Action Comics #252: Logic Mishaps

Ugh, Lois. No. Just, no.

As should be abundantly apparent by now, I am finding these classic issues of some of DC's finest creations a bit arduous to get through. Thus, I'm gonna fast-forward a bit, so I can get to some Marvel and Indie mags more quickly.

To generalize (perhaps far too much given the random and slight sampling), one of the key features about these classic issues that is driving me absolutely bonkers is what I'll call the "stumbling plot plugs."

I'll illustrate this malady by focusing on Action Comics #252's story, "The Menace of Metallo!" However, this is not to suggest that Robert Bernstein (writer) & Al Plastino (artist) are particularly egregious purveyors of this problem. These stumbling plot plugs can be found dang near everywhere in these early comics.

Most Amusing Panel Prize:

To make it clear that Lois starts out a bit "icy" towards John Corben (aka Metallo) with his sexist come on ("I go for you, Baby"), her dialogue balloon drips blue. (I love it when Lois tells off the creeps.)

Plot Plug 1:

My theory is that "plot plugs" come into play when the creators have a cool idea (let's make a human robot powered by Superman's greatest weakness: Kryptonite (and we shall call him Metallo)), and then they concoct a story around that idea.

Unfortunately from there, it seems, the plot is haphazardly stitched together as the panels go along (instead of mapping out plot points in advance), leaving sometimes huge logic gaps in their wake.

Plot plugs are then necessary between panels in an attempt to fill in the logic gaps created (often with little success). The creators have a character summarize in their dialogue what has happened "off-stage" to address these logic problems.

For example, when Metallo raids nuclear sites in order to obtain the uranium he needs to stay alive, he is described as a Man of Steel who has the strength of Superman.

So, when the TV news reports on these raids, how do they know that Superman is not, in fact, responsible for these crimes (especially since Metallo is not depicted as being caught in the act/observed committing them)?

Well, "lab tests" prove that no "human" could have committed these crimes. (What tests those could be boggles the mind, and Superman is not "human," so he still could be a suspect.)

But wait, there's more. These tests actually prove that ONLY a "robot" made of "pure metal" could have committed these crimes. Oh. I see...

Plot Plug 2:

Later, when Corben/Metallo is thwarted in obtaining the uranium he needs, he returns to Professor Vale's lab. The Professor Vale whom Corben had callously left on the floor to die after an avalanche caused Vale to have a stroke. The Professor Vale who had saved Corben by putting him in the metallic shell to begin with.

Corben: "Good! You've recovered from your stroke!... What was that second substance I can use? You collapsed before you could tell me!"

Did they just change their minds about killing Professor Vale off? Was he always intended to recover from his stroke so he could finally share this vital information with Corben? (And, why would Vale help the man who had left him for dead?)

Plot Plug 3:

Towards the end of the story, the creators clearly need Lois to discover that Metallo is faking being Superman, but because they are running out of panel room (?), they have Metallo's Superman costume rip on Lois' doorknob (?) revealing his metallic body to her.

The sudden contrivance is amusing, but holy heck, a doorknob?

Final Notions:

Essentially, the "plot plug" is just a modern spin-off of deus ex machina (which can be found throughout classic literature). Nonetheless, it bugs me.

Which parts of the story should be depicted in the art panels and how much should be conveyed by words (in dialogue/thought balloons and narrative boxes)? I hadn't realized how sophisticated and important these story-telling choices can be.

I find I have little enjoyment of comics that do not incorporate the elements of good story-telling (pacing, characterization, logical structure) to convey their creators' very cool ideas, but I am beginning to appreciate just how hard a task it is to craft a good comic.



The Comics Read But Left Behind:

Series: World’s Finest Comics (1941)

Issue #: 071

Copyright: DC Comics

Cover Date: July-August 1954

Cover Price: 10¢

Page Count:  28 pages

Print Release: 26-May-1954

Digital Release: 18-February-2016

Writer:	Alvin Schwartz
Penciler:	Curt Swan
Inker:	Stan Kaye
Colorist:	None Listed
Cover Art:	Win Mortimer
Source Links:	comiXology / Comic Vine / Wikipedia
Story Title:	“Batman – Double for Superman!”

Writer:	Ed Herron
Penciler:	George Papp
Inker:	George Papp
Colorist:	None Listed
Story Title:	Green Arrow: “The Invisible Death”

Writer:	Dave Wood
Penciler:	Nick Cardy
Inker:	Nick Cardy
Colorist:	None Listed
Story Title:	Tomahawk: “Feathered Fighters for Freedom!”

Series: Showcase (1956)

Issue #: 004

Copyright: DC Comics

Cover Date: October 1956

Cover Price: 10¢

Page Count:  24 pages

Print Release: 22-August-1956

Digital Release: 13-August-2011

Writers:	John Broome; Robert Kanigher
Penciler:	Carmine Infantino
Inker:	Joe Kubert
Colorist:	None Listed
Cover Art:	Carmine Infantino; Joe Kubert
Source Links:	comiXology / Comic Vine / Wikipedia
Story Titles:	“Mystery of the Human Thunderbolt!”; "The Man Who Broke the Time Barrier!”

