COUNTDOWN # 24: THE MAN OF STEAL BY "FREE" STEVE CHUNG
Last week in Countdown #24, the Lex Luthor of Earth-15 met the Superman of another Earth. This Man of Steel is a maniac, while this Lex Luthor is not. There are other worlds where the roles are reversed, where Lex Luthor is the Man of Steel, and Clark Kent is Public Enemy Number One. Don't believe me, gentle reader? Check out this tale of a Man of Steal!
Superman is bringing Lois Lane to his Fortress of Solitude at super-speed. Within the remarkable citadel, they view a temporal prism from the planet Ulra. Intense laser light strike the crystal at the proper angle, and the past of Clark Lang is revealed. A 1930's automobile driven by the notorious Jonathan and Martha Kent comes into view. The parents of Clark Kent are making their getaway from the final bank robbery they've just pulled.
The crime couple of the century are caught in a car crash. The infant Clark is being cared for at a laboratory, with a tiny chromo-stimulant being surgically inserted into his brain. The stimulant is patterned after the evil chromosomes found in the Kents, and Clark Kent will be twice the criminal his parents were. The delayed effect occurs during his teenage years. After he robs a gas station, young Clark is chased by a policeman, and twists his ankle. His head slams against the curb, placing the teenager into a deep coma for ten years.
Despite being shown his secret, the girl reporter is still in love with the criminal, and demands to be taken back to Metropolis. The Man of Steel orders one of his robots to return Lois back to the city. Lex Luthor has been in love with her since he has been working as a reporter for the Daily Planet. After readjusting the projector, he views Kent's escape from the hospital.
An old man brought in a strange device to teleport the patient away from the hospital. The man who teleported Clark was the same man who created the chromo-stimulant. If he has succeeded in reviving the patient from his coma, then Clark Kent is ready for his return. Elderly Dr. Markham died minutes after reviving Clark, but his hideout, and criminal equipment are his for the keeping. An underworld teletype mentions a certain item that Clark is interested in. The Mysterious Grandovic makes amazingly accurate prediction for the local Mafia for a price.
The Tibetan mystic's fees are no doubt high and demand a fortune. Clark Kent knows how to raise the money and heads for the turbine power matter digestor room. The following day finds Lois Lane complimenting Lex Luthor on his skills as a reporter. At the back wall of the National Bank Building, Lex's x-ray vision reveals Kent at the controls of a matter digestor machine. With this bizarre device, the criminal is able to eat its way through steel vaults.
Lex heads for a nearby phone booth, but not to phone in a story. The girl reporter is compelled to make her way towards Clark, regardless of the danger from the matter digestor. The Man of Steel arrives to deflect the deadly emanations of the crime machine.
A hysterical Lois demands to reach Clark Kent, but a super-love-tap puts her to sleep, and out of danger. A jet-controlled scoop-craft takes Kent and his loot out of Metropolis. Superman's super-hearing picks up a strange ticking sound. A cobalt bomb is inside the crime machine, with the Man of Steel flying it so high that it will not contaminate the atmosphere.
Clark Kent has won the first round against Superman, and Grandovic will enable him to win the battles ahead. Days later in Tibet, Clark Kent wends his way through a cavern, and presents his host with the stolen Warsaw Diamond. His operating expenses covered, the power of Grandovic reveals the secret origin of Superman.
The planet Krypton was destroyed by a gigantic geyser, and was created by Jor-El. The scientist held his home world responsible for the death of his wife, and he has avenged her. Despite his genius, Lara's death had driven Jor-El insane. Both he and Lex-El entered Earth's atmosphere, but their ship's steering mechanism was jammed. Unbeknownst to Jor-El and his son, two lives were lost during his fateful flight.
The victims were Jonathan and Martha Kent. Their son now knows that it was Superman's father who killed them. For some unknown reason, Jor-El never gained super-powers, but Lex-El became a Superboy. The town of Smallville became their new home. Jor-El became Dr. Jordan Luthor and the boy became Lex Luthor. A wig was used to conceal his baldness and serve as an alter-ego when not Superboy. Despite being best friends in school, Clark Kent never suspected that Lex was Superboy. After the death of his father, Lex majored in journalism at college, and became a reporter for the Daily Planet in Metropolis. Now knowing his origin, Kent demands to see his foe's weakness.
