Superman #53 for Sale - First Appearance of Frank Leahy - Where to Buy

Identification plate

Series: Superman (DC, 1939 series)
Issue: #53
Publication date: July-August 1948
Key date: 1948-07-00
On-sale date: 1948-05-03
Indicia publisher: National Comics Publications Inc.
Price: $0.10
Pages: 52

Match the book in your hand against this plate before paying an edition-specific price.

Why this issue matters

First appearance of Frank Leahy - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

The evidence

Claims here come from the story records for this issue, listed under Sources at the bottom of the file. Character hubs with full evidence tables are coming to this site.

Seq	Story	Type	Pages	Credits	Characters
0	The Origin of Superman	cover	1	pencils: Wayne Boring; inks: Stan Kaye	Clark Kent, Superman
1	Editorial Advisory Board	promo (ad from the publisher)	0.33	letters: typeset
2	An Open Letter to Superman Fans	text story	0.67	script: ? [as Lois Lane]; letters: typeset
3	The Origin of Superman!	comic story	10	script: Bill Finger; pencils: Wayne Boring; inks: Stan Kaye	Jor-El, Clark Kent, Jonathan Kent, Martha Kent, Lara, Lex Luthor, Superman
6	The Oracle from Metropolis!	comic story	10	script: Alvin Schwartz; pencils: Al Plastino; inks: Al Plastino	Clark Kent, Superman
9	-	comic story	2	script: Henry Boltinoff; pencils: Henry Boltinoff; inks: Henry Boltinoff; letters: Henry Boltinoff	Shorty
11	-	comic story	0.67	script: Lit-Win; pencils: Lit-Win; inks: Lit-Win	Daffy
12	Superman's Secret Message	in-house column	0.33	letters: typeset
13	The Tiniest Things in the World	text article	2	script: Joe Samachson
15	Mister Grumble	comic story	1	script: Phil Berube; pencils: Phil Berube; inks: Phil Berube	Mr. Grumble; Mrs. Grumble
17	A Job for Superhombre!	comic story	13	script: Don C. Cameron; pencils: Al Plastino; inks: Al Plastino	Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Superman, Perry White
18	-	comic story	0.5	script: Henry Boltinoff; pencils: Henry Boltinoff; inks: Henry Boltinoff	Homer

Plus 10.5 pages of advertisements and other matter across 11 sequences, as published.

Where to read it

Collection	Year
Superman from the Thirties to the Seventies #[nn]	1971	On eBay ›
The Best of DC #16	1981	On eBay ›
The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told #[nn] ISBN 0930289293	1988	On eBay ›
Three-Dimension Adventures Superman #[nn]	1953	On eBay ›
Superman in the Forties #[nn] ISBN 1401204570	2005	On eBay ›
The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told #[nn] ISBN 0930289-39-0	1989	On eBay ›

Reading the story costs a fraction of owning the issue. Both routes are on every file.

Before you buy

Golden-age paper is brittle. Ask about page suppleness and check edges for chips in the photos.
Check for trimmed edges, married covers, and clipped coupons - all common on books this old.
Confirm the indicia matches this plate; many golden-age titles changed names mid-run.

Series context

‹ #5253 of 423#54 ›

Sources

Grand Comics Database, issue record (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Found an error in this file? corrections@comicrecord.com