Monday PSA: Superman in “The World is Our Schoolroom!”
Filed under: Comics
Another public service ad featuring an eavesdropping and overly righteous Superman. This time it’s nice to see that it’s not just schoolchildren that Superman flies around the world at the drop of a hat. For once it’s two old bench warmers — apparently Harry Truman and Red Skelton — that Superman takes along for the ride.
Superman has x-ray vision, so he can easily what the kids are studying in the fourth and fifth panels. But what about Harry and Red — how are they seeing in those rooms? Is Superman just describing what he sees (in which case, why bring the two of them along), or is he somehow showing them what’s occurring? I can just picture Superman and the two old guys furtively peeking in the window like a trio of peeping toms.
For once, it’s not an “America alone will save the world” theme, though all but one of the panels do seem to imply that interpretation.
“Durned” — I think that’s the harshest word I’ve seen in any of these Public Service Ads.
I wonder if people intentionally say stupid things around Superman so he’ll give them a free trip around the world.
I think one of the old guys is Mr. Stanton who Superman schooled in the classic PSA “Hop on the Welfare Wagon.”
This PSA appeared in various DC comics from November 1951. This particular copy was scanned in from Adventure Comics #170. The script is by Jack Schiff with art by Win Mortimer.
More PSAs
April 12th, 2010 at 1:40 am
Halfway arounfd the world, the old man realises that he left his heart pills on that park bench.
April 12th, 2010 at 8:59 am
Gosh, things were simpler then. My first thought, upon reading this (and I’m not kidding) is “What is Supes’ liability if one of these oldsters expires while being hauled willy-nilly around the country?” You’ve got two senior citizens, at least one of whom is a smoker, being hoisted by a steel-hard arm around the waist, and rocketed at high speeds over large distances. What could possibly go wrong?
April 12th, 2010 at 10:45 am
Say what you want about these PSAs, but they are better both, in art and content, better than the Hostess Snacks ads from Marvel in the 70s.
April 12th, 2010 at 12:19 pm
“These students have something to GIVE, too. They’re in your own backyard.”
Of course, all foreign exchange students provide lawn care for real Americans.
I kid, Supes, I kid.
April 12th, 2010 at 6:26 pm
As you say, there’s a lot of “America will save the world” in this PSA. The original message almost gets lots.
BTW “… will help make Switzerland industry better”. Someone should teach Superman grammar.
April 14th, 2010 at 3:15 pm
What, so you’ve NEVER used ‘industry’ as a verb?
“Hey, kids, industry harder! School goes back in two days!”
April 14th, 2010 at 4:52 pm
“And here’s a group of Muslim extremist learning to pilot airplanes at an American flight school…”
Hey, Supes — not everyone gets a better understand of the USA.
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