Superman: The Action Comics Archives, Vol. 3

Superman: The Action Comics Archives #3

by Jerry Siegel, Jerry Siegel

Collects the classic adventures of the Man of Steel as he battles to protect the innocent against criminals, crooked cops, and villains including the Domino, Lex Luthor, and the Puzzler.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

240 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2001

About the author

Jerome "Jerry" Siegel, who also used pseudonyms including Joe Carter, Jerry Ess, and Herbert S. Fine, was the American co-creator of Superman (along with Joe Shuster), the first of the great comic book superheroes and one of the most recognizable icons of the 20th century.
He and Shuster were inducted into the comic book industry's Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1993.

Reviews

[Dominick · Rating 3 out of 5]

These early Superman stories continue to be a real mixed bag. The art is generally good and sometimes very good, though I am never fond of how the colour looks in reprints such as these. Supes mostly punches way below his weight in this volume, and often gets involved in downright baffling stories (e.g. in one he allows himself to be hired to keep an eye on a millionaire's wayward daughter; in another he takes on the corrupt world of used car sales; in another, he devotes himself to helping a young hayseed establish himself in professional baseball). Conventional super-villains are few and far between. Luther appears twice, including a story in which he gives himself super strength via electricity but somehow manages to forget that once the charge wears off, he will lose the bower. So much for evil genius. Also, Luthor seems to have vampire-like fangs in this early story. I don't recall ever noticing that before. There's a rather more effective criminal genius story, involving a ray that makes everyone (except Supes, natch) compliant to any order they are given, enabling this guy to take over the USA. Unfortunately, Luthor himself had used a similar device only a few issues earlier, so some of the edge is taken off this rehash. We also get the first appearance of knock-off villains the Puzzler (the Riddler) and the Prankster (the Joker), the latter with an interesting physical design and a pretty ropey English accent. Of the two, only the latter had any legs, the Puzzler last appearing only a year after being introduced. Superman is still also more of less a vigilante in these stories, so there's a rather lummoxy cop trying to arrest him in several stories. These are mostly forgettable stories (I had to flip through the book while writing this review to refresh my memory), but they glide by relatively smoothly.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Luther looking like Zippy the Pinheads father, the Puzzler a Riddler knock off, Superman just starting to fly, Michael Uslan intro that adds a lot to the book, wonderful art, Lois in trouble. Loved it all.

[Michael P. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some of these stories are an improvement on the stories in the previous volume, but nothing too exciting here.

[Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peak Wacky superman stories

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Superman thrashes mobsters and racketeers - these stories lack the initial enthusiasm and energy of the earliest Siegel-written Superman strips, but they're still solidly entertaining with accounting for the era of their publication.