THE RED KRYPTONITE TOUR (Part 2 - 1961 though 1962)

We've previously toured red kryptonite from its first appearance in 1949 through its initial surge as a popular plot device in the 1960s. 

The Red Kryptonite Tour (Part 1 - 1949 through 1960)

Our first tour concluded with the final Red K appearance of 1960.  In this follow-up tour, we will cover red kryptonite stories throughout 1961 and 1962. 

The numbering for each entry will pick up from our earlier tour!   Enjoy!

XIV)

Our next stop on this tour takes place in Superman #142.

A Kryptonian space-beast somehow survived the explosion of the planet, and ironically found its way to Earth of all places... no rocket or directional settings needed!!

The space-beast breathes fire and when it does, it burns away Superman's outer "Clark Kent" clothes, possibly exposing his secret identity. Superman slings the beast out into space again, but while out there, it eats a red kryptonite meteor that happens by (as they do so often!) and returns to Earth.

Superman spends lots of time having the beast chase him around until the Red K finally kicks in and the beast loses its superpowers. While vulnerable, Superman encases the beast in a giant ball of ice and pushes it into an orbit around Pluto. He makes a note not to fly too swiftly lest the ice melt!!! Ah, DC 60s science!

Returning to Earth, he engages the help of Supergirl, Krypto, and Batman to set up a ruse that Clark had actually been burned by the space beast and needed to stay bandaged for a week to recover... thus re-solidifying his secret identity.

A couple tour guide comments. This issue features a few panels where Superman visits the "Chinese section" of Metropolis and the residents are portrayed in a negatively stereotypical way that would be unacceptable today. A relic of another era. But kudos for the recognition of the cultural Chinese New Year celebrations! The other thought I had was that in the end, the effect of the kryptonite was more that of Green K than Red. There was no bizarre effect, just a loss of powers.

XV)

In Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane #22 (Jan. 1961), Superman suddenly proposes to Lois Lane. While excited, she's also apprehensive of the impromptu nature of his desire to marry.

Superman is so gung ho to marry Lois, that he actually goes to her rival for his affection, Lana Lang, and asks Lana to convince Lois to say yes to his proposal. As a reward for her help, Superman tells Lana he will give her superpowers. (How he'd do this, or whether he was lying... we'll never know!)

It turns out that exposure to Red K has fueled Superman's lust for domestic bliss. Once he realizes this, he no longer wants to marry Lois. And, just to keep up the "Lois or Lana" tension for the readers, Superman makes a point of saying that his decision to propose to Lois was because he saw a statue of her first, after his exposure to Red K. Lana apparently, at least at this time, is still in the running to possibly become Mrs. Superman!

XVI)

Superman is confronted by swami who places a curse on him. Later, while repairing a bridge, Superman's X-ray vision becomes out of control and he begins evaporating the river below. Batman helps stop him from doing more damage.

Soon, all of Superman's attempts to be of assistance are thwarted as he continually has temporary lapses in sanity. The public loses trust in him. Meanwhile, Batman and Robin seek to find out what is happening to their pal. Batman eventually realizes that the jewel in the swami's headband had been red kryptonite, and Superman had been re-exposed to more red kryptonite following that initial encounter.

Supe's final exposure to Red K also temporarily gives him telepathy, allowing him to find and save Batman and Robin.

These events occurred in World's Finest Comics #115 (Feb. 1961).

XVII)

The next time we see red kryptonite is in Action Comics #275 (April 1961). Brainiac creates a device that can shoot a ray at Superman that is made out of a mix of green and red kryptonite. After radiating the man of steel, Superman grabs Lois Lane's hat and puts it on his head.

Soon, he's seen sporting a swami turban, then a bearskin, a top hat, a crown, and even a paper hat made from a Daily Planet newspaper! It isn't until the end of the story that it's revealed that his exposure to the green/red kryptonite caused an eye to grow on the back of his head. All the hats were a rouse to keep it covered up while in public!

