Comic Title: Action Comics #8
Publisher: DC (Detective Comics, Inc.)
Address: 480 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY
Cover Date: January 1939
Approx. On Sale Date: December 6, 1938 Copyright Date November 25, 1938
Source: Library of Congress, Periodicals 1939
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: Monthly
Cover Price: $0.10
Page Count: 64
Contains: Ownership Statement
Editor: Vincent A. Sullivan

Title: (Superman in the Slums)
Pages: 13

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

Writer: Jerry Siegel
Artist: Joe Shuster

Reprinted In:
Superman:The Action Comics Archives Vol. 1 HC (1998)
Superman Chronicles Vol. 1 TPB (2006)
Superman:The Golden Age Omnibus Vol. 1 HC (2013)
Superman:The Golden Age Vol. 1 TPB (2016)

Feature Character(s)

• Superman (last appearance in Action Comics #7; next appearance in Action Comics #9)

Villain(s)

• Gimpy (a fence; no further appearances)
• Frankie Marello and his gang (juvenile delinquents; no further appearances)

Other Character(s)

• Mrs. Marello, several police officers, National guardsmen, and a judge (no further appearances)
• Police Chief Burke (next appearance in Action Comics #9)

Comments:
Superman is shown with super-hearing (described as sensitive ears) for the first time in this story.

This story continues in part in the first story of Action Comics #9.

This story originally was not titled; the title shown here was given on the contents page of Action Comics Archives Vol. 1 in which this story is reprinted.

Synopsis:
Superman encounters a gang of juvenile delinquents and follows them to their fence, Gimpy. Gimpy is pressured for money by the boys, so he sends them on criminal jobs to earn the money, then he rats them out to the police. Superman confronts Gimpy and warns him to leave town.

Superman then prevents the boys from completing their robberies, but he also prevents them from being arrested. The boys don’t listen to him even after Gimpy tries to shoot them. Superman carries them around the city in an attempt to scare them into going straight. The boys become enchanted with Superman and agree to turn themselves around.

Realizing that the boys’ trouble is just a symptom of their environment, Superman decides to make changes. Inspired by stories of a cyclone in Florida, Superman begins tearing up the slum tenement buildings. The National Guard is called in to stop him, but their bombs only further serve the destruction of the area. With the buildings destroyed, the government erects new low-cost apartment buildings for the citizens. While Superman becomes publicly a wanted man, he is secretly held in high regard by the chief of police.