Batman Meets Atom And Firestorm

Batman met the atomic age well, and worked with a few heroes involved with atoms and nuclear power, specifically his fellow Justice League of America members, the Atom and Firestorm, in the pages of Brave and the Bold.

When Batman met them, they were already beginning to be legends in the DC Universe, but the team-ups still proved to be fresh and interesting....

Brave and the Bold #77

Batman first met with Atom in B&B with Brave and the Bold #77 (April-May, 1968), with "So Thunders The Cannoneer!" by Bob Haney, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito, with the Darknight Detective and the Mighty Mite facing off against the Cannoneer (a human cannonball) and Lilli De La Pooche (his midget assistant) as they plot to rob the Brotherhood Express train (packed with artistic treasures, passing through Gotham City).  Batman faces off against the Cannoneer while Atom deals with Lilli, eventually prevailing and getting the art back.


This story has only been reprinted in black and white, in Showcase Presents the Brave and the Bold Batman Team-Ups #1 of 2007.

Brave and the Bold #115

Batman was "The Corpse That Wouldn't Die" in Brave and the Bold #115 (October-November, 1974) by Bob Haney and Jim Aparo.  Batman was fatally wounded while searching for Debbie Manton, and Atom is called in to stimulate Batman's body, and continue the hunt to find the kidnapped girl.  While keeping Batman's body moving, Batman's brain also is stimulated, eventually restoring the Gotham Guardian to life.

This story has been reprinted in black and white, in Showcase Presents the Brave and the Bold Batman Team-Ups #3 of 2008, as well as in color in Batman: The Strange Deaths Of Batman of 2009 and in the Legends Of The Dark Knight: Jim Aparo Volume 1 of 2012.

 

 

Brave and the Bold #152

Batman's next solo team-up with the Atom is in Brave and the Bold #152 (July, 1979) with "Death Has A Golden Grab" by Bob Haney and Jim Aparo, with Bruce Wayne and Ray Palmer finding themselves labeled as criminals due to a computer mix up, which puts their alter egos on the chase across the country to find out the hackers behind this problem.


This tale should be reprinted in the Legends Of The Dark Knight: Jim Aparo Volume 3 of 2016, though it appears computer hackers have messed with the various listings of this online, as descriptions of this volume have the book starting with Brave and the Bold #151, and not containing #152 (though it appears #151 was in Volume 2, with a team-up with the Flash, which has been covered here).

 

 

Brave and the Bold #172

Batman moved on from the Atom and the 1970s, and had his only B&B team-up with Firestorm in Brave and the Bold #172 (March, 1981) with "Darkness and Dark Fire", by Gerry Conway, Carmine Infantino and Steve Mitchell (under a cover by Jim Aparo, at least).  This tale, written by Firestorm's co-creator, has Batman being called in by the Justice League facing off against Firestorm (a relative rookie in the JLA at this time), who has been taken over by the nuclear reactor that gave him his powers, and Batman has to play detective to find out why Firestorm is a menace, then free his nuclear powered friend.


This tale has been reprinted, in the Tales Of Batman: Carmine Infantino book of 2014, though sadly, the Nemesis back-up contained in the book has not (and that series cries for collection!).

 

Brave and the Bold #129 and #130

With all this excitement, almost missed Brave and the Bold #129 and #130 (September and October, 1976), but Atom was one of a few co-stars there, along with the Joker, Two-Face and Green Arrow....and Green Arrow team-ups with Batman (including this one) have been covered here.....so, go back there to read more on these, and we'll B&B seeing you soon!

Supernatural Supergirl

Supergirl, like all Kryptonians, is vulnerable to magic, but it seemed over the early years of her career, to not face too many magical threats.


Here's a few of the most interesting tales from the 1960s (and they also lean towards the theory that magic is just an unexplained science.....).

The Black Magic Of Supergirl

In Action Comics #324 (May, 1965) by Leo Dorfman and Jim Mooney, Supergirl gets a magic ring from a magician named Abdul, who says he was dying from a snake bit.  Abdul reveals to Supergirl he was also a demon, and that using the magic powers of the ring will turn its owner into a demon.  Of course, after Supergirl returns to her home, emergencies arise which force her to use the ring 3 times....and, true to the warnings, Supergirl becomes a demon!  Disturbed by her new evil leanings, Supergirl returns to the bazaar that she got the ring at, only to find Abdul alive, with no memory of his past.  Supergirl finds that she needs to be purified by fire to be rid of the demon, and tries flying through lava and to the sun....but only finally being able to rid herself of the curse when she finds the remains of the Kryptonian Firefalls, which have also been turned into Kryptonite....and that heat frees her and melts the ring.