Lois Lane is the woman who is secretly loved by Superman, and the one who has her will have the Man of Steel at his mercy. The request fulfilled, Grandovic demands to be left alone, but Kent has another thing to tell him about the Warsaw Diamond. A poison gas cartridge goes off, with Clark wearing a gas mask, and the Tibetan mystic pointing towards his mystic wall for what will serve as the criminal's demise. Seeing the image of a broken steering wheel, Kent resolves not to drive a car, much less touch a wheel.
In downtown Metropolis, Lex Luthor is using his telescopic-vision to see if Lois will meet him for their lunch date. Seeing a building cornice about to fall on her, the reporter enters an alley, and hurls a discarded frying pan at the deadly threat. When he asks his fellow reporter what happened, she notices that the Man of Steel left his super-grip on the handle. Lex smiles and thinks that maybe he wanted her to know who it was who saved her.
By staying out of sight, Superman has proven himself not to be an egotistical showoff Lois thought he was. Back at his apartment, Lex is relieved that his fellow reporter has stopped resenting his alter-ego. He is caught off-guard by the killer-robot's stealthy attack. Its arms are equipped with thermal units which turn the reporter's clothes to ashes.
His electronic foe has made one fatal error. It made Lex lose his temper and the robot is no match against an angry Man of Steel. A tape recorder within the robot delivers a message to Lex Luthor from Clark Kent. They are to meet on Mammoth Mountain at 7:00 and talk things over.
In another part of town, Lois Lane receives a new Glido-Brush from the Fulton Brush salesman. As she admires the feel of the brush, she wonders why she couldn't resist its vendor. Two hours later, Clark Kent sees Superman landing before him, and about to take him into custody. Regardless of his secret identity, Kent has taken out some special insurance. If the Man of Steel should interfere with any of his crimes, Lois Lane will die. Just then, another Superman appears, and informs the criminal that he's been talking to a Superman robot.
It turns out that the robot has been talking to a 3-D projected hologram. The real Clark Kent is in his secret hideout, watching how he's made a fool out of Superman. He has given a lethal brush to Lois Lane, and by now, the girl reporter has coated her scalp with a deadly chemical. A subtronic signal can activate the chemical to any potency he wishes. The following days find Clark Kent hard at work, with the Man of Steel forced to look the other way.
The following day at the Fortress of Solitude, the Man of Steel discovers that one of his robots is missing. He hopes that the malfunctioning robot hasn't reached Metropolis, and caused any damage. He finds the robot has rendered a crime machine inoperative, and the driver has escaped in a miniature jet-craft minutes ago. At the apartment of Lois Lane, the girl reporter is gone, and a note from Clark Kent is left behind. If Lois is dead, then Kent will be caught when he pulls off his next crime.
The stun setting was used, and as Clark watches her revive, he is startled to find Lois happy to be in his arms at last. Superman is atop the highest skyscraper in Metropolis, waiting for Kent to pull another robbery. As the girl reporter begs for him to reconsider his actions, Kent is ready to ride in his sonic tractor. Now, the citizens of Metropolis watch as the latest and greatest in crime machines makes its fateful appearance.
As his foe soars down towards him, Kent warns him that the device can transmit several sonic-bombs in all directions. Superman does not slow in the slightest. The sonic-tractor is activated, with buildings, and peoples destroyed in the diabolical display.
The Man of Steel shakes the crime machine apart with super-strength and super-speed. Although his criminal career is at an end, it took the deaths of all the people in Metropolis to do it. It turns out that Superman replaced the citizens of Metropolis with lifelike androids, and transferred them to Gotham City. He knew that Kent would be suspicious of a deserted city. It would appear that Clark Kent is a prisoner.
He has in his possession, an emergency weapon designed by Professor Markhem for his foe. The Man of Steel suddenly finds himself drained of his super-strength. The equalizer device has sent the super-powers into another object, a glowing steering wheel. The first of them to touch it will receive the powers permanently. Kicking his foe aside, Clark Kent runs towards the wheel. By using his wits, the Man of Steel uses a long pole to snag it first.
As Superman feels his powers returning, Clark Kent feels the chromo-stimulant short-circuiting from the mental strain of defeat. Although he avoided touching steering wheels because of Grandovic's final prophecy, he dies because he didn't touch one. With his death, Lois Lane discovers that she no longer has any feelings for Clark. It turns out that her brain waves were in tune with Kent's altered criminal brain, and he had a hypnotic influence over the girl reporter. In death, Clark Kent is free from the chromo-stimulant, and free from the evil which twisted his soul into a face of hate.
"The Wheel of Super-Fortune!" was spun in Superman #231 (November, 1970) by Cary Bates, Curt Swan, and Dan Adkins.
Printer-friendly view of this topic
