DC Special Series 5

DC Special Series 5

1977

Superman Spectacular

by Cary Bates, Martin Pasko, John LaMartine, Curt Swan, Vince Colletta, Ben Oda, Jerry Serpe with cover by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and Dick Giordano

63 pages

Chapter One: The Second Coming of Superman

Superman returns from a rescue mission in outer space just in time to save his friends and others at a parade in his honor in downtown Metropolis. They are almost crushed by a giant statue of Superman which comes apart in the midst of the parade. The statue was donated by Lori Lemaris and the people of Tritonis.

DC Comics Presents 85

DC Comics Presents 85

Sep 1985

The Jungle Line

Alan Moore, Rick Veitch, Al Williamson, John Costanza, Tatjana Wood, Julius Schwartz

Superman gets infected by the Blood Morel. He loses his powers and starts hallucinating. He thinks he is going to die. He rents a car, heads south, and crosses paths with Swamp Thing. Superman is too far gone to act rationally. He has forgot what he knew about the Blood Morel, which originated on Krypton. Swamp Thing recognizes what Superman needs and helps him to recover.

Secret Origins (1986) 1

Secret Origins (1986) 1

Apr 1986

The Secret Origin of the Golden-Age Superman

by Roy Thomas, Wayne Boring, Jerry Ordway, Gene D’Angelo, David C. Weiss

Jor-L and Lara sent their son Kal-L, while he is still a baby, in a rocket ship to Earth. He arrives safely and is adopted by John and Mary Kent, who saw his spaceship land. They name him Clark and teach him to use his powers responsibly.

Clark moves from Smallville after he has grown up and his adoptive have died. He gets a job with the Daily Star. There he works for George Taylor, the newspaper’s editor, and alongside reporter Lois Lane. It is also there that he launches his crime fighting career.

Superman (1939) 400

Superman (1939) 400

Oct 1984

This comic book is an anthology and celebrates the 45th anniversary of the first issue of this series. The front cover was drawn by Howard Chaykin and the back cover by Frank Miller. There are eight short stories in this 64-page comic book. There are 13 pin-ups, most of which are scattered through the 64 pages with the exception of one which is on the inside back cover.

A Salute to Superman

by Ray Bradbury

This one-page text-piece is on the inside front cover. Bradbury writes for the most part about what comic books meant to him when he was growing up.

Action Comics 500

Action Comics 500

Oct 1979

The Life Story of Superman

by Martin Pasko, Curt Swan, Frank Chiaramonte, Gaspar Saladino, Adrienne Roy, Julius Schwartz

Superman leads a group of people through the Superman Pavilion at the Metropolis World’s Fair. He tells stories about his past to the group as they walk through the pavilion. He doesn’t tell them anything that might reveal his secret identity. He, instead, thinks about things from his past that he can’t tell the crowd.

Superman’s story about his past is divided into three chapters. The first focuses on Krypton, before he left. The second focuses on his time in Smallville. The third focuses on his time in Metropolis.

Action Comics (1938) 484

Action Comics (1938) 484

Jun 1978

Superman Takes a Wife!

By Cary Bates, Curt Swan, Joe Giella, Ben Ora, T. Wood, Julius Schwartz

Earth-2. The Wizard is hired by Colonel Future to rid the world of Superman. It works. Superman forgets he is Superman and lives his life as Clark Kent. He becomes a serious crime busting reporter. He gets married to Lois Lane. 

Lois suspected that Clark Kent was really Superman but never could put together enough evidence to prove it. It isn’t until after she and Clark get married that she discovers she was right all along. She finds the Wizard and talks him into reversing his spell.

Action Comics (1938) 583

Action Comics (1938) 583

Sep 1986

Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? (Part 2)

by Alan Moore, Curt Swan, Kurt Schaffenberger, Todd Klein, Gene d’Angelo, Julius Schwartz

Luthor/Brainiac and the Kryptonite Man arrive at the Fortress of Solitude. They get a visit from three members of the Legion of Super-Villains: Lightning Lord, Saturn Queen, Cosmic King. The villains from the future warn Luthor/Brainiac that other superheroes are on their way to come and help Superman. He responds by erecting a giant force shield which surrounds the Fortress of Solitude. Other superheroes show up but are unable to get through. 

