Action Comics #256
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeAction Comics #256 (September 1959) is a pivotal building block in Supergirl's early mythology, introducing Dick Wilson — the boy who would become Dick Malverne — as the first recurring figure whose sole purpose was to expose Linda Lee's secret identity, giving Kara Zor-El her own version of the Lana Lang dynamic that had long shadowed Superboy. That narrative device, transplanted from Smallville to the Midvale Orphanage, proved durable enough to anchor Supergirl stories for years and was later revisited in Solo #1 (2004) when writer Diana Schutz and artist Tim Sale gave the Wilson/Malverne relationship a poignant, decades-spanning conclusion. The issue also arrives just four installments into Supergirl's run, at a moment when the backup feature was still actively constructing her supporting cast and testing the secret-identity thriller formula that would define the Silver Age strip through the 1960s.
In "The Superman of the Future!", Superman takes on a mysterious new role as a time-bending figure with the power to foresee events, using his guise to uncover a hidden threat targeting the President. Written by Otto Binder and brought to life by Curt Swan’s iconic art with Stan Kaye’s inks, this 1959 classic blends sci-fi intrigue with the Man of Steel’s signature heroism—on a cover by Swan and Kaye.
In "The Superman of the Future!" from Action Comics #256, Superman pretends to be a prophetic version of himself from the distant future in order to expose Agent X-3 and thwart an assassination plot against the President. The story unfolds with a clever disguise and a race against time, as the Man of Steel uses his knowledge of tomorrow to outwit a shadowy enemy in the present.
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All three stories in this issue were scripted by the prolific Silver Age writer Otto Binder, who had created Supergirl herself just four issues earlier in Action Comics #252. The lead Superman story, 'The Superman of the Future!', was penciled by Curt Swan with inks by Stan Kaye — the same team credited on the cover — while the Supergirl backup 'The Great Supergirl Mirage!' was drawn by Jim Mooney, the artist who became Supergirl's primary visual interpreter throughout her Action Comics tenure. The Congo Bill/Congorilla segment, illustrated by Howard Sherman, appeared during the strip's transformed 'Congorilla' era, which had only begun eight issues earlier in Action Comics #248 when writer Robert Bernstein and Sherman reinvented the long-running jungle feature by granting Congo Bill a magical ring that let him swap consciousness with a golden gorilla.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Cover date: September 1959; part of Action Comics Volume 1, an anthology title that had been running continuously since 1938.
- First appearance of Dick Wilson (later known as Dick Malverne), who becomes one of Supergirl's primary Pre-Crisis love interests and a recurring foil attempting to expose Linda Lee's secret identity.
- The issue contains three stories: 'The Superman of the Future!' (script: Otto Binder, art: Curt Swan/Stan Kaye), 'Janu, the Joker of the Jungle!!' (Congo Bill/Congorilla, art: Howard Sherman), and 'The Great Supergirl Mirage!' (script: Otto Binder, art: Jim Mooney).
- The Supergirl story explicitly frames Dick Wilson as Supergirl's equivalent of Lana Lang — a secret-chasing peer at the orphanage — a parallel the narrative itself acknowledges in dialogue.
- Dick Wilson reappears in Action Comics #282, is later adopted and renamed Dick Malverne, and the character arc culminates in Solo #1 (2004, written by Diana Schutz, art by Tim Sale), where he reveals on his deathbed that he always knew Linda's true identity.
- The Congo Bill segment features the Congorilla identity — Congo Bill's consciousness inhabiting a golden gorilla via a magical ring — a concept introduced in Action Comics #248 (January 1959) by Robert Bernstein and Howard Sherman, making issue #256 one of the earliest Congorilla appearances.
- The Superman lead story involves an 'Ultra Superman' from the year 100,000 A.D., who turns out to be the present-day Man of Steel in an elaborate hoax to expose an assassination plot against the President.
- 'The Great Supergirl Mirage!' was subsequently reprinted in Adventure Comics #390, The Supergirl Archives Vol. 1, and The Best of DC #17, and is also included in the DC Finest: Supergirl — The Girl of Steel collection.
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↩ Reprints Action Comics #183 (1953)
Reprinted in Action Comics #1 (1960), Superman Annual #3 (1961), Star Album (Supermoça) #1 (1968), Adventure Comics #390 (1970), MV Comix #21/1970 (1970), Giant Superman Album #22 (1971), The Best of DC #17 (1981), The Greatest 1950s Stories Ever Told #[nn] (1992), Superman in Action Comics #1 (1993), The Silver Age of Superman The Greatest Covers of Action Comics from the '50s to the '70s #[nn] (1995), Supergirl Archives #1 (2001), Showcase Presents: Superman #1 (2005), Showcase Presents: Supergirl #1 (2008), Superman: The Man of Tomorrow Archives #3 (2014), Supergirl: The Silver Age Omnibus #1 (2016), Supergirl: The Silver Age #1 (2017), DC Finest: Supergirl: The Girl of Steel #[nn] (2025)
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