Bring on the Bad Guys: Nick Williams

Real name: Nick Williams 

A.K.A.:  Superman's Manager 

First Appearance: Action Comics I#6 (November 1938)

Abilities: Surprisingly decent manager  

Quotes: "Exactly! And believe me the cash is pouring in!"

Worst Act: Ripping off Superman

Created by: Jerry Sigel (writer) and Joe Shuster/Paul Lauretta (pencils/inks)

In what might be the first comedic story, Superman tackles the greatest threat of all-merchandising!

Nick Williams is a guy running around town claiming to be Superman's agent and slapping the Man of Steel's likeness on everything from billboards to motor oil. Clark Kent is rather eager to meet with Williams's client, although Lois Lane does drug him he still shows up and exposes the phony. 

Bring on the Bad Guys: Valleyho Dam

Real name: 

A.K.A.:

First Appearance: Action Comics I#5 (October 1938)

Abilities: Inability to hold back water

Quotes: 

Worst Act: Breaking during a storm

Created by: Jerry Sigel (writer) and Joe Shuster (pencils/inks)

Not exactly a villain here, but the main story here is Superman having to face the Valleyho Dam breaking, save Lois Lane from the rushing flood water, and get his job back as Clark Kent.

He succeeds, of course, but the idea of having Superman facing a natural disaster is a unique one.

I suppose the oddest thing here is that according to the story the Daily Star is based in Cleveland, not Metropolis.

Bring on the Bad Guys: Coach Randall

Real name: Randall

A.K.A.:

First Appearance: Action Comics I#4 (September 1938)

Abilities: Football coach 

Quotes: "I'm determined to win at any cost!"

Worst Act: Rigging football games 

Created by: Jerry Sigel (writer) and Joe Shuster (pencils/inks)

Still in Superman's first year, and here's another plot that I've seen elsewhere. Coach Randall, football coach for Dale University, conspires to rig the upcoming game against their rival Cordell University by putting some ringers on the team. 

So Superman decides the only way to handle this is to switch places with Cordell benchwarmer Tommy Burke and play in the game. 

Rigging the big game seemed to be a thing in the 30's, as I've seen a few plots with this, including the Marx Brothers' Horse Feathers. 

Bring on the Bad Guys: Thornton Blakely

Real name: Thornton Blakely

A.K.A.:

First Appearance: Action Comics I#3 (August 1938)

Abilities: Mine owner

Quotes: "Help! Help me-I'm suffocating!"

Worst Act: Substandard working conditions 

Created by: Jerry Sigel (writer) and Joe Shuster (pencils/inks)

Here's where things get a bit more topical. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire was still a recent memory around 1938, as were the clashes between unions and various coal mines down south, so the idea of a corporate boss ignoring the unsafe working conditions and blaming the workers for the accident was not unheard of and still sadly relevant today. 

Superman shows up to save a trapped miner at the Blakely Coal Mine and from there we learn the unsafe conditions at the mine. Superman decides the best way to handle this is trick Blakely and his rich friends to go down into the mine and bury them alive.

He gets them out, eventually, but this would be the first story to focus entirely on social ills. Sadly you can't punch something like that better, although burying them deep is one way to deal with things.  

Bring on the Bad Guys: Emil Norvell and Lola

Real name: Emil Norvell/Lola Cortez
A.K.A.:
First Appearance: Action Comics I#2 (July 1938)
Abilities: Munitions magnate/spy
Quotes: "Good Heavens! He won't die!"
Worst Act: War profiteering/framing Lois Lane 
Created by: Jerry Sigel (writer) and Joe Shuster (pencils/inks)

Continuing from the last issue, we meet Alex Greer's boss, munitions magnate Emil Norvell. Norvell has been manipulating the people of San Monte into a civil war for his own profit, but Superman scares him straight, mostly by scaring the hell out of him and forcing him to enlist in the San Monte army then crashing the guy's plane. 

Lola Cortez, on the other hand, isn't connected to him. She just enters the story to frame Lois Lane for spying, leading her to be put before a firing squad. Superman saves her at the last minute, although you would think Cortez would pop up again. 

Both are fairly standard villains, but they both show us what kind of guy Superman is. 

Bring on the Bad Guys: Butch Mason, Senator Barrows, Alex Greer

Real name: Butch Mason, Senator Barrows, Alex Greer

A.K.A.: none

First Appearance: Action Comics I#1 (June 1938)

Abilities:  Murder, bribery 

Weapons: Knife, money

Quotes: "Don't get tough!"

Worst Act: Wife beating, bribery and war profiteering 

Created by: Jerry Sigel (writer) and Joe Shuster (artist)

The next three guys all showed up in Action Comics I#1, and since we already looked over the very first crook, I'd figured we look at the rest in one swoop. 

The first is Butch Mason. A wife-beater, he went after his wife when Superman showed and punched the bum through a wall.

Senator Barrows and Greer, on the other hand, are crooks of a different kind. Greer is a lobbyist who has the senator in his back pocket. Barrows is a senator trying to get the US into a war with Europe. 

So, all three showed us what kind of crime Superman would be facing. 

Bring on the Bad Guys: Bea Carroll

Real name: Beatrice Carroll
A.K.A.: none
First Appearance: Action Comics I#1 (June 1938)
Abilities:  Singer
Weapons: Gun
Quotes: "Yes, I killed Jack Kennedy...and he deserved it!"
Worst Act: Murder 
Created by: Jerry Sigel (writer) and Joe Shuster (artist)



This year we'll be taking a look at the Man of Steel's rogues gallery, so why not take a look at the very first one?

Bea Carroll, a singer at the Hilow Club, was in love with a fellow named Jack Kennedy. When he started seeing someone else, she murdered him and framed Evelyn Curry for the crime. She might have gotten away with it too if it weren't for that meddling Superman.

That's it. A fairly flat character (and repurposed from Sigel and Shuster's attempt at having Superman be a comic strip character) but her being dropped into the governor's mansion established the Man of Tomorrow's credibility and would set the tone for the next 75 years.