Action Comics #70 is an issue of the series Action Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of March, 1944.
Synopsis for Superman: "Superman Takes a Holiday"
A bank robbery led by the Thinker , a gang boss well known in the underworld, attracts the attention of Superman. Superman attempts to stop the Thinker from getting away, but the Thinker presses a handheld switch that sends a signal to a floating balloon with a basket. The bottom of the basket drops out and Lois Lane falls through, plummeting towards the ground. Superman is forced to give up the chase to fly up and catch her. Having failed once again to catch The Thinker due to his getaway schemes, Superman announces that he is going to take a break from super-heroics. He tells Lois that he'll leave Clark Kent in charge of the crime wave for now, which she can hardly believe.
Soon, all the newspapers are talking about the Man of Steels vacation. Two reporters are even sent to his cabin in the mountains near Metropolis to watch his every move, in case it's a jest. But they aren't able to see him move with superspeed, placing a lookalike dummy in his hammock so he can take on his Clark Kent role.
With Superman away, The Thinker sends his men to set fire to an art museum, and then pose as security guards to go in and steal the paintings. This way it'll look to anyone like they're just trying to save the paintings from the fire. Lois is on site when Clark appears. She tells him now's his chance to take over for Superman. Clark borrows a fireman's ax and ladder, climbing to the roof of a next door warehouse where there was a water tank. With the ax, Clark broke through the tank so that the water would spill out over the fire. He then notices the fake security guards slipping away with the paintings, so Clark pretends to fall off the ladder and get catapulted to the ground by a nearby tree branch. He lands in front of the thieves, taking them down with the blunt handle of the ax. The Thinker gets away again however, feeling humiliated that a simple reporter could stop his heist.
Back at the Daily Planet, Lois receives a call with a message for Clark. The Thinker wants to meet him, claiming it's for an interview. Worried it might be a trap, Lois visits Superman at his mountain cabin for help. But Superman tells her that he's sure Clark can handle things on his own. Again using superspeed, and with the added help of ventriloquism, Superman switches himself out with a dummy and dresses up in his Clark Kent suit. As Clark steps up behind Lois, "Superman" tells her that Mr. Kent had been visiting him a lot too. Undeterred, Lois insists on at least going with Clark to the Thinkers hideout as she drives him to the meeting point on the wharf. Some of the Thinkers henchmen await them in a small motor boat. Clark and Lois sit in the boat as it enters a cave on a lonely point of land. The men pull out their guns then, and herd the two reporters up some steps and throug a door, where the Thinker awaits! There would be no interview, instead the Thinker wanted to kill Clark. And since Lois came along, she would have to die, too. They are led away to an area of the cavern that overlooks the water. Clark knocks out his captor, but the other man pushes Lois into the water before he can stop it. Clark dives in and rescues Lois, breaking her bonds without her seeing and chalking it up to old rusted chains. When they return to Thinkers office, he at first mistakes Clark for his own henchman, but once he turns around, Clark delivers a right hook. The Thinker falls back into a statue of "The Thinker", knocking him out. The police soon arrive to arrest the gang.
The next day, Lois tells Clark that Superman told her he used the power of suggestion to make Clark believe he was braver than he actually is. Clark waves the idea off until a mugger, who was actually hired by Clark to pull a ruse on Lois, threatens the mild mannered reporter into giving him a dollar. Lois concludes that Clark is back to his old cowardly self, and things return to normal.
Appearing in Superman: "Superman Takes a Holiday"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- The Thinker (Single appearance)
- Joe (Thinker's Henchman) (Single appearance)
- Pete (Thinker's Henchman) (Single appearance)
- Big Ears (Thinker's Henchman) (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Tiger Toohey (a bootblack) (Single appearance)
Locations:
Synopsis for Vigilante: "A Challenge from the Pyramids"
Appearing in Vigilante: "A Challenge from the Pyramids"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Dr. Sanderson (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- John Elder (Single appearance)
- Lee Chin (Single appearance)
Locations:
Items:
- Vigilante's Lasso
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Congo Bill: "The Forest Primeval"
Appearing in Congo Bill: "The Forest Primeval"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
- Chief Nogli (Single appearance)
- Rabu (medicine man) (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Moro (Single appearance)
- Lulan (Single appearance)
Locations:
Synopsis for Americommando: "Words are Weapons"
Appearing in Americommando: "Words are Weapons"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
- Japanese Military
- Colonel Hakita (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Unnamed Elder (Single appearance)
- Ling Fo (Single appearance; dies)
Locations:
Vehicles:
- Japanese Plane
Synopsis for Zatara: "Clouds of Crime"
Appearing in Zatara: "Clouds of Crime"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
- Professor Arla (Single appearance)
- Lefty (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Jim Brady (Single appearance)
Locations:
Notes
- Published by Detective Comics, Inc.
- Superman Takes a Holiday is reprinted in Superman: The Action Comics Archives Vol. 5.
- Also appearing in this issue of Action Comics was:
- Vitamin Vic: "A High Velocity Yarn" by Jack Farr
See Also