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  1. #466
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    Default Supergirl in the 21st Century

    In ACTION COMICS 287, Supergirl travels to the "21st century" to visit the Legion, where she encounters the Positive Man and the Negative Creature, then tangles with the Chameleon Men and is assisted by "Whizzy, descendant of famed Supercat Streaky."



    Note: When the two Red-Caped Companions are consigned to the Phantom Zone by the Chameleon Cohorts, Supergirl observes that the Phantom Zone is empty--all the previous occupants having already won their freedom. But Mon-El should still be there--retroactively in continuity he must be. On the other hand, this story happened in the 21st century, so it might have been in an alternate timeline.

    While Streaky is acknowledged as a famed Supercat in the future, once Linda's cat moves into the Danvers home and away from the X-Kryptonite at Midvale Orphange, he sees a lot less action in the Supergirl feature; nevertheless, as a member of the legendary Legion of Super-Pets, the Feisty Feline continues to appear in lots of other adventures. There must be some extra X-Kryptonite around for Streaky to power-up; I would guess Krypto and Comet know how to hook him up to get his fix of the junk. Metafeline genetics being what they are, Streaky must have passed on his powers to future litters.

  2. #467
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    Default The Superwoman of Staryl (revisited)

    ACTION COMICS 289 introduces another "Superwoman" and another double for Supergirl, Luma Lynai, the Superwoman of Staryl, already covered in post #8.







    Under an orange sun, both Superman and Superwoman have their powers, but under a yellow sun she will die. And so the two lovers must part. While the romance between Clark and Luma Lynai is brief, it is not soon forgotten.

    Note: The Man of Tomorrow doesn't know that Imra Ardeen is married to Garth Ranzz in this adventure--even though he should know since he was at the wedding as the Teen of Steel, along with Paul Levitz and Mike Grell--in "The Millennium Massacre," ALL NEW COLLECTORS' EDITION C-55 (1978). But this is easily explained, as Saturn Girl/Saturn Woman routinely gave him a mental block against remembering certain details of the future.

  3. #468
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    Default Blinded by the Light

    In his travels through space, the Caped Kryptonian arrives on a planet with a yellow sun where the people are all blind. They were blinded by the fallout from a bomb released by the power-mad Drago. The identical twin of Drago, Aton, has been working tirelessly to find an antidote, despite his blindness.

    The Big Red 'S' promises to get the antidote at Drago's citadel but, when he flies there, the mad dictator uses a giant blue filter on a space station to turn the sun from yellow to green. This robs Superman of his powers. Yet he still is determined to help the sightless, encouraged by thoughts of fellow Justice Leaguers that get by without powers.

    He comes upon a work camp, where the blind are being overseen by soldiers flying on robot sky-craft that look like giant insects.





    The soldiers capture the Action Ace and bring him to Drago, who blinds the Kryptonian with a gas. And Kal-El is put to work with the other sightless slaves.

    Nevertheless, the Strange Visitor from another planet is able to commandeer one of the insect robots. Wearing a soldier's helmet, he connects to the ocular machinery of the sky craft and sees through its eyes.



    Kal-El destroys the space station and, now again under a yellow sun, Superman regains his powers.

    In the end it turns out that Aton was actually Drago. The real Aton died and Drago assumed his identity, playing both sides. Drago vainly aspired to have his face sculpted onto the planet. However, the beautiful Pera touches the face of their Super-Saviour and memorizes his features. Months later, when the Man of Tomorrow passes that way again, he sees the planet has the contours of his face.

    Note: It seems arbitrary that a green sun would have the same effect as a red one and take all the powers away. Oddly, this story predates "Superman Under a Red Sun"--ACTION COMICS 300 (May 1963)--by some months. You would think it would be the other way around.

  4. #469
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    Default The Murder of Autom 4306

    Luthor himself runs afoul of more robots in ACTION COMICS 292, when he escapes from prison, while Superman and Supergirl are away on a time travelling mission in the past.

