Issue Description

The Laughing Stock of Metropolis (Superman) -- 2. The Legal Eagle (Hayfoot Henry) -- 3. The Burgling Bookman (Vigilante) -- 4. Jasper -- 5. New Fangled Hoosegow -- 6. Upstream River Rats (Congo Bill) -- 7. Willy -- 8. Spotlight for Cinderella (Zatara).

Cover: The Man of Steel gets a pie in the puss thanks to the prankster (hope it isn't Kryptonite flavored)

Superman: The story opens with the mayor of Metropolis unveiling a portrait of Superman to thank him for all his good deeds for the city over the years. The formal ceremony turns into a farce when the revealed portrait has a comic beard and moustache drawn on it.

Backing up a few days, we find the Prankster meeting with some gangsters and promising to rid Metropolis of Superman if they will pay him $100,000. After enduring a number of practical jokes from him, they finally agree, and then Prankster reveals his plan. Although Superman is invulnerable to all forms of physical attack, Prankster plans to humiliate Superman by making all his deeds look stupid, hoping that eventually Superman will become such a laughing stock that he will abandon Metropolis.

A series of embarrassments ensues, with Superman opening a bank's vault to release a trapped teller, only to be hit in the face by a custard pie, then rescuing a man falling from a balcony, only to discover that the 'man' is a dummy, and then leaping in to save a politician giving a speech from a bomb thrown by a bystander, only to discover that the 'bomb' was a rotten tomato.

After the final humiliation of the portrait, Superman leaves Metropolis in disgust. After a crime wave envelops the city, however, Superman rethinks the incidents that made him leave and recognizes the mark of Prankster in all of them. He devises a plan to smoke out Prankster, by putting on a stage show disguised as 'Professor Hi Laryus', the funniest man on earth. Prankster becomes enraged that someone is claiming to be funnier than he is, and brags about his pranks on stage at the show. When Prankster starts describing his latest scheme to rid Metropolis of Superman, he names the gangsters who paid him to do it, and they try to shoot him to keep him quiet. At this point Hi Laryus reveals his true identity as Superman and apprehends the crooks.

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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Status: Not in Collection