DC Finest - Superman Family - Forum 2.0

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Commander Benson May 15, 2025 at 8:08pm

So much from Krypton ends up on Earth that I think they established at some point that there was a space warp between the two planets . . .

DC did, in fact, do so---but it was long after the Silver Age.

In the second part of my retrospective on the history of kryptonite, from my "Kryptonite---a Glowing Reference" Deck Log entry, I related (with the germane portion in boldface)::

As the writers’ use of kryptonite proliferated, the in-story conceit that it was a rare substance grew harder to accept. It seemed like all a crook had to do to get some was make a trip to the local drug store. Krypton exploded thousands of light-years away, in space; so how, readers wrote in, did so much of it land on Earth?

Millions of meteoroids plunge Earthward daily, Mort pointed out, and virtually all of them burn up from friction with the Earth’s atmosphere. Kryptonite, however, was different. As was established in “Superboy Meets Lois Lane”, from Adventure Comics # 261 (Jun., 1959), kryptonite could not chemically combine with oxygen; thus, kryptonite meteors would not burn from the friction heat of entering the atmosphere. Instead, they landed on Earth intact, while ordinary meteors did not.

(This would be the first of three reasons DC provided over the years to explain how so much kryptonite landed on Earth. Later, it would be stated that the Superman Revenge Squad purposely herded kryptonite meteors toward the Earth [Superman # 229 (Aug., 1970)] and still later, that thousands of fragments of kryptonite were drawn through the space-warp opened by the experimental warp-drive installed on baby Kal-El’s rocket to shorten its flight time to Earth [Action Comics # 500 (Oct., 1979)].)

The space-warp business would be iterated a couple more times in subsequent Superman stories.

Hope this helps.
- Philip Portelli > Commander Benson May 15, 2025 at 8:55pm
  
  I forget if Superman can melt kryptonite or not.
  
  And was it ever explained why there was so much Red Kryptonite on Earth?
- Jeff of Earth-J > Philip Portelli May 15, 2025 at 9:27pm
  
  I forget if Superman can melt kryptonite or not.
  
  I don't recall the exact curcumstances, but I'm certain we've discussed it here before. The answer is yes.
- Commander Benson > Jeff of Earth-J May 15, 2025 at 10:42pm
  
  I forget if Superman can melt kryptonite or not.
  
  I don't recall the exact curcumstances, but I'm certain we've discussed it here before. The answer is yes.
  
  He did---at least, once. But it didn't become a mainstay. I discussed that in the second part of "Kryptonite---a Glowing Reference", too:
  
  But Superman didn’t discover a way to defeat kryptonite until “The Menace of Metallo”, from Action Comics # 252 (May, 1959). When he is stricken by a piece of kryptonite, the Man of Steel forces himself to concentrate his heat vision (or, as it was termed then, “the heat of his X-ray vision”) on the glowing rock. After six excruciating minutes, he is able to melt the kryptonite, allowing him to recover and go after the villain.
  
  The flaw is that even molten kryptonite should have affected Superman. In fact, in a subsequent Metropolis Mailbag, fan Denny Mayerson, of St. Paul, Minnesota, called Weisinger on it. Mr. Mayerson insisted, "I believe that just as water, when it is frozen, and when it is liquid, is still water, the Kryptonite should affect [Superman] in either liquid or solid form." Ye Olde Ed came back with a facile response:
  
  Many substances lose their properties when they change form. When ice melts to water, it ceases to be cold. Molten Kryptonite ceases to be deadly.
  
  Still, Mort knew he was playing fast and loose with physics. Besides, he probably realised that it was giving Our Hero too easy an out. The notion that melted kryptonite was harmless to Superman was quietly shelved
- JD DeLuzio > Commander Benson May 16, 2025 at 7:01am
  
  Still, Mort knew he was playing fast and loose with physics.
Jeff of Earth-J May 16, 2025 at 6:32am
I discussed that in the second part of "Kryptonite---a Glowing Reference", too

Yep, that's the post I remember. (I should have just kept my mouth shut and let you field Philip's question in the first place.) Now on to...

