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"When Lois First Suspected Clark Was Superman!": This story is reprinted from Superman #135.

Superman Annual #8 is an issue of the series Superman Annual (Volume 1) with a cover date of January, 1964. It was published on November 21, 1963.

Synopsis for "When Lois First Suspected Clark Was Superman!"

This story is reprinted from Superman #135.

This is the story of how Lois Lane first began to suspect that Clark Kent was really Superman. One day at the Daily Planet she happens to spot a robbery going outside. When Clark says he's sick and steps out of the office, Lois begins to realize that whenever there's trouble, Clark disappears and Superman arrives shortly after. This makes her suspicious of Clark really being Superman, but she isn't full convinced, thinking Clark is too meek to be the Man of Steel.

Later, when she notices Superman grab a freshly painted flag pole when landing on the Daily Planet building, she goes inside and checks all the male employees hands for paint. Even though Clark uses his x-ray vision to burn the paint off, he's almost insulted when she overlooks him. Later still at a company function at the beach, Lois begins checking every man's belongings for a Superman costume and checking the men's physiques to learn who Superman is. Clark buries himself in sand and constructs fake flabby arms to throw her off, but she doesn't pay him any notice.

The next day, she decides to test once and for all that Clark is really Superman by entering the same room with a chunk of Kryptonite. In order to conceal it, she puts it in a lead pipe, after a conversation with Clark yields no adverse effects, she reveals the whole stunt to him, pulling out the Kryptonite. Clark manages to maintain his composure until Lois leaves the room, tossing the pipe behind. When she reads later that lead can block Kryptonite radiation, she goes back to check the pipe to see what it was made of, however Clark has cleverly switched it with an aluminum pipe.

His final attempt to throw Lois off is to maker her believe that he has his foot caught on the pedal for the drink fountain and needs her assistance to pull free. This convinces Lois that Clark cannot possibly be Superman, her suspicions allayed, For now.....

Appearing in "When Lois First Suspected Clark Was Superman!"

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Synopsis for "Superboy's First Day at School!"

This story is reprinted from Superboy #75.

When Lana Lang tries--and fails again--to expose Clark Kent as Superboy on their way to high school, Clark remembers his first day in school, when, in clear sight of a six-year-old Lana, he exhibited his super-powers several times.

Appearing in "Superboy's First Day at School!"

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Synopsis for "The Amazing Superman Junior"

This story is reprinted from Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #6.

Lois Lane gets herself into trouble once again, but fortunately Superman is there to show her the error of her ways. Lois's latest adventure involves an experimental rocket ship. Working on an assignment for the Daily Planet, Lois sneaks on board the ship to get details for her article. While fiddling about the ship, she accidentally initiates the launch sequence and the rocket blasts off towards outer space. Superman arrives just in time and brings Lois and the rocket back to Earth.

In order to teach Lois a lesson, Superman enlists Perry White, Jimmy Olsen and Robin the Boy Wonder to play a prank on her. They disguise themselves as feeble old men, and when Lois encounters them she mistakenly believes that the rocket trip transported her several decades into the future. She eventually discovers the trick and decides to get Superman back.

She convinces Robin to begin masquerading as new teen hero known as Superman Jr. When Superman encounters this new hero, he finds Lois Lane professing her undying love to Superman Jr. Ultimately however, Superman discovers the ruse and everyone enjoys a good laugh.

Appearing in "The Amazing Superman Junior"

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  • None

Other Characters:

  • Professor Raskins (Single appearance)
  • Rocket Pad Workers (Unnamed) (Cameo) (Single appearance)
  • Doctor (Unnamed) (Cameo) (Single appearance)
  • Batman (Mentioned only)
  • Robin
    • Fred Ashley (future Robin's real name)
    • Superman Jr.
  • Johnny Miller (best make-up man in town) (Cameo) (Single appearance)
  • Rip Van Winkle (Mentioned only)
  • Lois Lane's Grandfather (Unnamed) (Mentioned only)
  • Mrs. Superman (Unnamed) (Mentioned only)
  • Tom Willis (1 of 6 boys Lois has fingerprints of whom may be Robin) (Mentioned only)
  • Harry Barnes (1 of 6 boys Lois has fingerprints of whom may be Robin) (Mentioned only)
  • Ernie Chandler (1 of 6 boys Lois has fingerprints of whom may be Robin) (Mentioned only)

Locations:

Items:

  • Daily Planet Newspaper
  • Kryptonite (Mentioned only)
  • Giant Birthday Cake
  • Super Serum
  • Lois Lane's Fingerprints of Six Robin Suspects

Vehicles:

  • Space Rocket BX9
  • Sunken Ocean Liner (In ruins)

Synopsis for "Mxyzptlk's First Prank!"

This story is reprinted from Superboy #78.

