Issue Description

"The Magician's Convention" (Superman) reprinted in Superman #272."The Rhyme that Wasn't There" (Hayfoot Henry)"An Animal Master" (Vigilante)Scuffy the Tramp"Crime's Partners""The Reindeer Racketeers" (Congo Bill)"Magic Sports" (Zatara)

Cover: Hocus and and Pocus make Superman magically float in the air. How do they do it? A magician never reveals his secrets!

Superman: Another story in which Superman works in the background to make the magic of Hocus and Pocus come true. Clark is assigned to cover a magicians' convention, in which a prize of $25,000 is on offer for a magician who can perform a trick which the other magicians cannot explain. Hocus and Pocus decide to enter, so Superman has a full time job making their tricks appear real.

Their first spell whisks them to the lobby of the hotel at which the convention is taking place. Upon their "magical" arrival, evil magician Conrad the Conjuror worries that with Hocus and Pocus there, he won't be able to win the prize, while another magician, Gregor the Great, wants to enlist their services as detectives.

Gregor tells them that someone has stolen a document describing how his trick works, and is demanding $10,000 for its return, otherwise they will show all the other magicians how his trick works. Gregor receives a phone call from the crooks, and H & P cast a spell to be taken to the lair of the crooks who stole the plans. By following the phone call on the telephone lines, Superman is able to trace the call while carrying H & P. Arriving at the crooks' lair, Superman fulfills H & P's spells by capturing the crooks and retrieving the stolen plans.

Upon their return to the convention, H & P are kidnapped by thugs working for Conrad, who hopes to keep them tied up (literally) until he wins the $25,000 prize. However, Superman notices that H & P are missing and tracks them down to the hotel's laundry room, where he frees them and captures Conrad's thugs.

With Conrad and his gang out of the way, it looks like the convention can proceed peacefully. Gregor's trick is a variation on one of Houdini's escapology feats, in which he is sealed inside a brick container and must escape before the air runs out. Earlier, Superman had seen in Gregor's plans that the idea was to keep everyone occupied with the trick while he slipped away to rob the hotel safe. Superman tracks Gregor down and flies him and the safe he is robbing to the performance stage, making it look like H & P had done this by magic.

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