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

[Jim Kelly]

Later that same day, the Batman returns to his Batcave to find a similar looking alien making himself at home in the subterranean sanctum. This one says he is a law enforcement agent, named Tiron, on the trail of a dangerous criminal hiding out on our planet. He needs the aid of the World's Greatest Detective to apprehend Dur, as the Man of Tomorrow has been duped into helping him.

To even the odds, they fly over Stanhope College to bring Supergirl into the case. Tiron begs off to rendez-vous with other agents, while the Blonde Blockbuster gives the Batplane a super-sonic push, so she and the Masked Manhunter may arrive at the Fortress of Solitude lickety-split.



It all kicks off when the Supergirl-Batman duo try to enter the Fortress and the Metropolis Marvel musses with the Midvale Miracle. With that diversion, the Gotham Goliath is able to sneak into Fort Superman and take down Dur, but just then the Big Red 'S' traps the Batman and flies the alien to a new location.

To balance out the numbers, Superman draws Batgirl into the affair.




Meanwhile at the Eyrie, the duo of Robin and Jimmy Olsen investigate the super-schism on the Eyrie's view screen and make a startling discovery, before being knocked out by a gas pellet from an unknown source.

[Jim Kelly]

Using the signal device in Superman's belt, the Darknight Detective has tracked his renegade partner to the cave where the Man of Steel has secreted Dur.

As Tiron and Batman attack the Action Ace from the front, the Stanhope Sensation goes around back. But before she can bust her way into the cave, the Blonde Blockbuster is stymied by the Dominoed Daredoll's super-glue assault from above the cave, on a cliff. Freeing herself from the sticky stuff, Linda hurls Barbara from the cliff where, if she hit the ground, Jim Gordon's daughter could surely be in a wheelchair for life. But Bruce races to catch the Red-Headed Detective, breaking Bab's fall.



Before this tag-team match goes too far and someone really gets hurt, Tiron collapses to the ground and they all find out that, beneath the mask, is the real Ronald Jason.

As he lies dying, R.J. has time to do a recap and explain what it was all for. He played both parts. What set him on this great acting challenge was when he visited his brother, Desmond, in his lab. The scientist had discovered through voice-print comparisons the secret identities of Superman and Batman, developed an advanced jet-pack, created a chemical bomb that dissolves fabric and also an artificial radioactive element. That element exploded and both brothers were caught in the blast. Desmond died immediately, but the radiation damage would also kill Ronald eventually.



After his confession the actor dies content in the knowledge that his final performance was his best. Superman and Batman knew it all along--there is no inhabited fifth planet in the Sirius system. But Supergirl and Batgirl were in the dark.

Note: This is the first in-comic meeting of Supergirl and Batgirl. Previously, it seemed like they had teamed up in WORLD'S FINEST COMICS 169 (September 1967)--according to the cover art by Swan and Klein--but the cover does not tell the whole story.



As they already know each other in issue 176, they must have met before off-panel.

[Jim Kelly]

ACTION COMICS 364 (June 1968)--2nd story, "The Kiss of Death" by Binder and Schaffenberger:

One day, Prof. Vandarr, Linda's ichthyology teacher, announces to the class this is her last day as she's getting married tomorrow to Count Durkla. When Linda attends the wedding, the bride falls dead after kissing the groom. Some time after this, Supergirl is invited to the wedding of a diving daredevil named Dorah. She is marrying Colonel Durkla and she also falls dead at the ceremony after they kiss.

Both women had an attachment to water and both had a distinct tattoo that radiated x-rays. Kara's investigation leads nowhere until she finds a gondolier called Jacquella who is the next likely victim. Disguising herself as the gondolier and giving herself the x-ray tattoo, the Stanhope Sensation takes Jacquella's place and soon meets Sheik Durkla who immediately begins to romance her.

