Action Comics #437
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeAction Comics #437 (July 1974) stands as one of only two issues of the long-running series to be published in DC's 100 Page Super Spectacular format — a Bronze Age anthology experiment that Julius Schwartz deployed across a handful of DC's flagship titles to mix new stories with Golden and Silver Age reprints under a single square-bound cover. As a result, this issue functions as a time capsule of mid-1970s DC storytelling priorities: it pairs an Elliot S! Maggin-scripted Superman/Green Arrow team-up (a pairing Schwartz championed in the early Bronze Age) with a curated selection of vintage material spanning Westerns, war comics, and science fiction. While the issue introduces no character of major lasting significance, it exemplifies DC's editorial strategy of preserving and platforming its deep publishing heritage at a moment when the company was actively expanding its Bronze Age identity.
In "Magic Is Bustin' Out All Over!", Superman faces a twisted challenge when the sorcerer Der Zauberer Effron abducts Walhall and forces the Man of Steel to battle his allies. With the help of Green Arrow’s cunning, Superman must outwit the magician’s illusions before the spell’s final twist takes hold.
In "The Sea Devils vs. the Octopus Man!", filmmaker Wendel Wales' movie shoot takes a terrifying turn when his mechanical Octopus Man is destroyed by the real thing—emerging from the depths to wreak havoc on the set. As the Sea Devils prepare for their next scene, they’re thrown into chaos by the monstrous intruder, turning a day of filming into a fight for survival.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
By mid-1974, editor Julius Schwartz had overseen Action Comics since issue #419 (December 1972), steering the title through a period of experimentation that included the Green Arrow backup feature and a brief turn toward socially conscious storytelling. The 100-page format was a company-wide initiative shepherded in part by E. Nelson Bridwell — who shares editorial credit on this issue — as DC acquired and reprinted material from defunct publishers like Quality Comics alongside its own back catalog. The lead story, 'Magic Is Bustin' Out All Over!', was a sequel to a 1972 World's Finest Comics adventure and gave Maggin and Swan the chance to revisit the minor villain Effron the Sorcerer in the context of the Superman/Green Arrow team-up that had become a periodic fixture under Schwartz. Credits for pencils and inks on the reprinted material were confirmed from Schwartz's own editorial records, with color credits supplied by Anthony Tollin.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Cover date: July 1974; published by DC Comics as part of the DC 100 Page Super Spectacular format, one of only two Action Comics issues (#437 and #443) to use that format.
- Cover art by Nick Cardy; table of contents page illustrated by Pat Broderick.
- Lead new story: 'Magic Is Bustin' Out All Over!' — script by Elliot S! Maggin, pencils by Curt Swan, inks by Kurt Schaffenberger; features Superman and Green Arrow facing the return of Effron the Sorcerer, a villain who first appeared in World's Finest Comics #210 (March 1972).
- Editors: Julius Schwartz (lead) and E. Nelson Bridwell; credits for reprinted stories were verified from Schwartz's own editorial records.
- Reprint contents include: a Sea Devils story by Bob Kanigher and Russ Heath reprinted from Sea Devils #1; a Gardner Fox/Carmine Infantino/Murphy Anderson Adam Strange story ('Riddle of the Runaway Rockets!', a sequel to World's Finest #210); a Gil Kane Western story from Western Comics #77; a Dick Wood/John Prentice adventure from My Greatest Adventure #3; and a William Woolfolk/Reed Crandall Doll Man story from Doll Man #13.
- A Mark Jewelers advertising insert variant of this issue exists, distributed through military PX channels.
- The issue features a first appearance of a minor villain named Borg, listed in GCD/eBay character data, though no dedicated biographical entry for this character was found on any major wiki.
- The new lead story features Batman, the Flash, and Green Lantern in supporting capacities alongside the main Superman/Green Arrow pairing.
Full credits
Reprints
↩ Reprints Doll Man #13 (1947), Mystery in Space #12 (1953), My Greatest Adventure #3 (1955), Western Comics #77 (1959), Showcase #28 (1960), Sea Devils #1 (1961), Tomahawk #81 (1962), Mystery in Space #85 (1963)
Reprinted in Comic Reader #105 (1974), Gigant #1/1975 (1975), Illustrerte Klassikere [Classics Illustrated] #221 (1976), Supermann og Edderkoppen #[nn] (1976), Tarzan & Co #4/1976 (1976), Tarzan [Jungelserien] #21/1976 (1976), Roter Blitz #13 (1977), Batman et Superman Géant #9 (1978), Superman Géant #34 (1986), Illustrerte Klassikere #52 (2015), Superman (4ª Série) #31
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