Superman #40 for Sale - First Appearance of Susie Tompkins - Where to Buy

Identification plate

Series: Superman (DC, 1939 series)
Issue: #40
Publication date: May-June 1946
Key date: 1946-05-00
On-sale date: 1946-02-26
Indicia publisher: Superman Inc.
Price: $0.10
Pages: 52

Match the book in your hand against this plate before paying an edition-specific price.

Why this issue matters

First appearance of Susie Tompkins - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

First appearance of Pete - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

First appearance of Pepsi - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

The evidence

Claims here come from the story records for this issue, listed under Sources at the bottom of the file. Character hubs with full evidence tables are coming to this site.

Seq	Story	Type	Pages	Credits	Characters
0	-	cover	1	pencils: Wayne Boring; inks: George Roussos; letters: Ira Schnapp	Clark Kent, Mr. Mxyztplk, Superman, Susie Tompkins First
1	Editorial Advisory Board	promo (ad from the publisher)	0.33	letters: typeset
2	Your Red Cross Must Carry On!	public service announcement	0.67	letters: typeset
3	The Mxyztplk-Susie Alliance!	comic story	12	script: Don C. Cameron; pencils: Ira Yarbrough; inks: Stan Kaye; letters: Ira Schnapp	Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Mr. Mxyztplk, Superman, Susie Tompkins First
6	There Is No Superman!	comic story	12	script: Jerry Siegel; pencils: Ira Yarbrough; inks: Stan Kaye	Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Superman, Perry White
8	-	comic story	0.5	script: Lit-Win; pencils: Lit-Win; inks: Lit-Win	Jasper
10	One in a Million	text story	2	script: Ed Blaney
11	The Silken Mystery	comic story	3.67	script: Whitney Ellsworth; pencils: Sam Citron; inks: Stan Kaye	Clark Kent, Lois Lane
12	Superman's Secret Message	in-house column	0.33	letters: typeset
14	A Modern Marco Polo!	comic story	12	script: Don C. Cameron; pencils: Ira Yarbrough; inks: Stan Kaye	Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Superman, Perry White

Plus 7.5 pages of advertisements and other matter across 8 sequences, as published.

Where to read it

Collection	Year
Superman #246	1971	On eBay ›
Limited Collectors' Edition #C-38	1975	On eBay ›
Superman in the Forties #[nn] ISBN 1401204570	2005	On eBay ›
Superman: Cover to Cover #[nn] ISBN 1-4012-0770-7; 978-1-4012-0770-0	2006	On eBay ›
Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus #5 ISBN 978-1-4012-7476-4	2018	On eBay ›

Reading the story costs a fraction of owning the issue. Both routes are on every file.

Before you buy

Golden-age paper is brittle. Ask about page suppleness and check edges for chips in the photos.
Check for trimmed edges, married covers, and clipped coupons - all common on books this old.
Confirm the indicia matches this plate; many golden-age titles changed names mid-run.

Series context

‹ #3940 of 423#41 ›

Sources

Grand Comics Database, issue record (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Found an error in this file? corrections@comicrecord.com