XVIII)

THE RED KRYPTONITE TOUR - DAY #18

In Superman #144 (April 1961), Supes, his cousin Supergirl, and his dog Krypto are hanging out at the Fortress of Solitude when a plane intrudes into the area. Superman quickly uses everyone's cape to mimic danger flags to deter the plane away.

With the plane gone, all three of them put their capes back on and go about their business. Superman begins to examine a device he had recently found in outer space, and as he tries to take it apart, he ends up blowing up the Earth. Once again, Superman, Supergirl, and Krypto are all orphans of yet another planet. They are found guilty of destroying Earth by an Interstellar Council, stripped of their powers, and banished.

Soon, they all wake up. It turns out it was all a dream, brought about by red kryptonite dust that landed on their capes when being used as flags in the frozen Arctic. Who knew so much red kryptonite dust was out there infesting the Arctic!

This story clearly states that red kryptonite causes the same effect on any Kryptonian exposed to it. In this case, it not only caused them all to have a nightmare, but it caused them all to have the very same nightmare!! Superman notes that once exposed to a specific piece of Red K, it becomes harmless after that. (This rule would come and go over the years.)

XIX)

Superman #145 (May 1961) was a questionable entry in this tour, but here it is!

In the issue's third tale, "The Night of March 31st", a huge array of craziness is happening. Supergirl reveals herself, Lori Lemuris is shown having legs, people know Superman's identity, Superman's enemies team to save him, etc. Another crazy event is when Mr. Mxyzptlk creates red kryptonite, and it has no effect on Superman whatsoever.

The story ends with the editor asking the reader if they have figured things out. If not, they have to turn their comic upside down to read the explanation. The entire story turns out to be an April Fools' story.

XX) Adventure Comics #284 (May 1961) features our next red kryptonite story. Superboy is tunneling to rescue some trapped coal miners when he runs into a Red K meteor. Feeling woozy, he hides his Superboy costume and changes to Clark Kent. He then suffers from amnesia. (For the record, this was an effect of red kryptonite he'd already suffered! Ah, that DC continuity!!)

After catching a ride with two joyriding "punks", he finds himself framed for stealing a vehicle and is sent to reform school. From there it's a matter of finally figuring out who he is, and once that happens, finding a way of leaving reform school without bringing attention to himself.

XXI)

The next appearance of red kryptonite is in Action Comics #277 (June 1961). Sort of!

Lex Luthor creates a device that can manufacture synthetic kryptonite of many variant colors, including red. Luther scares Superman off with his barrage of these kryptonite balls. Meanwhile, he steals the gold from Fort Knox.

Luthor laughs because he thinks he frightened Superman with just the look of kryptonite, which it turns out was fake and powerless. But as it happens... the Superman that Luthor had turned his synthetic kryptonite on was actually a Superman robot. The real Superman had been "off planet." It turns out that all the Superman robots are programmed to react to kryptonite, even though it doesn't affect them.

XXII)

Mr. Mxyzptlk attempts to thwart Superman with some red kryptonite, hidden in his derby, in Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #54 (July 1961).

The derby flies off his head and amazingly ends up in a box of hats Jimmy Olsen recently purchased to add to his collection of disguises for all the undercover work he does! When he puts the hat on, his wishes begin to come true. He soon discovers whose hat it belongs to and wishes he had superpowers.

Adventures ensue as Jimmy uses his new powers to rescue Superman and take on a giant ant colony! But suddenly, as things seem insurmountable, we see a Superman robot waking Jimmy from a dream. It was all a dream. After Jimmy wished for superpowers, the red kryptonite really affected him by inducing hallucinations.

Can we address the fact that Jimmy asked for "superpowers" and not to be "Kryptonian", so Red K should never have had any influence on him in any way? No? OK... we'll just ignore that!

