Friday, October 3, 2025

Superman Comics #35

KG Murray's Superman Comics #35 was published c.April 1950:


The cover image is illustrated by Wayne Boring and Stan Kaye, and originally appeared on the cover of Superman #61:


The main features:

The Courtship of the Three Lois Lanes!, originally published in Superman #61, December 1949
A Dog-Catcher's Life!, originally published in World's Finest Comics #34, May-June 1948
Superman Returns to Krypton!, originally published in Superman #61, December 1949

There are two filler features in this issue. The first is a two-page Varsity Vic feature, originally published in Superboy #5; and the second is a Little Pete segment which appears on the inner rear cover and was originally published in Superman #55. This printing is likely related to the subsequent reprint in Superboy #6.

There is another full-page comics feature, Muskle - an advertisement for Kellog's Bran Flakes:


I do not have any information on the artist.

The inner front cover carries an inhouse advertisement for the Superboy Comics series which had launched around a year earlier:


The Superboy image is from the cover of Adventure Comics featuring Superboy #1:


Many of the pages in this issue include short text advertisements for the Superman radio serial by various sponsors on a range of radio stations. See the sample below:


The main features in this issue are reproduced in black and white with a grey highlight/shading. All three main features are reprinted in this fashion in Mammoth Comic Annual [#1] 1956.


Thursday, October 2, 2025

Superman #135

KG Murray's Superman #135 was published c.late 1958:


The cover is a slightly modified version of the cover by Al Plastino from Superman #115:


The main features:  

The Three Substitute Supermen, originally published in Superman #115, August 1957
Superman's Greatest Enemy, originally published in Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #30, August 1958 
The Human Missile, originally published in Superman #120, March 1958

This issue also contains two full-page filler strips. The inner front cover strip is titled Mankind's Greatest Inventions and Discoveries!, which originally appeared in Strange Adventures #26, November 1952. This was reprinted in Tales of the Unexpected #27, July 1958 in modified form as per the GCD entry. The Australian edition is missing a text box - I assume this is the modification referenced above. The filler on the inner rear cover is a Shorty strip originally published in Adventure Comics #163, April 1951, but this one is related to the later reprinting in Wonder Woman #99, July 1958.

The Human Missile was subsequently reprinted by KG Murray in Colossal Comic #37.



Wednesday, October 1, 2025

Superman #136

KG Murray's Superman #136 was published c.November 1958:


The cover is illustrated by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye and originally appeared on the cover of Superman #124:


The main features:

The Super-Sword, originally published in Superman #124, September 1958
The Mad Hatter of Metropolis, originally published in Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #31, September 1958
The Secret of the Space Souvenirs, originally published in Superman #122, July 1958

This issue also contains two full-page filler strips. The Moolah the Mystic strip on the inside front cover was originally published in Tales of the Unexpected #27, July 1958, and the Tricksy strip on the inner rear cover originally appeared in Action Comics #239, April 1958.

All three main features were subsequently reprinted by KG Murray in Colossal Comic #35, November 1965. Interestingly, there is conclusive evidence that Colossal Comic was comprised of recycled KG Murray material. Consider the photo below:


On the left hand side is the final page of The Mad Hatter of Metropolis as it appears in Colossal Comic #35, and on the right is the same page from Superman #136. They both include an inhouse advertisement for the Superboy series, which had ended in 1960 - and I don't think this advertisement was referencing the annual Giant Superboy Album. Clearly the material was recycled in Colossal Comic just as it appeared in Superman #136 some seven years earlier.