Superman (1939) 423

Superman (1939) 423

Sep 1986

Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? (Part 1)

by Alan Moore, Curt Swan, George Perez, Todd Klein, Gene d’Angelo, Julius Schwartz

Superman returns to Metropolis after a mission in outer space and discovers that a number of supervillains are wrecking havoc. Bizarro goes on a rampage but then mysteriously commits suicide. The Toyman and the Prankster unleash some deadly toys that reveal that Clark Kent is Superman. A squad of Metallos attack the Daily Planet with the intention of killing Lois Lane and others but Superman stops them. 

DC Comics Presents Annual 1

DC Comics Presents Annual 1
1982

Crisis on Three Earths
By Marv Wolfman, Tich Buckler, Dave Hunt, John Costanza

Superman of Earth-1, Superman of Earth-2, and Alexander Luthor of Earth-3 team up to battle Lex Luthor of Earth-1, Alexei Luthor of Earth-2, and Ultraman of Earth-3.

This story marks the first appearance of Alex Luthor and the second appearance of Lois Lane, both of Earth-3. Both are killed in their next appearance, Crisis on Infinite Earths 1. Lois Lane (E-3) first appeared in Secret Society of Super-Villains 14.

DC Comics Presents 61

DC Comics Presents 61
Sep 1983

The Once-and-Future War!
by Len Wein, George Perez, Pablo Marcos, Rick Hoberg, John Costanza

OMAC (One Man Army Corps) aka Buddy Blank follows Murdermek (a killer robot) back in time to prevent him from assassinating his ancestor: Norman Blank. OMAC arrives in Metropolis in the year 1983 minutes after the robo-assassin. He teams up with Superman, after a brief misunderstanding, to track down and destroy Murdermek who finds some allies of his own.

The final battle between the two sides occurs at Metro Centrsl Station. Murdermek's allies have been outfitted with high tech deadly armored suits but prove to be no match for the One Man Army Corps. Superman deals with the killer droid who caught him off guard in their previous encounter.

The idea behind this story sounds similar to the plot of the original Terminator movie which was released a year later in 1984.

The image on the cover is clearly a loose homage to Flash 123, Flash of Two Worlds.

George Perez art work is beautiful as usual. A number of moments stood out for the way they were told visually. The panel arrangements on page 3 do an excellent job of telling the story efficiently and imparting a lot of information from different perspectives. OMAC's origin story on pages 10 & 11 was subtlety used to forward two different scenes, simultaneously. The OMAC/Brother Eye moment on the bottom half of page 18 was a neat little visual trick in the way it was split between the two characters. I really liked how the panel of Superman thinking in the bottom left corner of page 21 fades into a moment for Brother Eye in the following panel.

Len Wein also deserves much credit for the way in which the story was told. The ending is brilliant: Superman is left scratching his head, wondering what just happened. The answer to his question didn't disappear with OMAC it is right behind him but he is looking the wrong way and misses it as it shuffles past him.

Len Wein died less than a month ago as I write this. This might have been the first story of his that I read. I bought this issue last year or maybe the year before at Baltimore or Heroes Con. I read this story originally in Best of DC Digest 50 (Jul 1984), which also reprinted the Lex Luthor story from Action Comics 544 and which I bought in a drug store or comic shop off the racks. It was my introduction to OMAC. I remember enjoying this story quite a bit. I am very happy to find that it still strikes me as a fun read, with some depth to it. It is a masterfully told tale by Wein and Perez.

Prior to this story OMAC (or his alter ego Buddy Blank) had only appeared in a few issues of Kamandi, the 8 issues of his own series from 1974, and the 8 issues of Warlord in which his story ran as a back up feature (1980-81). His next story was the 1991 mini-series by John Byrne which I read 10-15 years ago and remember enjoying.

Dick Giordano's Meanwhile… column gives a brief preview of things to come from D.C. comics in the next 6-12 months.

The Pair Mail letters column is devoted to reactions to DC Comics Presents 57. Superman teamed up with the Atomic Knights in that issue. Some people loved the issue and some hated it. I have not read that issue or any other stories of the Atomic Knights. I remember Kenley Davis, a friend of mine, telling me about the Atomic Knights when we were in 6th grade. I'm not sure if he had read any of the original issues or just this issue of DC Comics Presents. I don't recall anything else that he told me about them but the concept and the name are still stuck in my head. According to my research they appeared 15 times in the pages of Strange Adventures between issues 117 (Jun 1960) and 160 (Jan 1964). They also appeared in Hercules Unbound 10, 11 (1977) prior to DC Comics Presents 57.

