Pre-Crisis Superman Overview

• This cover was another one that was featured on Superdickery, I believe
• The villains in this issue show records of how they assassinated many heroes in the past, including Trygg, supposedly "the most powerful hero in the Andromeda galaxy". Interestingly, in later continuity, Krypton was retconned as being there before it was destroyed.

• When attacked by animated smoke that could hurt him (another weird thing), he blasts it off by using one of the Flash's moves of spinning around at super speed.
• Survives being hit twice with "myra - blasts", which the assassins claim that no being in the cosmos has ever survived. Although, see below, as they weren't actually trying to kill him.
• He claims that he was "ray - blasted with enough lethal energy to split a planet" (possibly a low-end estimate, as the rays also had some other strange properties)
• Analyzes the energy he was blasted with at his Fortress and determines that the weird effects it had could be reversed by Green Lantern
• Superman has a JLA signal device, as would be expected
• Figures out the aliens' plot and works together with Hal Jordan to trick them
• Sees through the aliens' disguises because they became limestone, which was not native to the area.
• Traps the two of them inside escape - proof vacuum tubes (probably using Kryptonian technology, as these were quite powerful energy beings)

Spoiler: The aliens use their weapons and powers to mess with Superman

Spoiler: Analyzes the weird alien energy

Spoiler: The aliens' plan seems to work, but...

Spoiler: Clark and Hal thought one step further

• Sinestro warned his hired assassins that Green Lantern Hal Jordan was "all-powerful" - pretty obvious hyperbole, but it shows the respect he holds for him.
• The two shapeshifting energy being assassins have weapons and powers that can hurt Superman, although their best efforts seem to only stagger him a bit (although they weren't actually trying to kill him)
• Hal Jordan works together with Superman to trick the alien assassins
• Taking Sinestro by surprise, Hal Jordan defeats him and 'power-beams him to a space prison'.

Spoiler: Sinestro puts some respect on Hal's name

• This story tries to trick the reader into thinking that one of Superman's enemies is hiring assassins to kill him, but it's actually Sinestro hiring the assassins to kill Hal Jordan, and they try to use Superman as part of their plan.
• Their plan, if you were wondering, was to hit Superman multiple times with a type of death ray energy that wouldn't kill him, but charge his body with a weird power that would cause sparkling light to appear from his mouth every time he spoke (lolwut), and when Hal tries to cure this with his ring, the energy would cause Hal's power to bounce back at him and become deadly, killing him.

• The title of this story is "The Black Canary is dead!" Spoiler: She's not
• This is another story that heavily involves drugs, so I'm guessing the CCA was more relaxed about this kind of thing at this point
• This is the first part of a multi-part story

• Tracks a guy for six blocks without being observed, by jumping from rooftop to rooftop (although it was at night)
• Jumps down from the roof of what looks to be at least a 2 - story building and lands on his feet on hard cement, but sticks the landing and is unharmed
• Immediately afterwards, easily dispatches 6 thugs armed with knives, clubs, and chains who have surrounded him
• Sneaks into a drug kingpin's mansion and enters his second story window
• Easily defeats the security guards the guy summons to help him, and then pins him to the wall with multiple arrows without actually harming him

Spoiler: Stealth, stamina, durability, and fighting skills

Spoiler: Easily handles more mooks

• The cover of this issue is an homage to the classic "Flash of Two Worlds" story from Flash vol 1 #123, which was the first story to formally introduce the concept of a multiverse to DC (written by Gardner Fox).
• This story sees the return of the actor Gregory Reed who plays Superman on TV, in-universe, who last appeared in issue #414.

• Tunnels through a mountain in seconds to help a construction crew, which they said would have taken them a week
• Flies 2200 miles to Metropolis and is already back in his Clark Kent clothes and attending a speech there, all in "scant seconds".
• Invented a pill that can give a normal human "some" of his powers for 12 hours.
• Some of the following feats were performed by Gregory Reed using the super-pill, but we aren't told which ones:
• Off-panel, stops an avalanche in the mountains and repairs a collapsing railroad trestle.
• Blows out a warehouse fire with super breath
• Off-panel again, saves an airliner from crashing
• Used a combination of microscopic and telescopic vision to see a reflection of the Superman Revenge Squad ship in orbit in a pool of water
• Used his super hearing to listen in on them talking about their plan in space
• Figured out the SRS's scheme and came up with a plan to trick them

Spoiler: Tricks the aliens, with help from a body double

Spoiler: I guess this weapon uses his own power against him somehow

• Using inside information Dinah provided him from spying on the crime ring, Ollie manages to foil a whole bunch of crimes all over the city, enough to significantly cripple the criminal group's operations.
• After being lured into an ambush in a dark room, he manages to react in time to block a large thug from hitting him with a wooden beam. He then easily overpowers the thug and throws him through a window into a tree.
• Easily defeats more thugs, including some armed with Tommy guns (aimdodging)
• Fires an arrow with a blade on it to cut through the ropes tying up Black Canary without harming her
• Again pins the same guy from the last issue to the wall with multiple arrows without harming him

Spoiler: Stopping crime all over the city

Spoiler: Fast reactions, and taking down more thugs

Spoiler: Rapid fire, accurate archery

• "Metro International", Metropolis' airport, is referred to by the narration as "the world's busiest airport".
• The villains in this issue are a group of Communist (Russian) spies, who appear to be led by Leonid Brezhnev, who was the head of state of the USSR at the time this comic was published, although he is never explicitly named in the story.
• The Russian spy who works for the Galaxy Broadcasting Corporation is not exposed at the end of the story.

