Showcase Presents: Superman Part 3

This is the third of numerous posts on Showcase Presents: Superman. I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed the stories.

Now, this won't be like most comic blogs with scanned pictures posted throughout. Mostly because I don't have a scanner, but the stories should speak for themselves, but also because I want to go through the whole book in the next few weeks, and I want non-comics readers to enjoy the kookiness that us comics readers understand from the Silver Age. While I may mock these stories, I am not making anything up, this is all straight from the comics! While I may mock, I love these stories and the character of Superman. This is great stuff! The cover scans are from The Grand Comic Book Database.

Action Comics #243

"The Lady and the Lion." This story starts, as many others seem to, with Superman performing for orphans. Were there hordes of orphans needing performances back in the fifties? It seems a little weird that Superman is always entertaining these kids. Superman then sees a earthquake taking down a temple in the Mediterranean. He rushes to rescue a temple girl and afterwards it turns out that she is the ancestor of Circe, the "legendary sorceress who could turn men into animals." It turns out, however, that she used to change men into animals with a serum, not magic. The fifties were all about the future, and science, none of that magic junk that they put in our funny books today.

Anyway, the girl then offers Superman a "drink of sweet mineral waters" as a reward. Uhhh...Superman? She just told you her ancestors could change men into animals. You silly, silly superhero. Turns out that he was given the famous serum (duh) and Superman must return to marry her or else he will "turn into the creature [he] most resemble[s] by nature!" Superman assumes it will not work on him. And I say it sounds like magic!

Shockingly enough, he turns into a lion the next day. He then feels he has to prove that he really is Superman to Perry and Jimmy and then takes off to get the antidote. Circe left in her space-ship, leaving a note carved into stone taunting him to guess which planet she went to. She also adds a classy "Ha, ha!" to her note. Awesome!

Superman then goes back to The Daily Planet to pout until Lois shows up and is disgusted. They had a date planned to go to a play, and what do they see? Beauty and the Beast, of course! (It's odd to me that Superman won't marry Lois because she could be at risk from criminals out to hurt Superman, yet he goes out on dates with her. Seems a little shady. Why buy the cow when you get the milk for free, right Supes?) Lois feels guity, so she kisses him, hoping it will break the spell as it does in the play. No go.

Off Superman goes to entertain some more orphans (!) where he lets them put their heads in his mouth. Fun! He then helps out a lion in a circus (who is also dressed as Superman), saves a safari by beating up a lion pride in Africa (awesome!), and considers joining a sideshow.

He soon decides to pout in the Fortress of Solitude and realizes the serum used kryptonite, so he assumes Circe was from Krypton. He then decides to do some research in a Kandor library using his microscopic vision. Of course, there is an antidote right there in a book. He makes and takes the antidote and goes to kiss Lois in payment for her kiss before he flies away into the sunset.