Straight from the red carpet!
By PAUL KUPPERBERG
When worlds collide!
The make-believe world of comic books and the world of real-life celebrities, that is.
In many cases, the collision was in the form of licensing deals between Hollywood A-Listers for starring roles in their own comic book titles like The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis (later, after the duo split, just The Adventures of Jerry Lewis), The Adventures of Bob Hope, The Adventures of Alan Ladd, Jackie Gleason and the Honeymooners, Pat Boone, and Hopalong Cassidy — all published by DC Comics — to name a few.
But celebrities would sometimes also appear as themselves in the comics, guest-starring alongside fictional characters, all the way back to the 1940s. I don’t know how it was decided which celebrities would make the cut, whether DC Comics reached out to them (or their “people”) or vice versa, probably a combination of both, but every now and then a familiar face from the movies or television would show up alongside Superman.
Here then, with the Oscars on March 15, MY 13 FAVORITE DC COMICS CELEBRITY COVERS:
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Real Fact Comics #4 (September/October 1946). Jimmy Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was the Tom Hanks of his day, an actor with an everyman persona, star of classic films, including Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, It’s a Wonderful Life, Rear Window, Vertigo, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and dozens more.
DC spotlighted the actor’s World War II career as a decorated (Distinguished Flying Cross, the French Croix de Guerre) B-24 bomber pilot (20 missions over Germany) in a story in their Real Fact Comics, “He Wanted Wings.” Art by Jack Lehti.
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Action Comics #127 (December 1948). Ralph Edwards (June 13, 1913 – November 16, 2005) was a pioneering radio and television host who helped define early celebrity-focused programming by combining biography and surprise reunions.
He was best known as the creator and longtime emcee of This Is Your Life and, of course, the game show Truth or Consequences. Art by Al Plastino.
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Action Comics #130 (March 1949). Ann Blyth (August 16, 1928) is an American actress and singer who starred in 1940s and 1950s musicals and dramas, receiving an Academy Award nomination for her role in Mildred Pierce and starring in films such as The Great Caruso, where her operatic training was featured, and Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid, which Superman is obviously helping her promote. Penciled by Al Plastino.
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Superman #62 (January/February 1950). Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was a writer, director, actor, and producer whose career began in radio—where he produced his famous War of the Worlds broadcast on Halloween 1939 — and theater before revolutionizing film. At age 25, he directed and starred in Citizen Kane, widely regarded as one of cinema’s greatest achievements.
Welles continued working across film, radio, and television, often independently, his innovations in narrative structure, sound, and visual style having lasting influence on modern storytelling. Art by Wayne Boring and Stan Kaye.
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Superman #67 (November/December 1950). Perry Como (May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was a singer and TV personality whose relaxed style made him one of mid-century America’s most beloved entertainers.
Known for hits such as “Catch a Falling Star” and “It’s Impossible,” Como hosted long-running variety shows that emphasized warmth over spectacle. (In the 1980s, SCTV mocked his laid-back style with Eugene Levy playing the barely conscious singer on his “Still Alive” Tour. Art by Al Plastino.
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Superman’s Girl Friend, Lois Lane #9 (May 1959). Pat Boone (June 1, 1934) was a singer and actor who became one of the most commercially successful entertainers of the 1950s.
Known for his squeaky clean image, Boone recorded pop-friendly versions of rhythm and blues songs, and starred in lighthearted films and TV shows, the embodiment of the era’s emphasis on wholesomeness and mass-market appeal. Lois and all the gals swooned over Pat! Art by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye.
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Superman #155 (August 1962). Antonino Rocca (April 13, 1921 – March 15, 1977) was a professional wrestler who became one of the biggest sports-entertainment stars of the 1950s.
Born in Italy and raised in Argentina, Rocca combined acrobatics with charisma and drew massive crowds to Madison Square Garden. He helped popularize wrestling in New York and on early television. Art by Swan and John Forte.
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Action Comics #345 (January 1967). Allen Funt (September 16, 1914 – September 5, 1999) was a radio and television producer best known as the creator and host of Candid Camera. Debuting on radio (as Candid Microphone) and later becoming a television staple, the program captured unscripted reactions from ordinary people placed in unusual situations. (Including my grandmother, Ann Kupperberg, who was fooled for a second! She comes on at 1:37.)
Funt was a pioneer, leading directly to today’s prank and reality TV. Cover by Swan and Kaye.
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Showcase #71 (November/December 1967). Woody Allen (November 30, 1935) was at the start of his career when he guest-starred in this, the third try-out Showcase appearance of The Maniaks, a weird mélange of teen humor, mod fashion, and exaggerated show-business satire punctuated with bursts of action. Though he hadn’t yet made his mark as a filmmaker, Allen had already had some success as a stand-up and Broadway playwright (Don’t Drink the Water, 1966).
Still, his appearance in this (delightful and highly recommended) series written by E. Nelson Bridwell was baffling. Art by Mike Sekowsky and Mike Esposito.
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Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #139 (July 1971) and #141 (September 1971). That’s right, you hockey pucks, you’re getting two Don Rickles (May 8, 1926 – April 6, 2017) covers. You got a problem with that? Look, that fanboy got so excited he busted his Mylar! Maybe one of the funniest people who ever lived, Rickles was famous as an insult comedian, but one most of his victims didn’t take offense at.
Rising through the nightclub circuit, he became a frequent talk-show guest and film actor, with roles in Kelly’s Heroes, Casino, and the Toy Story films.
One-time Kirby assistant Mark Evanier explained the genesis behind this two-parter. Art by Jack Kirby and Vince Colletta, and Kirby and Neal Adams.
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The Phantom Stranger #3 (December 1987). Ronald Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was a B-actor turned politician who appeared in dozens of films in the 1930s and 1940s before becoming president of the Screen Actors Guild, later entering politics and serving as governor of California and then President of the United States from 1981 to 1989. Spoiler alert: It’s not the actual evil Ronald Reagan wielding that automatic weapon but an evil doppelganger. Cover by Mike Mignola and P. Craig Russell.
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All New Collectors’ Edition #C-56: Superman vs Muhammad Ali (1978). One cover with 172 real-life (and fictional) spectators on it, including a whole lot of actors, politicians, sports figures, celebrities, DC Comics staffers and freelancers (me included!), and Warner Communications executives, all there to witness the fight of the century between the World’s Greatest Superhero and “the Greatest,” Superman and Muhammad Ali (January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016)!
Ali’s speed and power made him the world heavyweight champion (three times!) but it was his principles and charisma that helped transform sports and race relations. He lived his life as an example to the rest of us. Art by Neal Adams.
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MORE
— PAUL KUPPERBERG: My 13 Favorite 1960s Gold Key Comics TV Adaptations. Click here.
— PAUL KUPPERBERG: My 13 Favorite JERRY LEWIS COMIC BOOK APPEARANCES. Click here.
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PAUL KUPPERBERG was a Silver Age fan who grew up to become a Bronze Age comic book creator, writer of Superman, the Doom Patrol, and Green Lantern, creator of Arion Lord of Atlantis, Checkmate, and Takion, and slayer of Aquababy, Archie, and Vigilante. He is the Harvey and Eisner Award nominated writer of Archie Comics’ Life with Archie, and his YA novel Kevin was nominated for a GLAAD media award and won a Scribe Award from the IAMTW. Check out his memoir, Panel by Panel: My Comic Book Life.
Website: https://www.paulkupperberg.net/
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