Action Comics #143 is an issue of the series Action Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of April, 1950.
Synopsis for Superman: "The Bride of Superman"
Superman pretends to prepare to marry European glamor girl Nikki LaRue, as part of an elaborate international espionage hoax. This is very upsetting for Lois Lane, but it all turns out to be a cover story, to account for Superman's close association with "Nikki," who is secretly atomic scientist Madame Nicolai, and is conducting some atomic experiments in a hotel in Metropolis. The ruse succeeds in exposing two enemy spies, who are allowed to escape by Superman, after using his X-ray vision to spoil their photographs of Nicolai's blueprints.
Appearing in Superman: "The Bride of Superman"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Lois Lane
- Perry White
- Peggy Wilkins
Antagonists:
- Bobo Newton, fugitive
- Fazir, spy
- his dagger man, spy
Other Characters:
- Nikki LaRue (Madame Nicolai, nuclear physicist)
Locations:
- Metropolis
- Daily Planet
- Lois and Peggy's apartment
- Carlton Hotel
- Railroad Yards
- New York City
- Waterfront
- Statue of Liberty
Items:
- 20-carat diamond, made by Superman
- Madame Nicolai's Cyclotron
Vehicles:
- S.S. Regina
Synopsis for Tommy Tomorrow: "The Treasure in the Atom"
A prospector and his daughter discover an ancient space pirate's (Blackheart's) treasure map. After modern-day space pirate Iron Hand murders her father, prospector Elaine teams up with Tommy Tomorrow to try to beat him to Blackheart's treasure, which has been stashed on a sub-atomic world called Treasure Atom. They defeat the pirates and recover the treasure (an extremely rare Venutian dragon). The Planeteers adapt Blackheart's reducing/enlarging technology in order to establish exploration and commerce among the sub-atomic worlds.
Appearing in Tommy Tomorrow: "The Treasure in the Atom"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Planeteers
- Planeteer General (Tommy's Boss)
- Tommy's crew
Antagonists:
- Iron Hand
- his crew
Other Characters:
- Elaine, prospector
- Elaine's father, prospector (Dies)
Animals:
- Venutian Dragon (believed to be extinct)
Locations:
Items:
- Ring-Radio
- Talking Book
- Reducers, pills
- Enlargers, pills
- Radium
Synopsis for Congo Bill: "The Perfect Specimen!"
After selling an insurance policy to Harry Kailer, World Wide Insurance assigns Congo Bill to watch him. Kailer is physically robust, extremely so, but is targeted for murder, as the only witness to an earlier murder. But as things unfold, Kailer turns out to be the earlier murderer, and he ends up in police custody.
Appearing in Congo Bill: "The Perfect Specimen!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- World Wide Insurance Company
Antagonists:
- Harry Kailer
- Red Turban (Dies)
- Captain Bascom (Mentioned only)
Other Characters:
- Dr. Horace Jackson
- Halpin, insurance agent
- Yhuh San, lapidary
Locations:
Items:
- Sumatra Pearls
Synopsis for "Yankee Doodle Doughboy"
Appearing in "Yankee Doodle Doughboy"
Featured Characters:
- Chris Ludwick
Supporting Characters:
- Mrs. Ludwick
Antagonists:
- British Officers
- Hessian Officers
- Hessian Soldiers (many desert)
- Hessian Officers
Other Characters:
- George Washington (Cameo)
Locations:
- Staten Island, 1776
Synopsis for Vigilante: "The Days of '49"
The old western town of Nugget is the site of a historical pageant, sponsored by a local millionaire, Orval Prentice. Historical reenactments and other entertainments are provided, including the Prairie Troubador, Greg Sanders. Sparing no expense, the pageant's sponsor has arranged to transport genuine gold dust and money aboard the antique stagecoach and antique express train. A gang of villains shows up. "Slick" the gang leader has the train stopped, out in the desert, and his gang all gets aboard it. Slick's plan is to re-start the train then, while it's moving and he's aboard it, use dynamite to blow open the messenger car doors. But for safety, he stays on the car's roof and lowers down the dynamite to the doors, using string. Unexpectedly, this plan doesn't work out well. The Vigilante intercepts the ornate old-time train and leaps aboard it from his motorcycle. He scrambles and climbs his way into position to extinguish the bomb fuse, with a water pistol, then grapples with Slick, who falls off the train. Vig uses the old fashioned hand brakes to stop the train abruptly, in mid-robbery, and the seated passengers pounce on the tumbling robbers, and defeat them.
While all this is going on, Luke Martin, a young orphan from the East has come to Nugget in search of news of his long-absent father, who turns out to be alive after all, and is Orval Prentice, the pageant sponsor.
Appearing in Vigilante: "The Days of '49"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Slick, train robber
- his gang
Other Characters:
- Luke Martin, amnesiac tenderfoot
- Jeph, Conestoga wagoneer
- Bess, daughter
- Orval Prentice, pageant sponsor
- pageant drovers, riders, & actors
Locations:
- American Old West
- Nugget, historical town
Vehicles
- Martin's dilapidated jalopy
- train of Contestoga wagons
- stagecoach
- Kansas Pacific Railroad antique passenger train
- Vigilante's motorcycle
Notes
- Superman:
- Lois Lane faints, and isn't faking. She later gets kidnapped, or at least hostage-taken, twice.
- Lois has a roommate, Peggy Wilkins; they share an apartment in Metropolis.
- Superman makes a diamond from a lump of coal.
- Superman allows two enemy spies to escape, but is confident that they will be punished by their own rulers for failing to produce results.
- Tommy Tomorrow:
- Crisis on Infinite Earths: The Compendium lists this story as an appearance of Earth-54.
- The villain Iron Hand here is not the same Iron Hand who was a Seven Soldiers' villain.
- Stuff, the Chinatown Kid returns to the Vigilante feature, this issue, but drops out again next issue.
- Yankee Doodle Doughboy is reprinted in Tomahawk #56.
Trivia
- When Lois tries to guess Nikki LaRue's suitor, she guesses Van Ronson, James Bryant, or Schuyler Blake.
- Also appearing in this issue of Action Comics were:
- Nervous Norman by Phil Berube
- "You Don't Have To Wait 2 Months" (full page ad for the current issues of Star-Spangled Comics #103, Adventure Comics #151, and Detective Comics #158)
- "Design for Driving" (text article)
- Shorty by Henry Boltinoff
- "Superman's Code for Buddies" (Public Service Announcement) by Jack Schiff, Al Plastino, and Ira Schnapp
- "The Adventures of Bob Hope" (full page ad for the current issue of Adventures of Bob Hope #2)
See Also