Tuesday, February 27, 2018

The Deadliest Prank!

We all love the Prankster, right? A mostly harmless goofy genius, who uses his talent for gags and practical jokes to befuddle and bewilder Superman (and make some coin for himself in the process)?

What everyone forgets, though, is that in his first appearance, Prankster was as bloodthirsty as the Joker!

The Prankster's boys have been pulling jobs all over Metropolis (and getting away with it thanks to Prankster's cleverly-planned escapes). He's trying to amass enough money to finance his "Big Job," but his underlings want to cash out now...




HOLY CRAP!!

After successfully pulling off the "big job"--and it really is quite a clever scheme--it's time to split the loot!


Well, Superman has disguised himself as one of the thugs, so he saves Lois and the rest.

But lethal gas!?!? Prankster is no fun doofus--he's a mass-murdering pyscopath!!

Things were rougher than we thought in the Golden Age, is all I'm saying.

From Action Comics #51 (1942)

2 comments:

  1. How did he lose all those teeth? I suspect an undocumented earlier encounter. The Golden Age Superman did not know from kid gloves!

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  2. Given the apparent Brtishisms he's speaks--"by Jove," "old top,"etc.--they could be implying that he's English and therefore has bad teeth?

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