XXIII)

In Action Comics #278 (July 1961), Perry White discovers a strange-looking plant in his garden that is not only new but has grown six feet tall and has fruit hanging from it. And despite the absurdity of this, he decides to eat some of the fruit. After eating it, he gains superpowers... as so many of Superman's friends often do!

Eventually, his body is taken over by the plant creature, which is from the planet Zelm. The Zelm are seeking a new world to colonize. Possessed Perry attempts to attack Superman with both red and green kryptonite, but thanks to a special lead suit, Superman isn't exposed to the kryptonite so there is no strange effect in this issue. Supergirl saves the day by exposing possessed Perry to white kryptonite, which kills plant life. As is necessary when reading older comics, we shall ignore that Supergirl basically murdered a sentient being!

XXIV)

Cover dated July 1961, Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane #26 features the imaginary tale, "The Day Superman Married Lana Lang!"

After marrying Lana, he gives her superpowers... because her blood type is the right one!! Lana, not being from Krypton, is immune to kryptonite. After Superman is exposed to a chunk of Red K, he goes on a destructive rampage. Lana works to prevent him from causing harm and damage until the effects wear off.

This one encounter with red kryptonite causes Superman's fragile ego to kick in as he realizes he's no longer the mightiest person on Earth. Lana selflessly packs all of her life's belongings into a suitcase, and abandons all her friends and family by going to live in another galaxy so that Superman can have his self-respect back!

XXV)

Red kryptonite is next seen in Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane #29 (November 1961). Krypto is seen leaving a large cloud-shaped "L" in the sky. Soon, Lois is pitching a story to Perry White where she tries to kiss as many superheroes as possible.

Of course, Lois being able to run into Green Arrow, Aquaman, and Batman all in an afternoon is easy-peasy! And she plants some big big wet smooches on all three of them!

Soon we discover that she was wearing Red K-laced lipstick, and this specific strain of Red K gives temporary immunity to green kryptonite. Krypto's giant "L" was a signal to Lois, preplanned in the event that Superman was under the influence of green kryptonite near his Fortress of Solitude. Talk about an extremely specific contingency plan!

Indeed, aliens have Superman trapped by green kryptonite outside the Fortress. But it should be noted that these aliens had time to learn about Lois, how close she was to Superman, and send her flowers with a camera monitor on the vase! But Lois outsmarted the alien's efforts to monitor her by passing on the necessary red kryptonite to Superman's JLA buddies through her lipstick. My guess is she could have simply slipped her lipstick container to one of them, but she was having too much fun pissing off Lana Lang! I guess Flash wasn't available to simply rush in and pass over this special red kryptonite to Supes!

XXVI)

In Action Comics #283 (Dec. 1961) we get two separate stories featuring red kryptonite! The first is in "The Red Kryptonite Menace" featuring Superman. The villains in this tale are two shapeshifters from the future who have costumes similar to that of Chameleon Boy of the Legion of Super-Heroes. I guess that writer Robert Bernstein felt that the costume would be more recognizable to the reader than simply referring to the planet Durla! They mention being part of the Legion of Super Outlaws and make reference of Lightning Lord and Cosmic King so one has to wonder if, again, Bernstein wasn't aware that the organization was actually called Legion of Super-Villains.

Through a ton of exposition, we learn they are there to gather red and green kryptonite, that they know Superman's identity and who all his friends are! Using the red kryptonite they collect, they build a statue of Superman to draw his attention. The statue is investigated by Clark Kent, Lois Lane, and Jimmy Olsen. Once Clark realizes he's been exposed to Red K, he tells Jimmy and Lois to go warn Superman! While doing this he wishes that it were foggy so they couldn't see him in case he changed shape. Magically, dense fog appears. More wishes come true as Superman dismantles the Red K statue, including wishing his parents were there to provide wisdom. Suddenly the Kents, Lara, and Jor-El appear! The first Red K effect is granting wishes.

