Action Comics (1938) 81

Happy New Year.

The Ball has dropped and it’s time to face another 365 days. At this point, no one knows what 2022 will offer.

To kick off the new year, we pull from the past and offer Superman in Action Comics issue 81. Like many of the covers of the Golden Age, the only suggestion of the passage one year to the next is the cover.

Action Comics (1938) 81

Headliner Superman stars in Fairyland Isle. Featured are Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen against the one-and-done villain Fancy Dan, not to be mistaken for Spider-Man’s Silver-Age nemesis.

The story is reprinted in Superman: The Action Comics Archives Vol. 5.

Congo Bill is the main character of the alliterative second feature, Nemesis of the Northland.

The Chinatown Kid, Magician showcases the Vigilante with Zatara bringing up the rear in Sea-Going Sparklers.

Sharing the cover with the Man of Steel are Father Time and Baby New Year.

Father Time’s origins hail from the Greek’s association of time, or chronos, with Cronos the god of agriculture, hence the scythe. The Romans saw Cronos as a personification of Saturn, who also carried a sickle, and as an old man. Wings and an hourglass were added later, a reminder of Death or the Grim Reaper.

Editorial cartoons would later depict Father Time as the representation of the previous year. He would be seen passing the crown to Baby New Year signifying the dawning of a new era or year.

Baby New Year is believed to be the resurrection of Father Time who grows old during the year to become the phoenix-like, aged representation of year’s end. The fresh year is presented in diaper, top hat and sash bearing the year that he represents. Though named Baby New Year, he is often represented as a toddler.

The moniker was often bestowed upon the first born of a village, town or city each year. The tradition has been dropped due to concerns the infant could be targeted by criminals.

No matter how it is celebrated, happy New Year from Jeff and I and Four-Color Holidays. May your 2022 be lived to the fullest.