DC Comics Presents 62

DC Comics Presents 62
Oct 1983

Born on the Fourth of July
By Bob Rozakis, Dan Mishkin, Irv Novick, Dave Hunt, John Costanza

The Freedom Fighters travel from Earth-X to Earth-1. They are there because Uncle Sam senses that the United States of America is in trouble. Someone has stolen the Declaration of Independence. According to Uncle Sam that's how the Nazis won World War II on Earth-X. Superman is busy dealing with other crises so it is up to Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters (Ray, Doll Man, Black Condor, Human Bomb) to recover the stolen document from the neo-Nazis who stole it.

This reads a bit like an after school special in that it is kind of preachy. There is no super villain. There is very little if anything in the way of character moments. It is all fight and very black and white.

Dick Giordano's Meanwhile… column is dedicated to upcoming comic book conventions at which DC Comics staff will be present. He also mentions a few new books that they will be previewing at the conventions including Redeemer, Atari Force, Thriller, and Infinity Inc. Unlike the other three, Redeemer was never released as a separate comic and wasn't published until about 30 years later when it finally showed up in the pages of Joe Kubert Presents.

DC Coming Comics

• Justice League of America 219
• Wonder Woman 308
• Blackhawk 263
• The Best of DC Digest 41
• Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld 6
• DC Comics Presents 62
• The Fury of Firestorm 17

DC Comics Presents 62 is the only one on this list that I own or have read. Some of the descriptions read more like assessments of the creative team's talent than the content of the comic books.

The Fury of Firestorm 17 is the first appearance of Firehawk but not the first appearance of her alter ego, Lorraine Reilly, who first showed up in the first issue of the series

Pair Mail letters column - includes a description of what the Freedom Fighters have been up to since their series ended in 1978

DC Comics Presents Annual 4

Welcome to LuthorCon III
By Elliot S! Maggin, Eduardo Barreto, and Jerry Ordway
1985

Dr. Kristin Wells travels back in time from the 29th century to the 20th. She loses her memory along the way. She arrives just in time for LuthorCon III. She wears the Superwoman costume she brought with her to the convention because it gets her in for free. There she meets Superman who is pretending to be an actor impersonating Superman.

Lex Luthor is operating behind the scenes of the show. He's wearing his power armor but doesn't use it. He is just pulling the strings and organizing a trap for Superman. Thanks to a big assist from Superwoman, whose powers are different from Superman's, he is able avoid falling victim to Luthor's scheme.

On the whole I found this story to be very disjointed and hard to follow. The transitions from scene to scene were very rough. I didn't enjoy this story and don't recommend it to others. The one saving grace was the art. The combination of Barreto's pencils and Ordway's inks were very soft on my eyes. It is a shame that the words that accompanied the pictures and the story behind it all didn't live up to the visual beauty provided by Barreto and Ordway.

Superman 386

Luthor Lashes Back
By Cary Bates, Curt Swan, Dave Hunt, Anthony Tollin
Aug 83

Lex Luthor shows up at the Daily Planet. He uses a "matter transmuter" to break-in and confront Clark Kent. He gives Kent a message to give to Superman, that he is going to make Superman pay for what he did to the planet Lexor.

After a brief chat with Kent he jumps out a window and merges with his armor which flies in to catch him. He grows to an enormous size and threatens to destroy the Daily Planet but it turns to just be an illusion. In reality he flies off to find and kill Lois Lane. He finds Lois at her parents place. She isn't afraid of him. She tells him that she and Superman are no longer romantically involved. This dashes Luthor's plan for revenge and he leaves without killing her.

Even if Superman and Lois Lane are no longer an item, aren't they still friends on some level? Wouldn't her death still rock Superman's world? I think Luthor is thinking a little too inside the box here. His stated reason for wanting to kill Lois is that his wife was killed when Lexor exploded so he wants Superman to experience the same thing.

Luthor returns to L-Island where is waited on, hand and foot, by two of the villains he helped break out of prison in 385: Wicked Wanda Nordo and Louto Malono. He destroys a submarine from "the most belligerent world-power on earth" (presumably the Soviet Union) which got a little too close to L-Island. He gets word from a couple of his other goons, Pluto and Plato Statler that they have finished planting a Neutrarod outside of Metropolis.