Superman deduces that the statue is made out of three different red kryptonite meteors and that he will still have to go through 2 more bizarre effects. The next one is fire breath. After that wears off, Superman is able to apprehend the Chameleon criminals because the third Red K effect is being able to read minds. As we all know, this had been an effect he had experienced before. Another writer gaffe!

Superman flies the villains back to the future. What happened to the time bubble they arrived in and hid on the beach? Maybe it's still there!

XXVII)

Sticking with Action Comics #283 (Dec. 1961) we move on to the second tale in the issue, "The Six Red 'K' Perils of Supergirl".

This one requires some background. In the Supergirl backup tale, a continued story has been taking place for 5 issues leading up to this one. Superman was going to reveal Supergirl to the world, but just before he does, she loses her powers. Turns out that a look-alike Kryptonian in the bottle city of Kandor named Lesla Lar has stolen Supergirl's powers, and starts trading places with her... all of this unfolding without Supergirl being aware of what is happening. Then at the end of Action Comics #282, Supergirl magically seems to have her powers back!

Turns out that Mr. Mxyzptlk, attempting to belittle Superman, decides to give a random girl all of Superman's powers... minus vulnerability to kryptonite. And what random girl does he decide upon? Well, Linda Danvers of course!! So now, Supergirl unexplainably has her powers back and is immune to kryptonite so she decides to round up kryptonite meteors and destroy them so that they don't affect Superman in the future. However, because Mr. Mxyzptlk was only thinking about green kryptonite when he granted Linda her powers... it turns out she's still susceptible to red kryptonite.

Having exposed herself to six different Red K meteors, she now sits back waiting to see what effects she will have to endure. In this tale, she becomes balloon-shaped, transforms into a wolf-girl, and finally shrinks to microscopic size. As the tale concludes she ponders what remaining 3 transformations she will go through. This multi-issue backup tale obviously is... "to be continued!"

XXVIII)

In Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #57 (Dec. 1961), readers are treated to another "Imaginary Story". In this tale, Jimmy Olsen meets Linda Danvers and surprises her with a chunk of red kryptonite from his Superman memento collection. This robs Linda of her powers and memory. She and Jimmy begin dating.

Superman, knowing what has happened, doesn't feel the need to help protect Linda until the Red K wears off, and instead allows her to enter into marriage with Jimmy. Interestingly, Linda never questions why she wears brunette wig!

Eventually, married Linda remembers who she is and regains her powers. She wants Jimmy to know her secret but decides to ease him into things. First, she meets him as Supergirl and explains how she is Superman's secret weapon. Soon, Jimmy realizes that he has feelings for Supergirl. When he goes to tell Linda that he now finds her disposable and prefers Supergirl, Linda is gitty with delight to have her Linda persona so insulted... because now she knows Jimmy loves all of her!!

XXIX)

Action Comics #284 (January 1962) offers two stories featuring red kryptonite. We start with the backup tale featuring Supergirl. It continues from Action Comics #283 where Supergirl was exposed to six different Red K meteors. Linda ponders to herself, wondering what final three transformations she'll go through.

First up, she grows a second head! Solution? Go to the fair for a while! Next up she gains "fatal vision" which kills things she looks at. She kills a goldfish, her adoptive parents, and Krypto. Then she wakes up and realizes the real effect was hallucination. (We're then treated to an editor's note confirming that hallucination is a common effect for Red K!) Finally, she converts into a mermaid... or Super Mermaid! Jerro of Atlantis proposes to her, but then the Red K wears off so she has to put the proposal on hold!

After her six transformations are concluded, a random green kryptonite meteor comes flying through the sky... as they seem to do on a weekly, if not daily, basis in the DC universe! Suddenly she's susceptible to Green K again. Fortunately, Superman was returning from the future and wouldn't you know it... he returned to the present but overshot the mark and accidentally returned three days in the past... at the exact same time and spot where Mr. Mxyzptlk was granting Supergirl temporary superpowers. (We'll all forget that Mr. Mxyzptlk never stated out loud what he was doing, but somehow Superman just knows!)