A fast mover, Durkla presses the faux Jacquella to marry him in a Moslem ceremony. When he kisses her, Supergirl pretends to fall dead. It's actually Durkla's ring that delivers a deadly poison. As he stands above his corpse bride, Durkla transmits his report to his homeworld in an alien tongue, revealing that he's an executioner from the water world of Valair, who was sent to terminate Vandarr, Dorah and Jacquella. The three women are thieves who raided the undersea cities of Valair for their treasures, killing others in the commission of their crimes without mercy.







The Blonde Blockbuster is not convinced that Jacquella is guilty. The gondolier maintains she is innocent of the charge and it was actually a cousin who was part of the gang. The Caped Kryptonian takes her to the Fortress of Solitude for her protection. But during the night Jacquella steals some gems on display in the Fortress, confirming the truth of Durkla's allegations. As she attempts to flee, Jacquella falls into a vat of liquid helium, freezing her solid in an instant.

Durkla takes the corpses of all three criminals back to Valair.

[Jim Kelly]

WONDER WOMAN 177 (July-August 1968)--"The Planetary Conqueror" by Bill Finger, Win Mortimer and Jack Abel; cover art by Carmine Infantino and Irv Novick:





Having conquered his galaxy, Klomos comes to our galaxy looking for a mate.



Several are chosen from different worlds, among them Supergirl and Wonder Woman.

[Jim Kelly]

The prospective brides are gathered in an arena for an all out fight.



The Stanhope Sensation and the Amazing Amazon avoid getting swept up in the melee and when the dust settles they are the only ones left standing.



The Earth under threat, the Super Friends are forced to fight each other, but they manoeuvre the battle so Princess Diana can grab Grok and throw him to Kara, revealing that the little man is using a key pad to control Klomos. Grok is the real conqueror, while Klomos is just a robot.

[Jim Kelly]

Note: This was the penultimate comic book script by Bill Finger to be published in his lifetime. Since Wonder Woman and Supergirl share the billing on the cover and inside, maybe the team-up was originally intended for an issue of THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD. It seems like a fill-in issue of WONDER WOMAN, after the previous issue that ended Bob Kanigher's long run on the title, launching Jack Miller's editorship but before the change in direction for Diana in the next issue. At the end of the story it says "Turn page for the real end!" and on the next page is a teaser for Mike Sekowsky's mod Diana Prince.

[Jim Kelly]

SUPERBOY 150 (September 1968)--"The Stranger Who Stalks Smallville" by Frank Robbins, Bob Brown and Jack Abel:

One of the most chilling yarns I read back in the day is "The Stranger Who Stalks Smallville."

On a dark and stormy night, "Uncle Cipher" arrives at the Kent door and demands to stay in their house. Even Clark with all his powers can't stand up to the tall, imposing stranger--who looks like he arrived from DARK SHADOWS.



In fact, Uncle Cipher is a super-robot, one of many exact copies. Each Uncle Cipher strong arms his way into a Smallville home and holds the families captive.

When the Boy of Steel attempts to corner the Kents' Uncle Cipher in his basement lab, the robot fells him with a blast of green K. radiation. As Clark lies on the cold floor, knocked out by Kryptonite poisoning, a random mixture of chemicals spilled in the lab produces a gas which when inhaled counteracts the effects of the poisoning, bringing the Kid from Krypton back to full strength.

Lana Lang, having come next door to the Kents for a previously arranged dinner date, has momentarily escaped her own Uncle Cipher.



The invading strangers have all been sent down from their mother ship, controlled by an alien villain known as Cyber. After they've taken over Smallville, they'll move onto Metropolis, in a quest for world domination.



The Caped Kryptonian uses a massive sheet of ice to block the signals from the mother ship that are animating the Uncles. The energy reflected back into the alien ship's power supply sends it careening out of control and plummeting Earthward.

[Jim Kelly]

WORLD'S FINEST COMICS 181 (December 1968)--1st story, "The Hunter and the Hunted" by Bates, Andru and Esposito

The super-computer at the Fortress of Solitude warns the Kryptonian Crusader to get off the planet for the next 24 hours and that the Gotham Goliath should do the same. Clark flees to the planet Toron, while Bruce time travels back to 1896.

