ACTION COMICS #298(1963)
by Leo Dorfman and Jim Mooney
Cover by Curt Swan
One of the rare times where the cover is from the Supergirl story, but you wouldn’t tell at first glance.
When we last saw Supergirl, three Kryptonian criminals took over Earth and created a barrier to stop Superman (and his robots) from reaching it from the past.
And it’s also stopping the Legion from reaching it from the future.
Since Supergirl can’t get near any living creature, because she’s been infected with the Plant Pague, he reaches Luthor by using… *sigh*… her super-ventriloquism.
In a sudden burst of realism, the warden DOESN’T agree to free the most dangerous man in the world because a disembodied voice tells him to.
That’s when the Kryptonian criminals recruit Luthor, giving him superpowers.
And this being the Silver Age, he needs zero time to get used to it.
Though admittedly it could also be because he’s Lex Freakin’ Luthor.
Except that his clothes burn because they are not indestructible. And since nobody wants to see a naked Silver Age Lex Luthor (I hope), he goes to get himself a costume.
Specifically, the ugliest costume you’ve ever seen.
Supergirl is pretty bummed by the fact that her cousin’s arch-nemesis is suddenly super-powerful, and that she can’t do anything to stop him or the Kryptonian criminals.
I don’t know if these are specific references to real issues. If they are please tell me because I really want to know what the f#ck is going on with the “porcupine planet”.
Luthor is understandably not interested in taking orders from the other criminals, but they point out that they don’t really need him.
Why give him superpowers then!?!?
Kru-El continues to demonstrate his awesome weapons. Which include a headpiece that creates anything out of thin air…
…and a Time Reversal Ray ™ which does… something.
He describes it like a time machine, but if he points the ray at soldiers who are invading the island to investigate an earthquake…
(WTF about that, by the way)
…it turns them into cavemen?
I know this is a comic book with aliens who get strong enough to move planet if they’re exposed to sunlight and a helmet that materializes anything, but… how the heck does this work!?!?
At least we discover the criminals DO have a reason to ally themselves with Luthor: they need his help to recover Gold Kryptonite, which would de-power Superman and Supergirl permanently.
Because the guy who constantly loses to Superman has easy access to that, I suppose.
Three things…first, remember Kru-El saying that they need Gold Kryptonite to take away Luthor’s powers, it’ll be important soon.
Second: why exactly do they need this? Last issue Kru-El had a gun who could kill fully powered Kryptonians with one shot! Sure, the gun was damaged, but he was the one who invented it! Couldn’t he repair it? Or make a new one!?
Third: they needed to give Luthor powers for this!?
And how does Luthor find the incredibly rare and elusive Gold Kryptonite?
Magnets.
Sounds legit.
The criminals lure Supergirl with a promise of a cure for the Plant Plague, and she falls for it along with Luthor.
Superman also falls for it.
Literally.
Or is it?
Turns out Luthor knew that the Kryptonian criminals were plotting against him. Not because he’s smart, but because Kryptonians are dumb.
Giving Luthor powers was such a great idea, right?
As for the Gold Kryptonite… SOMEHOW Luthor was able to “adjust the controls” of the magnet to attract only a fake sample?
Unfortunately, the Phantom Zone Projector ™ was destroyed with the other weapons, so there’s no way to exile the Kryptonian criminals again.
Or not.
Did the criminals forget they have super-speed too!?
And it turns out that, with Kru-El gone, Luthor loses his powers because they were coming from the Kryptonian’s belt.
That’s not what Kru-El said! And if he was lying… why the trouble of exposing Luthor to Gold Kryptonite if all he had to do was turn his powers off!?
Now powerless, Luthor agrees to surrender if Superman frees his sister (something that Supes was going to do anyway!), even if the island is not in Superman’s jurisdiction.
Wait… what jurisdiction? Does he have jurisdiction anywhere!? What’s he talking about!?
No time to dwell on it: we’re at the last page, which Superman uses to get Lena out of Kandor.
Wait a second. It’s THAT simple to get someone out of Kandor? You just need an android for the exchange?
We’ve seen plenty of times that Superman can build an android in seconds! Just create an android for each citizen of Kandor and get everybody out! Sure, it’ll take time, but COME ON!!!
Historical significance: 1/10
Pretty much forgotten, saved from being a zero by being part of a continuous story.
Silver Age-ness: 9/10
Gold Kryptonite, not to mention superpowers and alien science that make absolutely zero sense.
Does it stand the test of time? 3/10
What a letdown! General Zod and Jax-Ur are completely wasted: you can remove them from the story and nothing would change. Kru-El, who was scarily and ruthlessly effective last time, is incredibly dumb now. Lena does a quick cameo and nothing else.
Time travel doesn’t work like that
The more I think about the Time Reversal Ray ™ the less sense it makes. Also, since in this period it was impossible to change history: why was the Legion so worried about Supergirl? They know her future, right? If they don’t know when she dies, at least they know Luthor and the Kryptonians don’t conquer the 20th century!
Interesting letters: I thought that the Lena Thorul of the Supergirl stories was the same introduced in Lois Lane 23, with her age being a retcon. But no, apparently she’s a new character!
Also: they did know the real acronym of FBI but used the wrong one intentionally because they were afraid J. Edgar Hoover would be offended by how the agency was portrayed in a comic book.
From what I’ve read about Hoover… sounds legit.