Action Comics Vol. 1 #282

1. Cover by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye.
2. “Superman’s Toughest Day!” written by Bill Finger, penciled and inked by Al Plastino.
3. “Shorty” gag strip by Henry Boltinoff.
4. “Sagebrush Sam” gag strip by Henry Boltinoff.
5. “Homer” gag strip by Henry Boltinoff.
6. “The Supergirl of Tomorrow!” written by Jerry Siegel, penciled and inked by Jim Mooney.
7. “Wanted: Safe Bus Riders!” Public Service ad.
8. “Little Pete” gag strip by Henry Boltinoff.

Note: Dick Wilson’s name is changed to Dick Malverne after being adopted.

Considering all that Superman had been through up to this point in 1961, one might have a hard time believing THIS was his toughest day! A “Day in the Life” story that lets us see the more “mundane” aspects of Superman’s typical day, its spiced up with a side story about Superman’s Clark Kent robot getting itself in some hot water. The “typical” aspects of his day include things like checking the air composition in the bottle that is Kandor’s home back at the Fortress of Solitude, and so on. But the cover’s suspenseful “Uh-oh!” moments come when Lois and the Kent robot visit a factory. While on the tour the robot spills acid on his hands exposing the metal structure underneath. The writers come up with inventive ways to keep the robot from being revealed to Lois as the fake Clark. At one point, while walking around with his hands in his pockets, Clark is asked to check the time on his watch. Instead of pulling out his metallic hand, he uses his X-ray vision to look at a tower clock outside the building. Classic ’60’s Supe!