Action Comics #2

(July 1938)

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 1)

Thrills! / cartoon / 1 page (report information)

Script

Terry Gilkison ?

Pencils

Terry Gilkison

Inks

Terry Gilkison

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Hunter narrowly escapes death...

Genre

adventure; non-fiction

Indexer Notes

Found on inside front cover.

[Revolution in San Monte] (Table of Contents: 2)

Superman / comic story / 12.67 pages (report information)

Script

Jerry Siegel (signed as Jerome Siegel)

Pencils

Joe Shuster (signed)

Inks

Joe Shuster (signed)

Colors

Strauss Engraving Company

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

As they topple like a plummet to the street below, eighty stories distant, Greer shrieks insanely the entire length of the building!

Genre

superhero

Characters

Alex Greer (villain); Lois Lane (supporting); Superman [Clark Kent] (featured); George Taylor (cameo); Lola Cortez; Emil Norvell (villain)

Synopsis

Clark Kent and Lois Lane are sent by editor Taylor to San Monte in South America to cover a war that is brewing. Besides saving Lois from being executed as a spy, Superman proves the war is being fomented by munitions manufacturers led by Emil Norvell.

Reprints

• in Superman (DC, 1939 series) #[1] ([Summer 1939])
which is reprinted
• in Famous First Edition (DC, 1974 series) #C-61 ([March] 1979)
• in Supermann (Semic, 1977 series) #9/1979 (28. august 1979)
which is reprinted
• in Superserien (Semic, 1982 series) #9/1984 (uke 35 1984)
• in Superman Archives (DC, 1989 series) #1 (1989 [February 1990])
• in Superman #1 [Masterpiece Edition] (Chronicle Books, 1999 series) (1999)
• in Millennium Edition: Superman 1 (DC, 2000 series) #[nn] (December 2000), #[Chromium Edition] (December 2000)
• in Superman 1 (Facsimile Edition) (DC, 2022 series) (1939 [December 2022])
• in Superman from the Thirties to the Seventies (Crown Publishers, 1971 series) (1971) [black and white]
• in Stålmannen (Semic, 1976 series) #9/1979 ([21 augusti] 1979)
• in Superman from the Thirties to the Eighties (Crown Publishers, 1983 series) (1983)
• in DC Archiv Edition (Dino Verlag, 1998 series) #5 - Superman 1
• in Superman in the Forties (DC, 2005 series) ([December] 2005)
• in The Superman Chronicles (DC, 2006 series) #1 ([April] 2006)
• in Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus (DC, 2013 series) #1 ([August] 2013)
• in Lois Lane: A Celebration of 75 Years (DC, 2013 series) (2013 [January 2014])
• in Superman: A Celebration of 75 Years (DC, 2013 series) (2013 [January 2014])
• in Superman: The War Years 1938-1945 (Chartwell Books, 2015 series) (2015)
• in Superman: The Golden Age (DC, 2016 series) #1 ([May] 2016)
• in Action Comics 80 Years of Superman: The Deluxe Edition (DC, 2018 series) ([June] 2018)
• in Superman Anthologie (Panini Deutschland, 2018 series) (2018)

Indexer Notes

Originally prepared for newspaper publication, cut up and repaged. No black shading used. Clark works for the [Cleveland] Evening News. Superman wears blue boots. Modified synopsis added by Craig Delich.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 3)

Superman / promo (ad from the publisher) / 0.33 page (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

?

Inks

?

Colors

Strauss Engraving Company

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Attention all American youth!

Genre

superhero

Characters

Superman [Clark Kent]

Synopsis

House advertisement promoting "Superman's own course in: Acquiring Super-Strength!"

[The Shipwreck] (Table of Contents: 4)

Scoop Scanlon / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

Bill Ely (signed as Will Ely)

Inks

Bill Ely (signed as Will Ely)

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

The private yacht of Sinclair Wentworth is anchored off the coast...

Feature Logo

Scoop Scanlon, Five Star Reporter

Genre

adventure; detective-mystery

Characters

Rusty James; Scoop Scanlon; Sinclair Wentworth

Synopsis

A storm crashes a yacht onto a rocky reef and Scoop Scanlon helps the coast guard rescue the passengers.

Indexer Notes

Printed in black and white.

[Glass Arm] (Table of Contents: 5)

Pep Morgan / comic story / 4 pages (report information)

Script

Gardner Fox (sourced)

Pencils

Fred Guardineer (signed as Gene Baxter)

Inks

Fred Guardineer (signed as Gene Baxter)

Colors

Strauss Engraving Company

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Pep Morgan has just recovered from an operation on his right arm which had...

Feature Logo

"Pep" Morgan

Genre

adventure

Characters

Pep Morgan

Elmer the Eel (Table of Contents: 6)

comic story / 4 pages (report information)

Script

Russell Cole (signed as Alger)

Pencils

Russell Cole (signed as Alger)

Inks

Russell Cole (signed as Alger)

Colors

Strauss Engraving Company

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Thief! Police!

Genre

humor

Characters

Elmer

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 7)

The Adventures of Marco Polo / comic story / 4 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

Sven Elven (signed)

Inks

Sven Elven (signed)

Colors

Strauss Engraving Company

Letters

Sven Elven (signed) (sourced)

First Line of Dialogue or Text

By the daring of the Polo's [sic], the bandits find themselves caught in their own trap.

Genre

adventure; historical

Characters

Marco Polo; Niku; Nicolo Polo; Uncle Maffeo

Synopsis

In a narrow mountain pass, Marco sends an avalanche onto the bandits threatening the Polo caravan. The few survivors are taken as hostage for save passage through this dangerous land.

Indexer Notes

The story continues from the previous issue and continues in the next issue.

South Sea Strategy [Part 2] (Table of Contents: 8)

text story / 2 pages (report information)

Script

Vin Sullivan (credited as Captain Frank Thomas)

Pencils

? (spot illustrations)

Inks

? (spot illustrations)

Colors

Strauss Engraving Company

Letters

typeset

Genre

adventure

Characters

Bret Coleman; Cottonball; Samuel Newton; Merna Newton

Synopsis

Bret Coleman rescues a young lady from ritual sacrifice by island natives.

The Sealed City [Part 1] (Table of Contents: 9)

Tex Thomson / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script

Ken Fitch ?

Pencils

Bernard Baily (signed)

Inks

Bernard Baily (signed)

Colors

Strauss Engraving Company

Letters

Bernard Baily (sourced)

First Line of Dialogue or Text

In his search for adventure...

Genre

adventure; detective-mystery

Characters

Bob Daley (introduction); Tex Thomson; Gorrah (villain, introduction)

Synopsis

The One-Eyed Gorrah rules a legendary city that had been buried by a volcano. However, he had overthrown the “real” Gorrah and Tex Thompson and Bob Daley team up with the “real” Gorrah to retake his throne.

Indexer Notes

Gorrah returns later for revenge and apparently dies early in Tex's career as the masked patriotic hero Mr. America.

[Vindication] (Table of Contents: 10)

Inspector Donald and Bobby / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

Leo O'Mealia

Inks

Leo O'Mealia

Colors

Strauss Engraving Company

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Dad didn't come home last night.

Genre

detective-mystery

Characters

Inspector Bob Donald; Bobby Donald; Tom Faber; Tim Riley; Commissioner Harry

Synopsis

Disgraced police inspector Bob Donald disappears and his son Bobby is determined to find him.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 11)

Chuck Dawson / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

Homer Fleming (signed as H. Fleming)

Inks

Homer Fleming (signed as H. Fleming)

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Chuck Dawson is felled by a bullet in a sidewalk encounter with Trigger and Butch...

Feature Logo

"Chuck" Dawson

Genre

adventure; western-frontier

Characters

Chuck Dawson; Notch Logan; Trigger Holt; the sheriff; the deputy; John Burwell

Synopsis

Having escaped from jail, Chuck continues his quest to bring down the A-G gang who stole his father's property.

Indexer Notes

Printed in black and white.

The story continues from the previous issue and continues in the next issue.

The Haunted Farm (Table of Contents: 12)

Zatara / comic story / 12 pages (report information)

Script

Gardner Fox (sourced) (see notes)

Pencils

Fred Guardineer (signed)

Inks

Fred Guardineer (signed)

Colors

Strauss Engraving Company

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Zatara is on his tour of the United States and travels cross-country in his car.

Feature Logo

Zatara the Master Magician

Genre

adventure; fantasy-supernatural; superhero

Characters

Tong; Zatara [Giovanni "John" Zatara]; Miss Hendrix; Jim Hendrix; Adam Springer

Synopsis

Zatara investigates a murder on a reportedly haunted farm.

Indexer Notes

Gardner Fox credit from an interview in Alter Ego (TwoMorrows, 1999 series) #20 (January 2003) in which Fox states this was his first Zatara story.

$25 Cash Prizes! (Table of Contents: 13)

promo (ad from the publisher) / 1 page (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

?

Inks

?

Colors

Strauss Engraving Company

Letters

typeset

Play Ball (Table of Contents: 14)

cartoon / 1 page (report information)

Script

Sheldon Moldoff (signed)

Pencils

Sheldon Moldoff (signed)

Inks

Sheldon Moldoff (signed)

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

'Lefty' Vernon Gomez may be a nervous and jumpy person, but when he's on...

Genre

non-fiction; sports

Characters

Lefty Gomez

Indexer Notes

Starts with a mini-profile of "Lefty" Vernon Gomez, and then discusses pitching and various pitches. Found on the inside back cover.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 15)

Johnson Smith & Co. Catalog / advertisement / 1 page (report information)

Script

? (ad copy)

Pencils

?

Inks

?

Colors

?

Letters

typeset

Editing

?

Indexer Notes

Back cover.