| Issue | #252 |
| Published | May 1959 |
| Cover Price | 0.10 USD |
| Pages | 36 |
| Editing | Mort Weisinger |
| Notes | Secondary sequences added by Ed Boner, July 2009. |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Characters | Superman; Emmett Kelly |
| Genre | Gag |
| Script | Henry Boltinoff |
| Pencils | Henry Boltinoff |
| Inks | Henry Boltinoff |
| Notes | Promoting the May Adventure Comics and the June issues of Jimmy Olsen and Superboy. |
| 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 |
| Letters | typeset |
| 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 |