August 1930: Fun with a Firing Squad

The most dreaded weapon of World War I, mustard gas, cast its shadow over Superman 2 (Fall 1939).

When Prof. Adolphus Runyan invents a poison gas capable of penetrating any type of gas mask, he’s murdered by the evil munitions magnate Lubane, who intends to use the chemist’s formula to prolong an ongoing civil war in Boravia (a reference director James Gunn winked at in his 2025 Superman movie).

Hitching a ride atop a plane, Superman travels to Boravia and forces the leaders to stop the civil war by threatening to bring the roof down on them literally, like Samson. Superman bombs Lubane’s munitions factory, then destroys the formula after watching it kill Lubane.

While accomplishing all this, the Man of Tomorrow amuses himself by shrugging off the bullets of a firing squad.

Firing squads are emblematic of the fascist regimes Superman opposed, which is why he ran into more than one of them in his early days.

Elsewhere in his second titular issue, Superman builds confidence in a suicidal boxer by assuming his identity, going into the ring and beating up a bunch of prize fighters. (Admittedly, Superman’s ethical reasoning was sometimes questionable).

Then, when crooked builder Nat Grayson causes a series of fatal construction “accidents” on the site of the Atlas Building, Superman grabs him by the throat and chokes him until he sees the error of his ways.

In a two-page text story written by Jerry Siegel, Superman drives Big Mike Caputo out of Metropolis.

Quoting the gangster, Siegel wrote, “I say I can take over this town, and if you two weasels are getting chicken-livered...!’

“ ‘But —' interposed the other hireling, ‘— you’re not counting on ...SUPERMAN!’

“ ‘SUPERMAN?’ questioned Caputo. ‘And who in blazes is he?’

“ ‘That's just it!’ whispered Sneer. ‘Nobody knows. He’s a will-of-the-wisp... a phantom of the night. He preys on evildoers who operate in Metropolis... and once that bozo’s on your trail, brother, you're sunk!’”