    Lex flees the Earth inside a colossal statue which actually functions as a rocket. Superman robot X63 pursues the fugitive, but inside the rocket-statue, the criminal scientist uses a Vibro-Ray to reduce the robot to a pile of junk.

    The radium drive on this rocket allows Lex to leave the galaxy and reach the planet Roxar, where robots called Automs are the highest life form. The Automs were built by an ancient civilization on a dying planet and sent to find a new home for their creators, but by the time the Automs found Roxar, their masters were dead.

    Luthor shoots Autom No. 4306 with the Vibro gun, killing the poor devil. Big, blue androids take the Earthling into custody for murder. Androids are considered of lower intelligence and kept as slaves on Roxar. Rebellious slaves are put in deep freeze. Lex will be put on ice like them, if he's found guilty.





    The Man of Steel shows up, having tracked Luthor to Roxar, but now must defend his arch enemy against the murder charge. First the Man of Tomorrow has to prove himself the equal of the Automs and when he does, he dupes the court into believing Autom No. 4306 actually survived. In reality, the Action Ace has cannibalized the parts of Superman robot X63 and the shell of Autom 4306, to produce a substitute for the dead Autom. The robot X63 willingly agrees to live out this imitation of life on Roxar, for the sake of his master.



    When the Caped Kryptonian prepares to take Lex back to Earth, the crafty crook argues that beyond the Sol system Superman has no jurisdiction.

  5. #470
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    Default Staryl On My Mind

    The Superwoman of Staryl is still on the Man of Steel's mind, when he faces his "Day of Doom."

    It's Superman Day in Metropolis and everyone is preparing to honour "the Champion of Justice...From the far corners of the universe spaceships and rockets are bringing gifts from Superman's devoted friends."

    At the Daily Planet, a navy officer brings an important package for the Metropolis Marvel. Clark Kent receives it, as he knows how to reach the Caped Kryptonian.

    It's a gift from the Cybern galaxy, in gratitude for helping them defeat an invasion of giant insects. According to the letter that came along with the package, it's a predicting machine that can answer three questions about the future. Lois, Lana and Jimmy are skeptical.



    Instead of saving the Predictor for its recipient, the Planet staff use up all three predictions.

    Lois asks what is the name of the person who will marry Superman and the Predictor screen reads out "L . . . L . . ." Which could mean Lois Lane, Lana Lang, Lori Lemaris, Linda Lee . . . or anyone else with those initials.

    Perry White sticks his head in the door to tell Olsen that he has two out-of-town assignments for him. Jim asks the Predictor which cities he's bound for and the Predictor again displays "L . . . L . . ." Jimmy is not impressed, but Clark knows that Perry is sending the cub reporter to Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

    After White receives a death-threat against Clark Kent from the underworld, Kent tries to ease the editor's fears by asking the Predictor, "Assuming I'm in danger today, who will save me?" Expecting it to answer, "Superman," Clark is surprised the Predictor reads out "L . . . L . . ." again.

    Later on, as Superman, he stops off in a park where Little League players have dropped their baseball equipment. As he stoops to pick up the balls, bats and gloves, Bizarro Superman No. 1 arrives with his own present for the Action Ace--a lead box containing green Kryptonite. Then, wishing his counterpart an "Unhappy Superman Day," Bizarro splits the scene.

    On the ground in pain, Clark hopes that the Predictor was right, thinking of those with the L. L. initials--Lori Lemaris, Lana Lang, Luma Lynai, Lex Luthor, Linda Lee, Lightning Lad. With his telescopic vision he scans the Superman Day Parade, but none are coming to his rescue.



    Then he spies Supergirl burrowing through the Earth and he trusts that she is coming to save him. Instead, she is bringing a diamond statue of her cousin to the Superman Day reviewing stand.

