Although not as big news as Supergirl’s debut, Action Comics #252 (March 1959) also introduced another Superman villain in the main Superman feature: Metallo, created by Robert Bernstein and Al Plastino. John Corben is a reporter with a secret: he’s really a criminal. On his way home one night, he gets into a fatal car accident and is discovered by a scientist, who takes his injured body back to his lab and replaces it with a metal one to save his life. Much like Robotman, Corben is now a cyborg (a human brain in a synthetic body) and his body relies on uranium capsules to stay alive. Unfortunately the scientist then dies.
Metallo commits a series of robberies to find uranium, but discovers that one other substance can sustain his body: kryptonite. Unfortunately the fragment of kryptonite he steals was actually a fake, and so his body ceases to function. Don’t worry folks, this is just another case of a villain that was prematurely killed. Metallo will return!