This story was reprinted in Adventure Comics #416 (March, 1972) and in the Best of DC #38 (July, 1983).

Please Stop My Funeral

Supergirl has another brush with the supernatural in Adventure Comics #383 (August, 1969) by Robert Kanigher, Win Mortimer and Murphy Anderson, wherein she attends her own funeral after saving the Apollo 15 spacecraft from a UFO that explodes, catching the Girl of Steel in its wake!  Supergirl encounters Clark Kent, Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane, Perry White, Fred and Edna Danvers, Batman and Robin, Streaky and Comet....and is unable to communicate with any of them.  Oddly, Supergirl does find an active Abraham Lincoln, Joan of Arc and Sir Isaac Newton, and while helping Newton, is hit by a rocket fired by him....and is sent back to her own world (realizing somehow that she had been sent into an alternate world, where the dead still existed after death and could interact with each other, but not the living!).  She knew she was home when she went to talk to Clark.

This story has not been reprinted as of yet. 

The Condemned Legionnaires

As a little bonus, a look at Adventure Comics #313 (October, 1963) by Edmond Hamilton, Curt Swan and George Klein, with Supergirl having an adventure with the Legion of the Super-Heroes in the 30th Century.  Supergirl, like her cousin, Superboy (Superman when he was a boy), was a member of this future teen super-group, and was called in when all the female Legionnaires (Saturn Girl, Lightning Lass, Shrinking Violet and Triplicate Girl) suddenly fell to a Crimson Virus...and it even affected Legion of Substitute Heroine, Night Girl!

Satan Girl showed up at this time, trying to join the Legion, due to its depleted ranks, seeming to possess all the powers of Kryptonians.  Satan Girl then takes credit for the girls' illness, and Supergirl goes after her to stop her while the men of the Legion try to save the girls.  Supergirl tries to stop Satan Girl, even using Kryptonite against her....all to no avail, and only defeats the evil vixen with the help of the Legion of Super-Pets (Krypto the Super-Dog, Streaky the Super-Cat, Beppo the Super-Monkey and Comet the Super-Horse).  Unmasking Satan Girl reveals her to be an evil duplicate of Supergirl, created by Red Kryptonite (and the duplicate wanted to survive past the 48 hours it usually takes for Red K effects to disappear, so was siphoning off the Red K into the Legion females).  Defeated, the time expires, with Satan Girl being reabsorbed by Supergirl and the Legion girls recovering.

Flash Facts: The Early Days of Dr. Alchemy

A Flash foe that wasn't really a part of the rogues, and barely appeared in Flash comics of the Silver Age, Dr. Alchemy was still a deadly mix to any Flash story, and quite the threat to Barry Allen and his friends.


Here's a showcase of his early history....

Master Of The Elements

Al Desmond first appeared in Showcase #13 (March-April, 1958 by John Broome, Carmine Infantino and Frank Giacoia) taking on the Flash with his henchmen, robbing jewelry stores as Mr. Element, using his knowledge of the elements to throw obstacles in the way of the super-speedster, even sending Flash into space....giving Barry time to figure out a way to defeat his elemental foe.


But, what does this tale (reprinted in the Flash Annual #1 of 1963, Flash Archives #1 of 1996, Flash Annual Replica of 2001, Flash Chronicles #1 of 2009, Flash Omnibus #1 of 2014 and the Flash: The Silver Age of 2016) to do with Dr. Alchemy?

The Man Who Changed The Earth

Dr. Alchemy premiered in Showcase #14 (May-June, 1958 by John Broome, Carmine Infantino and Frank Giacoia), as Al Desmond escaped prison, armed with the knowledge of the Philosopher's Stone from his cellmate, Ben Sniper, which allowed the owner of it to transmute elements.  Taking on the new identity of Dr. Alchemy, Al embarked on another crime spree, with the Flash (alerted by reporter Iris West), but it took some time and a few little battles for Barry to finally figure out a way to take down the newly powered villain, and Flash throws the stone into space.


This tale was reprinted in 80 Page Giant #9 of 1965, , Flash Archives #1 of 1996, Flash Chronicles #1 of 2009, Flash Omnibus #1 of 2014 and the Flash: The Silver Age of 2016.  

