872 – Luthor, Space Pirate

The last time we saw Luthor, he was trapped on Roxar, a planet ruled by a sentient race of robots called the Automs. In Action Comics #294 (Sep 1962) we catch up with Luthor, who has decided to make himself useful so that he can escape his prison. I appreciate the attempt at continuity here. […]

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868 – How Abin Sur Died

In Green Lantern #16 (Aug 1962), we get a complex back-up story wherein Hal Jordan explains to Pie-Face the story that the Power Ring told him about why Abin Sur was using a spaceship when he died. Got all that? Yeah, me neither. Get ready for some made-up name soup! Incorporeal energy beings called Larifars […]

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867 – Star Sapphire!

Speaking of new villains, Green Lantern meets Star Sapphire in Green Lantern #16 (Aug 1962). Star Sapphire happens to secretly be the beautiful and shapely Carol Ferris, Hal Jordan’s girlfriend, who has been learning to pilot her own aircraft, thanks to Hal’s teachings and fell afoul of some Zamarons (space Amazons, of course). The Zamarons […]

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866 – Bouncing Boy and the Brats

In Adventure Comics #301 (Aug 1962), it’s the first non-Superboy/Supergirl story of the Legion after their debut as the Adventure Comics backup feature last month. In this issue, we catch a glimpse into the Legion of Super-Heroes recruiting, which shows how Legionnaires like Cosmic Boy treat con artists and fakers. That is: pretty harshly. Then […]

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865 – More Third-Rate Villains: Chronos

Third-rate heroes like The Atom only deserve third-rate villains like Chronos the Time Thief, who debuts in Atom #3 (Aug 1962). Naturally, Chronos’ schtick is all about time, and in this story, I think literally every panel has him using the word “time” in his dialog, to the point of utter ridiculousness. Chronos is visually […]

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861 – The Krypto Kid Returns

It’s been a couple years since we saw the Kryptonite Kid, that menace from another world who’s evil for apparently no other reason that he enjoys it. In Superboy #99 (July 1962), he returns, and I guess “Kid Mxyzptlk” is not paying attention, because this time Superboy needs to be saved by Pete Ross – […]

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860 – The Legion is Featured

The Legion of Super-Heroes started as a one-off Superboy story back in 1958, but they slowly grew in popularity and were featured many times in Superboy, Supergirl, and even Superman stories through the early 1960s. Starting in Adventure Comics #300 (July 1962), they replace “Tales of the Bizarro World” as the back-up feature to Superboy […]

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859 – Bowling for Justice Leaguers

It’s that time again – that time when DC wants to give one of their newer heroes a readership boost by adding them to the Justice League, just like they added Green Arrow in 1961. In Justice League of America #14 (July 1962), the entire team (including Batman and Superman in absentia) votes unanimously for […]

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858 – Luthor, Anti-Hero in Space

In Action Comics #292 (July 1962), Luthor is given center stage in a Superman story. He pretends he’s gone insane, and then tricks a guard to escape from prison. He then blasts off from Earth using a rocket with “radium powered motors” to escape into space. When did he figure all this out? His star […]

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853 – Gold Kryptonite

Adventure Comics #299 (June 1962) has the imaginary tale “The Unwanted Superbaby!”, in which authorities discover baby Kal-El has super-powers before the Kents can adopt him. The result is that Kal-El grows up resentful of Earth people, who only take advantage of him and mis-trust him. Eventually he leaves Earth, despite thinking wistfully back towards […]

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