Clark Kent is in a plane with Morgan Edge when he spots the Neutrarod. Not wanting to blow his cover he parachutes out of the plane. He tells Edge that he wants to be the first reporter on the scene to write about the story on the Neutrarod. Superman tries to remove the Neutrarod but Lex shows up and attacks him. Lex plans to blow up the Earth, or so he says, but the battle ends with the Neutrarod destroyed. Lex escapes but reveals before he vanishes that the new Neutrarod was just a decoy and he is still planning his revenge.

So this the end of the three part story that began in Action Comics 544 and continued in Superman 385 but it isn't really the end of the story because Luthor got away and still has his power armor. I did a little research and see that there are a few more appearances of Lex Luthor (with his power armor) before Crisis on Infinite Earths. It's hard to tell which are significant appearances but if I'm going to read more of these stories then I think I will probably seek out Superman 401, 404, 410, 412, 413, Annual 12. I have one more Luthor Power Armor comic that I have not read yet, DC Comics Presents Annual 4. I'm gonna try to get to that in the near future.

Overall this is not a must read. I enjoyed this chapter more than the last one but it was still a little disappointing to see it end the way it did. Books like New Teen Titans were blazing a new path for comic books in this era while books like Superman were just telling the same sort of stories they had been telling for the past couple decades. I'm sure there were some subtle changes over the years but stories like this one seem like a throw back rather than a step forward.

GCD: https://www.comics.org/issue/37663/

Superman 385

Luthor Rises Again!
By Cary Bates, Curt Swan, Dave Had not, Anthony Tollin
Jul 83

Part 2 of the 3 part story that began in Action Comics 544

The cover is misleading. Superman and Luthor both appear in this issue but they do not meet or clash. Superman spends most of the issue thinking that Luthor was killed in the explosion that destroyed the planet Lexor. Luthor spends most of the issue plotting his revenge on Superman.

Superman returns to Earth. He has finally changed his tune and started to show some remorse over his role in the destruction of Lexor. He is convinced that Luthor is dead although there is no evidence that he made any attempt to determine if Luthor could have survived the blast. It isn't until late in the issue when he plugs all the information he has in to his super computer at the Fortress of Solitude that he starts to think that maybe Luthor is still alive. Then he starts to have hallucinations of Luthor. He destroys a statue of Lex and destroys a bridge where he thinks he sees him.

Lex Luthor returns to Earth with a large chunk of Lexor. He drops it into the ocean and it becomes an island which he names L Island. He starts building his new base of operations on the island. No explanation is given for how he managed to get such a large chunk of rock to enter the Earth's atmosphere without being detected by anyone, especially Superman.

There is a subplot involving Lois Lane traveling home to see her parents. It is unclear at this point how this story connects or will connect with the Superman-Lex Luthor storyline. There is one exchange in the letters column which seems to indicate that they are trying something different with Lois as they create some distance between her and Superman.

For the most part this issue seemed more coherent than the previous one. There's a lot going on but it all seems to follow a somewhat logical progression and builds the tension toward the imminent confrontation between the Man of Steel and his arch rival.

I'm still not sure this if story is worth my time but here I am. I don't have any real problems with the art. It gets the job done but it doesn't blow me away.

7/22

Action Comics (1938) 544

Luthor Unleashed!
By Cary Bates, Curt Swan, Murphy Anderson, Tony Tollin
Jun 1983

Lex Luthor barely survives his latest battle with Superman. He escapes, with some help from one of his robots, to the planet Lexor. There he is greeted by his loving wife Ardora and his son Lex. The people of Lexor revere him and welcome him with open arms.

Luthor detects a fatal flaw in the planet that might cause it to blow up. He builds the Neutrarod, a long, thick rod to prevent the destruction of the planet he now calls home. The Neutrarod extends deep into the center of the planet and extends hundreds of feet into the air.

Luthor returns to his villainous ways and starts terrorizing the people of Lexor using a new suit of armor he built for himself. Soon thereafter Superman comes looking for Luthor. He arrives on Lexor ready for a fight. Lexor's sun is red, which should negate all of Superman's powers, but he has used some super sunscreen which negates the effects of the red sun to some degree.

Luthor comes out swinging, wearing his power suit, ready to fight. He seems to have the upper hand but when one of his blasts bounces off of Superman and hits the Neutrarod it causes a chain reaction which causes Lexor to blow up. Ardora, little Lex, and all the other inhabitants of Lexor are killed. The only ones to survive are Superman and Luthor. The chapter ends with Luthor tearfully pledging to get his revenge on Superman.

