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

[Jim Kelly]

SUPERBOY 184 (April 1972)--2nd story, "One Legionnaire Must Go" by Bates, Anderson and Cockrum
SUPERBOY 188 (July 1972)--1st story, "Super-Savage--Master of Metropolis" by Dorfman, B. Brown and Anderson; 2nd story, "Curse of the Blood Crystals," by Bates, Cockrum and Anderson

For the Legion back-up series in SUPERBOY 184, Murphy Anderson is the new penciller with his assistant, Dave Cockrum doing the inks.



However, Murphy knew that Dave had a passion for the Legion, so the next assignment (issue 188), Anderson invited Cockrum to handle the pencils and Murph would do the inks.



This tale begins at the end of a Superboy encounter with Mordru in the 20th century. The Kid from Krypton defeats the Sorcerer's World Reject by using his one weakness against him, burying Mordru under the earth. The Teen of Steel takes the Blood Crystals, that the Merciless Mage created to make the Smallville Samaritan an outcast, and throws them into outer space.

Ten centuries in the future on board a Legion exploratory space station, Reep Daggle (also known as Chameleon Boy) happens to find the Blood Crystals in space and comes under their spell. Posing as Ultra Boy, he takes a Time Cube back to the 20th century.

When Brainiac 5 and Lightning Lad are alerted by the real Ultra Boy to Cham's subterfuge, they use another Time Cube to visit the Caped Kryptonian. They materialize in 1950s Smallville and Superboy explains that Reep was under the spell of Mordru's Blood Crystals, but he's using a Remedy Roy to cure Chameleon Boy. Querl and Garth are satisfied with this explanation and head back to the future.

However, "Superboy" is really Reep, still under the influence of the Blood Crystals and the "Chameleon Boy" is actually Clark, who Cham had trapped by taking the form of an elephant and blowing green K. at him with his trunk. With the green stuff on his chest, Kal-El is slowly dying.



But the Red and Blue Blur suctions the Kryptonite off his chest and blows it away then buries the Durlan underground, reasoning that the same trick that neutralizes Mordru would also work against his magic.

Note: Given that Mordru continues his vendetta against Superboy in the 20th century, I think this strengthens the case for Mordru being a 20th century villain as much as he is a 30th century one.

The Superboy cover story in this issue continues the imaginary story of Karkan the Mighty, as the Lord of the Jungle is persuaded by his new girl friend, Toni, to go to the big city. He doesn't like what he finds there and elects to return to his savage land.

[Jim Kelly]

SUPERBOY 185 [DC-12] (May 1972)--"Presenting the World's Greatest Young Heroes" wraparound cover art by Nick Cardy:







The Legion of Super-Heroes tale is reprinted from--

ADVENTURE COMICS 323 (August 1964)--1st story, "The Eight Impossible Missions" by Siegel, Forte and Klein:

To select a new Legion Leader, Proty II poses a puzzle. Whoever solves it will be the next leader. This story begins with Spider Girl trying out for membership--the Medusa-like maiden is rejected and will eventually join the Legion of Super-Villains.

[Jim Kelly]

The two Superboy stories in this issue are reprinted from--

ADVENTURE COMICS 289 (October 1961)--1st story, "Clark Kent's Super-Father" by Binder and Papp:

One day, Jonathan Kent seems to have gained super-powers, but in reality it's Jax-Ur posing as Pa Kent. This is the debut of the Phantom Zone villain. See post #477.

ADVENTURE COMICS 208 (January 1955)--1st story, "The Rip Van Winkle of Smallville" by Hamilton, Swan and Bruno Premiani; on sale November 30, 1954:

Clark recalls the story of John Blair who has been lying in a coma for twenty years. When Blair revives, he's in danger of a relapse from the mental shock of awakening twenty years later. So Superboy and everyone close to Blair make it seem as though it's twenty years in the past.

The Rip Van Winkle story has been done many times--and is actually a reworking of the "king asleep in the mountain" legend. But I believe this other plot is also common, the one where someone has to be protected from "futureshock" and so everyone tries to make it seem like the past. The movie GOOD BYE LENIN! (2003) uses this plot (a mother has been in a coma during the time the Wall came down and East Germany has changed), but I'm sure there have been many before this (I just can't name them off the top of my head).

[Jim Kelly]

When ADVENTURE COMICS 208 went on sale November 30, 1954--these comics were also on offer--

DETECTIVE COMICS 215 (January 1955)--1st story, "The Batmen of All Nations" by Hamilton, Moldoff and Paris; on sale November 30, 1954--see post #2.

WORLD'S FINEST COMICS 74 (January-February 1955)--1st story, "The Contest of Heroes" by Finger, Swan and Kaye; on sale November 26, 1954--see post #140.

