Does Action Comics 36 actually feature a robot story? 1 1

[Comiclover3000]

Just bought the digital comic and it wasn't in that version.

I'm thinking maybe they cut it out since some digital comics don't feature everything.

 

Anyone know?

 

Edited February 5, 2023 by Comiclover3000

[MattTheDuck]

This is a 68-page issue, so if your digital copy has 68 pages, it's all there as published.

[Point Five]

Golden age covers didn't always match the main story. Sometimes covers were done in advance and used for any issue that needed one... and even when a cover theme matches a story, it's not unheard of for the cover to appear on the issue before or the issue after, for whatever (I assume) publishing deadline reason. Detective Comics seemed to do that quite a bit.

Unless a cover promised an encounter with a specific villain ("this issue: LUTHOR RETURNS!"), it was typically pretty random.

 

Edited February 5, 2023 by Point Five

[Professor K]

No robots inside, just a cool cover. https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/Action-Comics-1938/Issue-36?id=25034

[Sauce Dog]

Finally a thread about my FAVOURITE early Superman cover

The interior does not match the cover, however a story that does was published. The cover matches the story 'The Bandit Robots of Metropolis', a Sunday newspaper strip that ran from October 27, 1940 to December 15, 1940.

It would have been amazing to get these reprinted with that cover in this issue. I believe this story also pre-dated the animated 'The Mechanical Monsters' adventure, making this comic story the very first time Superman fought an army of robots.





I've only posted my single favourite page of the story here since it matches the action on the cover best (I believe there was a total of around 7-9 pages that made up the entire story), and I own an original clipping of it from the paper hanging on my wall.

Edited February 5, 2023 by Sauce Dog

[Professor K]

On 2/5/2023 at 2:17 PM, Sauce Dog said:

Finally a thread about my FAVOURITE early Superman cover

The interior does not match the cover, however a story that does was published. The cover matches the story 'The Bandit Robots of Metropolis', a Sunday newspaper strip that ran from October 27, 1940 to December 15, 1940.

It would have been amazing to get these reprinted with that cover in this issue. I believe this story also pre-dated the animated 'The Mechanical Monsters' adventure, making this comic story the very first time Superman fought an army of robots.





I've only posted my single favourite page of the story here since it matches the action on the cover best (I believe there was a total of around 7-9 pages that made up the entire story), and I own an original clipping of it from the paper hanging on my wall.

That is seriously awesome. The art, the color, the condition. So exactly what is that? I thought it was a centerfold from a newspaper at first. Was it cut to that size? Such a cool thing to have 

[lou_fine]

On 2/5/2023 at 8:40 AM, Point Five said:

Golden age covers didn't always match the main story. Sometimes covers were done in advance and used for any issue that needed one... and even when a cover theme matches a story, it's not unheard of for the cover to appear on the issue before or the issue after, for whatever (I assume) publishing deadline reason. Detective Comics seemed to do that quite a bit.

With the classic example being the first ever Joker cover in 'Tec 40 which is actually the splash page for the 2nd Joker story in Batman 1.  

[Sauce Dog]

On 2/5/2023 at 3:12 PM, Professor K said:

That is seriously awesome. The art, the color, the condition. So exactly what is that? I thought it was a centerfold from a newspaper at first. Was it cut to that size? Such a cool thing to have 

It is cut from a from a full-size newspaper page, looks to have been the bottom part of it and I'm not sure what was above it (on the back are articles and advertisements). The framed clipping I posted above is 15"x11" (it was trimmed again to fit the frame, so when I originally bought it the size was slightly larger)

Edited February 5, 2023 by Sauce Dog

[Sauce Dog]

The good news is this story was reprinted, and I highly recommend checking out the entire newspaper reprint book. You can read about it here: https://nicksupes.com/2021/11/01/superman-sunday-classics-1939-1943-a-review-2/

In fact, if you are going to buy a single golden age reprint for Superman, make it that book. You get the the great origin story in Action Comics #1, as well as lots of his other famous stories, but also the really good missing stuff like this robot story that you will not find in any DC archive reprint.

Edited February 5, 2023 by Sauce Dog

[MrBedrock]

[MrBedrock]

This lot sold in a Heritage Sunday auction last July for $159...

 

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

Copies are also available for us more plebeian collectors!! I picked this up a decade or so ago and I'm glad I did. I'm also glad I released it from prison to enjoy the whole book!

 

[ft88]

Since we're talking Action 36. No robots interior.

[Sauce Dog]

On 2/7/2023 at 4:56 PM, MrBedrock said:

This lot sold in a Heritage Sunday auction last July for $159...

 

That was honestly a great deal - I've seen just the Superman stories cut out, and each 'page' sold individually for $50-$100us on ebay.