• Breaks a hole in the floor of a crashing helicopter and uses super breath to gently cushion its landing
• Catches a falling bucket of red - hot rivets from a construction site, puts them in his mouth, and then spits them out, doing the work of a rivet gun on the structure.
• Flies a bank many miles, back to its original location (see the Weirdness section for how it got there)
• Uses his X-ray vision to identify the capabilities of the binoculars Lois is holding, and see what is on the film negatives in the built-in camera they have.
• Places miniature film projectors in Lois' binoculars to trick her into thinking she sees Superman in the sky, separate from Clark Kent

Spoiler: This could also go in the Weirdness section

Spoiler: Tricking Lois

• The opening narration proclaims "For years, mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent has been known as the only person who knows how to get in touch with the man of steel!" As the wiki points out, it seems that everyone in this story conveniently forgot about Jimmy Olsen and his signal watch.
• Another reporter at the Galaxy Broadcasting Corporation has special binoculars that have X-ray vision built in, which can see through anything except lead.
• A criminal gang literally steals entire banks by attaching rocket boosters to them without anyone noticing, and flying them away. Even if they somehow could pull this off, it would probably cost them at least as much money as they got from robbing the banks...
• Lois comes up with a crazy theory that Clark Kent uses his hair to send a "unique vibration" to contact Superman. Honestly, it's not so far - fetched compared to many things we've seen already.

Spoiler: Most impractical robbery ever

Spoiler: Dinah finally uses her trademark superpower

• Vartox, a character we will probably be covering later (if we get that far), is mentioned in this issue, having previously appeared in another title
• Again, the Earth's population is implied to be 3 billion at this point, even though IRL it was closer to 4 billion at this date.

• Saves two cars from falling over a cliff with some quick maneuvering, reacting in milliseconds
• Uses X-ray vision to determine that the timer on a bomb is running fast, and it will go off in 30 minutes
• Uses X-ray vision to determine that the experimental "solar energy bomb", if it goes off, will burn up all the oxygen on Earth and wipe out all life on the planet
• Deflects a bunch of bombs from hitting their target by spinning at super speed
• Takes the solar energy bomb through time as it explodes, diluting the explosion so too much of it isn't released in any single time, but also absorbs the full brunt of the blast himself while doing so. Seems to be KO'd, but is otherwise okay.

Spoiler: Saves some cars

Spoiler: Determines the destructive potential of the bomb

Spoiler: Deflects some missiles and disposes of the bomb

• Ruins Steve Lombard's $300.00 suit (almost $1800.00 in today's money) as part of a prank
• Deliberately doesn't carry a ship to a safe distance from an experimental bomb blast, just to mess with them

• This story is continued in the following issue
• Some of the pages in this copy of the issue I have seem to be out of order

• This issue features a fake psychic who claims to bend metal objects like keys with his mind being exposed as a fraud on TV. Seems like a reference to Uri Geller. Although, considering this is the DCU, debunking this stuff seems like a risky proposition, since there are lots of people on Earth who legitimately can perform paranormal feats.
• TV detective Roy Raymond, host of the show "Impossible... But True!" is referred to by the narration as the "Impossible Man". Not sure if that was a deliberate reference to the Marvel character or not.

• After underestimating an alien and being knocked back, he realizes the alien has similar super strength to himself, and manages to adapt and counter him, then prepares to continue the fight before it is interrupted.
• Tackles another alien with similar strength, and knocks him out of a window

Spoiler: Quickly adapts after realizing an alien has comparable strength to himself

Spoiler: Not the weirdest plot we've seen, but that's not saying much

• Continuation of the story from the last issue
• The James Bond movies "Goldfinger" and "The Man with the Golden Gun" are mentioned in this story

• Thinking quickly, Ray Palmer stops himself from turning to gold by switching to the identity of the Atom. Since the girl causing the phenomenon doesn't know his secret identity, she was dreaming of Ray Palmer, not the Atom, so the transformation stops.
• Is hit by surprise, in miniature form, by the hand of a crook which had turned into solid gold, but only grunts a bit and quickly recovers.

Spoiler: If this was 2 decades later, they could have had a triple feature with "Goldeneye"

• Apparently the telephone system in the Galaxy building is one of the most complex on Earth
• James Bond is referenced in this issue
• The Russian spy in the Galaxy building was behind the plot in this issue, but he still isn't exposed by the end of the story, although everyone is now aware that he's there, they just don't know his identity.

