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ow pages; coverless
Boring classic cover; 10th anniversary origin issue, COMIC BOOK IMPACT rating of 7 (CBI)


1948's Superman #53 marked the first decade of the Man of Steel as America's favorite superhero, as explained by the inside front cover's "An Open Letter to Superman Fans" (credited to Lois Lane, praising Superman's real-world accomplishments such as marketing for charities). This leads to "The Origin of Superman!" as revisited by Bill Finger with Wayne Boring's pencils and inks by Stan Kaye. (An embittered Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster had quit working for DC in 1947.) The story would become the best-known of the various retellings of Superman's start. Readers would get their first detailed look at the end of Krypton, plus new info on how Clark Kent was affected by the death of his parents. (That timeline, of course, would get changed over the years.) Even better, the classic tale is accompanied by one of Boring's most beloved covers.

Superman then has further adventures in "The Oracle of Metropolis," as he travels through time with an opportunistic repairman. There's also the notorious "A Job for Superhombre!" — wherein the giant floating eye known as The Eye hires all of Metropolis' worst criminals to work for him in South America. (Unfortunately, The Eye chooses the home of an old friend of Lois Lane as his headquarters.) This exceptionally fun issue demonstrates how Superman survived the post-war years and went on to decades as one of pop culture's most collectible characters!