However, when the hunter from Orr, named Kralc, comes to Earth, it's no problem for his hound, Zyr, to track the Metropolis Marvel through space and then to sniff out the Dark Knight through time.



The World's Finest Duo are transported by their hunter to Orr's chief city-state, Azib, where they meet their guide Yllas. The Orrians believe that Supes and Bats were the founders of their civilization.



The Action Ace figures out that Orr is actually the Bizarro World--but it's that world from the distant future, which has exchanged places in time with the earlier cube-shaped planet. Bizarro Superman and Bizarro Batman are the actual legendary founders. The clues are in the backward names Orr+Azib=Bizarro, Kralc=Clark, Yllas=Sally.



To escape Orr, Clark and Bruce put on a Bizarro act in front of Yllas and Kralc. Disgusted with the two weirdos, Kralc sends them on their way, at the same moment shifting places in time with the original Bizarro World.

Note: Bizarro and Clark Kent as backward names makes sense. But why Sally? Is it for Sally Selwyn, the woman who loved Clark Kent when he was Jim White?

[Jim Kelly]

SUPERMAN'S GIRL FRIEND, LOIS LANE 89 (January 1969)--"The Bride of Batman" by Dorfman, Swan and Esposito; cover art by Infantino and Adams:



On a day that may not ever happen, Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson look forward to a garden party where the invited guests will be in costume. Lois Lane will also be at the party.

Bruce enters a private room in the Batcave that not even his ward is allowed inside. It's a room dedicated to his valentine, Lois Lane, filled with gifts he's bought for her but never gave. [It's disturbing that the Batman is creeping on Superman's sweetheart, but for the sake of this imaginary story this is the plot we've got.]

At the party, Bruce and Dick go as Achilles and Robin Hood, while Lois is dressed as Joan of Arc, along with her own armoured horse. Superman is not there--he's off with Diana Prince (the now powerless Wonder Woman) on a top secret Justice League mission (she flies thanks to a Legion flight ring the Man of Steel has loaned his gal pal).

When our Jeanne d'Arc's horse is spooked and rears, Lois is in danger but Bruce like a modern Achilles defends her with his shield. Superman and Diana arrive late to the party and Lois is not having it. It's splitsville for Man of Steel and Lady Lane.



Now that she's Superman's ex, the Pride of Pittsdale starts dating the millionaire playboy and soon they get hitched. Before going on their honeymoon, Bruce takes his bride down to the Batcave below Wayne Manor to reveal that he's the Caped Crusader.

Lurking in the shadows of the Batcave, the Boy Wonder muses,

"I remember when I first came here! Bruce shared his secrets only with me! Then along came Alfred, Superman, Supergirl and Jimmy Olsen! And now...Lois!

"The others were friends and partners! But with Lois around, I'm afraid I'll be low man on the totem pole!

"Maybe the time's come for this Robin to leave the nest! Could be I should start fighting crime on my own, without Batman!"

Then a year later, Bruce Wayne, Jr., is born. The Dark Knight plans for his son to become Batman, Jr., and one day take his place--it will be up to Dick to teach him every trick in the book.



Meanwhile, a new crime boss called the Gimmick Master has plans to eliminate the Justice League one by one. He tortures Lois Lane Wayne into giving up Batman's secret identity--and instead of Bruce, she says that Clark Kent is the Gotham Goliath.

The Gimmick Master sets out to kill the mild-mannered reporter and is ultimately brought down by the Masked Manhunter.

Note: Batman shows his new bride a diagram of the Batcave on the wall of the cave--this is the same diagram that appears in the 80 Page Giant BATMAN 203 [G-49] (July-August 1968)--drawn by Frank Springer.