• Uses his senses to detect "a private radio message beamed across an unauthorized wave-length" and tracks it to its source
• Instantly sees through Jimmy Olsen's disguise
• Hears an ultrasonic signal from a telephone, which he identifies as the feedback that occurs just before the phone short-circuits and explodes
• Ties a rubber insulator over a broken wire to stop it from spreading a fire (being unharmed by the electricity, of course)
• Flies at super speed while spinning to create a vortex to draw the fire out of the building and put it out
• Flies back to his apartment and arrives "a super-speed moment later"
• Uses a small amount of super breath to cause a thrown coin to fall down onto the street
• Uses internal heat vision to trip the mechanism on a car door
• Sees through a projected illusion with X-ray vision
• No - sells walking through an "ionic firestorm" defense mechanism
• Fights off and destroys some androids that were strong enough to hit him and knock him back
• Thinks to himself that he has "moved mountain ranges". Of course this is a pretty big understatement compared to many of his feats we have seen.
• Destroys 4 more androids (strong enough to restrain him) with a single karate chop
• Uses martial arts he learned from Batman to throw off two even stronger androids
• Is mostly unharmed by a blast from one of the androids, but pretends to be knocked out, and they think he is knocked out for real because they don't believe he could withstand that attack, so it must have been quite strong
• Despite being slightly shaken by the blast, he still uses heat vision to raise the temperature of a room from near absolute zero to above 60 degrees F, thawing the real Lois and Jimmy who were frozen
• Dodges more energy blasts from the androids
• The battle with the androids is causing all of Metropolis to shake as a side effect
• Defeats 3 of the strongest type of androids in a 3 - on - 1 fight

Spoiler: Not really sure how powerful an "ionic firestorm" is, but here you go

Spoiler: The extended fight with the super-powered androids

• Jimmy Olsen disguises himself as a character named "Festus Cleaver, last of the rib-toothed pool sharks". What.
• The androids apparently get their power from "the sun's ultra-solar rays", which gives them comparable power to Superman. Although it's really his Kryptonian nature that responds to the sun by gaining that power, and it doesn't have similar effects on non-Kryptonian machines... so I think this is kind of a plot hole. Unless the androids somehow had Kryptonian technology involved in their construction or power systems, which I guess is possible.
• It's pretty out of character for Superman to swear, even in more modern comics, but here he calls a guy a "conceited ass".

• The splash page shows Jimmy Olsen sending a bunch of robots to attack Superman (of course this doesn't happen in the actual comic).
• As revenge for Steve Lombard trying to cheat at a coin toss, causes a car door to smack him in the face, so hard it nearly knocks him out
• Jealous of Lois having a crush on a movie star, Clark arranges for her to meet him in person so she will be turned off by his rotten personality

Spoiler: Takes one to know one...

• This is a reprint from Adventure Comics #252 - 253 , originally published in 1958. Interestingly, the cover refers to this as a story from the Golden Age, even though that is usually considered to have ended by that date.
• The artwork for this story was done by the great Jack Kirby (RIP)
• After the story, there is a brief special feature highlighting some of Green Arrow's trick arrows and other equipment

• Green Arrow and Speedy's Arrowcar has a catapult that can immediately launch them into action... kind of odd
• The two of them use multiple "cable arrows" to stabilize a giant, building - sized arrow before it can fall over.
• Ollie uses a "cocoon arrow" to somehow weave a net around a giant arrow in flight, muffling the sound it's emitting.
• He then uses a "jet arrow" to deflect the giant arrow from hitting a ship
• After another arrow explodes into multiple fiery projectiles, the duo use "firecracker - arrows" to blast them all into pieces small enough to no longer be dangerous
• GA and Speedy are stated to have an "acetylene arrow" that can weld metal.
• They fire multiple "balloon arrows" (at least 8) that take in air and grow as they fly, then pop, distracting a giant
• They have "parachute arrows" that, as you probably guessed by the name, deploy parachutes they can use to safely drift to the ground

Spoiler: There are lots of strange gimmick arrows in this story

Spoiler: Please try to focus on the gimmick arrows and ignore the acid trip going on around them

Spoiler: More gimmick arrows in a bonus feature

• The catapult in the Arrowcar... imagine setting that off by accident.
• Allow me to quote the wiki summary of this story's plot: "Green Arrow and Speedy stare into the maw of the dimensional portal, only to find oversized arrows flying towards them from within. They tie themselves to a length of cable, and travel through the portal only to arrive in Dimension Zero. They discover that two giant-sized children are the ones responsible for slinging the arrows through the warp. Green Arrow and Speedy leave the scene and explore more of this strange new world. They eventually encounter an alien who calls himself Xeen Arrow. Like Ollie, Xeen Arrow professes to be a heroic adventurer, and even maintains his own Arrowcave. The three bowmen team-up to stop a group of alien criminals. Afterwards, Xeen leads them back towards the dimensional rift and helps them to return home."
• To elaborate on the above, one of the giant arrows is releasing loud, weird music that is shattering windows with its vibrations
• The temporary portal between dimensions was caused by the approach of a comet... because comets can do that, apparently.

Spoiler: I have no words...

