From Superdickery.com.
Nostagia and humor all rolled into one.
Wow, that’s… wow. I can’t even imagine what the story there is supposed to be- which is true for a lot of the covers on that site, they look so dull!
I almost can’t imagine someone not enjoying Superdickery, at least for a couple of minutes. It’s one of those few sites I think everybody should visit.
And it’s true! My God, how dumb was everyone?
That one’s wonderful. That one’s the result of a few authors having to write a few too many idiot plots for the Superman books.
A couple of years later they had another issue of Action Comics – the same comic as this one – where Superman is planying a flag with his symbol on it and declaring himself Emperor of Earth. Thy could interchange the two covers and they’d work just as well.
It wasn’t the same interior, though – they came up with a whole new story.
I think that in many cases they drew the cover first, seeing what excited enough interest to buy the comic book. Then had to come up with a story that justified the cover. That explains why there were so many “imaginary” stories, stories involving Red Kryptonite, and magic, and alternate universes. It’s hard to justify so many significant Life-Changing Events that leave your story universe pretty much unchanged otherwise.
Out of the ones I re-read today, I like two the most.
Ok, one more that I think is true dickery.
I missed that one. Yes, a true dick.
The thing I like about that one is the impled equivalency between Jimmy Olson and Aquaman. I can’t decide which of them should be more insulted by that.
Okay I have to ask (tho I am sure every response will beat around the bush)-these have to be fake, right? Superman ripping Lois’ air hose off when they are in space? Jimmy living in a rat-infested apartment while Superman mocks his predicament? Pat fucking BOONE?
The plot of the story is that Superman adopts Jimmy, and then runs into a prophecy that says he’ll destroy his son.
They’re real covers. The actual comic is just generally not as outrageous as what the cover might make you think it is.
Here’s a list, along with covers of the Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen issues.
Yea, the covers were like headlines, inspired by the actual content, but written to be as sensational as possible. They were designed to make a sale. In this world people actually do judge books by their covers, so the cover had to be shocking or at least interesting.
To be fair Jimmy could be a dick too, quite a dick sometimes, even, maybe, a super dick. Superman wasn’t always a dick. In fact, the number of times he saved Jimmy’s life probably outnumber the times Superman was a dick to him.
Enjoy,
Steven