The Super-Men (and -Women) of All-Planets

[Jim Kelly]

SUPERMAN 166 (January 1964)--"The Fantastic Story of Superman's Sons" by Hamilton, Swan and Klein; r. SUPERMAN 222 [G-66] (December 1969 - January 1970); cover art by Swan and Klein:



On one imaginary day which may or may not ever occur, Kal-El becomes the proud father of fraternal twins: the raven-haired Jor-El II who has super-powers and the brown-haired Kal-El II who has no super-powers. Their mother is only shown in silhouette and is never identified by name.

Young Kal-El II feels like a loser compared to his powerful twin. His parents see this and Superman is at pains to support his powerless son. The father goes to the extreme of finding a planet, one where metal life has evolved, with two suns (purple and orange), which he deduces should give Kal-El II super-powers. However, when the boy is left there to exist on his own, without his family, he grows homesick. At Christmas, he views the family celebrations on Earth and yearns to be there.

In response to his signal, Superman comes to the far planet and takes Kal-El II back home again. Next the Man of Steel concocts a formula that gives the lad super-powers, but the invisibility side effect robs him of his sight. Powerless again, the brown-haired boy feels he is only a burden to everyone and decides to run away from home, but the Man of Tomorrow soon finds him.



In the end, the father decides to take both boys into the bottle city of Kandor where, despite their young age, they attend the university. Even without super-powers, Jor-El II is still the physically superior one, while Kal-El II is the intellectual reading many books. Hearing about the legend of Nightwing and Flamebird, the brothers revive the tradition, putting on the costumes of the crime-fighting duo to track the Mystery Raider. This thief has been looting old Kryptonian scientific materials. Studious Kal-El II has a theory but Jor-El II doesn't want to hear about it, being fixated on the present danger.

With the materials he's stolen, the Mystery Raider has built a reverse evolutionary ray that devolves creatures to their monstrous throwbacks. The Raider escapes to go on a crime spree outside the bottle, devolving contemporary beasts of Earth into their predecessors.

Kal-El II's investigations of Kryptonese texts leads him to believe the answer is in the past and he takes a Time Bubble through time and space to Krypton, where he meets his grandfather, Jor-El I, before his marriage to Lara Lor-Van. Kal-El II introduces himself as Kalel Kent. They encounter a biologist named Gann Artar who has developed a de-evolutionary ray, but the Science Council forbids anymore experiments with this induced atavism.

Visiting the House of El family crypt, Jor-El is puzzled by the resemblance of his ancestors to Kalel. Jor-El has a dog that will eventually father Krypto. Seeking revenge against the Science Council, Gann Artar uses the de-evolutionary ray to transform the dog into a monster from Krypton's past. Jor-El develops a gas that reverses the effects of the induced atavism, then Gann Artar is arrested and sentenced to the Phantom Zone.



Returning to the present and having found that Gann Artar has escaped from the Phantom Zone, Kal-El II confirms that he is the Mystery Raider. Meanwhile, Superman and Jor-El II have tracked the Raider to his base in the Wild Mountains only to be felled by Kryptonite. Immune to the green stuff, Kal-El II faces down Gann Artar and uses the Phantom Zone projector to return the rogue to that eerie realm.

***


Happy Holidays!

[Jim Kelly]

ADVENTURE COMICS 299 (August 1962)--1st story, "The Unwanted Superbaby," by Siegel and Papp; r. SUPERMAN 212 [G-54] (December 1968 - January 1969):

This imaginary tale shows the happy home life the toddler Kal-El enjoyed on Krypton with Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van, before that fateful day when he was launched into space, away from the doomed planet. Just like in the official origin story, the Kents find the child as the rocket carrying him explodes upon impact with our world.

Brought to the orphanage, in the imaginary version the Superbaby's alien nature is discovered by the staff and he's surrendered to the U.S. military, whose scientists study the specimen from outer space. Escaping their custody, Kal-El flies to the Kents but they reject him and so he comes to a small island, where the pretender to the throne of Simbovia, "King Rolf," is living in exile with his courtiers.

