Superman, A Man Who Is Super Good At Committing Many Crimes - Action Comics (1938)

by Null -- August 30th, 2024

Everyone is aware of the legendary Superman, man of steel, “champion of the oppressed,” (Action Comics #1, 1938), a man filled just as much with kindness as he is with super abilities. That’s the modern Superman, a standup guy that everyone loves. Though, while reading through the original Action Comics, I was quite appalled at how different that Superman was from the modern Superman. Described as “The physical marvel who had sworn to devoting his existence to helping those in need” (Action Comics #1, 1938), this Superman was built from the same foundations as the modern Superman, but was immediately shown to be quite the criminal.

Immediately upon flipping the pages in Action Comics #1 (1938), the reader witnesses Superman flying through the air, seemingly kidnapping a woman he gagged and tied up (who turned out to be a murderer, but it was still a weird way of handling her), on his way to the Governor's Estate. Upon his arrival, Superman proceeds to force his way into the home after being denied entry by the Butler by punching the door down. He threatens the Butler and promptly kidnaps him. 

After ascending the stairs and up to the Governor’s room, Superman is met with a locked, sealed, vault-like door that guarded the Governor inside. He quickly punches down that door as well, all the while making snarky, witty comments directed towards the Butler. The Butler, fearing for the Governor’s life, pulls a gun on Superman, who is literally breaking and entering into the estate. After this, Superman just mocks the Butler’s gun and allows the Butler to shoot him. After all of this insanity, Superman eventually achieves his goal of speaking to the Governor about that murderer woman while simultaneously proving another woman innocent of a crime. It’s a lot to sum up in a few words, but the main focus is how Superman committed like… four crimes.

Continuing on with more “startling adventures,” the insanity of Superman’s schemes grows in size as the comics progress. In Action Comics #21 (1938), Superman is trying to stop the villainous mastermind Ultra from gaining access to a matter-erasing superweapon, leading to him trying to save his scientist friend, Curtis, who came up with the tech from Ultra. After some mild terrorism by Ultra (bombing a building, threatening the city on a live broadcast, kidnapping, etc etc), Superman manages to track her and Curtis down, cutting a deal with Ultra to get her the crown jewels to trade for Curtis. So, Superman agrees to rob a museum, basically.

While attempting robbery, Superman…

Taunts the police and National Guard,

Sprays police with water from a fire hydrant.

Taunts police and National Guard (again) for shooting at him,

Threatens their lives in order to get his way,

And continues to steal the crown jewels anyways.

All of this being a ploy by Ultra to try and get rid of Superman and make him an enemy of the public. But Superman does each law-breaking task successfully, proudly, with a few chuckle-worthy quips thrown in there. Then, at the end of the comic, after destroying Ultra’s hidden volcano base with a giant volcanic eruption, Curtis and Superman just have a little chat about never doing any of that craziness ever again. As if people didn’t die, as if property wasn’t damaged, as if nothing was stolen, as if nothing ever happened and it all was, just like Curtis says, a nightmare.

There are more instances where this early Superman causes more criminal chaos (like when he steals chemicals for a scientist who has been banned from using those chemicals in Action Comics #19 (1938)), but then I would be going on and on about these crimes for forever. 

Now, of course, without a lot of given context for why Superman does all of these illegal things it may make his actions seem a lot worse. To be honest, though, even when reading the whole comic I was left flabbergasted over how Superman was just a continuous crook. The good things he did do while committing crimes do not weigh in comparison to every law he broke in the process.

Despite the shock, the comics were wildly entertaining. So, all in all, I can’t be too upset about the absurdity of everything. The outrageousness of past Superman’s shenanigans makes the modern Superman kind of mellow and boring in comparison. Why be ‘the bringer of justice’ Superman when you can be ‘the bringer or many, many, many injustices’ Superman? Which sounds more entertaining to you?

-Null