Action Comics #72
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeAction Comics #72 (May 1944) is a representative mid-Golden Age issue of one of the medium's foundational titles, arriving at the height of World War II when Superman's adventures were regularly threaded through wartime patriotism. The issue is notable for a story beat in which a statue of Superman is erected in Metropolis — a small but telling sign of how thoroughly the character had been canonized as a civic symbol within his own fictional world by 1944. As an anthology issue published by Detective Comics, Inc. under editor Whitney Ellsworth, it also illustrates the mid-war format of Action Comics: a Superman lead story alongside a Vigilante backup, reflecting DC's strategy of rotating supporting heroes to broaden reader appeal within a single title.
In "Superman and the Super-Movers!" from Action Comics #72 (1944), Superman steps in to protect a small moving company from a rival who's trying to buy it out—using the business as a cover for a robbery. With his strength and sense of justice, he teams up with the movers, proving that heroism isn’t just about flying or punching villains, but standing up for the people who keep things moving.
In "The Guns of Killer Haines!" from Action Comics #72, the Prairie Troubadour takes a stand when the truth behind a legendary outlaw’s name comes to light. When the Vigilante confronts Jabez Haines at the bank, he sees not just a criminal, but a man shaped by a legacy he never chose—leading to a lesson in redemption that unfolds beyond the law.
In "Choose Your Weapons!" from Action Comics #72 (1944), pilot Bill crash-lands on a remote Pacific island and must team up with two U.S. Army aviators to defend their makeshift outpost from a determined Japanese force. With limited supplies and no reinforcements, they’ll have to rely on ingenuity and courage to hold the line.
In "Magic Knights!", a mysterious figure claiming to be Merlin the Magician has returned, summoning wealthy men to a newly risen Camelot where they pay to sit at the legendary Round Table. When the illusion begins to unravel, the master magician Zatara steps in to unmask the fraud—revealing the true culprit behind the deception to be the cunning Spider Slandon.
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The issue was published by Detective Comics, Inc. — the imprint that would eventually consolidate into National Comics Publications and later take the DC Comics name — under the editorial supervision of Whitney Ellsworth, who is credited (as F.W. Ellsworth) on issues of this period. Superman scripts of 1944 were produced by a rotating stable of ghost-writers working under the Siegel-and-Shuster studio arrangement, with Don Cameron among the most active writers for Action Comics stories in this stretch; precise individual credits for issue #72 are established through the legal records of the Siegel and Shuster v. National Comics Publications lawsuit (1947) rather than the original indicia. The Vigilante backup, featuring Greg Sanders and his sidekick Stuff the Chinatown Kid, was a regular fixture in every issue of Action Comics from the character's debut through 1954.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Cover date: May 1944; published by Detective Comics, Inc. (precursor imprint to DC Comics).
- Lead Superman story title: '...and the Super-Movers'; features a WWII-era plot with Superman allied with the Allies against an Axis-connected villain (Ober-Lieutenant Karl Brumer, a Nazi character).
- A statue of Superman is erected in Metropolis in this issue — a notable in-story moment reflecting the character's growing mythological stature within his own world.
- Backup story: 'The Guns of Killer Haines,' starring the Vigilante (Greg Sanders) and Stuff the Chinatown Kid. The Vigilante appeared in every issue of Action Comics from #42 (1941) through #198 (1954).
- Editor Whitney Ellsworth (credited as F.W. Ellsworth) oversaw the Superman line during this period; he had previously mandated that Superman not kill and steered the title toward colorful, non-threatening villains rather than realistic criminal violence.
- The Superman story from this issue was later reprinted in Superman: The Action Comics Archives Vol. 5 (DC, 2007) and Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus Vol. 4 (DC, 2017).
- Script credits for this era's Action Comics Superman stories are documented through the Siegel and Shuster v. National Comics Publications legal case (1947), not via original publication credits.
- Issue #72 falls within the tight narrative window (issues #69–85) when several key Superman mythology details were being quietly codified, including his inability to see through lead (established in #69, just three issues earlier).
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Reprinted in Superman in Action Comics #1 (1993), Superman: The Action Comics Archives #5 (2007), Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus #4 (2017)
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