Action Comics #332 (1966)
by Leo Dorfman & Al Plastino
cover by Curt Swan
We have reached the last batch of Silver Age issues featuring Lexor.
Unfortunately for Lex Luthor, it will be written by Leo Dorfman who definitely has a wildly different direction in mind than Ed Hamilton.
More about the cover story later.
There’s a lot to cover, so I will focus mostly on what is ultimately connected to Lexor.
We begin with Lex Luthor, Brainiac and the Legion of Super-Villains in a space prison.
We last saw Luthor on Lexor, but to the best of my knowledge there isn’t a story that explains how he ends up here.
I also have no idea who these authorities are supposed to be.
They’re not exactly doing a great job: they allow Luthor access to a nearby crashed ship (!!!) and he’s able to modify its technology to turn the convicts who had been transmuted into statues (!!!) into fuel.
That’s right, Lex Luthor just escaped prison by making CORPSE FUEL.
Superman suspects that Lex has gone back to Lexor, and he could follow him by using a spaceship like he’s done in every Lexor story before… but why use a proven method when you can use an incredibly dangerous and unnecessary one?
According to this story, Earth has had the technology to teleport matter through interstellar distance since 1966. Notice there is no mention of ANY drawback for inanimate objects even before Superman modifies it, so the technology was available even earlier!!!
But there is still a high risk that Superman might die if the teleportation doesn’t work.
Well I’m glad we kept the tension for LITERALLY ONE PANEL.
Superman stumbles into the evidence that Lex smuggled to this planet…
…and Lex’s wife Ardora would immediately kill him if the teleportation ray hadn’t been on a timer!!!
Ardora seems to have learned English since her last appearance (she couldn’t speak the language initially, Lex had to learn hers).
This allows her to discover that her husband is a criminal. And she doesn’t find just a regular crime: she sees him cause the death of some Atlanteans!!!
She’s understandably devastated, as she tells Luthor once he does get back home.
Even though she still loves him (well he DID still save her entire civilization), Luthor goes off the deep end.
And that was basically the framing device for this storyline, which sees Lex more convinced than ever that HE is the one who has to kill Superman.
Good news: Lex Luthor is not interesting in taking over the world.
Bad news: humanity doesn’t need much help breaking it anyway.
This has to be the laziest possible panel of someone throwing anything into the Sun.
Jor-El would be disappointed, Superman.
You might have figured out that a teleporting gun that disintegrates its target can easily be turned into a deadly weapon.
If you also figure out how it could do that to a guy who in the Silver Age could shrug off the Big Bang, you’ve probably given this WAY more thought than Leo Dorfman.
Lex, you definitely need better branding than using just a picture of your face.
Superman is such a nice guy that he tells the press Luthor is helping him.
Lex’s secret weapon against Superman is going to be cheap psychology.
Action Comics #333 (1966)
by Leo Dorfman & Al Plastino
cover by Curt Swan
This has ALMOST nothing to do with the story.
Lex Luthor in Hamilton stories: there may be a good soul worth redeeming beneath his obsessions.
Lex Luthor in Dorfman stories: he tortures bunnies!!!
Yeah good luck sympathizing with Luthor in this part of his history.
He keeps saving Superman from death traps. From a guy wielding an indestructible sword made of a super-metal…
…and he ruins his image by creating the illusion that he’s turned into a monster.
That was apparently impressive enough to warrant the cover.
And this is ALREADY too much for Superman.
You know about the Fortress Of Solitude, but have you heard about the Spa Of Solitude?
He has relaxed enough to screw up again.
This might be the only occasion where the Daily Planet’s obsession with Superman is called out.
Superman now trusts Luthor enough to follow his tip about a train carrying a radioactive cargo…
…which is the most predictable trap ever.
Superman is particularly idiotic in this storyline.
In fact, Lex has confused him SO much that he doesn’t know whether the next emergency is real or not. Maybe use one of your fifty super-senses to investigate???
