Data courtesy of the Grand Comics Database under Creative Commons license.

Issue Details

Issue #252
Published May 1959
Cover Price 0.10 USD
Pages 36
Editing Mort Weisinger
Notes Secondary sequences added by Ed Boner, July 2009.

Cover Details - "The Supergirl from Krypton!"

Characters Superman [Kal-El]; Supergirl [Kara Zor-El]
Genre superhero
Pencils Curt Swan
Inks Al Plastino
Notes DC Silver Age Classics Action Comics #252 and Showcase Presents: Supergirl (DC, 2007 series) #1 credit this cover to Curt Swan and Stan Kaye.
Reprinted in Millennium Edition: Action Comics 252 (DC, 2000 series) #[nn]; in Showcase Presents Superman (DC, 2005 series) #1; in Supergirl Archives (DC, 2001 series) #1; in Great Superman Comic Book Collection, The (DC, 1981 series) #[nn]; in DC Silver Age Classics Action Comics 252 (DC, 1993 series) #[nn]; in Showcase Presents: Supergirl (DC, 2007 series) #1

12 page Superman story "The Menace of Metallo!"

Characters Superman; Lois Lane; Metallo [John Corben] (intro, villain); Professor Vale; Perry White; Jimmy Olsen (unnamed)
Synopsis Criminal John Corben, who is nearly killed in an auto accident, is given a robot body powered by uranium. When he is hit by bullets meant for Lois, she assumes he is really Superman. Recognizing a good idea, Corben impersonates Superman to collect more uranium. Running out of sources of uranium, Corben learns that he can also be powered by kryptonite. But he doesn't realize that the kryptonite he steals is fake, prop kryptonite and collapses.
Genre superhero
Script Robert Bernstein
Pencils Al Plastino
Inks Al Plastino
Reprinted in Superman Annual (DC, 1960 series) #2 (1960) [page 8, panel 6 through page 9, panel 2 cut]; in Superman (DC, 1939 series) #217 (June-July 1969); in DC Silver Age Classics Action Comics 252 (DC, 1992 series) #nn (1992); in Millennium Edition: Action Comics 252 (DC, 2000 series) #nn; in Showcase Presents Superman (DC, 2005 series) #1

Half page advertisement "Tootsie Roll ad"

1 page advertisement "Clyde Beatty and Cole Bros Circus at Palisades Amusement Park"

Characters Superman; Emmett Kelly

Half page Little Pete filler "Goodbye, Mrs. Ellis"

Genre Gag
Script Henry Boltinoff
Pencils Henry Boltinoff
Inks Henry Boltinoff

Half page promo (ad from the publisher) "Coming Super-Attractions"

Notes Promoting the May Adventure Comics and the June issues of Jimmy Olsen and Superboy.

5 page Congorilla story "Congo Bill Dies at Dawn!"

Characters Congo Bill; Congorilla; Janu the Jungle Boy
Synopsis While leading an expedition through the desert, Congo Bill stops at an apparently deserted oasis. But the water has been drugged, and the expedition passes out. When they awaken they find they are prisoners inside a nearby outpost that has been taken over by renegades. Bill, who is imprisoned separately from the others, rubs his magic ring and soon Congorilla is attacking the fort and freeing the expedition.
Genre superhero; jungle
Script Robert Bernstein
Pencils Howard Sherman
Inks Howard Sherman
Reprinted in DC Silver Age Classics Action Comics 252 (DC, 1992 series) #nn (1992); in Millennium Edition: Action Comics 252 (DC, 2000 series) #nn

Half page advertisement "Tootsie Roll Pops ad"

1 page Metropolis Mailbag letters page

Letters typeset

7 page Supergirl story "The Supergirl from Krypton!"

Characters Superman [Kal-El]; Supergirl [Kara Zor-El] (introduction, origin); Zor-El (introduction, flashback); Miss Hart (introduction); Superboy (on a poster)
Synopsis Superman spies a crashing rocket and discovers his cousin Supergirl. She tells him how Argo City survived the destruction of Krypton and how her father sent her to Earth when the inhabitants of Argo City were threatened by Kryptonite poisoning. Superman sets her up in Midvale Orphanage so she can adjust to life on Earth.
Genre superhero
Script Otto Binder
Pencils Al Plastino
Inks Al Plastino
Notes This story was not reprinted in Action Comics 288 or 314. Information removed thanks to Allen Ross, 10/05.
Reprinted in Superman Annual (DC, 1960 series) #1 (1960); in Action Comics (DC, 1938 series) #334 (March 1966); in Secret Origins (DC, 1973 series) #2 (April-May 1973); in DC Special Series (DC, 1977 series) #19 (Fall 1979); in Great Superman Comic Book Collection, The (DC, 1981 series) #[nn] (1981); in Superman from the Thirties to the Eighties (Crown Publishers, Inc., 1983 series) #[nn] (1983); in DC Silver Age Classics Action Comics 252 (DC, 1992 series) #[nn] (1992); in Giant Superman Annual #1 Replica Edition (DC, 1998 series) #[nn]; in Millennium Edition: Action Comics 252 (DC, 2000 series) #[nn]; in Supergirl Archives (DC, 2001 series) #1; in Superman in the Fifties (DC, 2002 series) #[nn]; in Showcase Presents Superman (DC, 2005 series) #1; in Superman Family, The (DC, 1974 series) #165 [one panel only reprinted]; in Showcase Presents: Supergirl (DC, 2007 series) #1

Half page advertisement "Tootsie Roll Fudge ad"