Action Comics #75

(August 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) /

promo (ad from the publisher) / 0.67 page (report information)

Aesop's Modern Fables (Table of Contents: 3)

Superman / comic story / 12 pages (report information)

Script

Bill Finger (signed as Jerry Siegel)

Pencils

Ira Yarbrough (signed as Joe Shuster)

Inks

George Roussos (signed as Joe Shuster)

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Once upon a time there was a guy named Trigger Mike...

Genre

superhero

Characters

Superman [Clark Kent]; Lois Lane; Perry White; Johnny Aesop

Synopsis

An escaped prisoner named Johnny Aesop, ribbed when he was younger about his last name, decides to commit crimes based on the ancient fables to gain wealth and notoriety.

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).

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

Wheaties / advertisement / 1 page (report information)

The Baseball Barrage (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

In Sleepyside, where verse alone is spoken...

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.

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

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

Blunderbuss Booty! (Table of Contents: 7)

Vigilante / comic story / 10 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

Mort Meskin

Inks

George Roussos

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

From swiping to swapping - - that's The Dummy's plan...

Genre

adventure; superhero; western-frontier

Characters

The Vigilante [Greg Sanders]; Stuff, the Chinatown Kid; The Dummy (villain); The Lash (villain); Robertson; Mrs. Robertson

Synopsis

The Vigilante and Stuff attend the parole board meeting for The Dummy, who claims he is rehabilitated. The Vigilante decides he ought to have another chance, providing he pays back the loot from the last robbery he committed. So, The Dummy opens up a swap shop and appears to be going straight. A thief calling himself The Lash breaks into the Robertson home and steals an old blunderbuss. He then continues to steal blunderbusses, and when Vigilante and Stuff give chase they find themselves near The Dummy's swap shop. They later pursue The Lash and find that he and The Dummy are in cahoots.

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

Chief Hot Foot / comic story / 0.67 page (report information)

Script

Henry Boltinoff (signed)

Pencils

Henry Boltinoff (signed)

Inks

Henry Boltinoff (signed)

Colors

?

Letters

Henry Boltinoff (signed)

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Me make-um over wigwam...

Genre

humor

Characters

Chief Hot Foot

Indexer Notes

Writer credit added by Craig Delich.

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

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

Money Talks (Table of Contents: 10)

text story / 2 pages (report information)

Script

Jack Miller (credited as Jesse Merlan)

Letters

typeset

Genre

adventure

Frame Up in Fur! (Table of Contents: 11)

Congo Bill / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

Ed Smalle

Inks

Ed Smalle

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Congo Bill, out-rider of the world's hinterlands...

Genre

adventure; drama; jungle

Characters

Congo Bill; Baldy; Dwight

Synopsis

Working for the North Star Fur Company, Bill captures a gang of fur thieves working right under the police's nose.

Keywords

cuff links; Metro City; motorcycles; North Star Fur Company; shoplifting

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 12) (Expand) /

Popsicle / advertisement / 1 page (report information)

The Sting of Death! (Table of Contents: 13)

Zatara / comic story / 8 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

William White

Inks

William White

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

The hiss of swift and silent death lances down out of the sky...

Genre

adventure; fantasy-supernatural; superhero

Characters

Zatara [Giovanni "John" Zatara]; Dick Pack; The Maharajah [Daggers Fanelli] (crook)

Synopsis

Visiting his old friend Dick Pack, Zatara finds him in mortal fear of "The Sting of Death". To escape the curse a ransom of $50,000 is demanded. At the subsequent party one of the guests is a maharajah. Zatara unravels his turban to reveal a hive filled with angry robber wasps, their stings dipped in deadly cobra venom.

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

Wheaties / advertisement / 1 page (report information)

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

Joe Jam / comic story / 1 page (report information)

Script

Ray McGill (signed)

Pencils

Ray McGill (signed)

Inks

Ray McGill (signed)

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Joe, is our credit good for two sodas?

Genre

humor

Characters

Joe Jam; Sugarpuss; Judy

Indexer Notes

Inside back cover, in black and white.

The Mysterious Blonde (Table of Contents: 16) (Expand) /

Adventures of "R. C." and Quickie; Royal Crown Cola / advertisement / 1 page (report information)