Action Comics #335 (1966)
by Leo Dorfman & Al Plastino
cover by Curt Swan
Action Comics #334 was a reprint, so we finally end the story. Which really needed three whole issues for such a complex tale!
We started with Lex being the one difficult to root for, but I’m kind of finding it hard to root for Superman either!
Does Ardora spend ALL HER TIME crying in front of that picture, or is this a recording on a loop?
In a SHOCKING bit of continuity, this story is set when Perry White was replaced as editor on the pages of Lois Lane.
Things are bleak enough that the President (which was Lyndon Johnson at this time) asks the Daily Planet staff to check on Superman.
Which translates into running a bunch of tests on Superman.
I would question the scientific value of these tests…
…but they do prove that Superman has suffered brain damage.
Well, either him or the writer.
If you hadn’t figured out that one of the scientists was Lex Luthor… hi, nice of you to choose this site to read your very first Silver Age story.
Superman has finally snapped, reducing himself to punch cardboard cutout of his enemies.
Luthor and Brainiac can’t resist taunting him one last time…
…but I’m guessing THEY were the ones to suffer brain damage, because WHY WOULD THEY DO THIS???
Turns out that Superman actually DIDN’T fall for their trap!!!
Lex is able to return to Lexor, where Ardora has completely forgotten about his criminal past.
That’s not as random as it sounds: Superman outsmarted EVERYBODY, allowing Luthor and Brainiac to escape and removing Ardora’s memories.
Good on Superman: he FINALLY realized that the best way to get rid of Luthor was giving him a happy ending.
I’m not so sure about letting Brainiac escape as well.
Historical significance: 2/10
You would expect this to matter, given that Luthor is given a happy ending… which is actually COMPLETELY forgotten for TWELVE YEARS.
The only other Silver Age appearance of Lexor is Action Comics #365, where the people suddenly realize Luthor is evil because they are told he infected Superman with Virus-X.
Can you tell that’s a Leo Dorfman story?
And the entire Lexor plot will be COMPLETELY forgotten until 1980 (I’ll cover those later in the retrospective): between 1968 and 1980, Luthor acted on Earth without mentioning that he had a wife on another planet.
Well, unless you ignore 1976’s World’s Finest #238. Since it’s a Super-Sons story… yeah you’re better off ignoring it.
Silver Age-ness: 10/10
When else?
Does it stand the test of time? 3/10
Let’s start with the positive first: the revelation that Superman has secretly figured out Luthor’s plan AND arranged things so that he’d get a real chance at redemption? Perfectly in-character.
The negative? EVERYTHING ELSE.
Dorfman squanders basically everything that Hamilton established, turning Luthor back into a one-note stereotype. And while I liked the ending, Superman acts like an idiot for the rest of the storyline! So even the ending doesn’t manage to redeem two and two-thirds of Super-idiocy.
The idea of Luthor using psychological warfare to drive Superman nuts is a fantastic one, but it REALLY needed a much better writer to pull it off.
What else was in Action Comics #332 through #335?
The cover story for #332 is an Imaginary Tale where Supergirl arrives on Earth before her cousin.
She grows up as Supergirl first and Superwoman later, while her parents lose their powers through Gold Kryptonite and eventually die.
In this reality, Superboy was born AFTER his cousin, which explains why she’s older.
Something weirder will happen in multiple modern continuities where Supergirl is born first, but arrives to Earth younger because of space travel shenanigans.
As you can imagine, the Imaginary Tale focuses on important stuff.
Like turning this Superboy EVEN WORSE than the original Superman.
This continues in Action Comics #333, where he proves to be a complete monster.
He’s SUCH a menace that, after he tries to release the Phantom Zone criminals to take over Earth (!!!), Supergirl hypnotizes him into a regular guy.
I will take this guy coming back for revenge than yet another attempt to make Superboy Prime interesting any day of the week.
I’ve already reviewed the Supergirl story from Action Comics #335 where she wins both Miss United States and Miss Universe.