Rolf looks just like Jor-El (except he has a monocle) and so Kal-El bonds with him, as well as the red-haired Queen Greta. The royals manipulate the child, who grows up believing in their cause. And when he becomes a Superboy, Kal-El is easily encouraged to attack Simbovia, so his adoptive father can claim power.

Simbovia is not enough for Rolf and Greta and they direct the Boy of Steel to disarm all nations. After dismantling England's forces, Kal-El returns to his island home and overhears his parents crowing over their subterfuge. He puts them in chains and hands them over to the Simbovian authorities.

But the people of the Earth don't believe in his innocence, so the Superboy flies off to find another world for his home. Finally, he comes to the planet Zordal, where the green-skinned people communicate through telepathy. He offers his services as their champion and becomes the celebrated hero of Zordal.





Still, he yearns to prove his innocence to those of Earth and sets off for our planet with that aim. Yet, in travelling through the cosmos, he encounters a gold Kryptonite meteoroid, not knowing that's what it is. He then goes on to Earth and turns himself into the U.S. military--but they tell him he was cleared of the charges, when Rolf and Greta confessed their guilt. However, just then Kal-El discovers that all his powers have left him.

Now reduced to a mundane existence, Kal-El finds the Kents who once tried to adopt him. And so he becomes their (non-super) son, renamed Clark Kent.



Note: At the end of the story, a caption explains that the one thing in this story that isn't imaginary is the gold Kryptonite. This is the first appearance of the gold stuff in the comics, but it will soon show up in other stories. In this tale, the effect of the gold K. is delayed long enough for Kal-El to reach Earth.

[Jim Kelly]

ADVENTURE COMICS 300 (September 1962)--1st story, "The Super-Planet of Clark Kent and Lana Lang" by Hamilton and Papp; on sale July 26th, 1962; cover art by Swan and Klein:



Starting its life as NEW COMICS in 1935 (on sale November 12th of that year)--the 300th anniversary issue of ADVENTURE COMICS is best known for the launch of the Legion of Super-Heroes as a regular feature in the monthly; however, the lead story featured Clark Kent and Lana Lang.

When Professor Phineas Potter, Lana's uncle, sends them to another planet, Clark pretends that conditions on this world have given them both super-powers, so the red-haired girl will not realize he's Superboy.



When Lana displays her own powers, it's actually Clark who is doing the super deeds.

[Jim Kelly]

SUPERBOY 99 (September 1962)--2nd story, "The Doom That Destroyed Clark Kent" (writer unknown) art by Papp
SUPERBOY 100 (October 1962)--1st story, "Ma and Pa Kent's Incredible Delusion" by Siegel, Swan and Klein; on sale August 14th, 1962:

Clark Kent is devoured by a Crystalloid alien that crawls up from Earth's core.



Everyone is upset by C.K.'s death, especially Lana Lang. However, after the Boy of Steel corrals the crystalloid and sends it back to the centre of the Earth, Clark is found alive in a cave below the town.

Note: Also in this ish was "The Kryptonite Kid," returning to menace the Kid from Krypton and his canine pal--as previously mentioned in post #79.

The next issue is the 100th anniversary issue cover featuring Ma and Pa Kent dressed up like Lara Lor-Van and Jor-El. They seem to be either possessed by or obsessed with Clark's birth parents. In reality, it's Dr. Xadu and Erndine from the Phantom Zone playing the long game. But the Red and Blue Blur finally figures out their con and tricks them into rocketing to Exon, a savage world under a red sun.



Note: Also in this ish, "The Day Pete Ross Became a Robot" and . . .

[Jim Kelly]

SUPERBOY's 100th marks the occasion with extra features--

"Special 100th Anniversary Souvenirs..." of the first issue covers for SUPERMAN and SUPERBOY.



