ACTION COMICS 340 (1966)
“Power of the Parasite!” by Jim Shooter & Al Plastino
“The Supergirl Identity Hunt!” by Leo Dorfman & Jim Mooney
cover by Curt Swan
By the 1960s, Superman’s rogues gallery was pretty much set in stone. Leave it to Jim Shooter to make a considerable addition when he was only 15 years old.
Even more impressive: he’s credited in the story itself! This NEVER happened at the time!
We begin with Superman doing some experiments in a government lab. No clue why he doesn’t do this in the Fortress of Solitude instead.
A lab assistant, Jensen, is put in charge to deal with the radioactive waste. You’d expect this to be a job for someone with at least a couple of working brain cells, but no.
Turns out that this is a really bad idea.
Or is it?
The Parasite is born!
Something interesting that won’t be carried over to most future incarnations of the Parasite: he doesn’t only absorb strength, but also intelligence.
Not only that, but he HAS to keep absorbing power in order to stay alive. This tragic aspect to his powers won’t be used all that often.
All of which makes Superman his best possible target.
Even more impressive for a 60s villain: Parasite FIGURES OUT SUPERMAN’S IDENTITY!
He then lures Superman by robbing a bank. Also he has used his new intelligence to make himself a fearsome costume!
Uhm, yeah. A pair of green trunks. “Fearsome” indeed.
Despite that goofy comment, Parasite is a real threat!
His plan to blackmail Superman might need some work, though.
All Superman can do is gather enough strength to fly away, and barely manages to do it.
You might wonder: “wait, Superman has a dozen other powers, can’t he use something other than super-strength?”. But Shooter has you covered!
Superman does get to land a few punches by pretending he’s weak, something he’s had a lot of practice as Clark Kent.
But that’s not particularly useful when your enemy can get stronger the longer you fight him.
So we run into a bit of a problem: Parasite is basically unbeatable, so what is Superman going to do?
Just wait for the Parasite to defeat himself at the last page, of course!
So, uhm… THAT happened.
You bribed the editors to give you a win, didn’t you Superman?
Moving to the Supergirl story, and don’t tell me that this doesn’t look like the old man is about to molest all these mannequins.
Supergirl’s secret identity and her boyfriend Dick visit he orphanage where they grew up.
Which turns out to have been the home of several famous people! Such as an actress…
…the head of “the Dental Association”…
…and a jeweler.
On second thought, only the actress and Miss Universe are really famous.
But it turns out that the jeweler is Not Tony Stark, a high-profile detective!
He’s been hired by someone who has figured out that Supergirl is from Midvale Orphanage.
The orphans “insisted” on doing free labor, yes. I totally buy that you’re not running some sort of scam here, for sure.
There’s an emergency with some astronauts on the Moon; Superman is unavailable, so Supergirl has to find a way to excuse herself.
Her solution? Arson, of course!
And the emergency is SUDDEN KRYPTONITE!
Well, we just learned three things:
1) Supergirl has a much easier time dealing with Kryptonite than Superman
2) NASA makes unnecessarily long flag poles
3) On the Moon, the sky is orange. (???)
Supergirl returns to Earth by the time the smoke has cleared, and Not Tony Stark now suspects somebody else.
Not Tony Stark tricks his suspect into walking into quicksand, but she’s rescued by Supergirl so that’s not the answer.
Also: quicksand!? I swear that orphanage is the most dangerous place on the planet!
Then Not Tony Stark thinks he can figure out Supergirl’s secret identity by her handwriting, not considering that she’s an expert at forgery. (???)
Supergirl plants the evidence on another girl, so Not Tony Stark traps her in the basement.
It turns out to be a spectacularly bad idea… FOR HIM.
She should have enough evidence to arrest him, but… she doesn’t? WTF!?
Actually it’s because she can have a tooth pulled (what!?) to convince the blackmailer to go straight.
Sounds legit.
Historical significance
Superman story: 8/10
While not anywhere near a nemesis like Luthor or Brainiac, the Parasite will become one of Superman’s most recurring villains. It’s not a 10/10 because very little of the original incarnation will remain.
Supergirl story: 0/10
Don’t expect Not Tony Stark to return.
Silver Age-ness
Superman story: 3/10
Aside from the rather silly origin (Superman doing experiments in a government facility? A lab assistant thinking they keep money in the radioactive waste bin?), there is a remarkable effort in showing Parasite’s journey to become a supervillain.
Supergirl story: 5/10
Sadly average for the time.
Does it stand the test of time?
Superman story: 8/10
I’ve told you many times that good Superman stories DID exist in the Silver Age, and this is one of them. It’s not perfect by any means… the deus-ex-machina ending really hurts it… but it’s still a well-crafted and well-thought story!
Supergirl story: 0/10
We’re just supposed to take at face value that the blackmailer has given up crime!?