SUPERMAN'S PAL, JIMMY OLSEN #54:
- "Elastic Lad's Wrestling Match!" by Robert Bernstein and Curt Swan - Jimmy sets out to prove that professional wrestling is fake... by taking on all comers while under the influence of Prof. Potter's "Elastic Lad" serum. Easily the most disturbing image in this story is that of Jimmy defeating one of the wrestlers with his elongated tongue. Also, when Elastic Lad goes up against the wrestler called "The Abominale Snowman," Jimmy scoffs at his "icy breath": "Bunk! It's an old trick they use in the movies! Inside his mouth is an insulated bag of dry ice which gives off smoke when he opens his lips!" Bunk! First of all, that's not "an old trick they use in themovies," and second, if it's insulated it doesn't "give off smoke," and if it does it's not insulated. I'm surprsied this scene even passed the CCA, without even as "Kids, do not try this trick at home!" warning. Putting dry ice in your mouth is extremely dangerous, and I can more easily imagine a kid putting a piece of dry ice in his mouth than I can one tying a bath towel around his neck and trying to fly. Guest-starring "The Ugly Superman."
- "King of the Giant Ants!" by Robert Bernstein and Curt Swan (cover story) - Jimmy laments not having enough money to buy Lucy a present for her birthday party tonight, but he just bought a whole box of silly hats from a masquerade shop. Little does he know, however, that Mr. Mxyzptlk's hat has blown off his head and into the box, granting him all of Mxy's powers. Flying off to save Professor Lang from a colony of giant red ants in Brazil, Jimmy soon falls under their power. Not to worry, though: the whole thing turns out to be a dream brought on by Red Kryptonite dust secretly concealed by Mr. M. in his hatband. (If you thought humans could not be affected by Kryptonite, just ask the post-Crisis Lex Luthor about that.) Jimmy is rescued by one of Superman's robots, who then cuts off Jimmy's hair with a scissors when it is revealed some of the dust transferred from the hatband.
- "Baby Jimmy Olsen!" - by (unknown) and Curt Swan - It is the day before Jimmy's birthday (but the story doesn't reveal which one). When Lucy goes on a date with a Naval Commander, Jimmy decides to give Prof. Potter's aging serum another try [see "Jimmy Olsen Grows Up!" (Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #47, page one of this discussion), because it worked so well the first time]. But the potion had been left "standing too long" and developed "anti-growth properties," de-aging him to approximately five years old. His signal watch falls off, so he leaves it behind (rather than using it, y'know, to call Superman for help). Instead, he dresses up in a midget's Superman costume he just happened to have on hand (don't ask) and steals a tricycle to pedal across town tgo the Daily Planet where he thinks he has a copy of "the report mentioning the serum's antidote" in his desk drawer. That doesn't pan out, so he pedals the trike over to Lois Lane's apartment building hoping that she might have the antidote in her notes. Once there, he steals a basket and some other baby items from storage in the basement and leaves himself on Lois's doorstep (even though the's, like, five years old). He scrawls a note from "A friend" explaining that the baby is the kidnapped son of a millionaire and asking her to keep an eye on it until Monday. (Today is Saturday, if it matters.) Always willing to implicate herself as acessory to a felony in pursuit of a "scoop," Lois complies. then she leaves the "baby" alone in her apartment while she goes to srcounge up a playpen, a highchair and some nursery toys (again, he's approximately five years old) from the cellar. Lucy returns from her morning date and tries to feed Jimmy some spinach. He agrees, only if she gives him a kiss after every spoonful. then Commander Wilson returns, and Jimmy pulls off his fake goatee, revealing him to be the "Masquerade Mobster... the crook who always uses a different uniform to pull a job." The criminal lacks Jimmy in a bedroom and holds Lucy and Lois at gunpoint. Jimmy attracys Superman by waving his cape out the window, and superman helps Jimmy fake having superpowers. Lois becomes convinced that Jimmy is actually Baby Superman, explaining, "It's happened before! A few years ago, Superman went into the past througha time warp which effected an amazing switch in time! Superman wound up in the past in Smallville while Super-Baby entered the present in Metropolis!" (Here is another example, BTW, of Superman letting Jimmy keep a dangerous formula rather than taking it away from him in the first place.) How Lois and Lucy can believe this, I have no idea. Baby Jimmy looks nothing like Super-Baby, plus, earlier, he was wrangling kisses from Lucy in exchange for bites of spinach. After the Masquerade Mobster has been apprehended, Superman whips up an antidote to the serum with "chemicals from [Jimmy's] medicine chest." (I don't know what Jimmy has in his medicine chest, but I'd hate to think if Superman ever needed to concoct such a formula from what's in mine.) then superman explains that he covered for Jimmy with the girls as a gift because tomorrow is Jimmy's birthday. Only in the Silver Age...
- JD DeLuzio > Jeff of Earth-J May 16, 2025 at 7:11am
  
  (If you thought humans could not be affected by Kryptonite, just ask the post-Crisis Lex Luthor about that.)
  
  Or anyone from the TV series Smallville. In addition to giving the "meteor freaks" superpowers in that iteration, kryptonite drove some of them insane.
  
  Which I suppose could explain Allison Mack's life trajectory.
- Philip Portelli > Jeff of Earth-J May 16, 2025 at 3:39pm
  
  There were a couple of Giant Ant stories from this period. Ants are no Gorillas but they are a credible threat! Just see THEM! (1954)!
Jeff of Earth-J May 17, 2025 at 7:33am

ACTION COMICS #278 - "The Super-Powers of Perry White!" by Jerry Coleman and Curt Swan:

One day Perry White finds an odd-looking plant in his garden bearing fruit. Naturally, he eats a piece. Soon he develops super-powers. The next day at the Daily Planet, Lois is photographing an exhibit of the various kinds of Kryptonite for the color Sunday supplement. She explains what each color K does, including White, which "is harmless to superman but destroys all plant life!" Suddenly, BANG! On page four, Chekov's gun fires right in my ear, almost deafening me. Perry gets himself a costume (as one does) and begins fighting crime. Shortly after that, though, he turns against Superman and it is revealed that his personality has been taken over by the alien plant. It is actually Supergirl who, against Superman's express orders, saves his life by fetching a piece of White K. "i can't scold you for saving my life and thinking so brilliantly!" says Superman, then thinks, "I'll reward her by letting the world know about supergirl... very soon!" Then he takes the White K and uses it to kill the plant, a sentient lifeform.

I first read this story in the "Special All-Kryptonite Issue!" of Superman (#227), a great comic to have as a kid.
- Philip Portelli > Jeff of Earth-J May 17, 2025 at 2:06pm
  
  I have that Superman, too! I love the Superman/Batman/World's Finest Giants of that time!
  
  I even later bought Action Comics #278 because I liked the story so much!
  
  White Kryptonite is one of the least used Kryptonites but it's the most dangerous because it alone affects Non-Kryptonian life in a disastrous way!
  
  But, really, Superman has to drill it into his friends' heads not to eat or drink things that just pop up!

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