• This story is reprinted from The Atom #18, originally published in 1965
• Ray Palmer's normal weight is stated to be 180 lbs (around 81.6 kg)

• Apparently the Atom wears his costume all the time, but it becomes invisible when he's at normal size, showing his civilian clothes underneath, however that works.
• Defeats some armed robbers
• Resists hypnosis from foreign agents
• Flies on air currents from a circus to his laboratory, changing his weight precisely to take advantage of every breeze to take him exactly where he wants to go
• Beats up some armed spies
• As his memory loss was also attributed to the protonic radiation (see Weirdness section), that means that the agents' attempts to erase his memories also failed, so that's another mental resistance feat

Spoiler: Resisting hypnosis

Spoiler: Yeah, that's totally how radiation works...

• I believe this is another cover that was featured on Superdickery
• Entertainers mentioned to have performed in Las Vegas in this story include Dean Martin, Phyllis Diller, Elvis Presley, and Don Rickles.
• Las Vegas is referred to as "a coupla thousand miles" away from Superman's regular patrol, presumably meaning Metropolis
• This story again uses the "ten percent of the brain" myth as a justification for someone gaining superpowers
• Johnny Nevada (remember him?) is shown performing at a Las Vegas venue known as the "Starfire". I can't find any reference to such a place existing IRL, so it may be a reference to the DC Character (the one you're probably familiar with wouldn't debut until 1980, but there was a previous Starfire that debuted in 1968).
• Clark Kent actually changes to Superman in a phone booth in this issue, a cliche we haven't actually seen played straight for a while

• Uses his cape to precisely bounce a mugger at an angle he calculated, to hit another mugger in the back and knock him out
• Uses arctic breath to fog the glass inside of a phone booth so no one can see him change costumes
• Creates a Richter scale 7.7 earthquake, picked up hundreds of miles away, just by laughing

Spoiler: You could have maybe flown him to an uninhabited area before doing this...

Spoiler: That is totally how that works

• Green Arrow uses a smoke grenade arrow to confuse and blind a bunch of police, while Black Canary (who can somehow see perfectly fine through the smoke) beats them up.
• Ollie uses a "rope - and - pulley arrow" to pull himself to safety on top of a building

Spoiler: Superheroes aren't supposed to do this kind of thing...

• The two don't tell the police about a series of murders committed at the resort they're staying at, just because its owner didn't want them to
• When they are (falsely) accused of murder, they resist arrest and fight back against the police instead of trying to clear up the situation

• There's a Hostess Twinkies ad in this issue featuring Captain Marvel/Shazam
• Metropolis is supposedly home to the world's longest suspension bridge, the "Metro-Narrows Bridge"
• Evel Knieval is referenced in this story
• We again see the plot point that orange sunlight weakens, but does not completely depower, Kryptonians

• When a bridge disappears, Superman grabs a flatbed truck and catches all of the cars that were going to fall into the water, bringing them to safety.
• Learns how to translate the language of an alien tree in seconds
• Despite being weakened by orange sunlight, he flies around a miniature orange sun at super speed, compressing it into a ball that can fit in his hand. He stated it was a billion degrees in temperature, and if he had had his full powers it wouldn't have been able to hurt him.
• Fakes being hit with his own heat vision, then lays prone on the ground, and uses super speed to dash up and attack a creature and the rival alien, then returns to his prone position, too fast for anyone to see him move.

Spoiler: Near-instantly translates the alien tree's language

Spoiler: The orange sun feat

Spoiler: Using super speed to fake the results of a fight

• Continued from the previous issue
• This story is again continued in the following issue

• Uses X-ray vision to determine that a cigar isn't a trick cigar
• I think this has been stated before, but it's reiterated that Superman doesn't need to eat, as long as he gets power from solar energy
• Uses an ultrasonic frequency that humans can't hear to disturb a dog, then severs its leash with invisible heat vision so it will chase after him
• After an enemy with super strength throws a car engine at him, he destroys it with a punch, breaking it into many razor - sharp fragments and sending them back at the guy
• Defeats the enemy (Rick Lawrence) with super strength and speed (this enemy was deliberately trying to lose the fight at first, but when he saw that Superman was distracted and not fighting well, he changed his mind and tried to beat him before he ended up losing)
• Uses internal heat vision to make a cigar explode
• Lawrence had previously copied the strength and speed of Wonder Woman when Superman defeated him, although he didn't seem to have most of her other powers and none of her equipment, and he obviously wasn't as skilled with them, so it shouldn't be taken as representative of a real Superman/Wonder Woman fight, but still it was impressive.
• Beats Lawrence in the rematch, even after he copied Superman's own power. The excuse given was that he only copied him when he was mentally distracted and thus not at full strength, so now that he had gotten over that and was back to 100%, he easily won.
• Crushed some flowers into a powder to make a scent that he used to track Lawrence

• We see someone walking a dog named Hillary - which is apparently male.
• The villain in this issue was the subject of a medical procedure by a mad scientist, using radiation and "hyper-enzyme injections", that gave him the power to automatically gain the strength of anyone he fights. Then again, this is not that weird compared to lots of other things in the DCU.

Spoiler: Adaptive power copying

Spoiler: Superman (weakened and distracted) vs. Lawrence (with Wonder Woman's stats)

Spoiler: This might be the first time we've seen Wonder Woman actually fighting in this title

Spoiler: Superman (back to full strength) vs. Lawrence (with weakened Superman's stats)

• See the feat with the dog, he did that just as an excuse to get away from Lois and change to Superman
• Made several mistakes that could have gotten innocent people injured or killed because he was distracted worrying about Lois and his job
• The cigar feat was done to Steve Lombard, while he was smoking it. And what was his crime this time? Nothing more than boasting to his boss, Morgan Edge, about the high ratings he got on his sports news program.

