Action 36 – Superman fights saboteurs, Pep Morgan doesn’t want to kiss in public, the Black Pirate duels for the ship, and Clip Carson ends
While the cover to Action 36 (May 1941) is not militaristic, the Superman story inside is. No robots 😦
Jerry Siegel, Paul Cassidy and Paul Lauretta do a story about “fifth columnists,” saboteurs and spies from a foreign nation, plotting against the US.
It’s a middling story at best, and it hardly helps that the enemy is identified only as “Nation X.”
Forthe last few issues, Pep has constantly been in the company of his wealthy roommate, Slim, who has taken him flying in his new plane, and spent time together at his house. In this one, Papp opens the story by having Slim say he could kiss Pep, and Pep replying that that is “just like him.” Pep’s main objection seems to be to kissing in public, which could well have proven fatal at a hockey game in 1941.
The rest of the story has to do with Pep stopping some fur thieves. But one of the thieves is female, and contrary to most stories, there is no hint of romance redeeming her. Nothing sparks at all between her and Pep. So is she just around to confirm what the first page seems to be implying?
The Black Pirate looks quite dandified in the first panel of Moldoff’s story in this issue. Quite a change from the shorts he has been stuck in for the last few issues.
The crew that has stolen his ship wake up to discover that he has steered it back to their old one, and as Jon Valor fights the captain, the two crews take each other on. The Black Pirate triumphs, finally getting his ship back. He intends to sail to Barcelona and leave Bonnie there, as he does not feel the ship is an appropriate place for her. But Bonnie has other plans…
Clip Carson has his final adventure in Action, courtesy of George Papp, and it’s one of his greatest successes.
Clips’ plane gets brought down by Central American revolutionaries, as they overthrow the president, and take his daughter hostage. In a few pages, Clip saves the daughter, defeats the revolutionary general, bombs the rebel base and re-installs the president. Whew!
Clip Carson moves over to More Fun Comics for the remainder of his run, a final year of largely unremarkable stories.