A "Map of Krypton."



"How the Super-Family came to Earth from Krypton," showing the routes that Kal-El, Krypto and Kara Zor-El took.



Plus page 2 from the first story in the first issue of SUPERMAN, published in 1939, reprinted in black and white.

[Jim Kelly]

ADVENTURE COMICS 302 (November 1962)--1st story, "Superboy Meets Steelboy" by Hamilton, Swan and Klein:

Answering a summons from Queen Luela, in a world 25 miles below the surface of the Earth, the Red and Blue Blur drills down to Subbania.

With its own artificial sun, the underground city has Steelboy as its champion. An exact double of Superboy, this Boy of Steel is actually a robot. Clark follows the path of the robot to a hidden room inside Queen Luela's palace. The red-headed royal looks exactly like Lana Lang.

Steelboy was built by Luela's father, based on television transmissions of Superboy from the surface world. But only Queen Luela knows that the champion is not human.

While the people of Subbania are descendants of those from the surface, there is another civilization that threatens them--the Crystal Men, who evolved in this subterranean world.







When Steelboy is destroyed by a corrosive acid, the Smallville Sentinel replaces the hero with an android, using knowledge he has gained from an alien civilization. Made from rare chemicals, the new Steelboy android is not metallic.

[Jim Kelly]

SUPERBOY 101 (December 1962)--2nd story, "The Handsome Hound of Steel" by Bernstein and Papp:

Lusting after a high-born poodle named Bridgitte, Krypto regrets that he's just a tramp next to such a lady. After falling for a scam that fails to alter his appearance, the Dog Knight flies through a cloud of red Kryptonite in outer space. This isotope makes one's wishes come true and the Mutt of Tomorrow is transformed into his ideal--a collie (just like that one on T.V).

However, the Dog from Krypton is in for a shock. She is now female. And Krypto gives birth to a litter of puppies.

This change of gender does not last for long. Once the effects of red K. fade, Krypto is back to being a white, male dog. Moreover, the Caped Canine's puppies fade from existence.







Superboy coldly observes that they never really existed, which seems an especially heartless philosophy coming from Clark Kent.

Note: The first story in this issue was "The Valhalla of Super-Companions" already covered in post #91.

[Jim Kelly]

SUPERBOY 108 (October 1963)--1st story, "The Kent's First Super-Son" by Siegel and Plastino:

When the statue of the legendary Ram Rozar is stolen by a super-youth named Mighto, the inhabitants of Nyza are fearful of an old prophecy that they will perish if the statue is lost.

Answering their summons, Superboy sets off to recover the statue made from rare Oxium. Tracking the object to an asteroid, the Caped Kryptonian is confronted by Mighto who seems to know all of Clark's secrets.

Confused, the Smallville Champion returns to his adopted parents. They reveal that before they took him in, they had another super-son. The toddler, Tim Tate, came into their care when both his parents were swallowed by quick sand. This new son soon demonstrated phenomenal powers.



They found that the child was a super-criminal, gifted with great intelligence. He then used hypnosis on them to make them forget he ever existed, before leaving for other worlds.

In Clark's present, Mighto returns to Earth and relates his true origin story. His parents and he were from the planet Ulgar, where a super-serum gives the inhabitants their powers. But because of their evil ways, the family was sent into exile. After they came to Earth, the United Planet Interstellar Police came in a spacecraft to arrest them, but Mighto's parents flew into outer space to lure the police away, leaving Mighto to complete "Experiment X," for which he needed Oxium.

In his interplanetary search for Oxium, Mighto encountered a radiation-creature and suffered amnesia. Only recently did his memories come to back to him and he resumed his search for the rare element.



Mighto and Superboy fight, but the Lad from Ulgar is defeated by the sound from a music box. It turns out that ultra-sonic musical notes remove his super-powers.