A Little Crisis

Dr. Alchemy must have found a way to get his stone back, maybe with some help from his new friends of the Crime Champions (like Felix Faust or the Wizard) in Justice League of America #21 and #22 (August and September, 1963).

More on the Crime Champions can be read here, but it took the heroes of two worlds to defeat these villains (including Flashes Barry Allen and Jay Garrick, as members of the Justice League and Justice Society), all in their first Crisis together!

Our Enemy, The Flash

Al Desmond returned again in Flash #147 (September, 1964 by John Broome, Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella), this time reformed, with no plans to restart his criminal career (planning instead to marry the lovely Rita)....until Al gets hypnotized by the Reverse-Flash, and reset as an evil man, as part of a plan to have Desmond stabilize an "Element Z", to give Professor Zoom his super-speed powers again.  This leads Mr. Element into conflict with the Flash, in which Al is successful, makes an amulet of "Element Z" to power Eobard Thawne, who escapes back to the 25th Century, leaving Mr. Element to hang for his crimes (but Flash follows him there, defeats Reverse-Flash, and comes back home to clear Al's name, and prevent Thawne from having the amulet as well).

This tale was reprinted in Flash Archives #6 of 2012.

The Mightiest Punch Of All Time

Reverse-Flash finds a way out of prison by fooling an examination machine in the 25th Century in Flash #153 (June, 1965 by John Broome, Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella), and plans to come back to the 20th Century to enact revenge on Barry Allen, by turning Al Desmond evil again, and getting the mayor of Central City to outlaw super speed!  This makes it touch for Barry to defeat Eobard Thawne, but he does, hitting Professor Zoom so hard he loses his vibrations which sends the time traveler back to the 25th Century.  Flash also takes the newly criminalized Mr. Element there, where scientists are able to cure Al Desmond of his criminal tendencies (and Al Desmond is able to marry Rita sometime after this, as revealed in Al's next appearance, not as a villain, in Flash #165 of 1966, but that tale does involve the Reverse Flash, so read more on it here!).

This tale is reprinted in Flash #196 of 1970.  

The Curse Of The Dragon's Eye

Al Desmond returns as Mr. Element in Flash #216 (June, 1972 by Cary Bates, Irv Novick, Frank McLaughlin and Dick Giordano), turned back into a criminal and using a gun which can transmute elements.  It was a ring that Al wears which turned him evil again, where this ring has had influence from the stars (and that Al has had this hanging over him his whole life, with a flashback to his parents, Professor and Mrs. Peter Desmond), and if Barry wasn't able to stop him, Mr. Element could have become a human nova, ending all life on Earth in a fiery blaze!  Thankfully, Barry was able to save Rita's husband in time.  Al and Rita even have time for a peaceful meeting with Barry (at least for them) in Flash #221 of 1973.
 
Sadly, this tale has yet to have been reprinted. 

The Fury Of The Fire-Demon

Dr. Alchemy returns in Flash #230 (November-December, 1974 by Cary Bates, Irv Novick and Frank McLaughlin), with Al being possessed by a demon named Vadtara, resuming his evil identity and battling the Flash with a slightly more magical use of his alchemical powers...at least until Barry finds a way to save the day, freeing Al from the demon's influence, and pretty much ending the criminal career of Al Desmond for a time, and being a good place to stop the issue by issue look at the life of Al Desmond as Mr. Element and Dr. Alchemy.



This tale has not yet been reprinted.

Dr. Alchemy vs. Mr. Element

Dr. Alchemy returned later in Flash's life as well, and even faced off against Mr. Element?  This odd tale took some time, and is something to be looked at later as Al Desmond and the life of Dr. Alchemy take an odd turn, turning into something else....the basic idea of alchemy!

Little Archie Halloween Hijinks

Little Archie was a comic that ran 180 issues from 1956 to 1983, featuring the gang from Riverdale....


...Reggie, Jughead, Betty, Veronica, Sabrina and Archie.....



....in slightly younger versions, of course.

Here's a quick look at a few covers from those comics...


....featuring the ones that will help get you in the Halloween mood!

DC On TV Superboy Flash Lois Lane

Continuing a look at various DC characters who have made the transition from comics to television screens....

....this time around, finishing off the major characters who made it to networks in the 20th Century, with Superboy, Flash and Lois Lane and Clark Kent!

