Action Comics #340
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeAction Comics #340 (August 1966) is the origin and first appearance of the Parasite — Raymond Maxwell Jensen — one of the most conceptually formidable adversaries ever added to Superman's rogues' gallery. The character introduced a genuinely new physical threat to the Man of Steel: a villain who grows stronger the longer he fights, siphoning both energy and knowledge on contact, and who even deduces Superman's secret identity in his debut outing. That elegant, biology-inspired power set gave writers a villain whose very mechanics force Superman to lose — a narrative problem that has kept the character relevant across nearly six decades of comics, animation, and live-action television. The issue also carries a second back-up story featuring Supergirl, running as the title's regular co-feature under Mort Weisinger's watch, making the book a dual showcase for DC's two biggest Kryptonian characters of the era.
In "Power of the Parasite!", Supergirl finds herself at the Midvale Orphanage during a reunion, where a cunning blackmailer known as the Fact-Finder sees a chance to expose her secret identity. With Jim Mooney handling both pencils and inks, the story unfolds with tense suspense as Supergirl’s past comes under scrutiny. Curt Swan and George Klein deliver a striking cover that captures the moment’s urgency.
In "Power of the Parasite!" from Action Comics #340, lab worker Jensen is transformed into the Parasite after exposure to radioactive waste, gaining the chilling ability to drain energy from living creatures—leaving Superman to face a foe who feeds on life itself.
In "The Supergirl Identity Hunt!" from Action Comics #340, the cunning Fact-Finder zeroes in on Supergirl’s past by targeting the Midvale Orphanage, where he believes her secret identity might be uncovered. As he manipulates the reunion with calculated precision, Jo finds herself caught in a high-stakes game of deception and memory.
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The Parasite lead story was written by Jim Shooter, a teenager from Pittsburgh who had begun selling scripts to DC Comics at age 13 after editor Mort Weisinger purchased unsolicited Legion of Super-Heroes material and then commissioned Superman and Supergirl stories from him. According to Shooter, he conceived the Parasite while studying parasitic organisms in his ninth-grade biology class and recognized that Superman — who had never faced a proper physical heavyweight among his villains — needed exactly that kind of threat. The story was penciled and inked by veteran Al Plastino, with the cover by Curt Swan and George Klein; the issue was edited by Weisinger with E. Nelson Bridwell serving as uncredited assistant editor. A notable editorial complication persists around the Supergirl back-up: the Grand Comics Database notes that the story's script was long misattributed to Leo Dorfman, with contemporary fan newsletter evidence suggesting the actual credit belongs elsewhere — and the Dorfman credit that appeared in a 2018 DC reprint omnibus appears to have been based on that earlier erroneous GCD listing.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance and origin of the Parasite (Raymond Maxwell Jensen), a Silver Age Superman villain created by writer Jim Shooter and artist Al Plastino; cover date August 1966, on sale June 30, 1966.
- Jim Shooter was approximately 14 years old when he wrote the story, having been recruited by editor Mort Weisinger after submitting unsolicited Legion of Super-Heroes scripts at age 13; Shooter stated his inspiration was a ninth-grade biology lesson on parasitic organisms.
- The issue contains two stories: the 14-page Superman lead 'Power of the Parasite!' (script Shooter, art Plastino) and the 10-page Supergirl back-up 'The Supergirl Identity Hunt!' (art by Jim Mooney); the cover was penciled by Curt Swan and inked by George Klein.
- In the lead story, the Parasite absorbs intelligence along with energy from his victims and uses it to deduce Superman's secret identity as Clark Kent — a notable storytelling move for a villain in 1966 Silver Age comics.
- The Parasite's full name is not established in this debut issue, where he is referred to only as 'Jensen'; subsequent issues assigned him the names 'Maxwell Jensen' and 'Ray Jensen' before Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #17 (1985) canonized 'Raymond Maxwell Jensen.'
- The Supergirl back-up involves a professional blackmailer called the Fact Finder attempting to expose Supergirl's secret identity by targeting a Midvale Orphanage reunion; Supergirl (as Linda Lee Danvers) and Superman foil him by faking a dental visit — since a Kryptonian would never need dental work.
- The issue includes a centerfold two-page newsprint pin-up of Superman by Curt Swan, which is frequently absent from surviving copies and is considered a notable integrity point when evaluating ungraded copies.
- The Supergirl back-up story was reprinted in DC's Supergirl: The Silver Age Omnibus Vol. 2 (2018), though that collection incorrectly credited the script to Leo Dorfman — an error traced back to an earlier Grand Comics Database misattribution.
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Reprinted in Stålmannen #17/1966 (1966), Superman Supacomic #93 (1967), Supermann #6/1967 (1967), The Best of DC #10 (1981), The Best of DC #32 (1983), Superman from the Thirties to the Eighties #[nn] (1983), Gjermund og gjengen #4 (1987), The Silver Age of Superman The Greatest Covers of Action Comics from the '50s to the '70s #[nn] (1995), Supergirl: The Silver Age Omnibus #2 (2018), Superman #25, Teräsmies #12/1966
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