Action Comics #176
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeAction Comics #176 is a curio of the early 1950s Superman mythos that punches above its weight in cultural history. Its lead story, 'Muscles for Money,' imagines a Superman who briefly charges fees for his heroic acts — a morally provocative concept that scrambles the character's foundational selflessness and forces Lois Lane into the story's ethical center. The issue gained an unexpected place in the annals of the anti-comics panic era when scholar Geoffrey Wagner singled it out in his 1955 book Parade of Pleasure, using 'Muscles for Money' specifically to catalogue Superman's powers as part of a broader critique of American popular culture — making it one of the handful of Golden Age Superman issues to receive academic notice during the height of the comic-book censorship debate.
In "The Impossible Legend," a determined vigilante takes on a series of daring feats to prove an old myth true—capturing criminals under impossible conditions, including two while deaf, two while unable to speak, and the final pair when he could not see. The story unfolds with quiet intensity, testing the limits of perception and resolve in a world where justice demands more than strength.
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The issue was edited by Mort Weisinger, who by 1953 was consolidating his editorial grip on the Superman titles and would soon architect the elaborate Silver Age mythology of the character. The Superman lead was both penciled and inked by Al Plastino, one of Weisinger's reliable house artists during this period, while writer Jack Miller scripted backup features, and Jim Mooney and Bob Brown handled the Tommy Tomorrow and Vigilante strips respectively. The script for 'Muscles for Money' goes uncredited in the Grand Comics Database, which is typical for this era of the Superman anthology.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Cover date: January 1953; on-sale/publication date: November 1952 (DC Comics, Action Comics Vol. 1 #176).
- Lead story 'Muscles for Money' written by an uncredited scripter; penciled and inked by Al Plastino; edited by Mort Weisinger.
- Plot device: Superman pretends to charge money for his super-deeds — causing public outrage and prompting Lois Lane to consider marrying Clark Kent — but his apparent greed is a deliberate sting operation to capture the villain Million-Dollar Marvin.
- Supporting cast in lead story: Lois Lane, Perry White, and villain Million-Dollar Marvin (Dr. Jan Morris also appears in the Tommy Tomorrow backup).
- Issue is an anthology: backup strips include 'The Man-Eater of Mandalao!' (Congo Bill, art by Edwin J. Smalle Jr.), 'The End of the Planeteers!' (Tommy Tomorrow, art by Jim Mooney), and a Vigilante story (art by Bob Brown).
- Referenced on page 90 of Geoffrey Wagner's 1955 cultural-criticism book Parade of Pleasure, a companion to Wertham's Seduction of the Innocent, where 'Muscles for Money' is cited as an example of Superman's powers.
- 'Muscles for Money' was reprinted internationally in Argentine Superhombre (Editorial Muchnik) #181 and Mexican Supermán (Editorial Novaro, 1952 series) #24 (February 1, 1954), as well as in the English-language Superman in Action Comics (Abbeville Press, 1993 series) #1.
- Cover price: 10 cents; page count: 44 pages.
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in Superman #75 (1953), Supermán #24 (1954), Congo Bill with Janu the Jungle Boy #4 (1955), The Hundred Plus Comic #52 (1960), Action Comics #403 (1971), Tarzan #234 (1974), Superman in Action Comics #1 (1993), Stålmannen #8/1953, Superhombre #181
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