Action Comics #5

(October 1938)

He's Back with Us Again!! (Table of Contents: 1) (Expand) /

New Adventure Comics; Barry O'Neill / promo (ad from the publisher) / 1 page (report information)

[Superman and the Dam] (Table of Contents: 2)

Superman / comic story / 9 pages (report information)

Script

Jerry Siegel (signed)

Pencils

Joe Shuster (signed)

Inks

Joe Shuster (signed)

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Telegraph lines broadcast to the world...

Genre

superhero

Characters

Superman [Clark Kent]; Lois Lane; George Taylor (Daily Planet editor - not named)

Synopsis

Lois and Clark compete with one another to get the scoop on the possible collapse of the Valleyho Dam.

Reprints

• in Superman (DC, 1939 series) #3 (Winter 1940)
which is reprinted
• in Superman Archives (DC, 1989 series) #1 (1989 [February 1990])
• in The Great Comic Book Heroes (Crown Publishers, 1965 series) (1965)
• in The Great Comic Book Heroes (Dial Press, 1965 series) (1965)
• in DC Archiv Edition (Dino Verlag, 1998 series) #5 - Superman 1
• in The Superman Chronicles (DC, 2006 series) #1 ([April] 2006)
• in Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus (DC, 2013 series) #1 ([August] 2013)
• in Superman: The Golden Age (DC, 2016 series) #1 ([May] 2016)

Indexer Notes

The last panel on page 9 is an illustrated blurb for readers to enter a contest, as explained on the inside back cover, for a chance at one of the twenty-five $1 prizes being offered.

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

Coyote Canyon Bill / comic story / 1 page (report information)

Script

Fred Schwab (signed as Schwab)

Pencils

Fred Schwab (signed as Schwab)

Inks

Fred Schwab (signed as Schwab)

Colors

?

Letters

Fred Schwab (signed as Schwab)

First Line of Dialogue or Text

I'm lost--! Lemme out - I'm lost!

Genre

humor; western-frontier

Characters

Canyon Bill

Indexer Notes

Writer and letterer credits added by Craig Delich.

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

Fantastic Facts / cartoon / 1 page (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

George Papp (signed)

Inks

George Papp (signed)

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

The Paris Police Dept. keeps a squad of rat-catching cats...

Genre

non-fiction

Indexer Notes

Six unrelated panels.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 5)

The Diddle Family / comic story / 2 pages (report information)

Script

Paul Gustavson (signed)

Pencils

Paul Gustavson (signed)

Inks

Paul Gustavson (signed)

Colors

?

Letters

Paul Gustavson

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Boy, oh boy!

Genre

domestic

Characters

The Diddle Family

Indexer Notes

Script credit added by Craig Delich. Letterer credit courtesy of Terry Gustafson, son of Paul Gustavson.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 6)

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

Script

?

Pencils

Homer Fleming (credited as H. Fleming)

Inks

Homer Fleming (credited as H. Fleming)

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Chuck has taken to the hills...

Genre

adventure

Characters

Chuck Dawson; Butch; Sheriff; Trigger Holt; Steve

Synopsis

Chuck briefly evades Burwell's henchman but Trigger and Butch eventually overtake him.

Indexer Notes

Story continues from previous issue and continues in next.

[The Newport Silver Cup Races] (Table of Contents: 7)

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

Script

Gardner Fox

Pencils

Fred Guardineer (signed)

Inks

Fred Guardineer (signed)

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Pep has been invited by his young friends, Tommy and Billy Watkins, to help them sail the...

Genre

adventure

Characters

Pep Morgan; Tommy Watkins; Billy Watkins; Jimmy Young

Synopsis

Pep competes in a sailboat race with the Watkins brothers.

Indexer Notes

Writer credit added by Craig Delich.

Phil the Floater (Table of Contents: 8)

comic story / 4 pages (report information)

Script

Russell Cole (signed)

Pencils

Russell Cole (signed)

Inks

Russell Cole (signed)

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

I'm leavin' yuh at th' next crossroads, Phil!

Genre

humor

Characters

Phil

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 9)

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

Script

?