Superboy

Superboy (also called the New Adventures of Superboy) came about due to syndication deals,with a little help from the Superman movies (though setting the stage a little earlier than that).  The first episode premiered on October 8th, 1988, with John Haymes Newton as Clark Kent/Superboy and Stacy Haiduk as Lana Lang, placing Clark and Lana at college (with Lex Luthor as a competing student).  This changed with the second season, with Gerard Christopher taking over as Clark/Superboy (but Stacy staying on as Lana) until the show ended in after its fourth season.  Along the way, they did revisit Krypton a little, and brought a few other villains to life, including Metallo, Bizarro and Mr. Mxyzptlk, as well as versions of Superboy foes Yellow Peri and the Kryptonite Kid (and even a few vampires, werewolves and magi along the way, as well as mad scientists, gangsters and a few losses of powers....including in the last of 100 half an hour episodes, with "Rites Of Passage, Part 2", which aired on May 17th, 1992.   

Superboy, in the comics, was phased out at the time (thanks to a change in his history thanks to the Crisis On Infinite Earths and the Man of Steel mini-series....a little more on this below), but just before the TV show, Superboy had been kicked out of his own title by the Legion of Super-Heroes, then got a title all his own, called The New Adventures of Superboy, which featured the adventures of the boy who would grow up to be Superman, in his town of Smallville, being a super-hero and keeping the world safe.  The New Adventures of Superboy #31 (July, 1982) was an average tale of that time, entitled "The Main Event: Smallville, U.S.A" by Gary Cohn, Dan Mishkin, Kurt Schaffenberger and Dave Hunt, with Superboy facing off against Pulsar, a super-villain created by his father, Robert Altus Sr., by stealing Superboy's power for his son, and Superboy fighting him to remain who he is.

Flash

Flash was the first DC character that had his own live action show (who wasn't one of DC's trinity of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman), that started with a two hour pilot on September 20th, 1990, with Barry Allen (played by John Wesley Shipp) being struck by lightning, and, with the help of S.T.A.R. Labs scientist, Tina McGee (played by Amanda Pays), becomes the Flash, using his speed to protect Central City from criminals and disasters.  The show eventually added super-villains (most notably Captain Cold, Mirror Master, and for two episodes, The Trickster), but sadly, it only lasted one season, ending with after an additional  21 one hour episodes, with "The Trial of The Trickster" (dealing with Mark Hamill's Trickster....and how Central City came to accept the Flash as its hero) on May 18th, 1991.

The Flash TV show did deal with Barry Allen as the Flash, but thanks to events that happened during the Crisis On Infinite Earths, Barry wasn't around in the comics at this time, with Wally West (who was Flash's sidekick, Kid Flash), taking over as the Flash (and, at least in the early issues of Wally's Flash series in the 1980s, working with Tina McGee of S.T.A.R. Labs to focus his speed).  Wally had been helping Barry for years before this, and Barry used a little bit of super-speed trickery in "The Flash's Sensational Risk" in Flash #149 (December, 1964, by John Broome, Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella), with Wally losing his memory and Barry pulling a fast one to help him remember (and defeat invading extra-dimensional invaders).

Lois and Clark

Superman came back to television on September 12th, 1993, with Lois and Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman, focusing on the relationship of Ms. Lane (Teri Hatcher) and Mr. Kent (Dean Cain)  and the staff of the Daily Planet (which included Perry White, Jimmy Olsen and Cat Grant) and Clark's still living Smallville parents, and corporate headhunter Lex Luthor, instead of entirely on super-heroics (though Clark did throw on the Superman clothes for a bit in the episodes).  Later seasons did have other foes, such as the Prankster, the Toyman, Metallo, Mr. Mxyzptlk, Ugly Mannheim (and Intergang), Deathstroke and even their own villain, time-travelling Tempus, as well as having Lois and Clark get married (which was reflected immediately in the comics).  The show ended with "The Family Hour", the last of its 87 one hour episodes on June 14, 1997 (dealing with the idea of giving the couple a child...).

Superman was undergoing changes, taking him back to his basics (thanks to DC realigning its history during the Crisis On Infinite Earths), with the Man of Steel limited series defining Superman as the sole survivor of Krypton, Lois and Clark having the start of an office romance at the Daily Planet, and Luthor being an evil corporate businessman in society instead of an evil scientist on the run as been previously established.  Luthor used his Lexcorp corporate resources in Superman #2 (February, 1987, by John Byrne and Terry Austin), figuring out that Clark Kent was Superman in "The Secret Revealed"!  Yet, Luthor, being an ego-maniac couldn't believe someone with the powers of Superman would ever hide his powers behind another identity!


