Who Took the Super Out of Superman?
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When Clark pushes Steve Lombard out of the way of an oncoming car, he takes the brunt of the hit. Waking up in the hospital, Kent realizes that he has lost his powers. Yet when he puts on his super-suit--that he compressed into a small ball and stowed away inside his mouth--he regains all his powers.
It's a complicated scheme hatched by Xviar's superiors on Homeworld for their own reasons.
And, at the same, Inter-Gang also has Superman in their sites--as well as Clark Kent, whose investigations have the gang boss up on charges.
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Clark Kent Forever--Superman Never
Because of his power conundrum, the Last Son of Krypton decides to try being only Clark for one week. Meanwhile, Xviar continues to follow orders from Homeworld.
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In Superman's absence, the people of Kandor worry why Kal-El isn't in action. And Gregory Reed poses as the Man of Steel to keep the peace. However, during this down time, Clark displays a new strength of character which kindles a romance with Lois Lane.
Lois comes over to Clark's to cook him dinner and the two become intimate.
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Clark Kent, Get Out of My Life
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All of the splash pages for this four issue arc display a distinct pride in the material being offered. During this era, when National Periodical Publications believed that something was really good, they made sure to say so. As well, both Cary Bates and Elliot Maggin considered Superman the greatest and they didn't feel awkward about stating that fact.
After his week as Clark, the Metropolis Marvel takes another week to see what life is like being Superman all the time. Meanwhile Lois worries when Kent has gone missing.
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And the Red and Blue Blur runs into a would-be super-human, calling himself Solarman, who has made himself a costume of solar energy transformers that gives him powers almost equal to those of the Action Ace.
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The Double--or--Nothing Life of Superman
Before battling Amalak and Brainiac, Clark must give testimony in court against Inter-Gang--and he wears a suit borrowed from his wardrobe at Galaxy Broadcasting. Wearing that suit, he still has his powers--his other clothes in apartment 3-D had been treated by Mr. X to remove his powers.
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Once Amalak and Brainiac are deposited in space prison, the Man of Tomorrow is compelled to find his last foe, his boyhood enemy the Kryptonite Kid now called the Kryptonite Man. The Action Ace is able to defeat the lethal rogue because he's worn his super-suit over his de-powering Clark Kent clothes. When he has no powers, Kryptonite has no effect on him. And having no powers, the fight does not cause a build up of energy to the critical level.
Bates has swiped from himself--the Red and Blue Blur used a similar ploy in "The Forbidden Costume," ACTION COMICS 384 (January 1970).
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When the World's Greatest Super-Hero transported Brainiac and Amalak to space prison, Xviar had actually taken Amalak's place as a ruse to escape capture, but Superman figures out the switch.