In many ways this feels more like a Lex Luthor story than it does a Superman story. I don't understand why Luthor turned on the people who showed him love and accepted him as one of their own. That part didn't make sense to me. Aside from that moment it was easy to accept him as the hero of this story and see Superman as the villain.

This is part 1 of 3. The story continues in Superman 385 and concludes in Superman 386. There is another story in this issue which introduces the new Brainiac, or new look for Brainiac. Similarly it is part 1 of a 3 part story. The next two installments are in the next couple issues of Action Comics. I talked about that story on DTC15 and DTC17.

GCD: https://www.comics.org/issue/37454/

Superman 363

Sep 1981

The Dying Day of Lois and Lana!
by Cary Bates, Curt Swan, Frank Chiaramonte

Superman makes some last ditch efforts to save the two women who mean the most to him. First he contemplates sending them to the Phantom Zone until he can find a cure. Jax-Ur, General Zod, and Faora nix that plan when they overload the circuits in the PZ projector. Superman's next stop is Lex Luthor's prison cell. Luthor says he could probably find a cure in time but he laughs in Superman's face at the notion of saving Lois and Lana's lives. Superman's final stop is the 88th century where he hopes they will have already found a cure. They have but they refuse to give it to him.

In between these attempts to find a cure, Superman spends time as Clark Kent with Lana and as Superman with Lois. He spends an evening with Lana chatting. He wins her over to the point that she thinks she is falling in love with him. They are about to kiss when they get interrupted by Lana's neighbor who needs some help. Superman finds Lois in her apartment wistfully watching an old movie about Paris in the 1890s. Eager to do something special he takes her to that time and place.

In the end he finds the cure, of course. It was in front of his eyes all along. He gives them a transfusion from his own blood which was able to fight off the disease. They don't gain any superpowers. Boo! There is some explanation given as to why this didn't work with Ma and Pa Kent but I didn't exactly understand why it didn't work in the first case but it did work in the second case.

I was a little disappointed that Lex Luthor does not appear in his green and purple uniform inside the comic book as he does on the cover.

A Night in the Life of Bruce (Superman) Wayne!
by Bob Rozakis, Rich Buckler, Joe Giella

This is the third in a series of three stories set in this little pocket universe. It began in the backup feature in Superman 353, continued in the backup feature in Superman 358, and ends in this issue. For a little more information about backup stories in Superman in this era checkout my post about Superman 1980-82 Backup Stories.

Bruce reveals his secret identity to his new bride, Barbara Gordon Wayne, after they get married. She isn't happy that he kept this secret from her until now. She thinks his time would be better spent doing scientific research. He reluctantly agrees and officially retires as Superman. He briefly comes out of retirement to investigate the murder of his father-in-law, Police Commissioner Jim Gordon. He tries flying back in time to prevent his murder but is unable to do so. Barbara has plans of her own. She dons a costume that looks very much like Batgirl's, adopts the name Batwoman, and hunts down the man who killed her father.

I was amused by how quick and simple this story was. I have not read the earlier two installment in this series. I was also amused by the use of the word crud in the story by Barbara Gordon. It seems a bit out of place.

---

Neither of these stories are ground breaking. I don't know if I would recommend this issue or the previous one to anyone other than a die-hard Superman fan. Even then it should be remembered that this comic is not timeless and is definitely a product of the era in which it was published. That said, I don't regret reading it. It is interesting to know that stories like these were still being produced in an era that was also producing what I consider to be timeless classics like New Teen Titans and the Legion of Super-Heroes: The Great Darkness Saga.

GCD: https://www.comics.org/issue/35626/

Superman 1980-82 Backup Stories

In September 1980 the cover price of Superman (and probably most other DC Comics) increased from 40 to 50 cents. Before the price increase there were 17 pages of story per issue. Starting in September 1980, as advertised on the banners across the top of each issue, the comics included "8 more thrilling pages of all-new thrills and action!" This extra content came in the form of backup stories. There were a few one-shots but for the most part the backup stories were series that took turns running in the back of Superman.

The first backup story was a Mr. Mxyzptlk story. The last backup story was a Supergirl story that began in Superman Family 222 and ended in The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl 1. By the time the backup stories went away the cover price had increased to 60 cents. Most of the stories were written by Bob Rozakis with the rest of the stories being written by a handful of other writers.