Series: Adventure Comics (1938)

Issue #: 247

Copyright: DC Comics

Cover Date: April 1958

Cover Price: 10¢

Page Count:  25 pages

Print Release: 19-February-1958

Digital Release: 24-March-2012

Writer:	Otto Binder
Penciler:	Al Plastino
Inker:	Al Plastino
Colorist:	None Listed
Cover Art:	Curt Swan
Source Links:	comiXology / Comic Vine / Wikipedia
Story Title:	Superboy: “The Legion of Super-Heroes”

Writer:	Ed Herron
Penciler:	George Papp
Inker:	George Papp
Colorist:	None Listed
Story Title:	Green Arrow: “The 13 Superstition Arrows”

Writer:	Jack Miller
Penciler:	Ramona Fradon
Inker:	Ramona Fradon
Colorist:	None Listed
Story Title:	Aquaman: “Aquaman’s Super Sea-Squad”

The Comic Covered Here:

Series: Action Comics (1938)

Issue #: 252

Copyright: DC Comics

Cover Date: May 1959

Cover Price: 10¢

Page Count:  28 pages

Print Release: 18-March-1959

Digital Release: 30-July-2011

Writer:	Robert Bernstein
Penciler:	Al Plastino
Inker:	Al Plastino
Colorist:	None Listed
Cover Art:	Curt Swan
Source Links:	comiXology / Comic Vine / Wikipedia
Story Title:	Superman: “The Menace of Metallo!”

Writer:	Robert Bernstein
Penciler:	Howard Sherman
Inker:	Howard Sherman
Colorist:	None Listed
Story Title:	“Congo Bill Dies at Dawn!”

Writer:	Otto Binder
Penciler:	Al Plastino
Inker:	Al Plastino
Colorist:	None Listed
Story Title:	“The Supergirl from Krypton!”

Batman #3: Crushing on The Cat

A "strange case," ugly = evil, and winning nascent criminal youth to the side of truth and justice with a boys' club: the three other stories in this issue that I will not be focusing upon.










Most Amusing Panel Prize (so many to choose from in this issue): 

An early sign that hazing at Fraternities has always been hazardous:

"What you got there, Tyler?"

Oh, it's a hypo "filled with a lot of drugs I mixed together haphazardly. I'll pretend to inject it into Carlson!"

Muwahahahaha... Surely nothing bad will come from that. Har, har, har.




I have chosen to focus on The Cat story from this issue because I cannot get over how the Cat-Woman's first appearance as the "Cat-Woman" (and not just "The Cat") includes having an actual Cat-head mask. (A cat-head with no neck, mind you.)

Surprising Details (there's nothing really surprising here):

As one might expect from a story written in the 1940's and featuring a female "villain," gratuitous evidence of male chauvinism abounds. (Heck, even Commissioner Gordon succumbs to a bout of male rage at the idea of a woman eluding the apparently all-male police force.)

Taking the stereotypical trope associating women with "cat-fighting," Cat-Woman threatens to "scratch out" the eyes of the duper who has double-crossed her in a diamond heist.

As Batman reluctantly (and apologetically) resigns himself to turning the Cat-Woman into the police for her part in the crime, she performs the perfect feminine escape technique of thanking Batman with a kiss (and a shove) as she makes a speedy exit.

Batman is not too broken up over this slight to his own masculine crime-fighting capacities (I'm not sure if this makes him more sexist or less, but I'm going with less), much to Robin's dismay.

Batman doesn't seem to mind that a she has "beaten" a him, though Robin seems to think that there may be a double standard at play.

Batman's romantic ardor is reciprocated as Cat-Woman imagines Batman taking over the wheel (quite literally) and going "for a ride" with him "like any other boy and girl."

(Granted, Batman has seen her out of her disguise three times now, but she still has no idea who he is under that cowl, but reciprocity nonetheless.)

Final Notions:

Despite the historical gender-baggage on Cat-Woman's shoulders, I still find her a strong female character even in these earliest issues. She works (she takes jobs as a criminal, yes, but it's still work); she is independent (and relies on no man for her subsistence), and she is tough and scary to those who have crossed her (righteous, even, in her threats to scratch them).

There is good reason why Catwoman and Lois Lane have been enduring icons of comic book women. They are complete women on their own heroic adventures. Their stories intersect with those of their male counterparts, but there is a very real sense that their stories continue on even outside the presence of Bruce Wayne/Batman and Clark Kent/Superman.

Series: Batman (1940)

Issue #: 003

Copyright: DC Comics

Cover Date: Fall 1940

Cover Price: 10¢

Page Count:  54 pages

Print Release: 24-July-1940

Digital Release: 25-May-2011

Writer:	Bill Finger
Penciler:	Bob Kane
Inkers:	Jerry Robinson; George Roussos
Colorist:	None Listed
Cover Art:	Bob Kane; Jerry Robinson
Source Links:	comiXology / Comic Vine / Wikipedia
Story Titles:	“The Strange Case of the Diabolical Puppet Master”; “The Ugliest Man in the World”; The Crime School for Boys”; “The Batman vs the Cat-Woman”