Issue Description

The King of Color (Superman) -- 2. The Elephant's Homecoming (Congo Bill) -- 3. An Ill Wind Blows (Hayfoot Henry) -- 4. The Curse of the Khabod Q (Vigilante) -- 5. River Cruise -- 6. Race Against Rogues (Zatara) Superman: The story begins at the Hillcrest Boys' Club, founded by S. Andrew Bascomb for the boys of rich families. When Brick-top Boyle, a poor boy from the wrong side of the tracks, tries to get into the club, he is chased away by the doorman. As he is leaving, he meets Lois and Clark on their way to the club to do a story for the Planet, and tells them his story. 
Lois and Clark take Boyle with them back to the club, where they convince the doorman to let him in because they are writing a story on the club. Inside, they meet Mortimer Riggs-Biddle III, a snobbish boy who is the son of a man with a large gem collection. Mortimer's friend at the club is Herbert van Gilder, son of a wealthy banker. Mortimer is droning on about how everything bores him, and how he doesn't believe any stories adults tell him, such as streets being paved with gold, the moon being made of green cheese, or the existence of Superman. 
Clark decides to teach Mortimer a lesson, and slips away to change to Superman. He uses some rather dubious physics by moving at super-speed to generate the precise frequencies needed to create light of specific colours. He makes the street outside the club appear golden yellow, then flies into the upper atmosphere to make the moon appear green (by the way, although the wavelengths quoted in the story for the other colours are correct, that for green should be around 550 nanometres, not 250).  
On returning to the club as Clark, he is nagged by the notion that he has seen Bascomb somewhere before. While he is thinking about this, news gets to the club that Mortimer's father's gem collection has been stolen, so Clark suspects that someone at the club is using the boys to case their parents' houses. 
Finally he remembers that Bascomb is actually Slippery Andy, a notorious thief, and tracks him to his hideout where he discovers that Andy is planning on using information from van Gilder to rob his father's bank. 
Superman foils the robbery by scaring the crooks away from the bank when he makes everything look eerily blue. The crooks return to the club to try to pretend they were there all along, when Boyle spots them coming into the club carrying guns. Bascomb knocks Boyle unconscious, but is seen doing it by Superman, who raids the club and captures the crooks, making Mortimer a believer in Superman in the process.

Action Comics (1938)

Publisher

DC Comics

Volume Description

In the early days of comics books, it was not the convention to name comics after specific characters. Rather comics bore generic names such as this one. Although this series featured Superman throughout, it thus bore this name, one which it has become famous for (and the name was kept after the launch of The New 52.) It was the fourth DC Comics title, and the first new one produced after Detective Comics spread beyond the one title (this was after it purchased More Fun Comics and New Adventure Comics.)

Starring: Lex Luthor (starting #890) until #900.

Second Feature: Captain Atom (#879-#889), Superboy (#892), Jimmy Olsen (#893-#896)

(Issues #601-642 are filed under Action Comics Weekly)

Collected EditionsSuperman: The Golden Age Omnibus vol. 1 (#1-31)Adventures of Superman: Gil Kane vol. 1 (#539-541, 545, 546 & #551-554)Superman vs. Darkseid (#586)They Saved Luthor's Brain (#600, #668, #670-673, #676-678 )Panic in the Sky (#674-675)Death of Superman (#683-684)World Without Superman (#685-686)Superman: Funeral For A Friend (#685-686)Superman: Reign of the Supermen (#687-688)The Trial of Superman (#716-717)Transformed! (#729 & 732)DC Comics Presents: Superman #4 (#768, #771-773)Superman: Emperor Joker (#769-770)President Lex (#773)Superman: Our Worlds At War, Book One (#780-781)Superman: Our Worlds At War, Book Two (#782)Superman: Ending Battle (#795-796)DC Comics Presents: Superman #2 (#798)Godfall (Action Comics #812- 813, Adventures of Superman #625- 626 and Superman #202- 203)Superman: The Wrath of Gog (#814-819; backups #812-813)Superman: Sacrifice (Action Comics #829, Superman #218-220, Adventures of Superman #642-643 and Wonder Woman #219-220)Superman: Up, Up and Away! (#837-840)Superman: Back In Action (#841-843, plus stories from DC Comics Presents #4, #17 and #24)Superman: Last Son (#844-846, #851 and Action Comics Annual #11)The Third Kryptonian (Superman #668-670, Action Comics #847, Superman Annual #13)Redemption (Superman #659&666, Action Comics #848-849)3-2-1 Action (Superman #665, Action Comics #852-854, Legends of the DC Universe #14)Superman: Escape From Bizarro World (#855-857)Superman And The Legion of Super-Heroes (#858-863)Superman: Brainiac (#866-870)Superman: New Krypton Vol. 1 (#871)Superman: New Krypton Vol. 2 (#872-873)Superman: Nightwing And Flamebird Vol. 1 (#875-879 and Action Comics Annual #12)Superman: Codename Patriot (#880)Superman: Nightwing And Flamebird Vol. 2 (#883-889, Superman #696 and Adventure Comics #8-10)Superman: The Black Ring Vol. 1 (#890-895)Superman: The Black Ring Vol. 2 (#896-900; Action Comics Annual #13; Secret Six #29)Secret Six: Caution To the Wind (#897)Superman: Reign of Doomsday (#900-904)For Post-Flashpoint refer to Action Comics (Vol. 2)

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