Action Comics #16

(September 1939)

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

All-American Comics; Movie Comics / promo (ad from the publisher) / 1 page (report information)

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

Superman / comic story / 13 pages (report information)

Script

Jerry Siegel (signed)

Pencils

Joe Shuster (signed)

Inks

Paul Cassidy ?

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Racing high over the darkened city, is a fantastic...

Feature Logo

Superman [over-lapping P, fat letters]

Genre

superhero

Characters

Superman [Clark Kent]; George Taylor (unnamed); Police Commissioner Watson; Marty Kaye (Villain); Butch (Villain); Nick (Villain); Pete (Villain); Jack O'Leary

Synopsis

After a run-in with a gambler who is opting out for suicide, and a Police Commissioner who won't deal with the city's gambling problem, Superman decides to wage a one-man war himself against gambling and aid the victims of it.

Reprints

• in Aventures (Sage - Sagédition, 1936 series) #26/1941, #27/1941, #28/1941, #29/1941, #30/1941
• in Superman: The Action Comics Archives (DC, 1997 series) #1 (1997 [February 1998])
• in Clásicos DC (NORMA Editorial, 2004 series) #6 - Los Archivos de Superman en Action Comics Volumen 1 (Marzo 2005)
• in The Superman Chronicles (DC, 2006 series) #2 ([April] 2007)
• in Continuum (JMF, 2007 series) #6 (No Date [circa October 2008])
• 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 of the story is an illustrated plug for New York World's Fair Comics for 1939. Note and synopsis added by Craig Delich.

[Mexico Honors Philatelists] (Table of Contents: 3)

Action Stamp Page / text article / 1 page (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

?

Inks

?

Colors

?

Letters

typeset

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Mexico's promised set in honor of the World Wide Convention of...

Genre

non-fiction

Keywords

Eiffel Tower; Yugoslavia

Indexer Notes

Page includes several small ads from stamps dealers.

[Babe Risko, Casey Stengel, Joe Medwick] (Table of Contents: 4)

Odds 'n Ends / cartoon / 1 page (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

Sheldon Moldoff (signed)

Inks

Sheldon Moldoff (signed)

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Risko entered the Navy when he was sixteen and...

Genre

non-fiction; sports

Characters

Babe Risko; Casey Stengel; Joe Medwick

[Bodyguard] (Table of Contents: 5)

Pep Morgan / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script

Gardner Fox

Pencils

Fred Guardineer (signed as Gene Baxter)

Inks

Fred Guardineer (signed as Gene Baxter)

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Well, Pep.

Genre

adventure

Characters

Pep Morgan; Mr. Smith; Mary Smith; Antone; Slim; Slug

Synopsis

Mr. Smith hires Pep as a bodyguard for his daughter.

Indexer Notes

Continued in next issue. Writer credit added by Craig Delich.

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

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

After rescuing his father...

Feature Logo

The Adventures of Marco Polo

Genre

historical; adventure

Characters

Marco Polo; Abu-El-Kaf

Synopsis

Marco continues to elude those who tried to enslave him.

Indexer Notes

Letterer credit added by Craig Delich.

[The Pharaoh's Treasure, Part 3] (Table of Contents: 7)

"Clip" Carson / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script

Bill Finger

Pencils

Bob Kane (signed)

Inks

Bob Kane (signed)

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

What do you do here, defilers of the tomb?

Genre

adventure

Characters

Clip Carson; Jim Blake; Sgt. Beatty

Indexer Notes

Writer credit added by Craig Delich.

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

Supermen of America / promo (ad from the publisher) / 2 pages (report information)

[Tex Thomson, Double Agent] (Table of Contents: 9)

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

Script

Ken Fitch ?

Pencils

Bernard Baily (credited) (signed as Bernard Baily)

Inks

Bernard Baily (credited) (signed as Bernard Baily)

Colors

?

Letters

Bernard Baily

First Line of Dialogue or Text

As our story opens, Tex Thomson, Bob Daley and Tex's new valet...

Feature Logo

Tex Thomson

Genre

adventure; detective-mystery

Characters

Tex Thomson; Gargantua T. Potts; Bob Daley

Keywords

France

Indexer Notes

Gargantua T. Potts - a racial stereotype typical of the period - becomes Tex's valet. In the final panel he says, 'Before we does anything - ah'm going out to buy a copy of Action Comics and join the Supermen Club [sic].'

Letterer credit added by Craig Delich. Signed by Baily on page 10.

Treasure Hunt [Part 2] (Table of Contents: 10)

text story / 2 pages (report information)

Script

Toni Blum (credited as Jack Anthony)

Pencils

? (spot illos)

Inks

? (spot illos)

Colors

?

Letters

typeset

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Tubby and Hank, two boys in their middle teens, decide to hunt for...

Genre

adventure

Characters

Tubby; Hank; Captain Roberts

Keywords

Timber Grove

[Trouble at the Box-M] (Table of Contents: 11)

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

Script

?

Pencils

Homer Fleming (signed as H. FLEMING [currved H])

Inks

Homer Fleming (signed as H. FLEMING [currved H])

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Chuck Dawson's black stallion tops the steep...

Feature Logo

"Chuck" Dawson

Genre

adventure; western-frontier

Characters

Chuck Dawson; Blacky (horse); Jim Mason

Synopsis

Chuck is framed for the murder of Jim Mason.

The Terror from Saturn (Table of Contents: 12)

Zatara / comic story / 12 pages (report information)

Script

Gardner Fox

Pencils

Fred Guardineer (credited)

Inks

Fred Guardineer (credited)

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Walking in the country one night, Zatara and...

Feature Logo

Zatara the Master Magician

Genre

adventure; fantasy-supernatural; superhero

Characters

Zatara [Giovanni "John" Zatara]; Tong; Gorla; Poora; Ool

Synopsis

Invaders from Saturn want to take over Earth.

Keywords

Saturn

Indexer Notes

First time since Action Comics #1-3 in which Zatara speaks backwards to invoke his magic.

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

Fantastic Facts / comic story / 1 page (report information)

Script

George Papp

Pencils

George Papp (signed as Geo Papp)

Inks

George Papp (signed as Geo Papp)

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

For countless centuries men have lived in these strange rock cones!

Genre

non-fiction

Keywords

Cappadocia

Indexer Notes

Writer credit added by Craig Delich.

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

New York World's Fair Comics / promo (ad from the publisher) / 1 page (report information)

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

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