All the on-again-off-again superpowers for Supergirl are officially in the past. Her powers are back, and Superman promises it's time to finally reveal her existence to the world!

XXX)

The main tale in Action Comics #284 (January 1962) also featured red kryptonite. After visiting a fortune teller, Superman intentionally exposes himself to Red K that he knows will de-age him.

As an adult with an infant body, he constantly has to follow the DC rule that children don't understand the difference between "I" and "me". *Sigh*! A child's body with a man's mind constantly tries to prove who he is by muttering nonsense like, "Me want to pitch pennies", "Me win more prizes" etc.

Eventually, we learn that Mon-El, from the Phantom Zone, sent Superman a message about how some Phantom Zone prisoners were plotting escape. There was a tiny opening between the Zone and reality that couldn't be accessed by an adult-sized Superman, but could be totally conquered by a toddler-sized Superman!

XXXI)

In Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane #30 (January 1962), Lois is doing a story about famous astronomer Professor Burke who invented a super radio-telescope that enables him to see and hear aliens on other planets. On one of the planets, Professor Burke and Lois see a mer-woman and mer-child and Superman, and it is evident they are a family. Lois immediately assumes that Superman has had this secret family for quite some time and never told her. At first, she is sad but then she is livid and claims to hate Superman.

As the story continues, we learn that the Superman Lois saw on the foreign planet is actually Superman Robot X-3. Robot X-3 was seemingly destroyed when filling in for Superman in a time when Superman was rendered invisible and intangible by red kryptonite. Later, Robot X-3 was found by the mermaid scientist Mooki as she was seeking out a new world with water. She crashed on the small planet where Robot X-3 was destroyed. She's unable to find water, so she uses her dying days to repair Superman Robot X-3. Robot X-3 buries her, and then creates a robot duplicate of her so that he is not alone (he lacks the ability to get all the way back to Earth). Until Lois and Professor Burke discovered this family, the real Superman was completely unaware that this Superman Robot Family existed.

XXXII)

In Action Comics #287, Superman finds himself dozing off at odd times and experiencing dreams where his friends and family (Pete Ross, Supergirl, Perry White, Krypto, etc.) are out to harm him in future encounters.

He suspects that the sleeping and dreams are the result of being exposed to red kryptonite, but he doesn't know when that happened. It turns out that it was orchestrated by the Superman Revenge Squad who are watching him from deep space and using the red kryptonite to confuse Superman as they set a scheme in motion to contaminate the Earth's soil.

Superman figures things out and quickly retrieves a Matter-Eater beast from his Intergalactic Zoo. The Matter-Eater consumes the contaminated soil, foiling the Revenge Squad. They retreat so they can plan their next attack.

(On a side note, eight months after this tale was published, the Legion of Super-Heroes inducted a new member named Matter-Eater Lad!)

XXXIII)

The next appearance of red kryptonite is in Adventure Comics #295 (April 1962). Some emissaries from the nation of Vonrovia claim they have a young teen hero named Bronze-Boy who is greater than Superboy. So of course the Mayor of Smallville has to send representatives from Smallville to check this hero out. Who does the mayor send? Police Chief Parker, Professor Lang, and... (wait for it...) teenager Clark Kent! (Whether the mayor got approval from Ma and Pa Kent is unknown!)

It takes a while for Clark to remember that he was actually Bronze-Boy, under the influence of red kryptonite when it gave him amnesia for the umpteenth time! He employs some help from local native Juan (whose friend Lucia already suspects of being Bronze-Boy) to help solidify the notion that Bronze-Boy is neither Superboy nor a robot.

XXXIV)

Red kryptonite turns up again in Action Comics #290 (July 1962). Superman and Krypto encounter some Red K in outer space and it robs them of their powers on half their bodies. Oddly, they are colored half pink to drive this home for the reader, but they aren't half pink to others in the story!