SUPERMAN 94 (January 1955)--2nd story, "The Men Without a World" by Coleman and Plastino; on sale November 2, 1954:



Four super-men from the planet Blanth arrive on Earth. Their world died in an explosion, but before it expired these four were selected to go to Earth to continue their civilization.

They prove that they will be good citizens and Metropolis opens its arms to the environmental refugees. The four have super-strength and flying abilities but no invulnerability.



However, the Man of Tomorrow deliberately sabotages their good deeds. At the same time, the Man of Might terraforms another world suited to their needs. The Blanthians know that the Caped Kryptonian has intentionally made them feel unwelcome on Earth and when they sight this other planet, they decide to go there rather than clash with Superman.

Later, the Red and Blue Blur explains to Lois Lane that the Blanthians were breathing out toxic gases like methane and would soon have made the air on Earth unbreathable, so he made them another world where they could rebuild their society.

Superman says he'll be able to visit them in the future.



Note: From Blanth, there are only four men that survive--Blondie, Chestnut, Jet and Ash (as I've named them)--and no women. Either they are capable of breeding man-to-man or they hoped to father children with Earth women. But since they are willing to go to the new planet, without any women, they must be able to breed among themselves. Otherwise, it would have been foolish to select only four men and no women to continue the Blanth species.

[Jim Kelly]

SUPERMAN 251 (May 1972)--2nd story, "The Case of the Living Trophies" is a classic reprint from . . .



SUPERMAN 45 (March-April 1947)--4th story, "The Case of the Living Trophies" by Siegel, Sikela and Roussos:

One day, a weird alien arrives on Earth from another dimension and starts abducting people, including Lois Lane, for his collection. As the Collector transits to his other dimensional world, the Man of Tomorrow is dragged along. The alien and his cohorts add the Superman to their "Case of the Living Trophies."



In this yarn, Clark employs two rarely seen abilities--thought casting and shape shifting--to get the better of his captors.

[Jim Kelly]

SUPERMAN’S GIRL FRIEND, LOIS LANE 122 (May 1972)--[new content] 1st story, "77 Coffins" by Kanigher, Rosenberger and Colletta; cover art by Bob Oksner:



Thorn's "Master Plan" is to retrieve K.A.R.L. from the river. The alien computer that the 100 stole from Inter-Gang--and then dumped in the river when it refused to kill the Thorn--would have all the incriminating facts on the remaining 77 members of the 100.

Meanwhile, Vince Adams has his own plans. Capturing Lois and the Thorn, then tying them to the pipe organ in his funeral home, Adams lures the Man of Steel into a trap. Julie (the roommate) accompanies Superman and she proves useful in turning the tables on the crime gang. Adams has foolishly outed himself as the 100's number 2--and Rose Forrest is out of a job.

With K.A.R.L. restored to working order, it's the end for the 100 (or maybe not).

Note: With the end of Vincent Adams' operation, this seems to close the case on the 100 for the Thorn. After this, Rose Forrest still keeps changing into her alter ego, but not to take on the 100.

Art note: Pages 24 and 25 look like they were supposed to be laid out as a two-page spread, but when this was published in the comic, 25 ended up on the reverse side of page 24.



John Rosenberger becomes the regular penciller as of this issue.

Rosenberger started out in comics at Dell in the early 1940s before being drafted. After the war he got freelance work with various publishers, including Quality, then did some syndicated newspaper comics and painted paperback covers. In the 1950s, he got work at Timely/Atlas/Marvel and at the American Comics Group, then in 1960 he was hired by Archie to work on their super-hero comics, including THE ADVENTURES OF THE JAGUAR. After that ended, he went to work for National Periodicals on their romance titles--but he did pencil the Supergirl and Wonder Woman team-up, "The Revolt of the Super-Chicks" in THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD 63 (December 1965 - January 1966).

Vince Colletta remains the LOIS LANE inker with Murphy Anderson still doing the spot art on Superman.

[Jim Kelly]

SUPERMAN'S PAL, JIMMY OLSEN 149 (May 1972)--[new content] 1st story, "The Unseen Enemy" by Albano, Delbo and Oksner
SUPERMAN'S PAL, JIMMY OLSEN 150 (June 1972)--[new content] 1st story, "A Bad Act to Follow" by Albano, Delbo and Oksner; 3rd story, "Where's Charlie Now?" by Albano, Bridwell, Mortimer and Scarpelli:

▪ Joe Orlando shakes up the casting for his first issue of JIMMY OLSEN.
▪ The new newswoman, Meg Tempest, practices underhanded tricks against her colleagues--like Olsen and Kent--to get the scoop. Jimmy has had just about enough of her.
▪ The plot involves a scientist who intends to save the world from pollution by wiping out half of humanity.
▪ Another supporting character--one who is much more helpful to Olsen than Meg--is Officer Corrigan who is only too happy to do favours for the red-headed reporter.



