Here is the latest in our year-long look at one cool comic (whether it be a self-contained work, an ongoing comic or a run on a long-running title that featured multiple creative teams on it over the years) a day (in no particular order whatsoever)! Here's the archive of the comics posted so far!
Today we look at another great Jerry Siegel Silver Age Superman story, "Superman's Return to Krypton!"
Enjoy!
Just a little while back, I wrote about how Jerry Siegel's Silver Age work on Superman is often over-looked due to his, you know, CREATING Superman, which is a shame as his Silver Age work on Superman was often excellent. The last time around, I featured the imaginary story about the Death of Superman. Today, just EIGHT ISSUES earlier, in Superman #141 (with art by Wayne Boring), we see a "real" story involving Superman traveling through time and "returning to Krypton!"
The comic opens up with a simple enough premise, Superman is sent to check out an alien creature and in a slight fracas, he is sent back in time...
He ends up on a pre-exploded Krypton. Robbed of his powers by Krypton's sun, Superman ends up getting involved as an extra in a science fiction film (where he catches the eye of the female star of the film)...
I love how Siegel insisted on keeping Superman in costume the whole story, so he comes up with the "stay in costume" gag.
Superman seeks out his parents and he finds that they are drawn to him as he is to them...
The memory pillow seems a bit like a performance enhancing drug, doesn't it?
Superman's mother tries to set Superman up with the actress from his film, Lyla Lerrol (LL, of course), and while Superman is drawn to her, he's determined not to get too attached to her (good luck with that, Supes!)...
You really should get this story just to see the page I omitted following the page above where Superman and Lyla's making out gets its own half-page/multi-panel spotlight.
Siegel and Boring really milk the drama for all the pathos they can. Just check out this page...
You can really feel just how brutal this must be for Superman, no?
So Superman decides that he can't help but NOT try to help his father save the people of Krypton. They finally come up with the idea for a space ark. The only problem is WHERE the space ark is built...
With everything looking grim, Superman interestingly enough basically decided to accept his fate in this brilliantly executed final panel by Siegel and Boring...
Of course, just when he accepts his life (and death), Superman discovers that fate has other plans for him.
Get the full dramatic ending (plus the awesome making out spotlight) and read the full story in the collection Superman in the 60s, available wherever comic book collections are sold!