Superman #149

Superman #149 (1961)
by Jerry Siegel & Curt Swan

Despite the fact that this retrospective is called “Famous Superman stories”, it has featured several relatively obscure tales.
Not this time: this is one of the most reprinted stories from the Silver Age.

This imaginary tale begins in prison, where Lex Luthor notices that one of the rocks being smashed isn’t like the other ones.

Take a moment to appreciate that Luthor was able to identify a new element by sight, only because it was glowing. This is particularly impressive in the Silver Age, where there was no shortage of glowing rocks!

We’ve seen time and time again that prisons keep giving Luthor access to libraries and laboratories. You know this is an imaginary tale because the authorities are resistant to it and he has to argue his way through the proposal.

I’m amazed by the fact that the warden doesn’t immediately trust Luthor at his word!

And the cure works, leading the Daily Planet to have a sane first page for once.

I still think they could do better.

Since the cure requires the rare Element Z, Superman is kind enough to procure a huge amount that will be enough to cure everyone from cancer.

Superman is SO impressed that he shows up to guarantee for Luthor getting parole.

Missed opportunity to have Superman point out that they WERE friends back when he was Superboy and Luthor had hair.

Luthor even takes Superman to his former lair, which used to be decorated by his heroes.
I thought “Atilla” was a spelling mistake, but apparently it is a rarely used variation for Attila.
However I still have a hard time taking this panel seriously: would Luthor really consider these people his heroes?
I can maybe see Al Capone, but the other feel like a stretch.

While Luthor’s turn is incredibly quick, I think that what sells it is that other characters don’t believe him immediately. It also helps to see Superman really treat Luthor like an old friend now.

I don’t think this is a reference to a specific story that was actually told, but I could be wrong.
It is kind of weird that Superman doesn’t even ask Luthor why he did this, though; it’s just accepted this is something a criminal does.

And speaking of criminals, Luthor’s old associates are not convinced he’s a good guy now.

Superman shows up to save Luthor…

…which is a full time job now.

Superman saves him time and time again, but he’s getting more of a handful than Lois and Jimmy combined.

The solution is to give Luthor his own space laboratory.
It’s interesting to see that Superman doesn’t just bring him to the Fortress of Solitude.
It could be that he doesn’t trust Luthor enough yet, but it’s more probably that Superman still wants a place where he can relax alone.

And even THAT is not enough, because Superman has to save Luthor from missiles too.
Take a moment to appreciate just how much they must hate him: these are regular crime mobsters, and they managed to get their hands on SURFACE TO ORBIT MISSILES!!!

Superman’s solution is to encase the satellite in nuke-proof glass.

That makes sense, as the fact that the Signal Watch can’t work in space.
Making less sense: Luthor calling for help by shooting a Luthor-shaped missile.

What’s even the point to make the missile resemble Luthor if the way it calls Superman’s attention is by exploding anyway?

But this was all a trap, because Luthor has not turned good and was just waiting to attack Superman.

It’s a pity that this moment was spoiled on the cover, because the story was making a compelling case for Luthor having turned good.
I understand “The death of Superman” is a cover title that sells better than “Luthor turns good”, but imagine how much better the surprise would have been!

This might just be pre-Crisis Luthor at his absolute evilest.

It’s still a chilling scene, especially when you consider Superman’s last words are “I was a fool to trust you”.
Well, technically his last words are “Owww! Ohh-hhhh”, but those don’t sound as notable.

Even if the story makes it abundantly clear that this is an “imaginary story”, I have to imagine that this must have been quite shocking for 1961 readers.

Another thing that the comic does really well is selling the reaction from the public.

We get a tearful goodbye to Superman, seeing that he’s being mourned by people of all races and planets.

This is hard on everyone, from Lois and Lana…

…to poor Krypto and Supergirl.

This is also a tearful goodbye for this site, because this is the last scheduled cameo of the Silver Age Legion.
A couple of individual Legionnaires still have one or two appearances left, but if I’m not mistaken… and I could be, I’ve been wrong on the subject multiple times… I believe this is the last time the Legion itself shows up.
To give you an idea of where we are, this was published between Superman #147 and Adventure Comics #290.

Even Kandor commemorates Superman, including his lookalike Van-Zee and the Lois lookalike Sylvia; you might remember them from several Lois Lane stories I’ve covered.

Not everyone is mourning, of course.

This is a good moment to highlight what an amazing job Curt Swan has been doing this entire issue with the various facial expressions.

Supergirl then crashes the party, revealing herself after taking off a disguise she’s worn for literally two panels.

She’s here to arrest Luthor and take him to Kandor. I doubt the bottle city has an extradition treaty with the United States, but I’m sure nobody will argue.

If Luthor gets a defense attorney, we don’t see it. I certainly don’t envy anyone having to defend him

Luthor is condemned to the Phantom Zone, but he has an ace up his sleeve: restoring the city to its proper size.

But the Kandorians have enough morals to make a deal with Luthor, since he’s the greatest villain since Adolf Eichmann.
Wait, so Kandor knows about WWII and the Holocaust? No wonder they don’t want to settle on Earth.

And we close with Supergirl taking Superman’s place.

Uhm, guys, it’s great to commemorate Superman with a statue, but maybe go for a different inscription instead of reminding everyone how he died.

Imagine if they did this with Superman’s death in the 90s.

Jokes aside, I don’t think you can get out of this story without feeling a little sad, despite the final caption trying to reassure us.

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Historical significance: 0/10
Remember that this category is for in-universe consequences only, and this is an imaginary story.
DC has catalogued it as being set on Earth-149, but as far as I can tell this Earth has never been visited again.
The closest was a cameo in “Convergence #0” among other realities where Superman died (along with Infinite Crisis, All Star Superman and The Kingdom, even though Superman doesn’t actually die in All Star Superman).
If I counted the real world impact, however, it would be a very high score: not only it’s fondly remembered, but there’s a very slim chance that without this story we might not have had the actual Death Of Superman storyline decades later.

Silver Age-ness: 2/10
There is some silliness there, especially in the ridiculous ways Lex’s life is put in danger.
But Luthor is incredibly cold and cruel here. The scenes with him gloating over Superman’s painful death are not that far off from how Luthor will act during Superman’s death in the 90s.

Does it stand the test of time? 10/10
This is one of the best stories of the Silver Age, and one of the best Superman stories overall: no wonder it’s constantly reprinted.
It doesn’t pull any punches, from the writing as well as the artwork: Swan in particular is delivering a masterpiece in facial expressions. Just look at Supergirl’s face during the funeral, you can almost see her lips quivering.
I think the story hits particularly well because Superman does everything right… he immediately gives Luthor a chance, yes, but he has to keep tabs on him until Lex proves himself trustworthy.
It almost doesn’t feel like a Silver Age story by how much ahead of its time is; in particular, Lex imagining he can bargain his way to freedom because everything is transactional for him is VERY modern storytelling, even if it’s not spelled out.
From a technical standpoint there ARE a couple of minor things you need to adjust for a modern version… the pacing, the mob having satellite-smashing missiles, the Luthor-shaped alarm, the statues of his heroes… but it’s so little compared to what the story actually does right.
On the very slim chance that someone visiting my site has never read this issue, do yourself a favor and track it down. You won’t be disappointed.

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Interesting letters: don’t be silly, the Daily Planet has more than three employees!
It has at least seven.

Saturn Queen hasn’t joined the Legion in any version yet, right?