Monday, August 25, 2014

Manic Monday--How Many Times Can One Comic Book Misinform The Youth Of America?!

Where the hell to start with this story?

Superboy has been sent on a sort of super-scavenger hunt by a dying hunter who has threatened to blow up Smallville, so following the clues he ends up...

Well, see now, that is completely false, Kal-El. The etymology of the words "news" is fairly well known, and has nothing to do with compass directions. What are they teaching you at Smallville High?

Anyway, on the island:


Wait--that's not how it works, goofball!! Heating up the egg with super-vision doesn't make the embryo grow days more quickly!! Seriously, Clark Kent, what are your grades in biology?

Awwwwwwww....

But...

HOLD ON!!



TIME OUT!!!!!!

A flying penguin? A flying baby penguin? Any bird flying just after hatching?!?!?

Well, I would accuse this story of being aggressively anti-facts, but I guess seeing is believing:

Fly, baby penguin, fly!!

And then...

Look, I have no problem with making up fictional places for a comic book story. But really--a city "where everybody earns his living by making clocks"?? I doubt that's even economically feasible!

"Honey, let's go out to eat!" "Sorry, there are no restaurants--everyone here makes clocks, nothing else!"

No one collects garbage? No police, no medical care, no grocery stores?

OK, I'm being a jerk on this one.  But still...

No street cleaners? No newspaper? No schools?

Still, it makes more sense than flying baby penguins...

From Superboy #93 (1961)

2 comments:

Erich said...

This was one of those "How many mistakes can you find" challenge stories like "The Night of March 31," wasn't it? I mean, it had to be, right?

George Chambers said...

It would seem obvious that this story had the facts 'cleaned up' by editorial prior to publishing, otherwise they'd have to have used the title "SUPERBOY-PENGUIN ABORTIONIST!"