ACTION COMICS 64 (1943)
by Don Cameron & Ed Dobrotka
After suffering through the Prankster, here’s another Golden Age Superman villain I can’t stand: the Toyman.
Don Cameron is not a famous name when it comes to Golden Age writers, but he’s responsible for the creation of Batman’s butler Alfred and the Golden Age superheroine Liberty Belle, mother of speedster Jesse Quick. As far as my research goes, Toyman is the only notable creation of penciler Ed Dobrotka.
We begin with Clark Kent and Lois Lane (in her ridiculous hat) running across a kind toymaker.
Did you know the Toyman has his own motto? It’s no “In brightest day, in blackest night”, though.
He gives an anonymous tip to Lois Lane about an upcoming parade, and sure enough it’s a toy parade.
This is a distraction to allow Toyman to jump inside a bank using a pogo stick (???) and use knockout gas to rob the place.
Superman shows up to rescue the people, but Toyman escapes in a suitably ridiculous manner.
Then Toyman pretends to be a hero, extinguishing a fire he created only to rob a penthouse.
Wanting to prove himself superior to Superman, Toyman creates another distraction on a bridge and gives another exclusive to Lois, only as an excuse to kidnap her.
I’m not entirely sure WHY he kidnaps her, other than every Superman villain is contractually obligated to threaten Lois Lane at some point.
Trust the Golden Age to make at least an attempt to make such a ridiculous villain threatening.
Of course the big problem with Toyman is that he only works against Superman until they actually meet. And once Superman uses his super-sense to track the radio signals of his remote controlled toys…
…it’s already over.
Historical significance: 6/10
Toyman only has about a dozen Golden Age appearances, but the character has proven to have a surprising legacy.
Silver Age-ness: 6/10
Just tell me you would find the pogo stick scene out of place in the 60s.
Does it stand the test of time? 0/10
Toyman is incredibly generic and the story is extremely by-the-numbers.
How close is this to the modern character? 4/10
Toyman is surprisingly complicated. He proved to be more popular in the Silver Age than in the previous era, even becoming a legacy character: for a while he was replaced by a completely different Toyman, a common criminal named Jack Nimball who stole the original Toyman’s tech.
That version of Toyman is most notable for having been the inspiration of the character showing up in the Super Friends carton.
And that’s not even the only legacy character connected to Toyman, because in the 2000s a Japanese teenager took on the mantle becoming an occasional ally of Superman and Batman, even sometimes using the codename Toymaster.
Toyman’s post-Crisis incarnation went hard on the “creepy toys” theme, making Toyman mentally deranged and turning him into a Batman style villain.
He’s still around, and there’s been an implication that most of his more extreme incarnations have actually been androids thinking they are the real Toyman.
So yeah, Toyman has his own Doombots!
The Toyman from his first appearance has none of the creepiness that has become the most identifiable part of the character; he’s just a generic themed villain.
As for me, I cringe whenever Superman has to fight Toyman… even if he does have a couple of good stories, especially when they emphasize his creepiness, I never buy that he’s a threat.
Except the Toyman from the 90s Superman and Justice League cartoons.
That little dude is just the best, and the only time “Batman style villain with technology that can hurt Superman” has really worked for me.