♥︎♥︎ Happy Valentine's Day ♥︎♥︎

[Jim Kelly]

From the Vaults of Mordru

ADVENTURE COMICS 369 (June 1968)--"Mordru the Merciless" by Shooter*, Swan and Abel (splash page inked by Swan); r. LIMITED COLLECTORS' EDITION C-49 (October-November 1976)
ADVENTURE COMICS 370 (July 1968)--"The Devil's Jury" by Shooter*, Swan and Abel; r. LIMITED COLLECTORS' EDITION C-49 (October-November 1976)
SUPERMAN 213 (January 1969)--1st story, "The Most Dangerous Door in the World" by Bates, Swan and Abel; cover art by Infantino and Adams:



Jim Shooter's epic tale of "Mordru the Merciless" begins in media res as four Legionnaires are making their escape from the powerful mage. In a time cube, the quartet of Superboy, Mon-El, Duo Damsel and Shadow Lass travel to Smallville in the 20th century . . .

***

*Ed. Note: Before Mort Weisinger offered the thirteen year old Jim Shooter the chance to publish his own comics, the boy was already making comics for himself--complete comics that he wrote and drew. So when the Comics Boy had the chance to do published works, he didn't change his way of producing them. Those hand-made comics were the way he created Legion stories (and other Superman family comics). Seasoned professionals such as Curt Swan then did finished art using those comics as their guide.

As seen in this photo of the older Jim holding one of his original pages--page 5 for ADVENTURE COMICS 358 (July 1967)--"The Hunter" by Jim Shooter and George Papp.





One of my most favourite Legion stories (or any comic book story). George did his own thing with Jim's layouts, but you can see that Shooter was indeed a breakdown artist. And he did all of these stories between his thirteenth and seventeenth birthday.

Maybe because of his Weisingeresque editorial style (inspired by his late night phone-calls to Mort in New York City), not enough people are willing to give Shooter the credit he deserves as a pioneering writer and artist. He was clearly a direct influence on both Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen in their Legion work.

[Jim Kelly]

. . . Tasmia Mallor is relatively new to the Legion and she flashes back on how she discovered a vault in which the Legion had sealed Mordru. She almost opened the vault before Mon-El stopped her and explained the origins of Mordru.

At some point in the past, on the Sorcerer's Planet of Zerox--first shown in ACTION COMICS 301 (June 1963), "The Secret Identity of Super-Horse"--Mordru rose to power and prepared for war on the universe. He enslaved the planets on the outer perimeter of the galaxy and then seemed content with his victory there.

The free worlds ignored him, until a few years ago (in the Legion's time) when Mordru once again began to attack and conquer more planets, before his armies finally came for Earth. Only the Legion of Super-Heroes could stand up to the Dark Lord and they mounted an assault, imprisoning him in an airless block, which put Mordru in a coma. Thus they kept him in that block inside a vault. But when Shadow Lass tried to open the vault a little air must have got to the Merciless Mage and awakened him.







Note: It's not clear when it was that Mordru first rose to power on Zerox. In post-Crisis continuity, Mordru is already active in the 20th century.

[Jim Kelly]

So Mordru was freed and the four Legionnaires were powerless to stop him.

Now in the 20th century, they are still afraid that Mordru will find them, so they go into hiding. Mon-El resumes his identity of Bob Cobb, Clark's cousin, pretending to have come for a visit with the Kents. Luornu Durgo takes the name Marie Elkins the second cousin of Chief Parker's wife, Leah, and moves in with them. While Tasmia hides her blue skin with make-up and calls herself Betsy Norcross, an exchange student who comes to stay with the Langs.

In this story, Shadow Lass begins to show a romantic interest in Mon-El. Meanwhile, Duo Damsel and Superboy discover feelings for each other. <3

In the second part, "The Devil's Jury," Lana Lang as Insect Queen (of the Legion Reserve) and Pete Ross (an Honorary Legionnaire) join with the four Legionnaires to battle Mordru's armies, but in the end all are captured and put on trial in his subterranean courtroom. When he tries to destroy the six, he brings down the cavern upon himself, burying the Lord of Darkness alive.