Lois Lane, being the crackerjack reporter that she is, quickly begins to suspect that Superman has lost his powers on his left side so she spends the entire issue on one of her hunts to prove that Superman and Clark Kent are the same person.

XXXV)

The next stop on our tour is Adventure Comics #298 (July 1962), which features one of the many fat-obsessed tales that proliferated DC tales in this era.

The majority of citizens throughout Smallville all become overweight pretty much in unison. At the exact same time that the cause of these weight gains became known (irradiated milk from the dairy that serves Smallville), Clark Kent had just finished drinking a glass of milk. Lana believes that if Clark doesn't gain weight, it will be proof that he's Superboy. Gulp! In order for Clark Kent to put on weight, he exposes himself to a piece of red kryptonite that he knows will provide this effect. But then, the problem becomes not letting Lana catch on that Superboy has also become fat. Superboy needs to be at the top of his game, cunningly preventing Lana from discovering his secret. Fortunately, the effects of the Red K wear off just in time!

Oh, as a side note, it should be noted that Ma and Pa Kent didn't gain weight because they drank tea rather than milk. Apparently in Smallville, you are only allowed to drink one particular form of beverage!

XXXVI)

Our next red kryptonite tale comes from Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #63 (September 1962). Superman is off-planet and has left Jimmy to roam the Fortress while he's gone. I guess Jimmy was using some of his vacation time from the Daily Planet!

Four criminals from Kandor have broken free from their confines, gassed all the inhabitants, and are planning to escape the bottle city. Why these criminals had not been banished to the Phantom Zone is a plot point never addressed! The leaders in Kandor, using their last breaths before succumbing to the gas, implore Jimmy to help them!

Jimmy grabs a ray gun and shoots the four miniature Kandorians as they exit the bottle city. The ray gun discharges red kryptonite rays that alter the heads of all four Kryptonian criminals. One has a lion head, one an enlarged head, one an old-timer's head, and the final gets an alien head.

Before the criminals can do much, they are abducted by four members of the Legion of Super-Villains from the future. The LSV members imprison the Kandorians in a green kryptonite jail cell and then don head masks to impersonate them. The LSV members then travel to the past hoping to invade the bottle city and free Phantom Zone criminals.

But Jimmy figures out what is happening, puts out a fake bottle city, and captures the LSV members inside it with the help of a Superman robot. Supergirl then flies the captured LSV members back to the future.

XXXVII)

Superboy #99 features the return of Kryptonite Kid. He is a criminal from the planet Blor who volunteered to be part of a scientific experiment in return for having his prison sentence reduced. During that experiment he was sent into space and went through a gaseous green kryptonite cloud that turned him into living kryptonite, able to transmute other things into kryptonite through touch.

In this tale he takes a second opportunity to thwart Superboy, but with Krypto's help, Superboy is able to send Kryptonite Kid through a red kryptonite gas cloud. This red kryptonite changes bad people into good people. You know... since people are either entirely all good or entirely all bad! The cloud doesn't affect Superboy "because he's already good"! But it does alter Kryptonite Kid into being a nice person. He opts to leave Earth and is remorseful that he ever decided to mess with Superboy.

XXXVIII)

World's Finest Comics #128 (Sept. 1962) starts with Superman redirecting a comet headed for Earth, then traveling to Gotham to assist Batman and Robin.

Soon, Batman turns into an elongated version of himself who can fly and spit poisonous foam. After causing some havoc, he returns to normal. Then he changes into a flattened whizzing buzzsaw capable of cutting through stone. Shortly, this effect wears off as well.

When Batman succumbs to green kryptonite, but Superman doesn't, the two of them soon deduce that the comet Superman redirected had strange qualities and that after touching it, it transferred Superman's vulnerability to kryptonite to Batman when they shook hands. (We won't discuss how Batman had on his gloves during this handshake so technically the two never actually touched!)