    As he lies dying, Superman despairs that not even Lex Luthor or Luma Lynai can save him. Luthor is still a prisoner on the robot world and Luma has no powers under a yellow sun.

    Just then, some young ball players return to the park, now that the parade is over. One boy, Steven Snappin, picks up the Kryptonite and puts it back in the lead box, saving the life of the Big Red 'S.'



    As the boy turns his back to him, Superman observes on the back of Steven's uniform "LITTLE LEAGUE"--that's the L. L. that saved him!

    That night, at the stadium rally for the World's Greatest Super-Hero, Steven and his fellow ball players are the guests of honour.

    Note: Luma Lynai is referenced in "The Three Super-Sirens," SUPERMAN'S GIRL FRIEND, LOIS LANE 97 (November 1969) [see post #178]; THE KINGDOM: PLANET KRYPTON (February 1999); THE GREEN LANTERN 9 (September 2019); and others.

  6. #471
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    Default The Sacrifice of Autom 4306

    As confirmed in "Superman's Day Of Doom," Luthor is still a prisoner of Roxar, working at a menial job for his robot masters.



    However, the Automs are deathly afraid of insects called Dynos that feed on the metallic structure of Automs. Luthor concocts a repeller ray to ward off the Dynos. In recognition of his service, the Automs declare Luthor an honourary robot and give him his own laboratory.

    Luthor frees a few of the android slaves and transforms them into his unique servants--Diamond Man, Lead Man and Kryptonite Man.

    They loot the radium reserves on Roxar and build a rocketship to carry out piracy across the galaxies.



    After reports of Luthor's criminality reach Superman on Earth, the Champion of the Oppressed tracks down his arch enemy, but cannot stand up to the Kryptonite Man. Seeing his old master in mortal peril, the former X63 now 4306 tries to save Superman but is melted by Luthor's heat gun.



    Next, Lead Man can take no more of his creator's villainy and throws himself in the way of the Kryptonite Man. He too is melted by the heat gun, but his melting form covers the Kryptonite Man, saving the Man of Steel.

  7. #472
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    Default The Robot Mutiny



    From the bizarre mind of Jerry Siegel comes one of the weirdest Superman stories, in the 299th issue of ACTION COMICS, almost twenty-five years after Siegel's first story of the Man of Tomorrow.

    Presented as "An Untold Tale" which took place many years ago, "The Story of Superman's Experimental Robots" begins as the Action Ace inspects "Robot LL-35", a gift from the planet Jax. This Superman robot has a super-computer and miniature lab built into his chest. He calculates that it would be best to construct two new Superman robots--WK-10, which has another face on the back of his head with Kryptonite vision, and M-26 which has four tentacles instead of arms.

    LL-35 computes that the planet Tharrl would be the best place to test these robots. On the planet they find it populated by primitive cavemen, as well as an odd tower with two clocks. At different times, this tower produces weird phenomenon, which seem to be for the benefit of the cave people.

    Tharrl comes under attack from a trio of alien saucer ships, which the robot Supermen fend off. However, the force field from the saucer ships has undermined the programming of the robots, making them all turn on the Caped Kryptonian. M-26 uses his tentacles to place Kryptonite meteors in orbit around Tharrl, so that Superman can never escape.



    In the end, the Man of Tomorrow flees by travelling back through time; 20,000 years in the past, he observes Atlantides (people from the lost continent of Atlantis), who came to Tharrl and set up the clock, which affords protection to the cave people. The Metropolis Marvel is then able to fly away from Tharrl and return to his own time.


  8. #473
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    Default What if Lois was Super-Maid?

    SUPERMAN 159 (February 1963)--"Lois Lane, the Super-Maid of Krypton" by Hamilton, Swan and Klein:



    In an imaginary story, Lois Lane is the lone survivor of the planet Earth, when it is destroyed by the Sun going nova. Her parents, who lived in the Mid-West as farmers but in fact the father was a scientist, sent their baby daughter in a rocketship just before the whole world was blowed up. And the girl arrived on Krypton. The Power-Ray which launched the space ship also gave Lois super-powers.