• Green Arrow slips out of bindings tying him to a chair
• Green Arrow and Black Canary beat up a bunch of evil conspirators
• They then escape from a building, just narrowly clearing the blast radius of the bomb that destroys it

• The elite commando guards fought in the last issue are referred to as zombies in this issue. Not sure if that's meant to be literal, or just a weird turn of phrase.
• Nothing is mentioned about the fact that the two heroes are now wanted for murder and attacking the police. Apparently that plot thread was just dropped and forgotten about.

Doronbo_Shirake said:

450. You are near Superman most famous cover.

Click to expand...

• Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent have a private phone line they use to contact each other for emergencies
• There is a possible reference to one of the Hulk's catchphrases in this story. When Clark Kent threatens a villain, the villain replies "You?! Ha! Everyone knows your reputation, Kent! You're a milksop!" and he replies "-Except when I'm angry... as you're about to discover!"

• Repairs a hot air balloon as it's falling at super speed, patching up 8 holes in 3 seconds, at a speed too fast for any camera to capture, then uses super breath and heat vision to restore the balloon's air
• Reaches the Galaxy Building in Metropolis from the middle of the Atlantic Ocean in "scant heartbeats"
• When a guy randomly walks in on him changing back to Clark Kent, he uses super breath to fog up his glasses before he can see him
• Does 3 days of work logging forests in Canada in a few seconds
• Uses super hearing to determine that the person disguised as Clark Kent is not Bruce Wayne
• He is able to use his vision powers to determine the nature and danger of the death ray gun (see Weirdness section) by just looking at it
• Does an afterimage feint to avoid the ray blast, then KO's the guy and captures him

Spoiler: That balloon was poorly designed if birds could do that to it, though...

Spoiler: Accurate and fast senses

Spoiler: Predating shounen anime tropes by at least 8 years

• In a contextless flashback, we see Superman kicking what appears to be a caveman in the face, while they are both suspended in the air next to a skyscraper.
• Another random mad scientist invents a "facial interchanger", which has a delayed effect that will cause two people's faces to morph into the form of each other's, by "cross-transference" of their "molecular matrices". It works on Clark Kent/Superman (the villain didn't know his identity, but wanted to impersonate him in order to try to kill Superman when Clark Kent was scheduled to present him - who would have been Batman in disguise - with an award on TV)
• He also invented a death ray powered by "the super-energy from Superman's own body" in order to kill him.

• Ray Palmer and his colleague invented a device called an "Actualizer", which can read thoughts and transform them into reality.
• He manages to disable the device when it is causing a car to go out of control, and then stops the car just in time before it crashes into a truck.

Spoiler: What's next, using the Infinity Gauntlet to scrub dishes?

Spoiler: Saves the day

• There's a misspelling on a sign in the first page, which reads "Ivy Univesity South Campus".
• The Actualizer device? It was invented for the purpose of psychotherapy, to help patients come to grips with their thoughts and emotions, via the use of reality warping. Yeah.
• Apparently, changing to the Atom changes Ray's personality

• This is another cover that was featured on Superdickery, a pretty infamous one as well. I also remember someone a long time ago using it as their forum avatar on another board.
• There's a Hostess Fruit Pie ad in this issue, featuring Batman and Robin
• This is the second appearance of the new Toyman, who we first saw in issue #432
• We have a stand-in for McDonald's called "Mactavish's" in this issue

• No-sells fire breath "that could melt a skyscraper" and easily destroys the mechanical dragon using it with a kick
• Despite suffering from a complete energy drain (he says it's a struggle to even hold his head up), he chops up a falling tree at super speed before it hits a building
• Realizing that his power returns to him as he goes into space, he flies around what appears to be Saturn and back
• Helps a scientist design a suit studded with "hundreds of super-solar cells" to maintain his power as he heads towards the source of the energy drain
• Wearing the suit to regain his power, tunnels to the Earth's core
• Neutralizes the energy draining metal (see Weirdness section) with the suit. It's notable that the suit is able to not only survive, but function indefinitely inside the Earth's core (maybe it's made with Kryptonian science and materials)

Spoiler: Vs. Toyman's mechanical dragon

Spoiler: Performing feats (and pigging out) while weakened

Spoiler: Catches the Toyman and figures out the source of the energy drain

Spoiler: Solves the problem

• Toyman II uses a gun that shoots molasses to cover and immobilize two bank guards after he robs the bank
• He also has spring-loaded shoes that allow him to make super jumps
• He had a weapon shaped like a miniature jack-in-the-box that somehow released a giant mechanical dragon "with breath that could melt a skyscraper"
• He actually seems to defeat Superman with a rope gimmick, but as you'll see, there were extenuating circumstances.
• Uses a teddy bear filled with sleeping gas to knock out some more guards
• He also has a miniature rocketship which he uses to escape
• He invented bubbles that somehow reverse gravity and send Superman into space

Spoiler: Anti-gravity bubbles?

