One of the hallmarks of Superman comic stories from the sixties was irony. If you had a nickel for every Superman family story in the sixties that ended with one of the main characters turning to the reader in the last panel and pondering the stories ironic ending, why you could probably buy half the Superman comics published during the sixties with those nickels, considering that the comics only cost 10, 12 or 15 cents.
Today's piece of personal comic history is just such a tale of irony, only it's not irony encapsulated within the pages of a comic book; it's irony about childhood collecting of comic books.
One of my all time favorite Superman family characters in the sixties is a rather obscure character called the Composite Superman. He only appeared twice, and although my purchases were spotty when I was a kid -- limited to one comic a week at most -- usually on Friday evening when my parents were buying groceries -- I somehow managed to buy both of those appearances.
Both of the Composite Superman stories appeared in World's Finest -- which one could argue is not really a Superman Family comic, since it co-starred Batman, but it was edited by Mort Weisinger -- Superman's editor -- so the stories and art all had a Superman feel to them.
The Composite Superman was a character who, split down the middle, looked like Superman on one side and Batman on the other side -- only his skin was green -- and I'll explain the logic of that in just a minute.
He started out as an ordinary janitor in the Superman museum. One night lightning struck miniature models of the Legion of Super Heroes through a window, bounced off the models and hit the janitor. Now it turns out the miniatures weren't just artist renderings. The Legion had made a gift of the models to Superman, and had constructed them by using a replication machine. The replication machine inadvertently replicated the Legionnaire's powers as well as their likenesses. The lightning released the powers and transmitted them electrically into the body of the janitor, imbuing him with all the powers of the Legion of Super Heroes. This arguably made him the most powerful character in comics history, and not because he would be able to simultaneously shrink to the size of an atom (Shrinking Violet), bounce around (Bouncing Boy) sub atomic structures, and munch (Matter Eater Lad) on neutrons. At the time the Legion included Superboy, Supergirl and Monel -- all of whom had Superman's powers -- so he had triple the abilities of Superman! Plus he could read minds (Saturn Girl) and was a super genius (Brainiac 5).
So basically Superman, Batman and Robin were way over matched.
I won't tell you the plot of either of the two stories, mainly because I don't remember them, and besides the stories inside the comic are not the point of this posting, but he used Chameleon Boy's powers to make himself look the way I described, and I guess he chose to have green skin as an homage to Brainiac 5.
Anyway, the first issue was one of my all time favorite comics. Like most comics I bought as a kid, I probably reread it dozens of times. But somehow, one day, it disappeared. Until on a summer day months later I found it my backyard, wrinkled and stiffened by exposure to rain, snow and weather. Kind of a sad moment, but something I recovered from. :) Also a little odd, because I don't think I took my comics outside to read as a kid.
At the end of the first issue, somehow Superman and Batman manage to take away the Composite Superman's powers, and he returns to being an ordinary janitor at the museum.
In the second appearance, basically lightning strikes the same place twice and he becomes the Composite Superman all over again. I remember being just as enamored of the second story as the first. Again the comic eventually disappeared until one day I found it in my backyard, wrinkled and weatherbeaten. These are the only two comics of mine that ever met this fate, and -- as Lois, Jimmy, Clark, Linda, Superman, Supergirl, or Superboy might think in the final panel of their comic book stories -- how ironic that two issues featuring the same favorite character should meet the same fate, considering that none of my other comics ever did.
Today's piece of personal comic history is just such a tale of irony, only it's not irony encapsulated within the pages of a comic book; it's irony about childhood collecting of comic books.
One of my all time favorite Superman family characters in the sixties is a rather obscure character called the Composite Superman. He only appeared twice, and although my purchases were spotty when I was a kid -- limited to one comic a week at most -- usually on Friday evening when my parents were buying groceries -- I somehow managed to buy both of those appearances.
Both of the Composite Superman stories appeared in World's Finest -- which one could argue is not really a Superman Family comic, since it co-starred Batman, but it was edited by Mort Weisinger -- Superman's editor -- so the stories and art all had a Superman feel to them.
The Composite Superman was a character who, split down the middle, looked like Superman on one side and Batman on the other side -- only his skin was green -- and I'll explain the logic of that in just a minute.
He started out as an ordinary janitor in the Superman museum. One night lightning struck miniature models of the Legion of Super Heroes through a window, bounced off the models and hit the janitor. Now it turns out the miniatures weren't just artist renderings. The Legion had made a gift of the models to Superman, and had constructed them by using a replication machine. The replication machine inadvertently replicated the Legionnaire's powers as well as their likenesses. The lightning released the powers and transmitted them electrically into the body of the janitor, imbuing him with all the powers of the Legion of Super Heroes. This arguably made him the most powerful character in comics history, and not because he would be able to simultaneously shrink to the size of an atom (Shrinking Violet), bounce around (Bouncing Boy) sub atomic structures, and munch (Matter Eater Lad) on neutrons. At the time the Legion included Superboy, Supergirl and Monel -- all of whom had Superman's powers -- so he had triple the abilities of Superman! Plus he could read minds (Saturn Girl) and was a super genius (Brainiac 5).
So basically Superman, Batman and Robin were way over matched.
I won't tell you the plot of either of the two stories, mainly because I don't remember them, and besides the stories inside the comic are not the point of this posting, but he used Chameleon Boy's powers to make himself look the way I described, and I guess he chose to have green skin as an homage to Brainiac 5.
Anyway, the first issue was one of my all time favorite comics. Like most comics I bought as a kid, I probably reread it dozens of times. But somehow, one day, it disappeared. Until on a summer day months later I found it my backyard, wrinkled and stiffened by exposure to rain, snow and weather. Kind of a sad moment, but something I recovered from. :) Also a little odd, because I don't think I took my comics outside to read as a kid.
At the end of the first issue, somehow Superman and Batman manage to take away the Composite Superman's powers, and he returns to being an ordinary janitor at the museum.
In the second appearance, basically lightning strikes the same place twice and he becomes the Composite Superman all over again. I remember being just as enamored of the second story as the first. Again the comic eventually disappeared until one day I found it in my backyard, wrinkled and weatherbeaten. These are the only two comics of mine that ever met this fate, and -- as Lois, Jimmy, Clark, Linda, Superman, Supergirl, or Superboy might think in the final panel of their comic book stories -- how ironic that two issues featuring the same favorite character should meet the same fate, considering that none of my other comics ever did.
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