I dropped off my tax papers at the accountant last night, which got me thinking
Remember the story “Superman Owes a Billion Dollars!” in Superman 148 (Oct 1961)? (Not to be confused with “Supermans Billion-Dollar Debt!”from 1957s Superman 114.) In it, Rupert Brand, an IRS auditor with too much time on his hands, decides that Superman owes the aforementioned amount.
Theres so much wrong with this, I dont know where to begin:
How is Brand empowered to do make this decision unilaterally?
Brand gives Superman 24 hours to pay his debt. Even loan sharks give you more time than that! And what, no payment plan?
Doesnt Brand know that Superman has a secret identity? How does he know that Supermans alter ego didnt pay the appropriate taxes? Or did Brand also go around harassing Pee Wee Herman, Dame Edna and Bozo, regardless of whether Paul Rubens, Barry Humphries and Larry Harmon filed taxes?
How can Brand calculate Supermans debt? Its not as if there was any investigation! Even if Brand could accurately calculate the value of coal squeezed into diamonds, sunken treasures recovered, and the like, how does he know what Supermans expenses and deductions might be? (I can answer this one: He doesn’t care!)
SPOILER ALERT
Brand is ultimately put in his place by his supervisor, who says:
Superman has for years supported billions of needy people with clothing, housing, food and protective service! Indeed, the whole world is dependent on him! According to law, every tax-payer is allowed to deduct $600 for each dependent! Well, Superman has over two billion dependents!
The solution is as shaky as the problem. At best, I would think that Superman might qualify to register as a 501(c)(3) non-profit. Has the supervisor ever actually read the IRS definition of a dependent? (And if he’s right, shouldnt Superman have one heck of a refund coming?*)
Finally, cant you see all the police and firemen using this precedent to deduct everyone they protected or saved during the year?
I wonder if the writer or editor of this story ever filed taxes. Thats not an accusation, they just seem to be REALLY unfamiliar with the process!
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*No, Superman does NOT have a refund coming. First off, he didn’t file. Second, this is one of those “Subtract line two from line one, if line two is bigger, enter zero” situations. At best, Clark breaks even.
The Magazine
WereThose 1957 and 1961 stories the same script,Made And Re-made?
Essentially the same. I know the earlier story had a different resolution, but I can’t recall what it was. (Anyone? Craig?)
Thank you!;-)
As you guys no doubt remember, I used these stories as examples in the article on Twice Told Tales in my legendary book, Baby Boomer Comics, now available at fine flea markets everywhere. They were two of dozens of stories that Mort Weisinger had rewritten and redrawn back in the Silver Age, sometimes making big changes, sometimes making minor tweaksand sometimes even exactly copying the original panel layouts.
Supermans Billion-Dollar Debt in Superman #114 (Jul 57) fell into the category of being a rewrite of a basic plot, in which the story was essentially the same but was retold with some minor updates, mostly to supporting characters or with a few new replacement scenes.
In both #114 and #148, an IRS man wanted Superman to pay back taxes. In #148, the ways Supes tried to make money involved some of his expanding cast of characters, including Bizarro, Aquaman and Lori Lemaris. But then the resolution in both was identical, with the guy’s boss coming in to explain why Superman’s “dependents” wiped out his debt.
As you noted, Jack, the IRS boss wipes out the debt by saying that Superman had supported billions of people with clothing, housing, food, and protective services, which goes beyond what police and firemen do. It may overstate how much support Supes actually gives to those billions on a regular basis, but you know the IRS’s motto: Close Enough for Government Work.
— Craig Shutt
heh heh heh, yep, i remember that classic tale, reprinted in one of the 100 page giants in the mid 70s. my favorite part is when the giant space-pterosaur eats all of superman’s collected swag that he’s stashed on a tropical deserted island….or when he enlists aquaman to find him the world’s biggest oyster so’s he can get a mammoth pearl out of it.