[Jim Kelly]

SUPERBOY 112 (April 1964)--2nd story, "The Kids Who Stole Superboy's Powers" (writer unknown) art by Papp:

Responding to an S.O.S. from an aquatic world, Kal-El encounters Aldunn from the planet Nyarr who has crash-landed on the water planet. However, when the Boy of Steel helps make repairs, it turns out to be a trap and his strength is siphoned off from him and into Aldunn. Then three of his companions appear and siphon off Clark's vision powers, his invulnerability and his flight.





The four felons proceed to loot the aquatic planet. When the Kid from Krypton claims to have one power they missed--which allows him to destroy a quartz ball from a distance, the criminal quartet fight over who should have it and Aldunn destroys the transference mechanism so none may have it. Which allows Clark to siphon back his super-powers.

The power they didn't reckon on was his super-ventriloquism. His high-pitched vocals caused the quartz to shatter. Having lassoed the four, Superboy pulls them up into the sky, but they quickly age. They are all, in fact, in their nineties. They had stolen a youth serum, but it is only effective in the lower atmosphere.

[Jim Kelly]

ACTION COMICS 318 (November 1964)--2nd story, "Supergirl Goes to College" by Dorfman and Mooney; r. BEST OF DC [Blue Ribbon Digest] 17 (October 1981):

"Supergirl Goes to College" or actually Linda Lee Danvers does, after she receives a scholarship to Stanhope College. Apparently, the only reason she goes there is because she got the scholarship--Linda doesn't seem to have much ambition.



Note: Linda is a fickle friend. After leaving Midvale Orphanage, she gives less attention to her cat, Streaky, and becomes obsessed with her horse, Comet. She claims to love both her sets of parents, yet spends less and less time with them, once she heads to college. Dick Malverne and Jerro the Mer-Boy were fellows she dated, but going to Stanhope she is with them less and less and takes up with a string of other boyfriends (even some she intends to marry). Lena Thorul is her best friend; however, once Lena gets married, they hardly spend any time together. Kara's a regular member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, yet she misses most meetings of the group.

Compare this with the adventures of Superboy. Clark always spends time with his dog, Krypto. He hangs out with his friends, Lana and Pete. He's a loving son to Jonathan and Martha. He routinely visits his Legion friends in the 30th century.

The difference between Clark and Linda is that his stories are always anchored in a fixed period of his life; her stories are always moving from one circumstance to another. She's never really given the chance to develop a strong supporting cast who will stick with her through the years.

More Tales of the Stanhope Sensation Coming Soon.

[marhawkman]

A "Map of Krypton."

Hmm one interesting thing here is that it specifies that Kara was born AFTER Krypton exploded.

Also it shows atomic town as a star shaped hole in the ground. This is different from the only other picture of it I can seem to find.

[Jim Kelly]

Hmm one interesting thing here is that it specifies that Kara was born AFTER Krypton exploded.

Also it shows atomic town as a star shaped hole in the ground. This is different from the only other picture of it I can seem to find.

Yes, for Kara Zor-El to be much younger than Kal-El, she would have had to be born years after Krypton exploded (in the pre-Crisis continuity). However, one interesting detail about that map is it says Argo City was flung into space by a Krypton-quake--it doesn't say that was during the cataclysmic explosion that destroyed the planet. Since they were feeling quakes prior to the final explosion, Argo City could have been ejected from Krypton ahead of time. This might have been one possible variation on the origin story, as it would better explain why that city survived in whole rather than being destroyed.

In fact, there was another city that survived the destruction of the planet--which was "The Wizard City," seen in ADVENTURE COMICS 216 (September 1955). It was a whole chunk of Krypton that survived the explosion and landed inside a jungle on Earth and was later investigated by Professor Mark Olsen (Jimmy's father) and Superboy. It remained largely ignored after that story and might have simply served as a prototype idea for Kandor and Argo. However, the story was reprinted in SUPERMAN 232 [G-78] (December 1970 - January 1971); and then in ACTION COMICS (March 1985), there was a sequel called "The Wizard City Warrior."

