[Tobbin]

Well, you have to remember when this comic came out, there weren't any superheroes. The depression was on and publishers were trying to come up with diversions. The rest of the backup stories in Action #1 were the typical type of stories that were coming out at the time. As for how Superman dealt with the law, you have to remember that young adults wrote the stories. This was how they wanted to deal with authority figures that they had no impact on. To many kids, Superman became a symbol of a rage or helplessness they couldn't control. They watched as he did what he wanted with hardly any repurcussions (sp?) It was deep into the 2nd DECADE that the storylines started to clean up. There were a few attempts here and there, but for the most part, Superman became the idolized Vigilante. When Batman came out, the publishers realized that they had to wield the storylines in a commited way to their readers. Kids were easy to influence. To write a story that didn't cater to that type of understanding was considered bad taste. Eventually, it got to the point that the Comics Code Authority was born. Back then, Superman didn't take any guff or think about what would happen from his actions, today, he is written to take as much into effect as possible, since everyone now realizes that kids take some of the messages literally. He is but a shadow of what he once was. But an icon for the ages.