▪ Meg may be devious, but she is cute (as drawn by Delbo and Oksner).



▪ In the next issue, when Officer Corrigan rescues Jimmy and Meg from a crazed mugger, he's forced to shoot the perp and is accused of using excessive force.



▪ In fact, Corrigan was set up to take the fall by a charlatan named Wilbur Little. Later, Little steals a super-serum from one of the many mad scientists in Metropolis.

In the Newsboy Legion back-up story, their pet monster Charlie gets loose. In fact, he's released by a little girl named Kathy, who is sympathetic to the plight of caged creatures. He proves useful when a gang of hoods starts to bust up the diner of Kathy's grandfather. In the end there is no conclusion, since Charlie gets loose again. But there's no follow up on this as the new Newsboy Legion vanish from publication.

[Jim Kelly]

SUPERMAN 252 [DC-13] (June 1972)--"With the World's Greatest Flying Heroes" wraparound cover art by Neal Adams:



Another epic collection of stories in the Super Spectacular format. Discovering so many buried treasures from the history of comics was mind-boggling in those days. This was the last issue, for awhile, that would be in the runs of the regular titles, as 100-PAGE SUPER SPECTACULAR returned to being its own series--from issues DC-14 through DC-22.



The three Superman stories in this Super Spectacular are from--

ACTION COMICS 47 (April 1942)--1st story, "Powerstone" by Siegel and Sikela

SUPERMAN 17 (July-August 1942)--4th story, "When Titans Clash" by Siegel and Sikela
SUPERMAN 146 (July 1961)--2nd story, "Superman's Greatest Feats" by Siegel and Plastino

--See posts to follow.

[Jim Kelly]

"Powerstone":

Luthor has safely powered himself up with electricity, which gives him super strength and the ability to electrically shock others; however, he is still not a match for Superman. He needs the Powerstone to level up to the Man of Steel.



Threatening Brett Calhoun, a wealthy scion, Luthor arranges a meeting of Metropolis's rich elite. The individual who proves the wealthiest will get another three million from Calhoun.



At the conclave, Luthor reveals himself and intends to hold everyone there for ransom, shocking them unconscious. The Action Ace challenges his bald foe, but the Mad Mastermind threatens to kill everyone--including Lois Lane--unless the Champion of the Oppressed retrieves the Powerstone for Luthor.

Flying to the lost mountain of Krowak, in Skull Valley, the Man of Tomorrow encounters obstacles that would make Indiana Jones nervous, until he enters a great chamber where men are enslaved to a monstrous idol. The Powerstone is set into the idol's head, but Superman yanks it out.

Returning to Luthor, the Man of Might hands him the Powerstone. The Macabre Mountebank gloats that the stone of power is "from another planet with scientific properties that will give [him] powers as great as, even greater than" Superman's.

But the Powerstone that the Metropolis Marvel has given his adversary is a fake and Luthor's electric abilities run down. Clark has the real Powerstone in a secret location.

[Jim Kelly]

"When Titans Clash":

As a member of the press, Clark Kent attends a solemn occasion, when Luthor is sentenced to be electrocuted by the state. However, rather than kill the Jaded Genius, the electric chair restores his powers.



Escaping prison, Luthor later poses as Carlyle Allerton, an expert on mystic stones. The Man of Tomorrow brings the Powerstone to Allerton for study, only to find he's been duped by his arch enemy.

With the awesome gem, Luthor grows to giant size and robs Superman of his powers.



When Lois Lane is taken prisoner by the super-villain, the powerless Clark nevertheless poses as Superman to rescue her. Upon meeting Luthor--who has the Powerstone on a necklace around his neck--the Action Ace challenges him to perform one of his classic feats--racing up a wall, over a ceiling and back again. When the evil genius does so, the Powerstone falls off, leaving Luthor vulnerable.

[Jim Kelly]

"Superman's Greatest Feats":

One day the Action Ace saves Atlantis from an atomic bomb test and Lori Lemaris expresses the wish that Atlantis had never sunk into the sea. Even though he knows that he can't change what has happened in the past, Clark still travels through the time barrier back millions of years to Atlantis and leads an engineering project to save the city-state from sinking.

Seeing he was successful in changing that history, the Caped Kryptonian decides to change other historical events: Saving Christians from being fed to the lions in ancient Rome; preventing Nathan Hale from being executed by the British; rescuing Custer's men at Little Big Horn; stopping John Wilkes Booth's assassination of Abraham Lincoln at the Ford Theater on April 14th, 1865.

Finally, Kal-El sends a fleet of space-ships to Krypton before its doom, so that Jor-El, Lara and many others may escape the destruction of their world. The fleet of survivors arrives on Earth and Superman sees himself as a baby in Lara's arms. Yet time travel should not allow baby and man to both be in the same place at the same time--one should be a phantom.