Hopefully, all this gives you an idea how the comics influence the television shows (and how the shows return their influence on the comics).  All these shows helped ready television audiences of the 21st Century to be ready for more shows, like Birds of Prey, Smallville, the Human Target, Constantine, Gotham, Arrow, the Flash, Supergirl and the Legends of Tomorrow!  

DC On TV Superman Batman Wonder Woman

With a group of amazing heroes like they have at DC Comics, they seemed a natural fit for television audiences....


....here's a quick look at some of the earliest attempts to put Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman on your TV screens!

Adventures of Superman

Superman was the first, starting a television series "Adventures Of Superman" on September 19, 1952 and the half an hour episode of "Superman On Earth", which summarized the destruction of Krypton, Clark Kent growing up, and coming to Metropolis to work at the Daily Planet.  After that, for the first two seasons in black and white, Superman had much more of a noir feel, fighting gangsters (and switching from season 1's Phyllis Coates to Noel Neill for the rest of the show), with George Reeves filling out the role of Superman (and Clark Kent, with a wink and a smile) through all 6 seasons.  As the show was in color starting with season three, there were more fantastic menaces, and threats were more accidents caused by professors than anything else, until the show ended with its 104th episode on April 28th, 1958, with "All That Glitters" (and Lois and Jimmy getting in on the super-powered fun!).

In the comics at this time, Superman used a mental image viewer he found to check out history of Krypton (luckily, the viewer he found was his father, Jor-El's, viewer). 

In Superman #113 (May, 1957), with "The Superman Of The Past" by Bill Finger, Wayne Boring and Stan Kaye (and the last two also providing the cover of this full length tale), Superman found his father was an adventurer on Krypton, saving the planet from the queen of the Vergoans, Latora, and her plans to destroy Krypton (Latora wasn't totally evil, as she chose Krypton because it was already doomed....so, after defeating her and her robot army, Jor-El was able to return home to warn his people, though that didn't do any good, unfortunately!).

Batman

Batman was next on people's TV screens, with the series of "Batman", starting on January 12th, 1966 with the half-hour episode of "Hi Diddle Riddle" (followed by its conclusion the next day, "Smack In The Middle").  Batman and Robin pulled double duty their first two years, having two episodes a week, with the first usually involving a cliffhanger, to be resolved the next night (at the same Bat-time, same Bat-channel).  Adam West's Batman was a much lighter hero than Superman, and he had Burt Ward as Robin and Alan Napier as Alfred to confide in.  Batman also fought villains from the comics, including the Riddler, Penguin, Joker, Catwoman, Mr. Freeze and the Mad Hatter, as well as creating a few of it's own criminals like Egghead, King Tut, Shane, the Bookworm and more.  In it's third season, it was reduced down to one night a week, but added Batgirl (Yvonne Craig) to the mix, before the show ended its run with the episode of "Minerva, Mayhem And Millionaires" on March 14th, 1968, having 120 episodes (and one theatrically released movie in between seasons one and two).

Batman comics at the time had a "new look" that had started in Detective Comics #327 (May, 1964), with a much more exciting art style by Carmine Infantino, replacing the Bob Kane look from earlier years (and adding a yellow circle around Batman's chest bat-emblem). 

This proved important in the second story of Batman #183 (August, 1966) with "Batman's Baffling Turnabout" by Gardner Fox, Sheldon Moldoff and Sid Greene (under a cover by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson), as a crook tried to take advantage of Robin to get into the Batcave by disguising himself as Batman, not knowing he was using the old costume design!   Holy costume malfunction, Batman!

Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman arrived on TV with her original look on November 7th, 1975, as "The New, Original Wonder Woman" (differing itself from an earlier attempt with a blonde Wonder Woman earlier), and moved from telemovie to a series, with Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman, who saved World War II pilot, Major Steve Trevor (played by Lyle Waggoner, who was almost Batman in the 1960s series), and returned him to Man's World from her Paradise Island, taking on the persona of Wonder Woman to fight crime, Nazi spies and aliens (while working with Major Trevor as Yeoman Diana Prince), with a very comic book looking series (at least for the first season).  The series moved to a different network for its second and third season, with the immortal Wonder Woman returning to Man's World to help Steve Trevor Jr. (still played by Waggoner), with Diana and this Steve working for the IADC (Inter-Agency Defense Command), but still fighting leftover Nazis, criminals, aliens, and even a few mad scientists (though never any of the many foes Wonder Woman faced in the comics) to the end of her 60 one-hour episodes, ending with the "Phantom Of The Roller Coaster, Part 2" on September 11th, 1979.

