Comic Title: Superman #52
Publisher: DC (National Comics Publications, Inc.)
Address: 480 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY
Cover Date: May/Jun 1948
Approx. On Sale Date: March 3, 1948 Copyright Date March 1, 1948
Source: Library of Congress, Periodicals 1948
Until 1958 DC did not report actual on sale dates to the copyright office
The publication dates listed in LoC records are NOT release dates.

Frequency: Bi-monthly
Cover Price: $0.10
Page Count: 48
Editor: Mort Weisinger

Title: "Preview of Plunder"
Pages: 12

Feature(s):
Superman (of Earth-2)

Writer: Alvin Schwartz
Penciller: J. Winslow Mortimer
Inker: Stan Kaye

Reprinted In:
Superman:The Golden Age Omnibus Vol. 6 HC (2019)

Feature Character(s)

• Superman (last appearance in Action Comics #119; next appearance in Superman #52)

Villain(s)

• Prankster (last appearance in Superman #50; next appearance in Superman #55)
• Marble (the Prankster's assistant; no further appearances)

Other Character(s)

• The Metropolis police commissioner (no further appearances)
• Captain Jones (a police officer; no further appearances)
• A jewelry store manager and bank manager (no further appearances)

Synopsis:
The Prankster concocts a new plan to use Superman to help him commit robberies. He plants a statue outside a jewelry store and boasts that Superman will help him rob their vault. Superman examines the statue with his x-ray vision and finds pineapple, a record, and a necktie inside. He is unable to determine what significance the items have. A short time later, the jewelry store vault is robbed.

Another statue is placed in front of a bank. This statue contains a toy bear, a book, and a fish. Still, Superman has no clue about the meaning of such items. Later still, the Prankster robs the bank vault. This time Superman sees a truck which was also near the jewelry store.

The Man of Steel eventually realizes that Prankster's gimmick and sets a trap for the crook when he strikes again. Superman leads the Prankster to the nearby stadium where the villain is publicly arrested. Superman then tells police how the Prankster was using Superman's x-ray vision to get the vault combinations by parking the truck containing photographic plates behind the buildings. The x-ray's went through the statue, through the vaults, then left the images of the combinations on the plates.