While Superman and Batman teaming up to take on a common foe is something that seems old-hat to modern comics readers, readers in 1952 had never seen this pairing before. True, Batman and Superman had appeared together with the Justice Society for exactly two very small appearances in the 1940s and Batman was an annual guest on Superman’s Golden Age radio show, but they couldn’t be described as a duo. That all changed with Superman #76.
In this adventure, Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne are accidentally booked into the same cabin during a relaxing cruise. Hearing danger, the pair try to trick the other one into allowing him to change into his costume. Their mutual ruse immediately fails and the secret identities of Batman and Superman are known to the other person. It’s a fun, slightly silly scene that allows the first major team-up between DC’s greatest superheroes to finally take place. It would prove to not be the last.
From Superman (Vol. 1) #76 (1952)
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Sooooo silly and good at the same time! 😀
“Accidentally booked in the same cabin”
How does a millionaire “accidentally” get booked in the same room as a reporter?
Awesome
did they retell this story in superman/batman annual 1 from a few years back?
They played with this story in that issue, yeah. But, the original version didn’t have Deathstroke or Owlman in it. It just had a regular gang of crooks that Batman and Superman teamed up to expose.
This issue was duuuuumb.
it’s funny. in JL last week, i was just thinking of how batman and superman are lonely, if not melancholy characters who are alienated from the world. that is to say, they feel alone in the universe. but there’s a spark when they come together(no pun). it’s interesting to see their relationship develope and evolve from co-workers to friends to adopted family. from 1952 to 2012, 60 years later.
i’m curious, was this article inspired by bruce and clark’s “lunch” at arkham?
Nope. I just pulled this page because I dug it. I’m reading the New 52 mostly via trade so I’ll read that issue sometime in 2013 or so.
Surely Superman could “see” in the dark, either infrared or ultraviolet, and would have seen Bruce changing. Or he could have seen through the mask with x-ray vision (doubt it was lead-lined back then!).
He can’t see backwards through his own head though, his back is to Batman!
What exactly was either of their plans for when one of them would open the door after changing? I’m not sure how changing in a room with only one exit was a solid idea, regardless of lights on or off.