Superman #2 (September 1939)

Untitled

Superman stops Larry Trent, former heavyweight champion of the world, from committing suicide by jumping of a bridge. He learns that Trent had been betrayed by his manager, who conspired with a gangster to drug him, in order to clean up on all the bets for Trent. Superman vows to restore to Trent his lost title. He disguises himself as Trent, battling his way to the top, meanwhile training Trent for his own comeback. When the championship fight comes, Superman switches with Trent, who wins his own fight, taking back the title. At the same time, Superman sees the crooked manager and gangster taken care of.



Meh. We've seen the like of this, before.

Superman Champions Universal Peace!

Clark is sent to interview a scientist, who apparently has some announcement to make. When he arrives, the scientist reveals that he has invented the world's deadliest gas, which is capable of passing through any gas mask. To prove it, he uses it to kill a little monkey wearing a gas mask (how cruel!). The scientist is threatened by three men who wish to know the formula, so they can sell it to an arms trader and get rich (how did they know about it?). Later, they kill him, and Superman follows them to Boravia, where a civil war is going on, and where they hope to sell the formula. Various events happen, and eventually the arms trader is killed by his own gas, and Superman forces the opposing sides in the conflict to agree to a peace treaty--by destroying three of the four support columns of the building they're in ("A guy named Samson once had the same idea!", he says) and threatening to destroy the last one, killing them all, if they don't reach an agreement. Finally, Clark sends a telegram to his editor, explaining that he'll be heading back home on the same plane the murderers are on. The murderers are arrested, Clark testifies at the trial, and they are sentenced to the electric chair. In the end, Clark destroys the formula for the gas, declaring that it is "too deadly to be permitted to exist".



Interesting, if not great.

Superman and the Skyscrapers

Construction workers have been dying on a job--five in as many days. Superman is suspicious, so he goes out to investigate, that night. He spots the night watchman sawing through a steel girder, ensuring another 'accident' will occur the next day. Superman apprehends him, and he explains that he works for the gang of Butch Grogan, just before he dies of a (very convenient) heart attack. Superman goes after Butch, who eventually tells him that he was hired by Nat Grayson, president of Akme Construction Company, to ensure that the building, a project of their rival Bruce Constructions Inc., isn't completed within the time required by their contract. Butch is (again conveniently) shot as he runs away from a policeman who wandered by. Finally, Superman goes after Nat. After some threats, Nat turns himself in and gets the electric chair for his troubles.



Not a great story, but not too bad.

Superman (short story)

A racketeer, "Big Mike" Caputo, enters Metropolis. The police chief warns him that one false move will mean jail time. Clark provokes him, and receives a punch for his trouble. Then Superman follows Mike, secretly. Mike meets with two of his hirelings, telling him that he plans to run a racket in Metropolis. The two are unsure about his chances of success, especially given that this is Superman's city. When the man himself shows up, the two split quick, and Superman works Mike over, before telling him to leave town or there'll be more where that came from.



Uninteresting.

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