The map used in SUPERBOY 100 only shows a specific region of Krypton. Reason suggests that the planet had to be much larger--given it was supposed to be greater in mass than Earth. In SUPERMAN 239 [G-84] (June-July 1971), a new map showed the whole planet and this region is inside Lurvan, in the "new world" hemisphere of the planet.

[marhawkman]

Yes, for Kara Zor-El to be much younger than Kal-El, she would have had to be born years after Krypton exploded (in the pre-Crisis continuity). However, one interesting detail about that map is it says Argo City was flung into space by a Krypton-quake--it doesn't say that was during the cataclysmic explosion that destroyed the planet. Since they were feeling quakes prior to the final explosion, Argo City could have been ejected from Krypton ahead of time. This might have been one possible variation on the origin story, as it would better explain why that city survived in whole rather than being destroyed.

In fact, there was another city that survived the destruction of the planet--which was "The Wizard City," seen in ADVENTURE COMICS 216 (September 1955). It was a whole chunk of Krypton that survived the explosion and landed inside a jungle on Earth and was later investigated by Professor Mark Olsen (Jimmy's father) and Superboy. It remained largely ignored after that story and might have simply served as a prototype idea for Kandor and Argo. However, the story was reprinted in SUPERMAN 232 [G-78] (December 1970 - January 1971); and then in ACTION COMICS (March 1985), there was a sequel called "The Wizard City Warrior."

The map used in SUPERBOY 100 only shows a specific region of Krypton. Reason suggests that the planet had to be much larger--given it was supposed to be greater in mass than Earth. In SUPERMAN 239 [G-84] (June-July 1971), a new map showed the whole planet and this region is inside Lurvan, in the "new world" hemisphere of the planet.

Also this map looks more like an "artist's interpretation" and not an actual map. It's the sort of thing you see in tour guides, not in an atlas.

Did they ever say where on Krypton the Wizard City came from?

[Jim Kelly]

Also this map looks more like an "artist's interpretation" and not an actual map. It's the sort of thing you see in tour guides, not in an atlas.

Did they ever say where on Krypton the Wizard City came from?

Yeah, it's more like an old-timey pictorial map than something technically accurate. No, they didn't say exactly where the "Wizard City" was from--or its official name. It's also referred to as "Krypton City"--but so was Kandor in the early days. So I don't think that's the actual name. Kal-El's hometown is Kryptonopolis--which also means Krypton City in Greek.

[Jim Kelly]

ACTION COMICS 320 (January 1965)--2nd story, "The Man Who Broke Supergirl's Heart" by Dorfman and Mooney:

When Lord Bronar and his lackey, Skoll, arrive on Earth in their spacecraft from the planet Calyx, they study the Stanhope Sensation to determine her ideal man. Using a protoplasmic matrix, they construct an android that poses as Prince Rondor from Calyx.



This method of making androids is like that in ADVENTURE COMICS 302 (November 1962), used by Superboy to make the android Steelboy--he learned this method from an alien civilization.

The android Rondor has no trouble making the female freshman fall for him, as he checks all her boxes.



The Prince convinces the Caped Kryptonian to come to Calyx. Meanwhile, Lord Bronar and Skoll have got there before them, through a space warp, and Bronar pretends to be the king and Rondor's father. When the Argo City Survivor sits on the throne, her powers are transferred from her to Bronar.

The Maid of Might is heart broken to discover that Rondor is an android and that he never could have loved her. But Rondor proves to her that he does love her by betraying Bronar and giving his life for the Supergirl.

It seems that most of Calyx is populated by androids as they are left in charge of the world, when the Maid of Tomorrow takes away Bronar and Skoll to maroon them on an uninhabited planet. On her way back to Earth, Kara uses her heat-vision to carve Rondor's face onto an asteroid as a monument to her android lover.