Chronological List
351 (Sep 1980) Mr. Mxyzptlk
352 (Oct 1980) Fabulous World of Krypton
353 (Nov 1980) Bruce (Superman) Wayne [Just Imagine]
354 (Dec 1980) Superman 2020
355 (Jan 1981) Superman 2020
356 (Feb 1981) Fabulous World of Krypton
357 (Mar 1981) Superman 2020
358 (Apr 1981) Bruce (Superman) Wayne [Just Imagine]
359 (May 1981) Superman: The In-Between Years
360 (Jun 1981) Fabulous World of Krypton
361 (Jul 1981) Superman 2020
362 (Aug 1981) Superman: The In-Between Years
363 (Sep 1981) Bruce (Superman) Wayne [Just Imagine]
364 (Oct 1981) Superman 2020
365 (Nov 1981) Superman: The In-Between Years
366 (Dec 1981) Superman: The In-Between Years
367 (Jan 1982) Fabulous World of Krypton
368 (Feb 1982) Superman 2020
369 (Mar 1982) [no backup story]
370 (Apr 1982) Superman: The In-Between Years
371 (May 1982) Private Life of Clark Kent
372 (Jun 1982) Superman 2021
373 (Jul 1982) Private Life of Clark Kent
374 (Aug 1982) Superman: The In-Between Years
375 (Sep 1982) Fabulous World of Krypton
376 (Oct 1982) Supergirl


Lists by series

Fabulous World of Krypton
352 (Oct 1980)
356 (Feb 1981)
360 (Jun 1981)
367 (Jan 1982)
375 (Sep 1982)

Bruce (Superman) Wayne [Just Imagine]
353 (Nov 1980)
358 (Apr 1981)
363 (Sep 1981)

Superman 2020/2021
354 (Dec 1980)
355 (Jan 1981)
357 (Mar 1981)
361 (Jul 1981)
364 (Oct 1981)
368 (Feb 1982)
372 (Jun 1982)

Superman: The In-Between Years
359 (May 1981)
362 (Aug 1981)
365 (Nov 1981)
366 (Dec 1981)
370 (Apr 1982)
374 (Aug 1982)

Private Life of Clark Kent
371 (May 1982)
373 (Jul 1982)

Superman 362

Aug 1981

The Last Days of Lois and Lana!
By Cary Bates, Curt Swan, Frank Charamonte, John Costanza

Lois Lane, Lana Lang, and Clark Kent are preparing to tape a TV program at the Metropolis Museum when they get infected by a deadly disease. Clark encountered this disease years ago in Superman 161 (May 1963). It infected him then and killed his adoptive parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent. He survived the disease and developed an immunity to it but now he fears it will take the lives of Lois and Lana. He rushes to the Fortress of Solitude to run some tests and calculations in the hopes of finding a cure. In the end he fails to find any reassurance in the results of the tests that there is any hope for Lois and Lana.

I recently read about this issue of Superman in Comics Feature 11. There was a reference made to the deaths of Jonathan and Martha Kent in The Great Darkness Saga, Legion of Super-Heroes 291, to be precise. I talked about it for a few minutes at the beginning of Episode 126 of Dave Talks Comics.

Superman: The In-Between Years - Metropolis: Day 1
by Bob Rozakis, Kurt Schaffenberger, Dan Adkins, John Costanza

This is the second of six stories in this series about Superman just after he left Smallville and was still known as Superboy. In this installment he deals with a bomb scare and some robbers. Perry White makes an appearance. At the time Perry was a reporter at the Daily Planet and had yet to rise in the ranks to become the editor of the newspaper. Superman does his best to conceal the fact that he was there but Perry White and Metropolis PD Lieutenant Bill Henderson detect signs that Superboy helped to foil both crimes.