Spoiler: Defeats Superman (with help from a weird phenomenon draining his energy)

Spoiler: If only the power of this machine could be harnessed for constructive purposes...

• Everything said about the Actualizer in the previous issue applies to this one as well.
• Also, the story seemed to be implying at the end that the device was somehow repairing itself after being deactivated and then destroyed

• This is a special double - sized story that takes up the entire issue, but so as not to disappoint fans of Green Arrow and the Atom, it guest stars them as well.
• The distance between the Fortress of Solitude and Clark Kent's office in Metropolis is stated in this issue to be 3000 miles
• Green Arrow seems to know Superman's secret identity in this story, yet he didn't seem to in issue #437

• The opening narration claims that Superman can "juggle planets like billiard balls"
• Flies from the Fortress to his office in Metropolis in time to pick up a ringing phone
• Quickly recovers from being shocked by Kryptonian energy from Kandor which "electrocutes" him
• Uses super breath to equalize the pressure so he can open the door of a plane in mid-flight and safely put Green Arrow inside
• Fights against a robot powered by Kryptonian energy from Kandor, which is stated to be stronger than him, although he puts up a decent showing against it

Spoiler: Interesting claim

Spoiler: Puts up a decent fight against a robot with more power than himself

• We again see that the Kandorian monitors can observe scenes in real-time anywhere on Earth
• They also have a helmet that can read all of the information in someone's brain about a certain subject

• Green Arrow randomly had arrows hooked up to aluminum wires, which he used to try to redirect a dangerous electric current (although it doesn't work since it was actually Kryptonian energy from Kandor).
• He uses a parachute to follow Superman down to the Fortress, then saves Kandor by firing an arrow that triggered the shrinking mechanism, sending the robot into the bottle city.

Spoiler: Don't you hate it when super alien science brings movie props to life?

Spoiler: Green Arrow saves Kandor

• The Atom is trying to use his size - changing science to figure out how to re-enlarge Kandor. This isn't the weird part - what's weird is that they never thought of trying this before (the Atom even lampshades this).
• Some guy builds a movie prop robot out of junk, and interference from Kandorian machines accidentally brings it to life with superpowers. Then it gets shrunken and loses its powers in Kandor, but can still move for some reason.

• Manhandles an innocent guy and pulls his shirt over his face so he can't see him changing to Superman
• Gets jealous that Lois is just talking to Oliver Queen and uses heat vision to destroy a paper he's holding

Spoiler: This just came out of nowhere

• This story features Superman taking on The Shark, a Green Lantern villain. The cover was designed as an homage to the movie Jaws, which came out the same year as this comic.
• Captain Strong returns again in this issue, although he doesn't actually do much
• There's a Hostess ad featuring Shazam/Captain Marvel in this issue

• Uses super breath to create a wave that appears to pull him off a boat, in order to get away from Lois and change to Superman
• The narration claims that Superman can "fly faster than a shooting star, crush diamonds in his bare hands, and endure the heat of a thousand suns"
• Is immune to, or at least resists, the Shark's telepathic fear attack
• Intercepts a water projectile charged with the energy of his own punch and tanks it before it can destroy a building
• Flies "faster than the speed of thought" to an observatory outside of Metropolis, grabs a mirror in a millionth of a second, and uses it to redirect his own refracted heat vision before it can hit the city
• Figure out the Shark's weakness (he needs to breathe ozone molecules) and defeats him
• Off-panel, fixes a hole in the ozone layer (somehow)

Spoiler: Round 1 against the Shark

Spoiler: Round 2

Spoiler: Explains how he defeated the Shark

• Years after being devolved back into a normal tiger shark, The Shark spontaneously regains his powers
• He uses said powers to devolve a kid into protoplasm, then break out of the aquarium he was being kept in, creating a giant waterspout
• Telepathically induces fear in Lois and knocks her out
• Smacks away Superman after the latter underestimates him, thinking he is just a random criminal in a costume
• Finds out about Superman by reading Lois' mind, and also sends a telepathic transmission explaining his origin and nature to Superman
• Created a continuous waterspout with his telekinetic powers, and it somehow has the ability to redirect kinetic energy
• It can also absorb and redirect Superman's heat vision
• Inside the water, the Shark's already considerable super strength is multiplied ten times, and his telepathic abilities are as well, allowing him to induce fear in Superman where he couldn't before
• He can also telekinetically manipulate the water to follow and envelop Superman wherever he goes

Spoiler: A neat power from Hal Jordan

Spoiler: EVOLUTION DOES NOT - you know what, just forget it...

• The Shark's water column can "refract energy", turning Superman's punch into a water missile that threatens Metropolis... very strange
• He also re-evolved himself by stealing the "human evolving factor" from a kid, devolving him in turn. Just assume the Morbo meme is implied here.

