Action Comics #62 (1943)
by Don C. Cameron & Ed Dobrotka
cover by Jack Burnley
Superman doesn’t encounter Nazis all that often in the Golden Age, but there are exceptions.
Even if the cover has nothing to do with the story.
The story is by prolific Golden Age writer Don C. Cameron, most notable as the creator of Batman’s butler Alfred, Liberty Belle and Toyman (the latter with this issue’s penciler, Ed Dobrotka).
The framing device is set in the year 2143, when fishing will be tone by drones.
It’s also when fashion will take a step back by thousands of years, if we go by what these kids are wearing.
Their grandfather is going to be the story’s narrator, recalling an adventure of his great-great-grandfather that involved Superman.
His ancestor, Captain Storme, rescued some Nazis while Lois Lane happens to be on the ship.
With the fishermen, not with the Nazis.
The Nazis are precisely as grateful as you’d imagine.
You’d think that if Nazis wanted to drown these people they would simply throw them off board, but they go the extra mile by jumping off WITH THEM and drown them.
You’d think that wearing diving suit would make this harder than necessary.
Captain Storme tries his best to save Lois Lane, with no success.
This looks like a job for Superman.
Noting how absurd it was for the Nazis to act that way… the diving suit part, not the killing the people who rescued them… gives Superman a clue where to look.
(any help understanding what “Luff my tops’ls” is supposed to mean, guys?)
Now that this: the Nazis have a giant claw that can pull ships underwater…
…to use the people they kidnap for slave labor.
I would make fun of how fixated on enslaving people these guys must be… but they’re Nazis, so it checks out.
They’ also going to use an UNDERGROUND AIR BASE to launch planes to attack America.
Since Superman can bulls#it his way through science perform miracles, he flies through glass so fast he’s intangible.
Sounds legit.
Some days you just need to see Superman punch some Nazis.
Since the Nazis have Lois hostage, you’d expect Superman to get angry… instead he decides to give them a honest chance.
The Nazis detonate bombs that cause the whole cave to drop on Superman’s head. Even this far back this shouldn’t be a problem for him, but this story is a bit of a throwback to older stories when he wasn’t completely invincible yet.
The Golden Age doesn’t pull any punches!
But it’s still a Superman story, so of course he’s right in time to save everybody.
He even saves the Nazis from drowning in the collapsing caves, literally punching them into prison.
Despite spending like three panels together, Superman became friends with Captain Storme to the point of visiting him and his descendants.
Up to the year 2143, because turns out Superman has been in the room the whole time.
Even without crime, he’s STILL out there helping humanity.
Historical significance: 0/10
Never brought up again, but historically significant since this might be the first story to ever bring up the idea of Superman being basically immortal. Comics go back and forth whether he ages when under a yellow sun.
Silver Age-ness: 4/10
An underwater base that kidnaps ships and serves as an underground air base, plus flying very fast makes you intangible.
Does it stand the test of time? 7/10
Quite old-fashioned, but it still has enough charm for a modern audience. From a modern perspective it looks a bit weird for Superman to still visit the captain’s relatives for 200 years despite their brief encounter, but it’s not unbelievable they meet again later… and it’s Superman, I can buy he does this with everyone he spent five minutes with.
It’s also a fascinating time capsule: this was published more or less in the middle of America’s involvement in the war, and yet it oozes optimism.