The last installment of this tour guided us through all the red kryptonite stories through 1963
We pick up now with all the marvelous and whimsical Red K stories that were published in 1964. The numbering for each entry will pick up from where our last tour left off. Have fun!
61)
Action Comics #308 (January 1964) is an issue where we can read two tales that feature red kryptonite! The first story is "Superman Meets the Goliath Hercules!"
Clark Kent and Lana Lang accompany Lana's dad, Professor Lang, on an archeological expedition. Clark appears to die while trying to protect Lana, but in reality, he somehow tunnels away to an alternate world where the histories of David and Goliath are mixed up with those of Hercules and Jason.
While this tale may provide a few readers with some literary lessons, ultimately it's a story of outlandish plot contrivances.
62)
Sticking with Action Comics #308, the second tale in this issue features Supergirl. She rescues a little girl named Candy. Candy, because she's a child in a DC Comic, uses the wrong pronouns ad nauseam. She also decides to start calling Supergirl "mommy" for no reason.
Dick Malverne drops by and is convinced he's caught Candy holding a lump of red-hot coal, but Supergirl replaces it at super speed with a piece of red kryptonite that she conveniently keeps in a lead box on the fireplace mantle. Since Supergirl was previously exposed to it, it has no effect on her. It does, however, have an effect on Candy; it turns her invisible. Soon the effect wears off (in much less than 48 hours!) and Supergirl is convinced that Candy must be Kryptonian. She takes her to the Bottle City of Kandor, but they have no record of Candy.
Supergirl returns to the jungle where she first found Candy and discovers a jettisoned portion of the ship that brought Supergirl to Earth. It has lots of canned Kryptonian food that was intended for Kara. It turns out that little Candy was the first to find this rocket compartment and ate some of the food. And of course, eating Kryptonian food gives Earthlings superpowers and vulnerability to kryptonite. Who knew?!
Supergirl finds Candy's real mom, and all is well with the world again. The End.
63)
Our ruby remnants from Krypton next appear in Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane #47 (February 1964).
Superman leaves the ever-snoopy Lois Lane in his Fortress with access to his supercomputer. Lois asks the computer what it would be like if she had been the one to come from Krypton rather than Superman.
The computer reveals that Lois would live a double life, both as Lois Lane and as the superhero known as Krypton Girl. Her colleague, the pesky Clark Kent, spends his days setting up grand schemes to prove her double identity. Krypton Girl gets lots of assistance maintaining her double identity, including help from mermaid friend Lori Lemaris, and the heroes of the future, members of the Legion of Super-Heroes.
When Krypton Girl takes Clark Kent to her Fortress, Clark uses the opportunity to steal some red kryptonite. He's such a cad in his reckless pursuit! Disguised as Santa, Clark sprinkles dust from the Red K onto unsuspecting Lois. Later, when Krypton Girl grows to a giant size, Clark can confirm that Lois is Krypton Girl. As punishment for being curious, Krypton Girl banishes Clark to the Phantom Zone. Ah... Kryptonian justice at its finest!
At first, Lois agrees with the way Krypton Girl handled things, but then, in her typical fashion, she comes to realize that she learned a lesson. She realizes that her silly exploits trying to prove that Clark Kent is Superman aren't benefiting anyone. So she decides to stop those attempts. At least until the next issue of her comic is published!
64)
Supergirl is on her way to the "far flung future" to assist Superman. But upon arrival, she immediately happens upon some red kryptonite and decides to hightail it back to her own time before the effects hit her. Just before reaching her "present," she sees a glimpse of 48 hours "later" and that Jimmy Olsen will be pronounced dead.
65)
After an unexpected exposure to red kryptonite (Superboy #111, March 1964) while traveling back in time, Krypo is transformed into a giant red bird. After an adventure involving pirates, it turns out the roc bird of mythology came about because of Krypto!
66)
68)
Part II of the story of King Superman! (Action Comics #312) After being split into two separate entities by red kryptonite, we have powerless Clark Kent and super-powered Superman, who has had himself proclaimed King of the planet. 69)
OK y'all, this is a double-size adventure (Superman #168, April 1964) that I'm going to try my best to succinctly recap! There is a planet under a red sun that used to be scientifically advanced, but then regressed. Luthor is recognized as a planet-wide hero there. That's why they renamed their world "Lexor".70)
The deadly red substance is next seen in Superboy #114 (July 1964).
71)
One issue after the Red K-induced dream chaos, Superboy #115 (September 1964) also has Superboy exposed to red kryptonite. But this time it's because Lana Lang has decided once again that her scheming is more important than the health and welfare of Superboy and the people he protects.
Once back in her own time, she's focused on what to do to make sure that Jimmy isn't declared dead 48 hours later. She decides the best way to make sure that doesn't happen is to get Jimmy fired from his job, so he's never sent on the assignment that leads to the death she witnessed. She gets herself hired at the Daily Planet and sabotages Jimmy's work.
