Action Comics #11
Action Comics #11 (April 1939, on sale March 2, 1939) is a quietly pivotal entry in Superman's early power mythology: it marks the first time the character uses what the story calls 'x-ray eyesight,' introducing a sense-defying ability that would become one of the defining traits of the Kryptonian archetype for the next eight decades. The issue also contains one of the earliest uses of the nickname 'The Man of Steel' in a promotional panel, cementing a shorthand for the character that has never left the culture. As a 68-page anthology, it preserves a snapshot of the Golden Age's anthology model — seven separate features running in parallel — demonstrating how Superman still had to share real estate with backup characters even as his pull on readers was clearly accelerating.
In "Superman and the 'Black Gold' Swindle," a 1939 issue of Action Comics, Superman teams up with the magician Zatara during a tense voyage on a trans-Pacific liner. With plans for the Panama Canal in peril, Zatara must unravel a mystery involving a phantom sea ghost and a foreign spy disguised as a fellow illusionist. Written by Gardner Fox and illustrated by Fred Guardineer, this early adventure blends espionage and magic, with the cover by Guardineer capturing the dramatic clash of illusion and danger.
When a shady company dumps worthless "Black Gold Oil" stock on the market, they're stunned to find their scam backfires—thanks to Superman's accidental discovery of real oil on the land. Now, desperate to regain control, they scramble to buy back every share, but the hero's presence has already changed everything.
In "Shanghaied," Pep finds himself forcibly taken aboard a freighter bound for the south seas, trapped with two others. When he’s locked in the brig, he uncovers a hidden cache of rifles in crates labeled "peaches" and escapes by jumping overboard, alerting authorities who move in just as the cargo is being unloaded.
In "Queen of the Malays, Part 1," Tex and Bob find themselves caught in a dangerous twist when they're shanghaied and unexpectedly recognized by an old acquaintance. Invited by Lord Reynolds, the two join a mysterious expedition to locate a hidden island home to an ancient Malay people—and their enigmatic, white-ruled queen.
In "The Sea Ghost," Zatara finds himself aboard a transatlantic liner, aiding two government agents guarding sensitive Panama Canal plans. When a mysterious sea ghost emerges from the waves, seemingly beyond his control, he soon uncovers a chilling truth: the illusion is rooted in the mind of Madame Kelly, a spy working for a foreign power.
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The Superman story, scripted by Jerry Siegel and officially credited to Joe Shuster, was in practice largely penciled and inked by Shuster's studio assistant Paul Cassidy, who had been brought on when the launch of the Superman daily newspaper strip in January 1939 overwhelmed Shuster's solo capacity. The entire issue was edited by Vin Sullivan (credited as Vincent A. Sullivan), the foundational DC editor who had shepherded Superman from the beginning. The cover art, notably, was drawn by Fred Guardineer — making this one of the rare early Action Comics issues whose cover is not built around Superman — and Guardineer simultaneously contributed both the Zatara story (scripted by Gardner F. Fox) and the Pep Morgan story, the latter under his habitual pseudonym 'Gene Baxter.'
Trivia · 8 facts
- Cover-dated April 1939; on-sale date March 2, 1939; published by Detective Comics, Inc. under editor Vin Sullivan.
- The Superman story 'The Black Gold Oil Well,' scripted by Jerry Siegel and drawn by Paul Cassidy (credited to Joe Shuster), contains the first use of Superman's x-ray vision, here called 'x-ray eyesight' — introduced without visual fanfare or explanation.
- A promotional panel within the issue applies the phrase 'Superman (Man of Steel),' representing one of the earliest in-print uses of that now-ubiquitous nickname in the comic book line.
- The cover was illustrated by Fred Guardineer — making this a rare early issue of Action Comics with a non-Superman front cover.
- The issue is a 68-page full-color anthology featuring seven distinct features: Superman, Scoop Scanlon (art by Will Ely), Pep Morgan (script by Gardner F. Fox, art by Guardineer as 'Gene Baxter'), Adventures of Marco Polo (art by Sven Elven), Tex Thomson (art by Bernard Baily), Chuck Dawson (art by Homer Fleming), and Zatara's 'Sea Ghost' (script by Fox, art by Guardineer).
- The Zatara story features his companion Tong, who transforms into a mouse to help foil an international spy posing as a fellow magician aboard an ocean liner — one of the series' early examples of Zatara's backward-speech magic used in a spy-thriller context.
- Clark Kent adopts the fake identity of 'Homer Ramsey' in this issue — the second consecutive issue in which Superman constructs a fresh civilian alias for an undercover operation.
- The Superman story has been reprinted in multiple major archival collections, including Superman: The Action Comics Archives Vol. 1, Superman Chronicles Vol. 1, Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus Vol. 1, and DC Finest: Superman: The First Superhero (2024).
Cast · 11 characters
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Reprints
Reprinted in Superman in Action Comics #1 (1993), Superman: The Action Comics Archives #1 (1998), Clásicos DC #6 (2005), The Superman Chronicles #1 (2006), Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus #1 (2013), Superman: The Golden Age #1 (2016), DC Finest: Superman: The First Superhero #[nn] (2025)
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