• The villain in this story is none other than Lex Luthor, under a fake alias
• This is the first part of a multi-part story

• Dinah jumps off of her motorcycle, swings on a pole and lamppost to reach a building roof, and KO's a thug with a surprise attack
• Green Arrow defeats several criminals by firing arrows into the barrels of their guns, jamming them before they have a chance to fire.
• He manages to evade machinegun fire from multiple opponents at close range, although he is knocked off - balance and temporarily stunned

Spoiler: Nice acrobatics

Spoiler: GA vs. clown goons

• This is another infamous cover that was featured on Superdickery. In fact, according to someone from another forum, this might even be the single most infamous Superman cover of all time.
• Two of Jon's guesses for Superman's secret identity are Robert Redford and Burt Reynolds. Both of them would be considered for playing the title role in the Superman movie, which would come out two years after this comic was published.

• Hit by a superpowered wind blast said to have the force of a hurricane, when he was not even paying attention and completely taken by surprise, and is only thrown around a bit and completely unharmed
• Unharmed by being covered with molten lead
• Quickly flies through the sun and then back to remove the lead
• Counters more of the villain's hurricane - force wind blasts with super breath
• Bounces his super breath off the wall of a plane to hit the villain (however that's supposed to work)
• Pushed a jet 100 miles up into the air while he was inside of it
• Apparently Superman can't get headaches (at least, not under normal circumstances)

Spoiler: A quick sundip, again before it was a powerup

Spoiler: The physics of this are questionable...

Spoiler: So how can the kid still breathe?

Spoiler: Not counting Kryptonite or magic-induced headaches, of course...

• A random supervillain with wind powers decides to call himself "Whirlicane" and uses a flying saucer to try to rob a train carrying oil, and then a jet plane carrying scientific equipment
• It seems kind of odd that he felt the need to fly through the sun to get rid of the lead covering him, instead of just, you know, using super strength to rip it off, or spinning around at super speed to make it fly off.
• Apparently, Pete Ross' son Jon is so depressed that he has lost the will to live, and the only thing that would save him is being told Superman's secret identity - but he doesn't believe that he's really Clark Kent.
• Superman said that they were 100 miles above the Earth's surface and in the stratosphere, but that would actually be in the thermosphere.

• The cover
• Taking that plane to the edge of outer space probably damaged it and might have injured the crew...

• Ollie fires an arrow attached to a wire at a building, swinging on it to try to intercept a falling helicopter, but only misses because the aircraft changed directions at the last instant. He then swings around a pole on a building to land safely.
• Black Canary tricks the criminals in the helicopter, taking them by surprise, disarming them, and knocking them out.

Spoiler: Green Arrow almost catches a helicopter

Spoiler: Dinah's not clowning around (apologies for the lame pun)

• Part 1 of a multi-part story
• First appearance of the recurring villain Blackrock (although the powers this villain used would be recurring, several different people would use the identity)
• According to the DC wiki, a reference source states that very similar events to those in this story arc also occurred in the Post-Crisis continuity, and that's why Blackrock is also present there, without a story to officially introduce him. Of course, this was before all of the different histories merged together.
• There's a Hostess Twinkies ad in this issue featuring Batman and Robin
• Morgan Edge promotes Clark Kent to associate producer of all WGBS programming in this issue, meaning he not only retains his newscasting job, but is in charge of hiring and firing the reporting staff for all of the company's news programs.
• The fictional scientist Peter Silverstone is mentioned by the narration to have helped invent several real - life technologies, including color TV, the long-playing record, and Telstar.
• The Powerstone that gives Blackrock his abilities was shown in this issue to be technology invented on Earth by Dr. Peter Silverstone, although it was later retconned to be an alien lifeform.

• Flies into a thunderstorm and intercepts a lightning bolt, using its charge to clear his head of Blackrock's signal interference
• After the power source of a villain's technology is disrupted, Superman is able to overcome the energy drain and escape it, defeating the villain

• The narration says that, to a genius like Peter Silverstone, "nothing is ultimately impossible". Obvious hyperbole, but you know I like to collect these kinds of statements.
• Blackrock becomes intangible when Superman tries to punch him, and then blasts him with a bolt of energy that causes sound waves and radio broadcasts from all over the Earth to be amplified directly into Superman's head, overwhelming him with noise and information
• He can also 'disperse his body into ionic particles' to travel on TV and radio waves
• He can also use TV screens, radios, and telephones to project visual and auditory illusions
• Blackrock is able to track a criminal vehicle by its "vibratory pattern" and transmit himself to its location
• He says he can short out any communications gadget at will and listen in on any phone conversation

Spoiler: Superman vs. Blackrock, round 1

Spoiler: Blackrock showing off and explaining his powers

• Black Canary counters Lex Luthor's hypnosis by using her martial arts training to hypnotize herself into seeing him as Green Arrow, so her command to kill Green Arrow becomes targeted at Luthor
• Dinah's karate chop puts a dent in the metal exterior of a helicopter

Spoiler: I guess she can do that...