    As the baby Lois lands in a wild jungle on Krypton, she is found by a kindly couple, Khal Kan and Maural. They're zoologists from Kryptonville. They raise the girl as their own, calling her Kandi Kan. In Kryptonville, their neigbours are Jor-El and Lara, with their son Kal-El, as well as another boy named Len Landor.



    Kandi Kan wears glasses, like her parents, and hides her super-powers. But by the time she's a teen-ager, she assumes the other identity of Super-Maid. On Krypton, Super-Maid is vulnerable to Earthite--meteors from the destroyed Earth. When she grows up, Kandi goes off to the big city of Kryptonopolis, where she becomes a nurse, in the same hospital where Kal-El is a doctor. Their friend Len is an astronaut.



    Note: Earthite being dangerous to Lois Lane is a reverse example of the Delphinian theory of reverse effect:

    In THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, season 2, episode 6, "The Defeat of Superman" (air date: 24th October, 1953), Meldini (played by Maurice Cass) explains why Kryptonite is harmful to the Man of Steel and not to anyone else: "The Delphinian theory of reverse effect. Materials which would be harmless to him in their own environment, when they are transposed to Earth, they--they have the reverse. The dangerous effect on him."

  9. #474
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    Default And what if Luthor was a woman?

    At the hospital, there is another doctor named Lu Thoria. She secretly plots against Super-Maid and wants Kal-El to join her in her efforts to destroy the Woman of Steel and gain power over all of Krypton.



    However, Lu is only evil because of damage to her brain from radiation. Jor-El is able to reverse the damage and Lu Thoria returns to being a useful citizen.



    Note: In the end the powers of Super-Maid are transferred to Kal-El, while Kandi Kan (a.k.a. Lois Lane) loses her powers, so that the status quo in the regular Earth-based stories becomes the status quo on Krypton--the patriarchy is restored. Even in an imaginary story, they couldn't leave well enough alone and let Lois have the upper hand.

  10. #475
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    Default The War Chest

    ADVENTURE COMICS 283 (April 1961)--1st story, "The Phantom Superboy" by Robert Bernstein and George Papp; r. SUPERBOY 165 [G-71] (May-June 1970):



    The first story of the Phantom Zone begins on an expedition in the New Mexico desert, as Professor Lewis Lang witnesses a massive box fall through the sky to the yellow sands below. Lang brings the lead-lined crate back home to Smallville, where the Boy of Steel confirms that the inscription on the outside of the box is in Kryptonese.

    Slicing the chest open, the Last Son of Krypton finds a Kryptonian armoury inside--an assortment of advanced weaponry. A scroll indicates that the scientists on Superboy's birth planet decided these were too dangerous and launched them into space. The message is signed by Jor-El.



    One of the objects contained therein is a Phantom Zone projector. The stories of Dr. Xadu and General Zod are first given here. However, in this version, Jor-El had nothing to do with the Phantom Zone and seems to have been against its use.

    After getting trapped inside the Zone, Clark manages to contact Jonathan psychically via electronic typewriter. Once free from the Zone, the Kid from Krypton repacks and reseals the chest with all its weapons and drops it into the ocean.


  11. #476
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    Default "Red Letter Days"

    Note: This was one of the "Red Letter Days" reprinted in the Giant SUPERBOY 165 [G-71] (May-June 1970); cover art by Swan and Anderson.



    That issue had two pages of text: "Superboy's Time Trips" [reprinted from SUPERBOY 129 [G-22] (May 1966)]; "The Origin of the Revenge Squad" [reprinted from 80 PAGE GIANT MAGAZINE 10 (May 1965)];"The Phantom Zone Criminals" [reprinted from SUPERBOY ANNUAL 1 (Summer 1964)].


