Favourite comics: Superman #247 - Must there be a Superman?

The early 1970's was the period that Superman shed his silver age trappings of silly hoaxes and imaginary stories in an effort to making him more relevant to the readers of the 1970's (and perhaps to also compete with Marvel). One of the central tales in the revamping of the character was the above #247 (January 1972) where the question was asked " Must there be a Superman?".

The first time I saw the above cover (by Curt Swant/Murphy Anderson) featuring the Guardians of the Universe I thought (hoped?) that this would involve a meeting between the Green Lantern and Superman. Instead the tale which was Elliot S Maggins very first comic book story, revolved around the much deeper (comic book) concept of whether or not Superman's very presence on Earth was hindering the development and evolution of Humanity. At the time (1972) this was a pretty mindblowing concept and a cracking issue.

Afer being knocked unconscious while trying to avert a tragedy in space Superman is rescued by the Guardians of the Universe who tell him that his actions may be impeding the progress of humans.

While Superman considers what they said, he gets involved in the problems in a migrant camp where some striking workers are being verbally and physically abused by their boss. A teen (Manuel) who was being assaulted tells Superman of his story of moving from Mexico to the US to find better opportunities. While visiting Manuels village the locals plead with Superman to sort out their labour problems for them, Just then an earthquake strikes which Superman stops. He then tells the crowd that while he can solve problems like natural disasters, they must be responsible for the things that they can control.

As he flies away, he hears a news story about a ship being battered by the waves at sea and jets off to save them. Back on Oa, the Guardians watch his actions on a large screen and are convinced that they have succeeded in making him reassess his role in humanity's development.

In additon to the above main story, this issue also included an excellent back-up tale of "The Private Life of Clark Kent" by Denny O'Neil with some stunning art by the SwanAnderson team.

In this sotry Clark Kent learns that a receptioanist at WGBS' brother is running with a teenage gang. Clark decides to help and confronts the youths without the aid of his Superman alter ego. This 8 page tale has some fun touches like the above page where Clark trys smoking a pipe.

This issue rounds up with a nice reprint from "Action Comics" #338 (1966) - back in 1972 we got a lot of quality comics for our 25 cents (or in my case 7 1/2p).

Page Turners: The double page splash page - Buscema, Adams , Steranko, Kirby and others

One of the many things that made US comics so special back in the day was when they featured a double page spread. Below are a selection of some of my favourites to go along with the above classic from John Buscema from "Avengers Annual" #2 (September 1968) sadly I do not own that issue but the above page is taken from the Avengers Epic collection - enjoy:

Above: "Captain America Special Edition" #1 by Jim Steranko - This was originally published in "Captain America" # 113 and reprinted in the 1980's in the excellent two issue "Captain America Special Edition".

Above: "Conan the Barbarian" #16 (July 1972) by Barry Smith

Above: Jack Kirby - Originally published in "Fantastic Four Annual" # 6

Above: "Our Army at War" #253 by Russ Heath.

Above: "Avengers" #93 by Neal Adams - Probably my all time favourite double page spread.

Above: Detective Comics #526 by Don Newton and Alfredo Alcala

Above: "Not Brand Echh" #13 (May 1969)by Marie Severin.

Top Tens: The "incredible" art of Herb Trimpe.

Sometimes an artist does a character so well that they make that version of the character their own; Jack Kirby and the Fantastic Four, Curt Swan and Superman, Neal Adam’s and Batman, Gene Colan and Daredevil, and the wonderful Herb Trimpe and the Incredible Hulk. “Happy Herb” as he was known to fans, began working for Marvel in the mid-'60s in the production department before finding comic book fame as the penciller of “The Incredible Hulk” in an almost unbroken string of issues from #106-193 between 1968 and 1975. My own personal favourite Herb Trimpe Hulk comics featured the inking of John Severin , however with or without John Severin there was no doubting Herbs talent as an amazing cover artist who regularly produced action packed covers. Some of my favourite Hulk covers to accompany "Incredible Hulk" issue 163 above, are shown below:

Incredible Hulk # 141 (July 1971) - I have always coveted this issue and finally received this as an unexpected Christmas present this year.

Incredible Hulk # 171 (January 1974).

Incredible Hulk # 151 (May 1972) - by Trimpe & John Severin. This is an excellent issue and has remained one of my all-time favourite comics since I first read it when it was reprinted in the UK "Mighty World of Marvel" comic

Incredible Hulk # 132 (October 1970) - by Trimpe & John Severin.

Incredible Hulk # 148 (February 1972) - by Trimpe & John Severin. Yet another classic Hulk tale by Archie Goodwin and Trimpe/Severin.

Marvel Super-Heroes #63 (1977) - Originally published in "Incredible Hulk #109 (November 1968) cover by Trimpe & John Severin. "Marvel Super-Heroes" featured classic Hulk reprints from #25 to #105.

Incredible Hulk #110 (December 1968) cover by Trimpe & John Severin. This is one of my earliest Marvel comics which I purchased only a few years ago. Another Hulk classic that I first read in the UK "Mighty World of Marvel" weekly.

Incredible Hulk # 142 (August 1971) - by Trimpe & John Severin.

Incredible Hulk # 137 (March 1971) - by Trimpe - I have prattled on before about my affection for this issue (and # 136) which were the first 2 issues of the US Hulk comic that I purchased.

"Mighty World of Marvel" #94 (July 1974) by Trimpe. This story was originally published in Incredible Hulk # 131 (September 1970) and is one of the few Hulk back issues I would still like to pick up.

Despite his amazing run on the Hulk, Herb is probably best known by todays comic book fans as the first artist to draw the Wolverine, a character who debuted in “Incredible Hulk” #180 as a villain and has since gone on to become one of the best-known and most annoyingly successful of Marvel’s character ( only beaten to that title for me by “Deadpool”) . Although Trimpe co-created almost all the Hulks supporting cast, including Jim Wilson (#131), Doc Sampson (#141) and the Hulk Busters military unit, he did not as is so often noted, co-create the Wolverine. That accolade goes to John Romita who designed his costume, and writers Len Wein (and Roy Thomas?). I never owned a copy of #180 (and I am unlikely to ever buy this at the prices being asked) but the excellent "True Believers" issue is a good alternative.

Trimpe’s work at Marvel was not just confined to the Hulk, he also created the World War I flying ace the Phantom Eagle (above) which allowed him to indulge his passion for classic planes. He also worked on numerous other Marvel titles including runs on Ant-Man in Marvel Feature , Ka-Zar, Iron-Man, Fantastic Four, Godzilla, Shogun Warrior, War of the Worlds, the Defenders, G.I Joe and many other books. Sadly, Herb passed away in 2015 while out jogging from a heart attack at the age of age 75. .