Once the Legion return to the future, they find that Mordru had been unsuccessful there, as Dream Girl, the White Witch and Princess Projectra had tricked him.

[Jim Kelly]

Later in Clark's lifetime, the Man of Steel discovers a vault in space that draws him inside and then locks shut. It is a vault sent by Mordru, from which the Caped Kryptonian cannot escape. So he uses super-ventriloquism to contact Supergirl. She enlists the adult Brainiac-5 to pose as Superman and announce that the vault can only be opened upon his death and that within the vault is something of great benefit.

Lex Luthor then murders who he thinks is Superman, with green Kryptonite (which doesn't work against Brainy), and opens the vault. In so doing releasing the Action Ace from his imprisonment.

[Jim Kelly]

ACTION COMICS 374 (March 1969)--2nd story, "No Mercy for Supergirl" by Dorfman and Schaffenberger:

The Stanhope Sensation is captured by an alien who calls himself the Avenger. In another galaxy, on the planet Sarkon, his people follow a strict no-kill policy. Nothing that is alive may be killed not even plants or insects. Anyone who dares to kill is sentenced to the 5th Continuum--a realm more dreadful than the Phantom Zone. The Avenger and all his people are super-beings and they have decided to extend their no-kill law to every super-being in the universe.





Because the Avenger had observed Linda cutting a flower and preserving a butterfly, she has killed and therefore must be condemned to the 5th Continuum. Stalling for time, Kara asks the Avenger to accompany her to the Congo, to the abandoned lab of the late Dr. Carney, who was working for the W.H.O. to cure jungle fever. At the lab she asks the Avenger to light a candle. Then the Caped Kryptonian shows the alien that a test tube above the candle held deadly microbes which were all destroyed by the heat of the candle. Therefore the Avenger has committed murder.

As the Avenger holds himself to a higher standard, he does not condemn himself to the 5th Continuum and instead uses his self-destruct button, dissolving into a cloud of atomic particles.

[Jim Kelly]

ACTION COMICS 375 (April 1969)--2nd story, "The Woman Who Hated Supergirl" by Dorfman and Schaffenberger
ACTION COMICS 376 (May 1969)--2nd story, "The Hated Girl of Steel" by Dorfman and Schaffenberger:

Dr. Marla Alexander is a promising astronomy instructor at Stanhope. Her husband was killed in Vietnam, leaving her to raise their young boy Tony on her own. She has identified the Red Claw Nebula, which could win her a professorship at the college. Linda wants to help Marla and, as Supergirl, constructs a space bubble to transport the astronomer near to the nebula. However, as she does so, Dr. Alexander is blinded by a brilliant red flare.

Alexander wins her professorship and a position at the World Science Centre, but begins to behave badly, not admitting to anyone that she is going blind. She sends Tony away to boarding school and quits her position at Stanhope. When the Blonde Blockbuster tries to help, Dr. Alexander says that she blames her for the loss of her sight.

Now completely blind, Marla attends the opening of the new World Science Centre along with the world's most eminent geniuses, but it turns out that the Centre is actually a spaceship. Aliens surreptitiously built the ship to abduct all these geniuses and take them to the world of the Rancors. The Rancors tell Dr. Alexander it was they who accidentally blinded her with their radiation barrier. They correct the error by using a Protoplasmic Regenerator that can regrow any type of cell tissue.

The Rancors have a device called a Brain-Drain that drains geniuses of their intellect and stores the knowledge in their Brain-Bank Computers. They have done this to other intelligent life forms they've abducted and now they intend to do the same to the Earth scientists.





However, the Stanhope Sensation has been posing as Dr. Alexander. She handily defeats the Rancors--having anticipated their plot. And later the Protoplasmic Regenerator is used to restore the real Marla's sight.

Note: Supergirl ends her ACTION COMICS run with this issue and begins her ADVENTURE COMICS run with issue 381 (June 1969) of that title. Dr Alexander returns in ADVENTURE COMICS 393.