GCD: https://www.comics.org/issue/885502/

Superman Adventures 21

Last Daughter of Argo
By Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer, Bret Blevins and Terry Austin
Jul 1998

- double sized issue
- collector's item
- 99 cents on Comixology
-

- Everything seems normal on Argo until Krypton explodes and Argo is blown out of the orbit of the sun and begins to get progressively colder
- Kara is 13 years old; Zor-el, her father, was killed on the day Krypton exploded
- After the disaster, Kala, Kara's mother, tries to hold what remains of the family (herself, her brother, Kara, her nephew) together but things continue to get worse as Argo drifts further away from the Sun
- After 4 years of deteriorating conditions Kala announces she has a plan; she has modified some sleeping pods to allow them to go into cryogenic sleep until hopefully someone finds and rescues them; Kara reluctantly agrees
- she wakes up on Earth at STAR Labs; Superman explains that when was out in space exploring he found her and her family but the others had been crushed by ice; he takes her to Smallville to stay with Ma and Pa Kent
- Kara writes in her diary about life in Smallville and how dull it is except for the one day she snuck out and went to Metropolis and had an adventure where she met Jimmy Olsen and fought Granny Goodness and the Furies (see S:TAS Little Girl Lost)
- finally she gets her break when Superman agrees to let her keep an eye on Metropolis for him while he is away in space with the Justice League; Ma Kent accompanies Kara but soon she is off on her own fighting crime
- Kara experiences anxiety over the changing of the seasons as the weather gets colder; it reminds her of life on Argo after Krypton exploded; she almost has a meltdown when Ma Kent shows her a snow globe
- she gets attacked by Kanto of Apokolips who is wielding a dagger with a Kryptonite blade but Kryptonite doesn't affect her and she defeats him easily
- Kanto returns to Apokolips and reports in to GG; after Darkseid forbids her from going to Earth or sending any of her people to Earth she takes Kanto to the Phantom Zone; there they find a Kryptonian (Zod?) who is more than happy to do her dirty work
- Zod reluctantly follows GG's orders and frees Jax-ur and Mala from their cell at STAR Labs; they are about to kill Professor Hamilton when Supergirl shows up; she almost gets killed when they turn a disintegration ray on her; they leave thinking she was killed by the ray
- the PZCs start tearing Metropolis apart, they don't stop until Supergirl shows up again with some Green K; the GK work on Jax-Ur and Mala but not on General Zod who like Supergirl comes from Argo; it is at this point that Zod reveals his true identity
- Supergirl isn't prepared for this setback and flies off; Zod uses this opportunity to make things worse for Jax-Ur and Mala; he crushes the GK into powder which he then blows all over them, payback for the way they treated him in the Phantom Zone
- Supergirl heads for the fortress of Solitude hoping to find something to help her defeat Zod; she uses the Brainiac memory globe to learn about Zod which gives her an idea; as she retrieve the Phantom Zone Projector Zod shows up and attacks her
- they fight, he is winning when she sees something and gets an idea, she knocks him into a cage which houses a Teerpa, an Argoan creature and is bathed in red sun radiation which robs Zod of his superpowers; just before the Teerpa tears him limb from limb Supergirl uses the PZP to send him back to the PZ

- neat 2 pages made up of multiple horizontal panels that stretch the width of the page, almost completely wordless, and show life deteriorating on Argo as it drifts further away from the sun
- the scenes of a Krypton exploding are fairly intense as life goes from calm to tragic very quickly
- Supergirl suffers from what can probably be best described as PTSD throughout the story; it takes a valiant effort for her to brave the snowy environment in which the FoS is located
- her overcoming her fears is a big part of the story

- in the Pre-CoIE Earth-1 Universe Argo was a little different

6/10

Superman Comics - Silver Age

I started doing research into the planet Lexor, the planet that was destroyed in Action Comics 544; which led to an interest in the following comics

----

Superman 164 (Oct 1963) The Showdown Between Superman and Luthor! The Super-Duel!

Reprinted in Superman 239, Superman from the 30s to the 80s, Superman in the 60s, Superman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told 1, Superman vs. Lex Luthor, Lex Luthor: A Celebration of 75 Years

----

Superman 167 (Feb 1964) The Team of Luthor and Brainiac (3 parts)

Reprinted in Superman 245, DC 100-Page Super Spectacular DC-7, The Great Superman Comic Book Collection, Superman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told 2, Superman vs. Brainiac

----

Superman 168 (Apr 1964) Luthor -- Super-Hero!

Superman 385 (Jul 1983) Luthor Rises Again!

Superman 386 (Aug 1983) Luthor Lashes Back!

----

Action Comics 318 (Nov 1964) The Death of Luthor

Action Comics 319 (Dec 1964) The Condemned Superman

Reprinted in Best of DC 27

----

Superman 292 (Oct 1975) The Luthor Nobody Knows!

- 1st Cover Appearance of Luthor's green and purple costume (?)

- reprinted in Best of DC 27, Superman vs Lex Luthor