The Emperor of America

I recently decided to reread my entire comic book collection, and this splash page from Action Comics #52 (September, 1942) caught my attention for reasons that should be obvious. In the story, the soi-disant emperor is a mad scientist who has invented a machine that broadcasts rays which nullifies resistance, so people will agree with anything anyone tells them to do, regardless of how ridiculous. Naturally Superman is immune, and early in the story utters the soliloquy, “What’s happened to everyone? Have they gone insane?” before flying to Washington to defeat the villain in his usual style. But in the course of the story, the madman takes actions which may seem familiar 84 years later: pillaging the treasury, replacing the cabinet and Supreme Court with his hoodlum henchmen, etc. Truth is indeed stranger than fiction.