Superman #23
Superman #23 (cover-dated August 1943) stands as one of the most visually arresting artifacts of the Man of Steel's wartime Golden Age run. Jack Burnley's cover — depicting Superman viewed through a Nazi U-boat's periscope as he charges toward the submarine in fury — distills the entire emotional pitch of American home-front comics propaganda into a single, wordless image that has been widely reproduced in historical surveys of World War II comic art. The lead story, 'America's Secret Weapon,' delivers a pointed ideological message: by the end of the tale, Superman concludes that ordinary American soldiers are capable enough to win the war without his help, a piece of morale-building storytelling that aligned the Superman franchise squarely with the war effort while also affirming the dignity of the men actually fighting. The issue's cover and its wartime stories have been repeatedly anthologized as definitive examples of how Golden Age superhero comics functioned as cultural documents of their era.
In "America's Secret Weapon!", Superman visits Camp Towne during World War II, stepping in to join the military's war games and earning an honorary Corporal's rank. Though he's impressed by the courage and skill of American soldiers, he ultimately realizes that the true strength of the nation lies in its fighting men—and that he may not be the secret weapon they need after all. Written by Don C. Cameron and illustrated by Sam Citron, with inks by John Sikela, and a cover by Jack Burnley.
In "America's Secret Weapon!", Superman arrives at Camp Towne to boost morale, volunteering for the military war games and earning the rank of honorary Corporal. As he observes the courage and skill of American soldiers—led by Colonel McNab, Lieutenant-General Bullitt, and Generals Armor and Starrett—he comes to a quiet realization: the real strength of the nation lies in its troops, and he may not be the secret weapon after all.
In "Habitual Homicide," Superman faces a chilling threat when a scorned professor, driven by rejection, orchestrates a murder and frames the victim’s fiancé. With the college campus on edge and a vengeful killer on the loose, Superman must protect the witnesses—especially Lois Lane and the young woman who stood up to the professor—before the next life is lost.
In "Fashions in Crime!", Lois Lane finds herself at the center of a sartorial mystery when a duplicate of her custom-made dress turns up in a local shop. With Superman on the case, the investigation leads to a clever criminal known only as the Dude, who's using high fashion as a cover for a dangerous bootlegging operation.
When a star pitcher’s sudden decline on the mound threatens his career—and his life—Superman investigates, uncovering a conspiracy tied to a pair of crooks exploiting the game. With Lois Lane and Perry White at his side, and a new player named Tom Marin stepping into the spotlight, the Man of Steel must unravel a scheme that’s pitching more than just a game.
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The issue carried an on-sale date of April 27, 1943, some months before its August cover date — a standard newsstand practice of the period. Editor Whitney Ellsworth oversaw the book, with Jack Schiff serving as associate editor (uncredited in the indicia). The lead story, 'America's Secret Weapon,' was scripted by Don Cameron but published under the house byline of Jerry Siegel — a common editorial fiction at DC during this period, when staff and freelance writers routinely worked under Siegel's name on Superman titles. Jack Burnley, who had already produced roughly one hundred covers for National/DC between the late 1930s and the mid-1940s and was simultaneously drawing the Superman daily newspaper strip, painted the now-celebrated U-boat cover; his athletic, heavily muscled Superman figure — developed from his prior career as a sports cartoonist — had by this point become one of the defining visual templates for the character.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Cover date: August 1943 (on-sale April 27, 1943); published by DC Comics (indicia publisher listed as Superman, Inc.).
- Cover art by Jack Burnley — depicts Superman seen through a German U-boat's periscope swimming toward the submarine after it has torpedoed a ship, one of the most reproduced wartime Superman covers.
- Lead story 'America's Secret Weapon' was scripted by Don Cameron (credited in the indicia as Jerry Siegel, a period house-name practice); art by Sam Citron, also working under the Joe Shuster house name.
- Additional stories in the 60-page issue: 'Habitual Homicide' (script: Jerry Siegel; art: George Roussos under the Shuster name) — introducing villain Professor Raymond Lock; 'Fashions in Crime' (script: Jerry Siegel); 'Danger on the Diamond' (script: Jerry Siegel; art: John Sikela under the Shuster name).
- Whitney Ellsworth served as editor; Jack Schiff is documented as an uncredited associate editor on the issue.
- The lead story's moral — that Superman is not needed because America's soldiers are capable of winning the war themselves — reflects DC's deliberate wartime editorial stance of bolstering civilian and military morale.
- 'America's Secret Weapon' has been reprinted multiple times in major Superman retrospective collections, including 'Superman: From the 30's to the 70's,' 'Superman: From the 30's to the 80's,' 'Superman in the Forties,' 'The Superman Archives Vol. 6,' and 'Superman: The War Years 1938–1945' (Chartwell Books, 2015).
- The cover image was also reproduced in 'Take That, Adolf!: The Fighting Comic Books of the Second World War' (Fantagraphics, 2017), a scholarly survey of WWII-era American comic book propaganda.
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in Superman from the Thirties to the Seventies #[nn] (1971), Superman from the Thirties to the Eighties #[nn] (1983), The Superman Archives #6 (2003), Superman in the Forties #[nn] (2005), Superman: Cover to Cover #[nn] (2006), Superman: The War Years 1938-1945 #[nn] (2015), Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus #3 (2017), Take That, Adolf!: The Fighting Comic Books of the Second World War #[nn] (2017)
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