It’s TAX DAY, and we go back to when the Man of Steel was hooked for $1 billion…
By PETER BOSCH
Here’s a bit of history for you. Did you know that Julius Caesar created the first sales tax? And that his son, Augustus, created the first income tax? The reason for that little lesson is actually to let you know that tax collectors have had thousands of years of training… so they’ve probably heard every excuse for not getting your income tax return in on time for April 15. Whatever you do, don’t skip doing it or you may get penalized — like Superman did, when he discovered he owed $1,000,000,000 (that’s 1 billion dollars) in back taxes!
That amusing thrice-told (!) tax tale first appeared in “Superman’s Billion-Dollar Debt” in Superman #114 (July 1957), then again from March 6, 1961, to April 8, 1961, in the daily Superman newspaper strip; and once more in “Superman Owes a Billion Dollars!” in Superman #148 (Oct. 1961). Below are all three versions — comparing how Wayne Boring (who did it twice) and Curt Swan each handled it.
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From Superman #114 (cover art by Al Plastino), with script by Otto Binder, pencils by Wayne Boring, and inks by Stan Kaye.
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The Superman daily strip again had art by Boring but it was a lot more dynamic in its expanded form. Script by Jerry Siegel, art by Boring.
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And, finally, Superman #148, with a script by Robert Bernstein. Pencil art by Curt Swan and inks by George Klein.
Happy(?) Tax Day!
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MORE
— What Happened the Day After SUPERMAN Trashed That Car on ACTION COMICS #1. Click here.
— FOUND! SUPERMAN’s Lost, EXCLUSIVE First Interview With LOIS LANE. Click here.
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13th Dimension contributor-at-large PETER BOSCH’s first book, American TV Comic Books: 1940s-1980s – From the Small Screen to the Printed Page, was published by TwoMorrows. (You can buy it here.) A sequel, American Movie Comic Books: 1930s-1970s — From the Silver Screen to the Printed Page, is due in 2025. (You can pre-order here.) Peter has written articles and conducted celebrity interviews for various magazines and newspapers. He lives in Hollywood.
April 15, 2025
I prefer Swan’s version simply because he draws the IRS agent as an officious little bureaucrat who resembles Wally Cox. Curt knew what he was doing there, I think
April 15, 2025
Probably not a popular opinion, but Wayne Boring was a much, much better Superman artist than Curt Swan.
April 16, 2025
I remember wondering why Bizarro’s duplicator ray transformed the ivory. The ray always made imperfect duplicates, like the Bizarros themselves, but it never affected the originals, otherwise Superman, Lois, and others would be transformed.
April 15, 2025
This storyline almost makes me wonder if Walter Peck ever got his claws into Superman for all of his Silver Age environmental shenanigans, would the EPA end up being Superman’s new “Luthor”?
April 15, 2025
I saw this ages ago, either in the back issue from 1961 or from a reprint. Lots of fun! Gotta love the Silver Age!