  12. #477
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    Default Super-Daddy Issues

    ADVENTURE COMICS 289 (October 1961)--1st story, "Clark Kent's Super-Father" by Binder and Papp; r. SUPERBOY 185 [DC-12] (May 1972):

    One day, Jonathan Kent seems to have gained super-powers. He puts on his own Super-Man costume and claims all the glory for himself, while keeping the Boy of Steel grounded. Eventually, Clark figures out that this is not his real father but rather an escaped Phantom Zone criminal. The Caped Kryptonian returns to the ocean to retrieve the lead box containing the Phantom Zone projector.

    Kal-El then unmasks the fake Jonathan as Jax-Ur and sends him back to the Phantom Zone. Jax-Ur's crime was destroying an inhabited moon of Krypton in his quest for world domination. Clark knew the name of the villain, because when he posed as Jonathan at the general store he signed his own name to a receipt.






  13. #478
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    Default Super-Baby Issues

    ACTION COMICS 284 (January 1962)--1st story, "The Babe of Steel" by Bernstein, Swan and Klein; r. SUPERMAN 212 [G-54] (December 1968):

    When Clark Kent attends a seance by a fake medium he gets a genuine warning from a phantom hand. Flying to his Fortress of Solitude, he takes out a red K. sample that in the past turned Supergirl into a tot and Krypto into a puppy. Using it on himself, he becomes a super-infant, but still retains his adult intelligence.

    After several adventures as the Babe of Steel, he heads to the Northern Lights where a gap in space has opened up a portal between the Phantom Zone and the material world. The opening is just big enough for his baby body to fit through. This adventure once again recounts how the box of weapons was deposited in the ocean.





    It was Mon-El who wrote the phantom warning for Superman. At the end, Kara and Krypto join Kal-El in combining their x-ray vision to burn away the Aurora Borealis and close the hole.


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    Default A Luthor Family Album

    Lena and Lex

    ACTION COMICS 295 (December 1962)--2nd story, "The Girl with the X-Ray Mind" by Dorfman and Mooney
    ACTION COMICS 296 (January 1963)--2nd story, "The Girl Who was Supergirl's Double" by Dorfman and Mooney
    ACTION COMICS 297 (February 1963)--2nd story, "The Forbidden Weapons of Krypton" by Dorfman and Mooney
    ACTION COMICS 298 (March 1963)--2nd story, "The Super-Powers of Lex Luthor" by Dorfman and Mooney

    The above four Supergirl stories were all reprinted in SUPER DC GIANT S-24 (May-June 1971) and featured the Luthor family; cover art by Swan and Anderson/Sekowsky and Giordano:



    In "The Girl with the X-Ray Mind," Linda meets Lena Thorul, a senior at Midvale High School who hopes to join the F.B.I. The teen seems to have E.S.P.--extra sensory perception. When Lena's application to the F.B.I. is turned down, the Girl of Steel intervenes but is told they couldn't accept her, because Lena Thorul is a "girl without a past"--there are no records of where she came from.

    To get some answers, the Maid of Might flies back in time and discovers that Lena is the younger sister of Lex Luthor. Prior to Lex losing his hair, little Lena made contact with an alien Space-Brain that her big brother kept in his lab. The shock from the Space-Brain gave her telepathic powers.


  15. #480
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    Default Lex Gives Luthor a Bad Name

    Once the F.B.I. finds out that Lena is Lex Luthor's sister, there's even less chance of her becoming an agent.

    Meanwhile, Dr. Anton, who has discovered Lena's psychic powers, offers her a job with the criminal gang, the Bank Busters. Lex picks up this news on the crime grapevine and demands that Supergirl come to see him in his cell. He tells her the whole story of his family--he doesn't want his sister to go down the same road as he.





    However, no one need fear. Lena is just playing along with the Bank Busters to get the goods on them to prove her worth to the F.B.I.


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