Superman #267 (2026 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

Superman in the 1970s saw several changes. His vulnerability to Kryptonite was eliminated. Sidekick Supergirl went to college and became more independent. His partnership with Batman, who was becoming more of a darker vigilante hero, weakened, seeing the World's Finest heroes teaming more with other heroes AND VILLAINS, and less with each other. But perhaps the biggest changes for the Man of Tomorrow involved his secret identity, Clark Kent.

No longer working for the Daily Planet newspaper, Kent was recruited by the paper's new owner Morgan Edge, to host the evening news for Metropolis television's Galaxy Broadcasting Station (WGBS). He was also allowed to start dating Lois Lane; although their relationship was more platonic than romantic with Lois often wondering why she hung out with such a milksop as Clark Kent. Making his relationship goals difficult to achieve, Clark found himself in a love triangle for Lois' affections against his WGBS colleague, the macho braggart sports reporter Steve Lombard.

That's where the cover story for this issue begins. Clark and Lois are enjoying time at the beach when Lombard and his nephew appear. Steve treats Clark like the wimpy guy in those Clark Atlas ads, kicking sand in Smallville's face before grabbing Lois for a swim. On shore, Clark learns from Steve's nephew that his father has been missing for several weeks. However, when a sudden whirlpool occurs, threatening the lives of Lombard and Lois, the child exclaims that his father had warned him of such calamity just the night before. Intrigued by this contradiction, Clark changes into Superman and visits Steve and his nephew where the hero learns that the boy has a telepathic link to his missing father, a famous scientist. 

The revelation takes both Superman and the lad underneath the North Pole, where they encounter a long-forgotten subterranean race of flying reptiles called the Miros. With the missing Lombard's expertise in geophysics, the ancient people have been forcing the scientist to siphon the energy of the Earth's sun to power a special device that has been warming the Miros' subsurface habitat. Now with Superman on the scene, the reptilians seek to use the Man of Steel as the new battery for their failing synthetic sun.

This issue contains a backup story. Part of the 'Private Life of Clark Kent' series of tales, 'The Man in the Public Eye!', sees Clark Kent being put on a massive public relations campaign. Station boss Morgan Edge thinks that while Kent is a top notch newscaster but he's got the personality of a cold fish. Edge arranges for the newscaster to participate in a number of sporting activities in hopes of making Clark Kent appear more manly. As much as Clark tries to appear weak in front of the WGBS cameras, dumb luck mixed with his Kryptonian superpowers have the newsman looking really 'super., like when he accidentally knocks out the heavyweight champion of the world after a sparring match. Thankfully, the audience of Metropolis is eating up Kent's antics and it's sending ratings for the 6 o'clock news through the roof. Now if only Clark can screw up royally or else somebody is going to make a connection between the reporter and Superman!

Both the secondary story and the cover tale 'World Beneath the North Pole' were written by Elliot (S!) Maggin. Curt Swan drew both tales. He was assisted by Murphy Anderson on Superman's Arctic adventure. Bob Oksner gave assistance on the Clark Kent led tale.

The cover was drawn by Nick Cardy.

Completing this review completes Task #16 (A Superman Comic From the 1970s) of the 2026 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

The Adventures of Jerry Lewis #107 (2024 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

In the early 1950s, one of the hottest comedic duos in Hollywood was the team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Having met a couple of years prior, Martin and Lewis became a team in 1946 on the recommendation of Lewis after another singer bailed from performing at the 500 Club in Atlantic City. Martin played the straight man, suave with the ladies and good in voice. Lewis was the comedic foil, doing slapstick and skits which hilariously interrupted Martin while singing. 

The two went on to co-star in 16 movies for Paramount. However, tensions started coming to the surface as Martin felt that the plots were becoming ever so focused on Lewis instead of a duo. 10 years to the day Martin and Lewis had first become a partnership, the pair broke up, never to speak with each other for another 20 years. 

Starting in 1949, National Periodicals/DC Comics began to license rights from some of Hollywood's top entertainment as characters in comic books. Matinee star Alan Ladd was first, followed by comedian Bob Hope. Ladd's book was more adventure focused and only ran for 9 issues. However, with the popularity of Hope's humor book, DC decided to continue with their experiment by nabbing Martin and Lewis in 1952, right at the apex of their comedy careers together. 

The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis ran for 40 issues from 1952-57. Though the pair split a year earlier, DC had a small backlog of stories starring both Martin and Lewis that needed publishing. As the inventory ran low, editor Larry Nadle renegotiated terms with Jerry Lewis to restructure the comic book to focus solely on his comedic exploits. With issue #41, the series was retitled The Adventures of Jerry Lewis. 

As just a solo act, Lewis would occasionally pair up with some of DC's biggest and brightest stars including Superman and the Flash. Even the villains would get into the act as Lex Luthor and the Joker were notable guests in the re-branded series. In the 1960s, the cast would grow to include a rapscallion nephew named Renfrew, a bewitching housekeeper named Witch Kraft and a straight man foil named Uncle Hal. No relation to Jerry, Uncle Hal was actually the headmaster at the Genghis Khan School for Boys where Renfrew and the other rowdy youths of Jerry's hometown were enrolled. 

In this issue, Jerry plans on taking his nephew on a cross-country road trip during Spring Break. Renfrew tricks his uncle into letting him take his entire class on the trip which prompts Jerry needing to borrow one of the buses from Renfrew's school. Meanwhile, Uncle Hal's deadbeat brother has come to town along with his bookies. Owning thousands of dollars, Hal is forced to pay down his brother's debt. This results in Hal having to make deliveries of counterfeit cash all across America while acting as chauffeur for Jerry's bus full of rowdies. However, not wanting to be caught with the phony money on his persons, Hal feigns injury, tricking gullible Jerry into make a series of madcap deliveries all the while being trailed by Treasury agents and that pair of bookies.

Included at the end of this issue is a letter from Jerry to his fans. It's doubtful that Lewis actually wrote this article himself. It is more than likely that an assist to the comedian wrote down a number of Lewis' jokes which were relevant to this issue's theme of travel and vacation. 

Though there are no credits to this issue, the DC wiki credits Arnold Drake with writing the script. Artist Bob Oksner penciled and inks both the cover and interiors.

The Adventures of Jerry Lewis would continue until June, 1971 with issue #124 being the finale. The cancellation of the series had less to do with the popularity of the title and more with DC rebranding. By the following year, DC's entire line of humor books would be cancelled in favor of more superhero and horror themed books.

Completing this review completes Task #32 (A Fictional Story About a Real Person) of the 2024 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Surprisingly funny and well plotted.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars