Action Comics #78

(November 1944)

Editorial Advisory Board (Table of Contents: 1) (Expand) /

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

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 2) (Expand) /

Action Comics; Detective Comics; All Funny Comics / promo (ad from the publisher) / 0.67 page (report information)

The Chef of Bohemia! (Table of Contents: 3)

Superman / comic story / 12 pages (report information)

Script

Al Schwartz (ghosted for Jerry Siegel)

Pencils

Ira Yarbrough (ghosted for Joe Shuster)

Inks

George Roussos (ghosted for Joe Shuster)

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

He was a comic little fellow with a huge appetite for art...

Genre

superhero

Characters

Superman [Clark Kent]; Sergei; Biff Condor

Synopsis

Ex-pug Biff Condor, losing money from renting a spot in Little Bohemia to a small businessman in a prosperous nightclub area, seeks to oust the man any way possible in order to attract a newer tenant who will pay a higher rent.

Reprints

• in Superman: The Action Comics Archives (DC, 1997 series) #5 ([May] 2007)
• in Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus (DC, 2013 series) #4 ([July] 2017)

Indexer Notes

Credits from Siegel's records: Siegel and Shuster v. National Comics Publications, Inc. et al., case no. 1099 (Westchester Cty. Sup. Ct. 1947). Alvin Schwartz used the name Vernon Woodrum for his comics work.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 4) (Expand) /

Wheaties / advertisement / 1 page (report information)

The Bloke Who Croaked the Oak! (Table of Contents: 5)

Hayfoot Henry / comic story / 5 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

?

Inks

Stan Kaye

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

What sight more glorious than an ancient tree...

Genre

humor; detective-mystery

Characters

Hayfoot Henry

Indexer Notes

Alvin Schwartz script credit and possible Stan Kaye pencils credit removed by Craig Delich. The Who's Who lists Schwartz as writer only in 1946-48 and Kaye as inker only in 1944.

The text is written in rhyming couplets.

Fortified with Energy! (Table of Contents: 6) (Expand) /

Baby Ruth / advertisement / 1 page (report information)

Portraits for Plunder! (Table of Contents: 7)

Vigilante / comic story / 10 pages (report information)

Script

Don C. Cameron

Pencils

Mort Meskin (signed)

Inks

Mort Meskin (signed)

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

When ultra-modern paintings are pondered and praised...

Genre

adventure; superhero; western-frontier

Characters

The Vigilante [Greg Sanders]; Stuff, the Chinatown Kid; Slammer and his mob (villains); Trigger Collins (villain); Barton Blaston

Synopsis

The Vigilante and Stuff foil a series of robberies the blueprints for which are incorporated by a criminal artist mastermind into his works of modern art.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 8)

public service announcement / 0.67 page (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

?

Inks

?

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

An important message to the boys and girls of America!

Superman's Secret Message (Table of Contents: 9) (Expand) /

Supermen of America / promo (ad from the publisher) / 0.33 page (report information)

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 10) (Expand) /

Illinois Merchandise Mart / advertisement / 1 page (report information)

Incident on Hill X (Table of Contents: 11)

text story / 1.67 pages (report information)

Script

Whitney Ellsworth (credited as Fred Whitby)

Letters

typeset

Genre

adventure

Indexer Notes

Second page on inside back cover.

A Fortune in Feathers! (Table of Contents: 12)

Congo Bill / comic story / 5.67 pages (report information)

Script

Whitney Ellsworth

Pencils

Ed Smalle

Inks

Ed Smalle

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

When Congo Bill, thorn in thiefdom's side...

Genre

adventure; jungle

Characters

Congo Bill; Red; Midget Mayhew; Seminoles (Native American tribe)

Synopsis

While on a timber survey of the Everglades, Bill runs into a group of poachers, illegally collecting rare bird feathers.

Keywords

alligators; egrets; feathers; Florida Everglades; seaplanes; stereotyping of American Indians; stereotyping of Native Americans

Indexer Notes

We formerly credited this story to "writer D" who has now been identified by Martin O'Hearn as Whitney Ellsworth.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 13) (Expand) /

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

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 14) (Expand) /

Wheaties / advertisement / 1 page (report information)

Planes without Pilots! (Table of Contents: 15)

Zatara / comic story / 8 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

William White

Inks

William White

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Despite all the ingenuity of the human brain...

Genre

adventure; fantasy-supernatural; superhero

Characters

Zatara [Giovanni "John" Zatara]; Mr. Rand

Synopsis

Zatara uncovers a plot by the general manager and mechanics of Rand Aircraft to fly planes by remote control to a hidden location, where they break them into spare parts and sell them to other aircraft manufacturers.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 16) (Expand) /

Daisy Air Rifles / advertisement / 1 page (report information)

Not to Be Repeated! (Table of Contents: 17)

public service announcement / 0.33 page (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

?

Inks

?

Letters

typeset

Indexer Notes

Inside back cover.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 18) (Expand) /

Lighter Moments with Fresh Eveready Batteries / advertisement / 1 page (report information)