The Space Ace, Tommy's rocket ship, the flaming comet, the curvature of the Earth below and a huge explosion against a star-studded background of outer space.

                As a nine-year old reader, holding the comic in front of me, the entire world was blocked from my view. The comic, and the illustration, became my world! I wanted more, and from that day forward, I looked for more science fiction everywhere: In comics, on television, in books and movies. When my friends wanted to play cowboys, I wanted to play spaceman! And I will always credit Tommy Tomorrow (and Otto Binder and especially Jim Mooney) for bringing me to those other worlds.

                I still have it. My copy of Action Comics #231 is covered in tape and I have replaced its cover with a computer generated print, but I still have the original copy I bought on my way to Kentucky. It was my first favorite comic book!

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Next: "Let Me Tell You about Batman and Booth's Corner"