Pencils

Sven Elven (credited)

Inks

Sven Elven (credited)

Colors

?

Letters

Sven Elven

First Line of Dialogue or Text

The Polo's have watched a deadly fight...

Genre

adventure; historical

Characters

Marco Polo; Uncle Maffeo; Nicolo Polo; Niku; Ahmed

Synopsis

Marco rescues his uncle and father from the coils of a giant python. Their caravan reaches the town of Kerman where they enjoy the comforts of civilization.

Indexer Notes

Story continues from previous issue and continues in next. Letterer credit added by Craig Delich.

Valley of the Past (Table of Contents: 10)

text story / 2 pages (report information)

Script

Richard Martin (credited)

Pencils

? (illustrations)

Inks

? (illustrations)

Colors

?

Letters

typeset

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Dan sat erect, tense with expectancy.

Genre

adventure

Characters

Dan; Pete

Synopsis

Two young men are camping in the Arizona wilderness when they encounter an ancient beast.

Keywords

Arizona

[The Nestralian Spy] (Table of Contents: 11)

Tex Thomson / comic story / 10 pages (report information)

Script

Ken Fitch ?

Pencils

Bernard Baily (credited, signed)

Inks

Bernard Baily (credited, signed)

Colors

?

Letters

Bernard Baily

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Having left the sealed city...

Genre

adventure; detective-mystery

Characters

Tex Thomson; Bob Daley; Zakap; Rowten (villain)

Synopsis

Tex and Bob help a mysterious woman foil a coup attempt in Nestralia.

Indexer Notes

Letterer credit added by Craig Delich.

Bailey signs on the last page.

[Pedro Montanez] (Table of Contents: 12)

Sportettes / cartoon / 0.67 page (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

?

Inks

?

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Since losing to Lou Ambers a year ago the Puerto Rican hasn't regained his stride-

Genre

non-fiction; sports

Characters

Pedro Montanez

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

The Crowell Publishing Co. / advertisement / 0.33 page (report information)

France and Her Colonies (Table of Contents: 14)

World of Stamps / text article / 1 page (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

?

Inks

?

Colors

?

Letters

typeset

Genre

non-fiction

Indexer Notes

Sequence added by Barry Sandoval via an Error Report.

Page includes two small ads for stamps dealers.

[Gentleman Jack, the Bank Robber, Part 1] (Table of Contents: 15)

Scoop Scanlon, Five Star Reporter / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

Bill Ely (credited as Will Ely)

Inks

Bill Ely (credited as Will Ely)

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

It's mid afternoon...

Genre

adventure

Characters

Scoop Scanlon; Gentleman Jack (villain); Sid; Rusty James; Sheriff; Amos Perkins

Synopsis

Scoop and Rusty help police with capturing the Robin Hood of Kentucky.

The Egyptian Wizard (Table of Contents: 16)

Zatara, the Master Magician / comic story / 12 pages (report information)

Script

Fred Guardineer (signed)

Pencils

Fred Guardineer (signed)

Inks

Fred Guardineer (signed)

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Zatara and Tong, his servant, on their travels about the globe are staying in...

Genre

adventure

Characters

Zatara; Tong; George; Professor Dunn; Amen-Hotep (villain)

Synopsis

While visiting Egypt, Zatara helps archaeology professor Dunn find his lost expedition party.

Keywords

Cairo; Egypt

Indexer Notes

Zatara's magic words are no longer just reversed English.

[Fredric March, Fred Astaire, Joan Crawford, Al Jolson, Henry Armstrong, Bing Crosby, Fred Steele, Ruppert] (Table of Contents: 17)

Star-Light / cartoon / 1 page (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

Sheldon Moldoff (signed)

Inks

Sheldon Moldoff (signed)

Colors

?

Letters

?

Genre

non-fiction

Characters

Fredric March; Fred Astaire; Joan Crawford; Al Jolson; Henry Armstrong; Bing Crosby; Fred Steele

We're Giving Away $25 in Cash Prizes! (Table of Contents: 18) (Expand) /

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

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 19) (Expand) /

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