She focuses on her plan while also working around the effects of the red kryptonite that she was exposed to. And those effects are pretty wild! When dressed as Supergirl, she lacks all powers, but when dressed as Linda Danvers, her powers are at full force!! Seriously, how does radiation know what someone is wearing?!
Linda gets Jimmy fired, but Jimmy is still pronounced dead in the same accident that Supergirl was trying to prevent. But it turns out that it was never Jimmy at all. It was a criminal Jimmy lookalike who Supergirl saw dying. With everything resolved, Linda resigns, and Jimmy gets a raise.
After changing back to his normal self, he goes to travel back to the present when he realizes that the Red K is affecting him again (for no explained reason!). This time, he transforms into a cow. As fate would have it, it was Krypto who turned out to be Mrs. Leary's cow that started the great Chicago fire. Soon, he transforms back to his normal self again. But guess what?! There's a third transformation, and this time he turns into a llama.
It's as SuperLlama that he butts some green kryptonite into the ground to rescue Superboy. He was ready to sacrifice himself for Superboy, but we learn that apparently, when under the influence of red kryptonite, green kryptonite can't affect you. Well, at least in this issue anyway!
Our next adventure occurs in World's Finest Comics #140 (March 1964). It turns out that the Matt Hagen version of Clayface was quite the planner!! Apparently, suspecting that he would be arrested and that Batman and Robin would destroy the grotto where the pool of his Clayface serum existed, he buried some formula under a prison courtyard and set up a completely stocked laboratory in a mountainside cavern that absolutely no hikers would find!
Hagen seems to have vast scientific knowledge, well beyond that of other everyday treasure hunters! He recreates some more shapeshifting formula and sets out on a crime spree. Batman and Robin need help, so Superman joins in on things. Clayface morphs into a copy of Superman, and for absolutely no explained reason, his physical transformation also gives Clayface all of Superman's powers.
The formula somehow magically gives him a Kryptonian physiology, so he's susceptible to kryptonite. Superman exposes him to the version of red kryptonite that we covered in Entry 55, which causes the Clayface Superman to act out silly antics until his 5-hour shapeshifting formula runs out, reverting him back to being a normal human.
67)
Action Comics#311 (April 1964) is our next outing to read about red kryptonite. Red K meteorites are headed his way, so Superman decides to use a sliver of red kryptonite that split him into two beings previously. He believes he can create a cure for future exposures, using this piece he's already been exposed to.
To his dismay, he's split into Superman and Clark Kent yet again. Superman retains his powers, and Clark Kent has none. New self-centered Superman addresses the United Nations and demands he be declared King of Earth. The representatives of all the U.N. countries vote, and the majority vote to allow Superman to rule them all.
Clark Kent, who has access to the entire Justice League, Supergirl, the Kryptonians in Kandor, and the Legion of Super-Heroes, instead decides to employ Perry White, Jimmy Olsen, and Lois Lane as his team to overthrow this renegade Superman!
This awesome tale will be concluded in the next issue.
Clark decides to have his brain put in a Superman robot and then have that robot body modified to be like Metallo, with a kryptonite heart. Fortunately, this is a medical procedure that Atlantean doctors know how to perform. Clark confronts Superman and subdues him with his green kryptonite heart.
But Superman soon reveals that red kryptonite doesn't cause the same effect twice. He's not really evil at all, but is playing out a dramatic scheme to keep Earth safe. Turns out Superman overheard the plans of the evil rulers of the planet BXPA. Plans that included numerous manufactured catastrophes that would be unleashed on the Earth. Superman knows these events could cause worldwide panic, so he secretly told all the world leaders his plan, and they agreed to go along with it. By pretending to be an evil king, he used his time to deal with the planned catastrophes and ultimately keep the world safe.
Once the exposition is completed, Superman and Clark merge again.
When Lex actually gets powers, he dons a costume and calls himself the Defender. Superman discovers that "rainbow crystals" are responsible for Lexor's previous decline in brain activity and talks Lex into allowing him to get rid of them by throwing them into the sun.
Superman returns to Earth. Lex still wants to dispose of Superman, so he comes up with a plot to take away his powers using red kryptonite and then returning him to Lexor for imprisonment. Lex builds a rocket and returns to Earth, but for some reason ends up in early 1900s San Francisco. Meanwhile, Superman is wondering what Lex might be up to and uses a "psycho-locator" to find him. He discovers Lex is in the past, so of course, Superman travels to the past to get Lex.
In the past, Superman was exposed to the red kryptonite Lex had with him, and loses all his powers... except those related to his vision. More cat-and-mouse between the two men takes place, and then when Lex uses a hidden "super device" to try and transport himself and Superman back to Lexor.... only Luthor is transported away. The vibrations his "super device" emits turn out to be the cause of the 1906 giant San Francisco earthquake.
