Action Comics
#51
(August 1942)
DC,
1938 Series
- Price
- 0.10 USD
- Pages
- 68
- Indicia Frequency
- monthly
- On-sale Date
- 1942-06-16
- Indicia / Colophon Publisher
- Detective Comics, Inc.
- Brand
-
A Superman DC Publication
- Editing
- Whitney Ellsworth (credited as F. W. Ellsworth) (editor); Mort Weisinger (assistant, uncredited); Murray Boltinoff (assistant, uncredited)
Issue Notes
No issue number or date in indicia. On-sale date from copyright registration.
The Prankster and the Foolproof Plot
Superman / cover / 1 page
- Genre
- superhero
- Characters
- Superman; The Prankster (villain)
- Reprints
-
in O Lobinho (2ª Série) (Grande Consórcio Suplementos Nacionais, 1940 series) #66 -
in Superman in Action Comics (Abbeville Press, 1993 series) #1 (1993) - in Superman: The Action Comics Archives (DC, 1997 series) #3 ([October] 2001)
- in The Superman Chronicles (DC, 2006 series) #9 ([August] 2011)
- in Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus (DC, 2013 series) #3 (2016 [February 2017])
- in Superman: The Golden Age (DC, 2016 series) #5 ([June] 2020)
-
- Keywords
- water pistols
Indexer Notes
Credited to Wayne Boring in the Abbeville Press "Superman in Action Comics" book. Ray credits verified to Craig Delich by Fred Ray and Jack Burnley.
Little Oscar's First Raid
Good Books Worth Reading / text article / 0.67 page
- Script
- Josette Frank
- Pencils
- ? (illustration)
- Inks
- ? (illustration)
- Letters
- typeset
Indexer Notes
Shares inside front cover with indicia and Superman's Secret Message.
The Case of the Crimeless Crimes
Superman / comic story / 13 pages
- Script
- Jerry Siegel (signed)
- Pencils
- John Sikela (signed as Joe Shuster)
- Inks
- John Sikela (signed as Joe Shuster)
- Colors
- ?
- Letters
- ?
- Genre
- superhero
- Characters
- Superman [Clark Kent]; the Prankster (villain, introduction); Lois Lane; Sgt. Casey; Perry White
- Synopsis
- Clark and Lois are directed to a story involving a weird figure calling himself the Prankster, who breaks into a bank, only to leave a black bag "on deposit" that is chock full of money.
- Reprints
- in Superman: The Action Comics Archives (DC, 1997 series) #3 ([October] 2001)
- in The Superman Chronicles (DC, 2006 series) #9 ([August] 2011)
- in Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus (DC, 2013 series) #3 (2016 [February 2017])
- in Superman: The Golden Age (DC, 2016 series) #5 ([June] 2020)
-
Indexer Notes
Archives credits pencils to Ed Dobrotka. Sikela credits per Craig Delich and Bob Hughes.
Captain Arthur Wermuth, One-Man Army!
Supermen of the U.S. Army / cartoon / 1 page
- Genre
- non-fiction; biography; war
- Characters
- Captain Arthur Wermuth
Guns, Gold, and Glory!
Vigilante / comic story / 12 pages
- Script
- Joe Samachson ?
- Pencils
- Mort Meskin (signed)
- Inks
- Cliff Young (signed as Cliff)
- Colors
- ?
- Letters
- ?
- Genre
- superhero
- Characters
- The Vigilante [Greg Sanders]; Stuff; "Brain" Storms (villain)
- Synopsis
- Greg Sanders returns to his old home town out west, only to find criminals from the city have gone there to get away from him.
[no title indexed]
Silly Willy / comic story / 0.5 page
- First Line of Dialogue or Text
- Wow! Golly - That's something you see once in a lifetime!
- Genre
- humor
Indexer Notes
Script credit added by Craig Delich.
The Valley of the Vultures
3 Aces / comic story / 6 pages
- Genre
- adventure
- Characters
- Three Aces [Fog Fortune; Gunner Bill; Whistler Will]
[The Framer]
Mr. America and Fat Man / comic story / 8 pages
- Script
- Ken Fitch
- Pencils
- Bernard Baily (signed)
- Inks
- Bernard Baily (signed)
- Colors
- ?
- Letters
- ?
- Genre
- superhero
- Characters
- Mr. America [Tex Thomson]; Fatman [Bob Daley]
Indexer Notes
Feature becomes "Americommandos" with the following installment.