Wonder Woman had been renewed a few times in the comics even in the 1970s, and by the time of the 1980s, Wonder Woman had lost her powers, watched Steve Trevor die (twice), and had him returned to her twice (and regained her powers along the way).

With all this revamping of Wonder Woman, her foes needed a little help as well.  Kobra (a cult leader villain who briefly had his own title in the 1970s, and was more famous for having fought Batman, Aquaman and Superman before this), took Deborah Domaine, the niece of Priscilla Rich (the original Cheetah, who was dying), and transformed the girl into the new Cheetah, with a slightly new look and hoping she's be more than a match for Wonder Woman (but, it didn't work out that way) with "One Super-Villain: Made To Order" in Wonder Woman #274 (December, 1980) by Gerry Conway, Jose Delbo and Dave Hunt, under a cover by Ross Andru and Dick Giordano.

Comic book TV shows evolved, just as the comic books did over time...and more television shows followed, based on your favorite DC characters (and more looks in on them are coming soon!).  

Must There Be A Superman?

That is the question....must there be a Superman?


One has to wonder why Superman does what he does.  It doesn't seem to be appreciated by those around him....


....a look back at problems Superman had over the years.

Superman #247

In "Must There Be A Superman?" in Superman #247 (January, 1972) by Eliot S! Maggin, Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson (under a cover of accusations by Swan and Anderson), the Green Lanterns' bosses, the Guardians of the Universe, find Superman guilty of crimes against humanity...that of holding back the progress of the human race, by doing everything for them.  This doesn't sit well with the man of steel, who then is helping out a group in a migrant camp (but then only helps them to a point, letting them find the rest of the way out of their trouble on their own).

This proved a popular story, and was reprinted many times, including in both softcover and hardcover versions of The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told (1987); Superman in the Seventies of October, 2000; Superman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told of August, 2004; and in Superman: A Celebration Of 75 Years from November, 2013. 

Superman #240

It would seem Superman isn't allowed to fail, but fail he did in Superman #240 (July, 1971) in "To Save A Superman" by Denny O'Neil, Curt Swan and Dick Giordano (under a stunning Neal Adams cover).  Due to a recent loss of power, Superman was unable to stop a building from collapsing, and the world turned against the Man of Steel for failing this one time.

This story was part of a larger arc running through the Superman titles of the day, trying to make Superman more relevant, running from Superman #233 to Superman #242, which involved Superman getting involved with people a little more, as well as losing Kryptonite as a weakness (because scientists made it inert on Earth...but they released the Quarrmer, also known as the "sand Superman", who weakened Superman....).  This story was collected in the DC Comics Classics Library: Superman: Kryptonite Nevermore of January, 2009.

Superman #423/Action Comics #583

The ultimate end of Silver Age Superman came about with "Whatever Happened To The Man of Tomorrow?" in Superman #423 and Action Comics #583 (September, 1986) by Alan Moore, Curt Swan and inks by George Perez in Superman, and Kurt Schaffenberger and Murphy Anderson in Action Comics.  With a little introduction in each issue to summarize the publishing history of the titles, the adventures of Superman were coming to an end with these issues (really just getting a little face lift....being revamped after the Crisis on Infinite Earths and getting a new editor as Julie Schwartz was retiring after starting editing the Superman books with getting rid of Kryptonite attempting to make Superman relevant in Superman #233....and editing the above stories as well). 

A somewhat haunting look through the last days of Superman and his friends and foes on Earth, with the majority of them not surviving the tale, with rather nasty endings for Luthor, Brainiac, Bizarro, Jimmy Olsen, Lana Lang and more...


...as Lois Lane related to another reporter as she settles in for the evening with her husband, Jordan Elliot, a quiet, unassuming man she found after Superman disappeared...nothing super about him at all, said with a wink (as the only way Superman and Lois could live happily ever after was if there was no more Superman....).

A popular tale at the time, and reprinted many a time, including in Superman: Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow? of 1997; DC Universe: the Stories of Alan Moore of 2006; and Superman: Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow? The Deluxe Edition of 2009...all of which proving that Superman would survive, in spite of his mistakes, and perhaps be good for humanity, as long as he was allowed to join it as well.