Superman returns to the present and can't figure out where Lex ended up until he finally remembers that they were on Alcatraz Island when Luthor tried transporting them. Rather than making it back to Lexor, Luthor has been imprisoned in the Alcatraz prison, which was recently abandoned by the federal government.
Whew! That was quite the exploit... especially given the insignificance that Red K actually played in the tale!
Superboy is alerted to an amazing box that is floating around in the sky (as so often happens!). When he investigates and opens it, he's exposed to red kryptonite. It's a setup by the Superboy Revenge Squad.
Superboy dreams of shooting Lana Lang, freeing Phantom Zone prisoners, exposing his double identity, and destroying the Earth. Thanks to the fact that Ma Kent keeps a calendar posted in the Kent kitchen, Superboy eventually realizes that all his many dreams and their repercussions were actually part of just one singular and long dream. Superboy never really did any of the awful things he thought he dreamed about.
He seeks help from a renowned doctor (who oddly keeps giant safes in front of patient exam chairs), but to no avail. He then shows Ma Kent how hard it is to control his new super-super abilities by simply trying to open a can of tomato juice, and the contents spray everywhere due to his enhanced and uncontrollable strength.
Lana is convinced that by asking Clark to get her gum from a vending machine, she'll prove he's Superboy because Clark will destroy the gum dispensing device with his lack of super-control. It doesn't happen! Then there is yet another typical cat-and-mouse rouse that Superboy employs to outsmart Lana. But here's the kicker... Superboy's scheme to save his identity ONLY worked because the 48-hour effects of the initial Red K were reduced by 24 hours. This is because the tomatoes used in the singular can of tomato juice that Clark tried to open earlier must have been affected by a red kryptonite dust cloud! The effects of the tomato Red K reduced the effect of the ring Red K by half!
I don't make this up folks, I just tour us through it!
72) In Action Comics #317 (October 1964), Superman is exposed to a piece of red kryptonite that causes his face to change color based on his emotions. The conflict, of course, is making sure Lois doesn't catch Clark Kent also experiencing facial discolorations.
So there you have it. All 14 DC issues from 1964 that featured red kryptonite! In the weeks ahead, we will publish Part 5 (and provide a link here) so that our chronicling of Red K can continue!
Superman and all related characters, names, and elements and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of DC Comics, Inc.
72) In Action Comics #317 (October 1964), Superman is exposed to a piece of red kryptonite that causes his face to change color based on his emotions. The conflict, of course, is making sure Lois doesn't catch Clark Kent also experiencing facial discolorations.
His coloring alterations include purple for rage, red for embarrassment, white for shock, green with envy, blue for sadness, yellow with fright, and black from hatred.
73)
The dreaded crimson-colored kryptonite next shows up in Superboy #116 (October 1964).
Superboy continually tries to set up Smallville's Police Chief Parker to appear to be incompetent. He humiliates him in public, schemes to have him caught speeding (and of course, he's in court getting his fine the same day!), etc. When Chief Parker finally decides it may be time for him to retire, suddenly, two Superboys are fighting over his resignation.
It's at this time that we find out that the Superboy being mean to Chief Parker is actually the Superboy from an alternative dimension who is under the effect of red kryptonite, temporarily blasted into our universe. Suddenly, readers realize that the inverted coloring of Superboy's "S" chest logo hasn't been a colorist mistake, but instead an indicator that he's not the Superboy of "our" Earth.
As the Red K wears off, the alternate Superboy fades back to his own universe.
74)
74)
Cover date November 1964, Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane #53 is our next red kryptonite adventure. And in this issue, we see Lois go full-out Faye Dunaway Mommie Dearest batshit cray cray!!
Right out of the gate, Lois is complaining that there is nothing great about Superman. He's got all his powers and invulnerability, and so when he does super things, he shouldn't get any attention or praise for that. Perhaps she woke up on the wrong side of the bed, but she's quite mean-spirited and ugly here.
Perry assigns her to cover an earthquake that happened on a remote island, and because there is no transportation available, he's enlisted Superman to fly Lois there. After throwing a tantrum, Lois finally agrees to go.
When they get to the island, Superman loses his powers and realizes he's been exposed to red kryptonite. On top of robbing him of his powers, it also gives him telepathy, so he gets to spend 48 hours hearing Lois's thoughts about how awful she thinks he is.
Personally, I'd have left her on her own, but Superman builds her shelter and gives her his top and cape to stay warm with, so she finally decides maybe he has at least one redeeming quality.
Superman's powers return, so he and Lois return to Metropolis, and supposedly she finally thinks that Superman's not that bad after all. Sigh.
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