Knowing that the bad guys who Superman, Batman, and Robin are hunting down have access to red kryptonite... and that these baddies are aware of the transfer of vulnerabilities, Superman and Batman disguise themselves as each other to finally defeat them.

XXXIX)

In Action Comics #293, Superman encounters a satellite in outer space that must have Red K dust on it, because as he gets close to it he feels the familiar tingling he feels when exposed. Shortly, he is split into two separate beings, a Superman who doesn't know who he is, and a powerless Clark Kent who maintains all the memories of Clark/Superman before the split.

Oddly, it takes quite a bit of time before Clark remembers that Supergirl experienced this same effect previously (though no such story was ever published) and that the Red K effect wore off in a very specific (plot point required) timeframe of 72 hours. Odder still, despite the DC-edict that red kryptonite can only affect Kryptonians once, the splitting of Clark and his younger self of Superboy was already published (it was day 4 of this tour!!)!!

The split Superman wants to be his own person so he sends Supergirl and Krypto into the Phantom Zone and traps powerless Clark Kent in the Fortress of Solitude... hoping to run out the 72 hours. Eventually, Clark frees himself, frees Supergirl and Krypto, and thwarts the renegade Red K-created Superman. Seems this Superman altered the way time works on Earth by messing with the planet's rotation ("Holy 1978 Superman movie!!) and thinking he'd run out the clock. He didn't!

XXXX) There are no Kryptonians involved in the next appearance of red kryptonite! In Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane #36 (Oct. 1962), Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane attend the first meeting of the Lois Lane Fan Club (why is it that everyone in Superman's orbit has a fan club?!). Lois decides to bring some samples of red kryptonite with her and tell of the amazing effects each has had on a member of the Superman family. As she holds a piece and explains it once gave Superman a Dr. Jekyll - Mr. Hyde effect, suddenly there is an explosion and the red kryptonite is radiated by a 13 billion volt cyclotron. Powerful neutrons were beamed into the room where the Lois Lane Fan Club is gathered. Apparently, in the strip mall where the fan club holds its meetings, top scientists are also conducting nuclear scientific experiments!

Because of this strange occurrence, Lois begins to suffer from the Red K. She continually switches into a Ms. Hyde version of herself, cutting off her sister's hair and destroying Lana Lang's apartment. Police want to put her in jail, but Perry White intervenes and says he'll take responsibility for her. He then proceeds to put her in a straight jacket! Later, he gives Lois a piece of green kryptonite when, in her Hyde form, she wants to destroy Superman. But it turns out that the kryptonite Perry gives her is actually red kryptonite that he painted to be green. It's the same Red K that previously changed Kryptonite-Kid and a criminal from the Phantom Zone from evil to good. Lois is cured thanks to Perry's wits and his collaboration with the strip mall scientists!

XXXXI)

Poor Krypto. He digs up a dinosaur bone to impress Bridgette, a female dog he has a crush on, but she and her owner give him the cold shoulder. Krypto becomes self-conscious about being a mutt.

A whole storyline where Krypto outwits a group of dognappers is told, and then Krypto heads off to outer space to enjoy a "meteor shower bath". He then encounters a red kryptonite cloud that changes his appearance to that of a collie... the exact appearance he had previously desired.

It turns out that Superboy had previously encountered this cloud and been transformed into something he had been wishing about.

After being transformed, Krypto also feels something else is happening. Well, it turns out that the collie in the picture he had been fixated on was female, Superboy feels the need to rename her Kryptonia! Thankfully, when the Red K wears off, the puppies conveniently disappear, and Krypto gets his old name back!

This tale plays out in Superboy #101 (Dec. 1962).

And there you have it. We've toured the 28 red kryptonite stories that appeared in 1961 and 1962. It's time to take a little break, but we will be back soon to cover a few more years of these classic tales!

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