Hitting the Bottle
Superman and the Atom continue their adventure inside the Bottle City of Kandor.
The Bottle City's environmental controls have been sabotaged by somebody, and everybody inside now risks freezing to death. Superman and the Atom go to fix the generator, but find there's a bomb planted in it that goes off. Unfortunately, the blue-skinned rebel named Faern who's been helping the heroes reveals that she's been possessed by the wizard Tolos this whole time. Tolos finally gets control of Superman's body and takes flight to escape the Bottle City, leaving the people trapped in Kandor to die.
In Metropolis, Scorn takes Ashbury to her home and despite being blind she figures out that he's not Superman, but the creature suspected of kidnapping her. Her father returns home and finds his daughter there with Scorn, so naturally like any arch-conservative he gets his gun. Thinking he's protecting the girl, Scorn jumps out the window with Ashbury.
Before the bomb went off, the Atom survived the explosion by shrinking down to subatomic size. When the Atom enlarges back to normal size, he sees Tolos take over Superman's body and fly away. The Atom grows large enough to be able to catch Superman in his hand. Tolos easily knocks out the Atom and escapes through the barrier into the Fortress of Solitude, where the quick-thinking Professor Hamilton blasts Superman's body with the ray to send him back into the Bottle, effectively separating Tolos from him. Chasing Superman back into the city to get his body back, Tolos gets trapped in the interdimensional barrier surrounding Kandor. Superman gives an inspirational speech which ends the city's civil war, and he promises to one day free Kandor.
While protecting Metropolis in Superman's absence, Scorn develops a taste for Soder Cola.
Back at the Daily Planet, Lois tells Clark where the fabric for his containment suit came from, and Superman jolts to LexCorp to question Lex Luthor. Luthor claims to know nothing about what caused Superman's powers to change. Although he doesn't gain any information about his powers, Superman does discover that Lex and the Contessa are married, and that she's pregnant with Lex's child.
Back at their apartment, Clark is visited by the Phantom Stranger, who also admits he doesn't know what caused Superman's power change. I get the impression the writers hadn't really thought about an explanation for his new powers yet and they were grasping at anything at this point.
At S.T.A.R. Labs, the recurring shadowy businessman breaks out the villain Savior, who is angry to learn there are two more Superman imposters now, Scorn and Superman in his new costume.
Savior breaks into a television studio to get on TV so he can publicly challenge Superman and Scorn to a fight. Superman and Scorn defeat Savior, but the villain gets away.
S.T.A.R. Labs director Burton Thompson changes his mind about helping Superman capture Savior, remember how the Man of Steel humiliated Burton by refusing to let him help against the Parasite.
Like the first appearance of Savior, this issue features a virgin cover with no logo. Although this concept was rare at the time, in just a few months DC would do this line-wide for their first themed cover month, which these days would have just been a month of variant covers.
Superman: The Man of Steel #69
In Metropolis, Scorn takes Ashbury to her home and despite being blind she figures out that he's not Superman, but the creature suspected of kidnapping her. Her father returns home and finds his daughter there with Scorn, so naturally like any arch-conservative he gets his gun. Thinking he's protecting the girl, Scorn jumps out the window with Ashbury.
Superman #125
While protecting Metropolis in Superman's absence, Scorn develops a taste for Soder Cola.
Adventures of Superman #548
Back at their apartment, Clark is visited by the Phantom Stranger, who also admits he doesn't know what caused Superman's power change. I get the impression the writers hadn't really thought about an explanation for his new powers yet and they were grasping at anything at this point.
At S.T.A.R. Labs, the recurring shadowy businessman breaks out the villain Savior, who is angry to learn there are two more Superman imposters now, Scorn and Superman in his new costume.
Action Comics #735
S.T.A.R. Labs director Burton Thompson changes his mind about helping Superman capture Savior, remember how the Man of Steel humiliated Burton by refusing to let him help against the Parasite.
Like the first appearance of Savior, this issue features a virgin cover with no logo. Although this concept was rare at the time, in just a few months DC would do this line-wide for their first themed cover month, which these days would have just been a month of variant covers.
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