Superman #111
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeSuperman #111 is a representative artifact of the late pre-Silver Age Superman anthology format, packaging three complete stories in 36 pages under the editorial hand of Whitney Ellsworth, with scripts by Otto Binder and Alvin Schwartz — two of the most prolific architects of the Superman mythos in the 1950s. The lead story, 'The Non-Super Superman,' is a textbook example of the era's fascination with power-deprivation and identity inversion: Superman and Jimmy Olsen swap minds via an alien artifact, forcing each to live as the other, a conceit that DC would revisit many times across the decade. While the issue introduces two minor characters — the blackmailing convict Judd Kent and the stage illusionist Mysto the Great — neither achieved lasting significance, making this primarily a window into the storytelling grammar Weisinger's office was perfecting just before the Superman line's celebrated Silver Age expansion began in 1958.
In "The Non-Super Superman," Superman surprises Jimmy Olsen with a mysterious alien trophy, only for the young reporter to accidentally swap minds with the Man of Steel using its strange powers. Written by Otto Binder and brought to life by Ruben Moreira’s art with Al Plastino’s inks, this 1957 classic explores what happens when the world’s mightiest hero is suddenly trapped in a human body—while Jimmy Olsen discovers just how hard it is to be a superhero. The cover, also by Al Plastino, captures the moment of transformation with striking clarity.
In "The Non-Super Superman," Superman hands Jimmy Olsen a mysterious alien trophy he’s recovered, unaware of its power. When Jimmy activates it, the device swaps their minds—leaving Superman trapped in Jimmy’s body and Jimmy in Superman’s. With Lois Lane and Blacky Baird watching, the mismatched duo must navigate each other’s lives, testing the limits of identity, responsibility, and what it truly means to be a hero.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
The issue appeared in February 1957, roughly a year before editor Mort Weisinger would fully reshape the Superman line into its storied Silver Age form beginning with Action Comics #241 and Superman #122 in 1958. Whitney Ellsworth held editorial credit on this issue, while the writing duties were divided among Otto Binder — a science-fiction veteran and future co-creator of Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes — and Alvin Schwartz, who was nearing the end of his lengthy DC tenure; Schwartz would depart after clashing with Weisinger by 1958. Art was distributed across Al Plastino (cover and interiors), Ruben Moreira, Win Mortimer, and Henry Boltinoff, reflecting the studio-style, multi-artist workflow typical of DC anthology books of the period.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published by DC Comics with a cover date of February 10, 1957; part of Superman Volume 1, the series that launched in 1939.
- Contains three complete stories: 'The Non-Super Superman' (mind-swap with Jimmy Olsen), 'Clark Kent's Crooked Cousin' (Judd Kent's blackmail threat), and 'Mysto, World's Greatest Magician' (a stage magician who appears to control Superman).
- Introduces Judd Kent — a convict who claims to know Clark Kent is Superman and threatens to expose him unless freed from jail.
- Introduces Mysto the Great, a magician whose act appears to summon and command Superman, drawing the attention of Lois Lane and a criminal gang.
- Writers credited include Otto Binder and Alvin Schwartz — Binder at this time was actively contributing to the Superman family of titles and would soon co-create Supergirl (1959) and the Legion of Super-Heroes (1958) with artist Al Plastino.
- Art duties were shared by Al Plastino (cover artist and interior penciler), Ruben Moreira, Win Mortimer, and Henry Boltinoff.
- Edited by Whitney Ellsworth; original cover price was 10 cents for 36 pages.
- The body-swap premise of the lead story — Superman's mind in Jimmy Olsen's powerless human body — is an early iteration of a plot device that became a recurring trope in the Weisinger-era Superman books throughout the late 1950s and 1960s.
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Reprints
↩ Reprints Adventure Comics #164 (1951)
Reprinted in Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #104 (1967), Supercomic #25 (1969), Supermann #8/1970 (1970), MV Comix #15/1971 (1971), Superman #14/1971 (1971), Superman #15/1971 (1971), Superman #113 [Pizza Hut Collectors' Edition Vol. 1] #[nn] (1977), Supermán #1126 (1977), Stålmannen #21/1957
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