[no title indexed]
Rollin Stone / comic story / 0.5 page
- Script
- Ray McGill (signed)
- Pencils
- Ray McGill (signed)
- Inks
- Ray McGill (signed)
- Colors
- ?
- Letters
- Ray McGill (signed)
- First Line of Dialogue or Text
- If I don't get a raise around here soon...
- Genre
- humor
Indexer Notes
Script and letters credits added by Craig Delich.
[no title indexed]
Congo Bill / comic story / 6 pages
- Script
- Fred Ray (signed as FRay)
- Pencils
- Fred Ray (signed as FRay)
- Inks
- Fred Ray (signed as FRay)
- Colors
- ?
- Letters
- ?
- First Line of Dialogue or Text
- I'm Spud Williams...come from North Carolina --
- Genre
- jungle; adventure
- Characters
- Congo Bill; Spud Williams; Dave Bennett; Slim Kennedy; Tex Lee; Shorty Smith
- Synopsis
- Bill joins the Flying Tigers and exposes a spy in their ranks.
- Keywords
- American Volunteer Group; bomber planes; China; Curtiss P-40 Warhawk; fighter planes; Flying Tigers; Japanese Imperial Army Air Service; parachuting; sabotage; World War II
[no title indexed]
Shorty / comic story / 0.44 page
- Script
- Henry Boltinoff (signed)
- Pencils
- Henry Boltinoff (signed)
- Inks
- Henry Boltinoff (signed)
- Colors
- ?
- Letters
- ?
- First Line of Dialogue or Text
- Gosh - Look at all those icebergs!
- Genre
- humor
- Characters
- Shorty
Indexer Notes
Script credit added by Craig Delich.
[no title indexed]
Jerry the Jitterbug / comic story / 1 page
- Script
- Henry Boltinoff (signed)
- Pencils
- Henry Boltinoff (signed)
- Inks
- Henry Boltinoff (signed)
- Colors
- ?
- Letters
- ?
- First Line of Dialogue or Text
- Ah - Beautiful spring - This walk in the woods should do me good!
- Genre
- humor
- Characters
- Jerry
Indexer Notes
Script credit added by Craig Delich.
The Case of the Coconut Crimes!
Zatara / comic story / 9 pages
- Script
- Gardner Fox
- Pencils
- Joe Sulman (signed)
- Inks
- Joe Sulman (signed)
- Colors
- ?
- Letters
- ?
- Genre
- adventure; fantasy-supernatural; superhero
- Characters
- Zatara
Editing
Related Scans
Series Information
Table of Contents
-
0.
The Prankster and the Foolproof Plot
Superman -
1.
Editorial Advisory Board
-
2.
Little Oscar's First Raid
Good Books Worth Reading -
3.
The Case of the Crimeless Crimes
Superman -
4.
["Greetings, Superman members! If I were to tell you that..."]
Supermen of America -
5.
Captain Arthur Wermuth, One-Man Army!
Supermen of the U.S. Army -
6.
[no title indexed]
Kool-Aid -
7.
Guns, Gold, and Glory!
Vigilante -
8.
["Wow! Golly - That's something you see once in a lifetime!"]
Silly Willy -
9.
In Movies, Newspapers, Radio
Superman -
10.
The Valley of the Vultures
3 Aces -
11.
[The Framer]
Mr. America and Fat Man -
12.
Some Must Fight
-
13.
["If I don't get a raise around here soon..."]
Rollin Stone -
14.
Honest Injun!
World's Finest Comics -
15.
["I'm Spud Williams...come from North Carolina --"]
Congo Bill -
16.
["Gosh - Look at all those icebergs!"]
Shorty -
17.
[no title indexed]
-
18.
[no title indexed]
-
19.
Now on Sale
-
20.
["Ah - Beautiful spring - This walk in the woods should do me good!"]
Jerry the Jitterbug -
21.
The Case of the Coconut Crimes!
Zatara -
22.
["A special message to the boys and girls of America from Henry Morgenthau, Jr. - Secretary of the Treasury!"]
-
23.
The Tootsie Roll of Honor
Tootsie Roll
This issue was most recently modified by:
- Tony R. Rose
- Bob Hughes
- Katie
- Mike Nielsen
- Merlin Haas
- Jim Van Dore
- Craig Delich
- Daniel Thingvold
- Matthew Head
- Peter Croome
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