Spoiler: Nearly takes Luthor's head off

• Lex Luthor uses a "hypno-beam" to prevent Black Canary from attacking him, and hypnotizes her to want to kill Green Arrow
• Uses a device in his watch to trigger a teleporter to escape

Spoiler: Lex's hypnosis ray

Spoiler: Lex makes his escape

• Superman always has his super hearing tuned to the burglar alarms in Metropolis, to respond to criminal incidents. He hears a robbery at a jewelry store and arrives there at super speed.
• Flies in front of and intercepts some of Blackrock's energy waves (considering his powers are based on radio and TV signals and electromagnetism, they are probably lightspeed)
• No-sells Blackrock's energy waves (although these particular waves were intended to only disable normal human criminals)
• Identifies that some criminals have "tiny teleporter transistors" between their teeth, programmed to self-destruct if they are knocked unconscious.
• Uses telescopic vision to track the signals that Blackrock is beaming into his brain
• Resists sound waves that shake every atom of his body
• Despite having his senses of sight and hearing completely compromised, Superman manages to track the vibrations of Blackrock's attack to their source and strike back at him
• Still crippled by Blackrock's attack on his senses, he manages to use super ventriloquism to communicate with Professor Silverstone and give him instructions in the middle of the fight
• After getting the Professor to help him shut off Blackrock's mental attack, he manages to break free of his supposedly "unbreakable" energy cocoon
• Uses the device the Professor built to shut off Blackrock's powers, and he loses his memory of ever having them

Spoiler: Intercepting Blackrock's blasts

Spoiler: Superman vs Blackrock, Round 2

• Blackrock tries to use "energy-waves" from his antenna weapon to save a falling hang glider, but ends up almost killing the pilot due to his inexperience
• Blasts some criminals with more of his energy waves, knocking them out
• Blackrock uses his powers to turn Superman's brain into a living TV receiver, so he is constantly bombarded with the sounds and images of his own newscasts, distracting and irritating him. He says the effect will increase until the broadcasts will be all he can hear or see.
• Blasts Superman with a stronger blast that sends him flying through multiple buildings
• Uses sound waves that shake every atom of Superman's body
• Wraps Superman in an energy cocoon that the latter thinks to himself is unbreakable

Spoiler: Tries to drive Superman insane

• It turns out the true identity of Blackrock was the president of the UBC company, who was not even aware he was taking the identity since he lost his memories of doing so when he went back to his civilian identity.
• The same mad scientist villain from the last issue was robbing banks again, this time using a teleporter. You'd think there would be much easier and safer ways to make money with that kind of technology.

• First part of a multi-part story
• There's a Hostess fruit pies ad in this issue, featuring the Joker
• There's also a PSA about the functions of the Juvenile Court system, featuring Superman
• First appearance of Karb-Brak, an alien from the Andromeda galaxy who appears to menace Superman a few more times after this
• The narration states that the Andromeda galaxy is millions of light-years away. That's actually accurate, which is more surprising to me than if they had gotten it wrong.
• A galaxy is referred to as an "island universe" at one point in this issue, which was terminology formerly used in astronomy

• Fights and defeats Karb-Brak, despite the latter emitting a passive aura that drains Superman's powers, even while unconscious. He said he put everything he had into his second punch, which only managed to KO the guy.
• Karb-Brak thinks to himself that Earthlings are "so low on the evolution scale" compared to his people, and only Superman is comparable to himself

Spoiler: Superman vs. Karb-Brak

• Karb-Brak accidentally melts a bus by giving off heat he can't control
• Smacks Superman away when he tries to attack him
• Releases some kind of passive energy field that constantly drains Superman's powers
• Gets hit with two punches from Superman, the second one being him going all-out (although he was weakened by the energy drain), and Karb-Brak is just KO'd but otherwise uninjured, and recovers fairly quickly
• He is able to shapeshift and create a human appearance and clothes for himself
• He also apparently can have premonitions of future events
• He has a "psi-machine" from his home planet, which is sort of like Superman's Kryptonian computers, which he uses to try to track down Superman's identity

• The alien Karb-Brak, from a planet in the Andromeda galaxy, is somehow allergic to every other member of his own species, and the only planet they can find where he can live peacefully and safely, is coincidentally, Earth. On Earth, he adopts the moniker "Andrew Meda" (get it?).
• It's stated that Superman's physical makeup is similar to Karb-Brak's own, so it triggers his allergic reaction when he gets near to him. He then decides to kill Superman, but mistakenly believes that Steve Lombard is his secret identity.

Spoiler: Just trying to live a normal life on Earth...

Spoiler: Unfortunately he decides the only way to do that is to kill

• Off-panel, we hear that Superman flies into space to stop some alien robots from invading a planet and apparently succeeds
• Mxy's plan counts on Superman traveling to the Fifth Dimension to investigate him, again reaffirming that he can do that

• Mxyzptlk is able to observe events in the normal universe from the Fifth Dimension
• Mxy makes a house become giant sized, and then turns Pete Ross into a statue
• Creates a trail in the sky that lets Jon Ross fly after him
• Transforms the Galaxy Broadcasting Building into a replica of a building from his home dimension
• Proceeds to transform everything else in Metropolis to look like Zrfff
• Gives Jon Ross some of his power to warp reality as well
• They slowly begin to transform the rest of the world
• Mxy built a "magic globe" that will automatically materialize around Superman once he appears in the Fifth Dimension, and neutralize his powers, making it so the only way he can return home is to say his real name backwards. However, Jon tricks Mxy into being trapped in his own globe.

Spoiler: Transforming Metropolis and empowering Jon Ross

Spoiler: Hoist by his own petard, as so often happens