Posted By Dan Greenfield on Jul 7, 2025 | 14 comments

SUPERMAN WEEK: From Blackrock to Captain Thunder to Lola Barnett, Jim Beard goes for the Bronze Age deep cuts…

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It’s SUPERMAN WEEK! Because there’s a fancy new movie coming out! Click here for the COMPLETE INDEX of columns and features! Look, up in the sky! — Dan

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By JIM BEARD 

Superman used to live at 344 Clinton Street. I know because I was there.

I was there each day when he went in to work at WGBS News in Metropolis. It was owned by Galaxy Communications. I was there when, disguised as news anchor Clark Kent, he would greet and sometimes be greeted by his fellow employees. I was there when he reported the news and sometimes slipped away to make the news.

I was there when Superman teamed up with Batgirl (twice), was reunited with his dog Krypto, fought “Jaws,” dealt with Perry White’s super-cigars, and wooed Lois Lane as Clark (briefly). I was there for numerous attempts on his life by common criminals who should have known better. I was there for the umpteenth time Lex Luthor concocted a scheme that failed miserably.

I was there when Superman drove a Supermobile. Crazy thing is… it’s true. All of it.

My heyday, my personal Golden Age with the Man of Steel was, let’s say, 1973 to 1978. It was a wonderful five years or so where I got to live in a sprawling city protected by a colorful superhero with an equally colorful cast of characters going in and out of his colorful life. And I always felt I was cheating on Batman throughout the whole thing.

See, I was and still am a Batman fan, first and foremost, but to be honest, back then, Superman had the better set-up.

I loved, loved, loved the character of Batman, but the Action Comics and Superman titles were just better for creating a consistent universe in the early- to mid-Seventies. Batman just had a much smaller world with fewer supporting cast members. Supes (as we called him then) had Curt Swan. He had a whole building full of fellow WGBS workers. He had 344 Clinton Street and everyone who lived in the apartment building there, human and alien (as was often the case).

I could believe in Superman’s surroundings. I felt like I was there.

I want to celebrate that feeling today in this article. I took out all my ’70s Superman issues and pored over them, revisiting old haunts and looking up old chums and girlfriends. I had fun recalling the faces and the names and I hope you will, too, even though maybe you weren’t there when it all happened for the first time. That’s cool. Let’s go there together today.

(Please note that some of these characters debuted earlier than the Seventies. I know that, but I met them a bit later and that’s what I’m celebrating here.)

For SUPERMAN WEEK, here are 13 SWINGIN’ SEVENTIES SUPERMAN SIDE CHARACTERS:

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The Abominable Snowman. Superman #266 in 1973 was where I came in, and what a place to start. Under that gorgeous Nick Cardy cover (still a super-fave of mine), I learned of a villain who, to this day, still richly deserves a comeback. I didn’t know Dr. Phoenix had debuted a few months before this story, but I didn’t care. The one in this issue cemented my love for the Superman universe of the Seventies.

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Toyman II. He burst onto the scene in Action Comics #432, a creepy costumed crumb bum who, while dressed in a silly get-up, managed to make quite an impression. I wasn’t too much aware of his predecessor at the time, but I dug the tale of a young upstart trying to muscle in on territory he didn’t define himself.

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May Marigold. Technically, this should be about the Marigold sisters, twins with soon-to-be-forgotten telepathic abilities, but I met May in, I think, Superman #273 and thought she was cute as a shiny button. Maybe I even had a little crush on her and wondered why the heck Clark seemed so indifferent to her charms, the super-dummy.

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Effron the Sorcerer. This guy’s story was a little complicated (he debuted in World’s Finest but later his power eye was taken up by someone else), but I always thought he was a pretty good adversary for Supes overall. I mean, in Action Comics #437 he subjugated the entire Justice League to battle the Man of Steel. That’s gotta count for something, surely.

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Captain Thunder. Ah, yes. No list of my favorites from the ’70s would ever be complete without this guy. I didn’t fully understand the whys and the wherefores back then pertaining to his appearance, but I didn’t have to. All I had to do was love the single issue of Superman #276 back in ’74 and revel in its wonderfulness. Still one of my prime favorites to this day.

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Lola Barnett. Here’s another character who back in the day I probably didn’t fully understand who she was parodying and likely didn’t care. Lola added to Clark’s cast and while she sometimes came off as a nasty, gossiping so-and-so, her poignant solo spotlight in Superman #275 is still a great read.

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Captain Strong. Isn’t it amazing how many of these parody/satire/pastiche characters there were in the Super-titles back then? I met the captain in Action Comics #439 (though he was introduced earlier in #421) and can proudly answer the trivia question “What substance gave Captain Strong his strength when he ate it?” without a moment’s hesitation. Psst! It’s sauncha, for the uninitiated among you. Looks like seaweed. Probably tastes like it, too.

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Morgan Edge. Oh, what more can be said about this one that hasn’t already been hissed in back alleys and around the water cooler? The ol’ “Smiling Cobra” has a fascinating story-arc, from Darkseid’s minion in Kirby’s Fourth World and Goody Rickels’ foil to Clark Kent’s bitter boss, the Jerk You Love to Hate. I don’t know what those Super Golden Years of mine would have been like without him and his smug face you just wanted to super-punch every time.

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Johnny Nevada. And the parodies just kept on comin’. Say what you might about Johnny, but he had a very fine solo story in Action Comics #450 that turned him into a monster (that happened a lot to Metropolitans back then) and brought Superman to peals of laughter to save him. Check it out yourself if you don’t believe me.

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Blackrock. If you’ve been reading my stuff here on the site you know of my love for some Blackrock, the baddie who stole my heart way back in Action Comics #458. Is it the costume? Is it his sadly dated abilities? Is it the fact that he was a new super-villain at the time who actually had a little staying power? Probably all three, and mostly the costume. And the Curt Swan art.

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Karb-Brak. I don’t care if you’re on a low-karb diet, I’m going to give it up here for this dude and his interesting situation (allergic to Superman!) and his absolute command of a four-issue story that tied into the American Bicentennial at the time (!). Plus, ya gotta love a guy who adopts a cheeky civilian name like “Andrew Meda,” ’cause, y’know, he was from Andromeda.

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Gregory Reed. Remember him? Huh? Greg was the actor in the Superman universe who became known for playing, yeah, the Man of Steel. He debuted in Action Comics #414 but I met him a bit later, probably in Superman #297, right in the middle of the infamous “Clark Kent Forever – Superman Never” storyline. I love that Reed was riffing on George Reeves, but that his name also was prophetic for Christopher Reeve.

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Nam-Ek. Another Kryptonian to cause trouble for Supes, sure, but Nam-Ek had an interesting debut in Superman #282’s backup story before his swan song (pun intended) in the epic Superman #311-314 saga. It’s cool to me that they were giving longer storylines to new characters they felt were worthy of them. Both Nam-Ek and Karb-Brak fit that bill, in my opinion.

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MORE

— The Complete SUPERMAN WEEK INDEX of Columns and Features. Click here.

— PAUL KUPPERBERG: 13 SUPER WAYS to Celebrate SUPERMAN WEEK. Click here.

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When JIM BEARD’s not editing and publishing through his two houses, Flinch Books and Becky Books, he’s pounding out adventure fiction with both original and licensed characters. In fact, he’s put words in the mouths of Luke Skywalker, Superman, Fox Mulder, Carl Kolchak, Peter Venkman and the Green Hornet… and lived to tell about it. Check out his The Old Origin Changeth!, available here.