The Red and Blue Blur returns to 1961 and checks the history books to find that none of his feats were recorded--the history is the same as it was before. Entering the time barrier, he discovers a time-trap that bridges into a parallel time stream. Going through it, he enters another universe, where all his greatest feats were accomplished.

[Jim Kelly]

Tomorrow: Lois Lane, Jungle Queen

[Jim Kelly]

SUPERMAN'S GIRL FRIEND, LOIS LANE 123 (June 1972)--[new content] 1st story, "The Ten Deadly Di visions of the 100" by Bates, Rosenberger and Colletta; 2nd story, "The Richest Girl in the World" story by either Bates or Kanigher and art by Don Heck:



K.A.R.L. reveals "The Ten Deadly Di visions of the 100" which includes "Space Raiders."

Perry White sends Lois to Space Cape where a Galaxy satellite is being launched. There she finds out about a U.F.O. and, when the astronaut assigned to investigate the unknown craft gets sick, Lois takes his place. From her vessel she identifies the others as "Space Raiders" from the 100, setting up a "space necklace" that will interfere with all objects in orbit around the Earth. The free-lance reporter gets the attention of the Man of Steel with an "S" beacon and he mops up the motley crew.

Meanwhile, K.A.R.L. has escaped from police custody and the 100's leader lurks in the shadows.

Rose Forrest, out of work, looks for new jobs in this and subsequent issues, always leading her into trouble calling for the Thorn to take action.

Note: One of the di visions of the 100 is "The Amazons" which is curious. Given Dorothy Woolfolk had become the new WONDER WOMAN editor, was there a 100 storyline she was setting up for that book? As no new stories appeared in the two issues she actually edited, we'll never know what she had planned for Diana Prince.

Marsha's roommates continue to be condescending toward her. None of them seem to be tolerant of her body size. Kristin is especially cruel--and Lois thinks: "Kristin is a mystery to me! I don't dig her!" But Lois is hardly a nice person herself, given how she treats Marsha--and Lane was once "The Fattest Girl in Metropolis."

Perry White wishes that Lois would stop free-lancing and return to working for him full time. In subsequent issues it seems like Perry has got his wish.

The 3rd story is from--

BATMAN 35 (June-July 1946)--1st story, "Nine Lives Has the Catwoman" by Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Ray Burnley:



This was the first time the Feline Felon wore a version of her cowled cat costume. In the original issue she has blonde hair, but in the reprint she's a red-head.

[Jim Kelly]

SUPERMAN’S GIRL FRIEND, LOIS LANE 124 (July 1972)*--1st story, "The Hunters" by Bates, Rosenberger and Colletta; cover art by Bob Oksner:



*With the July issues (on sale in May), the regular comics go back to 36 pages (including cover), now priced at 20 cents.

After dealing with the Space Raiders in the previous issue, Lois next confronts "The Hunters" which consists of the Jungle Man called Kabu, the African "Witch Doctor" and two "great white hunters."



On the trail of K.A.R.L, Ms. Lane and Superman cross paths with this furious foursome.

As it turns out, there's a borough of Metropolis that has its own jungle. After the Witch Doctor brings the Man of Steel under his spell with a magic dart, Lois is likewise ensorcelled and becomes Huntress, the Jungle Queen.

However, the Action Ace is just faking and the Jungle Queen also breaks free from her trance. The K.A.R.L. they find is merely a decoy deployed by the 100's mysterious mastermind.



Note: Here is another example, like with the Karkan stories, where National Periodical Publications is exploiting their Tarzan brand for one of their other stars. Lois is now reporting for WGBS-TV in this issue.

Art note: This is the first issue of SUPERMAN'S GIRL FRIEND, LOIS LANE since issue 109 where Murphy Anderson has not altered the Superman heads.

[Jim Kelly]

SUPERMAN’S GIRL FRIEND, LOIS LANE 11 (August 1959)--1st story, "The Leopard Girl of the Jungle" by writer unknown, art by Kurt Schaffenberger:

"The Hunters" stage manages affairs just so Lois can appear briefly as the Jungle Queen and justify Bob Oksner's wonderful cover; however, issue 124 was far from the first time Lois Lane dressed up as a jungle girl.

In "The Leopard Girl of the Jungle," Miss Lane ends up living in the jungle for an extended period of time. When she's forced to exit an airplane by parachute, Lois drops into a jungle habitat where she must fend for herself, with a leopard as her companion.



Jane Dodge met with a similar air accident and became Rulah the Jungle Goddess in ZOOT COMICS 7 (June 1947)--art by Matt Baker (maybe)--published by Fox Features Syndicate.



In the end, Lois returns to the urban jungle, having proved that such events as recounted in Lana Lang's novice novel could truly happen.