One Panel #68-71: Capeless

DC's entire output this month featured only a single panel with a costumed superhero. I don't think they knew what they had yet.
From Zatara: "Death from the Air" by Fred Guardineer, Action Comics #3 (August 1938)

Can't give all the Action love to Superman, especially if he's going to appear exactly ONCE in costume in a 13-page story which basically features Clark Kent disguised as a miner... The superhero genre wasn't quite set, folks! So instead, enjoy this panel from a Zatara story, the Master Magician who would go on to beget everyone's favorite fishnet-wearing magic act/Justice Leaguer. Zatara premiered at the same time Superman did, only a few pages short of being DC's first "superhero".

From Slam Bradley: "In the Stratosphere" by Siegel & Shuster, Detective Comics #18 (August 1938)

It's all fun and games until Slam Bradley's sidekick shorty accidentally flies an experimental rocket into a high rise and snaps it in half! No wait, it's still fun and games after this point, according to Slam's jocularity and four-star review of the event - "Splendid!"

From "Stardust" by Bernard Baily, More Fun Comics #34 (August 1938)

Comics back in the day sometimes doubled as celebrity mags for the kids expected to spend their dimes on it. This issue also had a "Sports Dust" page which did the same for athletes. The issue below uses "Cinema Dust" instead. Talk about dusting off the same old concept again and again! (Yes, that's terrible.)

From Dale Daring: "The Red Hatchet: Part 7" by Will Ely, New Adventure Comics #29 (August 1938)

Oh geez, these Yellow Peril types sure don't mess around! Dale may be the star of this strip, but she always finds a way to be its damsel in distress as well!

Hey, when do we actually start counting down to Batman's first appearance?

Comments

snell said…
Interestingly, a New Adventures Of Superboy story had young adult Zatara encountering Superbaby on a trip to Smallville. Which raises the question of just how old Zatara is here...
Siskoid said…
And then to father a heroine who was a young adult in the 60s, and with the sliding scale, much beyond, I think he's "immortal" in that way.