Action Comics #1

Let us face facts.  Just about every single one of us read comics because of this issue.  Superman started it all.  He may not have been the first or perhaps even the best.  What cannot be argued is the impact this book had on the comic world.  This issue however is not a Superman book alone.  I have read three reviews on this book and all three only mention the Superman story.  The thing is that Superman my be on the cover but there are eleven features in this book.  Superman is just one.
 
When reading the Superman story you must first remember that this is written in 1938 not now.  So that means characters are going to act like 1938 characters and the story is going to be written in the style of a 1938 comic.  I cannot stand reviewer who fail to even try to see the book from the perspective of the time it was written.  Lois Lane is a big example of this.  Some say she is too caustic and others say that she is treated unfairly.  Both of these are true but understand the culture this book was written.  
 

I read a comic from Fox publishing written at about the same time as this book and one of the "amazing true stories" in it was a woman who got a job for a newspaper.  In that kind of world it is understandable that she has to deal with people who are sexist.  Like her boss telling her she is seeing pink elephants when she tells him about the Superman story she has.  When only one day earlier he was telling Clark Kent to cover the Superman story full time.  It is sad but it is the way it was.  Now looking at that is it any wonder that Lois is caustic.  She has the cards stacked against her and seeing a Guy like Clark get the big stories while she is not even believed would tick me off as well.  Lois is a very progressive character and I love her in this story.
 
This does not take away from the story however.  It gives it a realism of the time it was written in.  Now Superman himself saves the life of a woman wrongly accused of murder then he saves a woman who is literally being whipped by her husband whit what looks like a hose.  He then tries to stop the united States from getting involved in World War II.  Superman is also very empathetic when he has to look like a complete looser in front of his love Lois just to keep his identity a secret.  This and an origin story.  I have read a lot of early Golden Age Comics (NOT JUST THIS ONE) and I can tell you that this is superb for the era.  It is no wonder he hero was such a hit.
 

Now for the other features that pail in comparison.  The next feature is Chuck Dawson.  It is a western tale about murder and revenge/justice.  i like the dialogue in this story as it has a lot of seemingly real western slang.  The story is pretty good for comic westerns.  It is however in black and white and that surprised me a little as most o the book is in color.  Not to mention there were other features that would have been better to have in black and white rather than this one.
 
The next was Zatara.  I do not like magic heroes and this one is no exception but it is pretty good for a magic tale.  In this story Zatara and his partner Tong go up against a thief known as Tigress.  Next we have a short story that were popular at the time.  I did not like this tale at all.  It was written well enough but the great "White Man" topic of the story was too much for me to take.  Even when I try to look at it from a 1938 perspective.
 
After the short story is an awfully dull comic strip that goes on for pages about a thief trying to get away from some keystone cops after stealing some apples of all things.  Followed my that is a Marco Polo adventure that bored the socks off me.  These would have been good choices for the black and white pages.
 

Pep Morgan a boxer is next and it was fairly good as well for a story of it's type.  The same can be said for the following tales of Scoop Scanlon a reporter who goes after a jewel thief and Tex Thompson who stumbles over a murder.  The last two pages are typical and dull.  Stardust is a one page feature with blase clips about celebrities and Odds and ends is a one page feature with odd little sports facts.
 
Over all this is a great book.  You can find it free online and there have been numerous reprints.  This is a must read for any lover of the comic book art.  I gave it four stars and recommend it to everyone.