Comic Title: Action Comics #132
Publisher: DC (National Comics Publications, Inc.)
Address: 480 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY
Cover Date: May 1949
Approx. On Sale Date: March 16, 1949 Copyright Date March 14, 1949
Source: Library of Congress, Periodicals 1949
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.

Newsstand Date March 23, 1949
Source: Newsdealer Magazine, V4 #1

Frequency: Monthly
Cover Price: $0.10
Page Count: 48
Editor: Mort Weisinger

Title: "The Secret of the Kents"
Pages: 12

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

Writer: Bill Finger
Penciller: Wayne Boring
Inker: Stan Kaye

Reprinted In:
Superman:The Golden Age Omnibus Vol. 7 HC (2023)

Feature Character(s)

• Superman (last appearance in Superman #58; next appearance in World's Finest Comics #40)

Supporting Character(s)

• Silas Kent (Clark's foster father; in 1878; see comment below; earliest chronological appearance; next appearance in Superman #1)

Villain(s)

• Hubert (Titus Kent's servant; no further appearances)

Guest Appearance(s)

• P.T. Barnum (in 1878; no further appearances)
• George Washington (in 1779; no further appearances)

Other Character(s)

• Arthur Kent (a broker; Clark's cousin; dies in this story; no further appearances)
• Carol Kent, Digger Kent, Louis Pasteur Kent, and Titus Kent (an actress, a prospector, a doctor, and a recluse; Clark's cousins; no further appearances)
• A copy boy (no further appearances)
• Hiram Kent (an inventor and Clark's grandfather; in 1878; no further appearances)
• Joshua Kent (a barge owner from 1824; no further appearances)
• Ely Kent (a blacksmith from 1779; no further appearances)

Comments:
This story shows Superman going back in time to visit the Kent family in the past. He meets his foster father as a boy. The boy's first name is given as Silas rather than John which was first established in Superman #53. This contradiction is not explained. Silas may have changed his name to John, or Silas may be his middle name.

Synopsis:
Superman stops a runaway car. The driver Arthur Kent is Clark's cousin who has been murdered. A short time later, Superman prevents the murder of actress Carol Kent, and Clark Kent is the target of a sniper. Superman finds evidence of a Kent feud with the Dorgan family. To protect the remaining relatives, Superman gathers up the Kent cousins to protect them. He then travels back in time to discover the reasons behind the feud.

Superman meets his grandfather Hiram Kent in 1878. Hiram is an inventor, but Superman discovers that his inventions are worthless. Superman then goes to 1824 to meet Joshua Kent whose diary mentions treasure. Superman learns the treasure is an aluminum bar, valuable in the nineteenth century, but not in the twentieth. Superman's last stop is in 1779. He helps blacksmith Ely Kent fulfill an order to supply the Continental Army. George Washington pays the order with a promissory note which Ely hides in a rifle barrel.

Superman returns to the present and meets with his relatives. He then exposes Titus Kent's servant Hubert as the man behind the attacks. Hubert found the note and planned to kill the Kents using the feud as a cover. He wanted to redeem the note for a fortune. Clark now inherits the note, but he decides to give it back to the government as payment for being allowed to live in a great country.