When Mxyzptlk, a 5th dimensional teenager, is penalized by his parents for playing too many pranks with his magic, he goes illegally through a space-warp to Earth's dimension. There he sees Superboy and decides to bedevil him with pranks, including an illusion of Jor-El's ghost telling him to leave Earth. But Mxyzptlk's father, observing the incident, sends Superboy a message revealing that he can banish the sprite back to the 5th dimension for 90 days by getting him to say his name backwards. Superboy does so, and Mxyzptlk is warped back home, where he faces punishment from his father and vows vengeance on Superboy.

Appearing in "Mxyzptlk's First Prank!"

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  • Fuzastl (Mxyzptlk's father)
  • Jor-El

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Synopsis for "The Untold Story of Red Kryptonite!"

This story is reprinted from Superman #139.

An undersea exploration is imperiled when a meteor crashes on the bathysphere, trapping the divers at the bottom of the ocean. Superman is called in, however the Man of Steel has to stop when his x-ray vision detects Red Kryptonite. Sending in one of his Superman robots, they prove ineffective as they are destroyed by the water pressure of the ocean. With no choice, Superman risks exposure to Red Kryptonite to save the submarine crew, in spite of the unknown and random effects Red Kryptonite has on him.

After saving the crew, and being exposed to the Red Kryptonite rays, Superman reflects on his previous exposures to the Red Kryptonite over the years as both Superboy and Superman. From his first encounter while battling Kozz from the planet Mars which led to an evil Clark Kent doppelganger being created, to changes in his proportions, to losing control of his x-ray vision and super-breath.

Returning to Metropolis to tell his story to Perry White, Jimmy Olsen, and Lois Lane, Superman is shocked to find that the Red Kryptonite has made his hair and finger nails grow super-long. With a full mien of hair, beard, and long finger nails that are as indestructible as the rest of his body, Superman realizes to his horror that not even his x-ray vision can trim down his growths. Not wishing to lose his secret identity, Superman retreats to his Fortress of Solitude, where he summons Supergirl and Krypto to help him out. Their combined x-ray vision proves powerful enough to burn away the excess growth of hair and finger nail so that Superman can resume his civilian guise of Clark Kent without arousing anyone's suspicions.

Appearing in "The Untold Story of Red Kryptonite!"

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Synopsis for "Prisoner of the Super-Heroes!"

This story is reprinted from Adventure Comics #267.

Superboy is shocked when his friends from the Legion of Super-Heroes have appeared in 20th Century Smallville, and are doing their best to upstage and beat Superboy in saving the day, solving crimes and stopping menaces. This eventually causes everyone to turn against Superboy; even his adoptive parents and his pet Krypto turn their backs on the Boy of Steel.

Superboy decides to travel to the 30th Century to find out that what the Legion is up to. Arriving in the future, Superboy is shocked to find that there is now a Superboy planet, an entire world that is dedicated to honoring him. However, when the Legionnaires return to their own time, they capture Superboy and imprison him in a Kryptonite cage, telling the Boy of Steel that they consider him a criminal.

Explaining, they tell Superboy that they created a monitoring device to view the past to help construct their Superboy planet, and they saw Superboy destroying US military vehicles in his not-too-distant future. Therefore they have come to the conclusion that he is a criminal. However, the Boy of Steel manages to break out of his cell and shows the Legion on the monitor why he destroyed those vessels: Under special orders of the President of the United States, Superboy was ordered to destroy the vessels in order to cover up the transport of a top secret gas so that it cannot fall in the hands of foreign spies.

With everything sorted out, the Legion goes back to the past and explains everything to everyone, reinstilling people's faith in the Boy of Steel.

Appearing in "Prisoner of the Super-Heroes!"

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Synopsis for "The Rainbow Clark Kent!"

This story is reprinted from Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #3.

Lois Lane discovers that whenever she opens her locket, energy from within causes Superman to glow in the varying colors of the rainbow. The locket contains a small fragment of a meteor that Superman recently destroyed on one of his adventures. Once Lois closes the locket however, Superman returns to normal.

That evening, Clark Kent and Lois have dinner together. Clark grows nervous as Lois begins fondling her locket. He knows that if she were to open it, the meteor energy would cause him to glow like a rainbow again, thus exposing his secret identity.

To further protect his secret identity, Superman secretly sprays the Daily Planet office with a special chemical, which causes everything to glow like a rainbow whenever Lois opens her locket. Since everyone is experiencing this bizarre manifestation, Clark's secret identity is secure. As the sun goes down, the effects of the meteor rock wear off and Lois' locket (as well as Superman) returns to normal.

Appearing in "The Rainbow Clark Kent!"

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  • Jewel Thief (Unnamed) (Cameo) (Single appearance)

Other Characters:

  • Metropolis Police Department
  • Citizens of Metropolis (Unnamed) (Cameo)
  • Professor Jason (Cameo) (Final appearance)
  • Superman Supper Club (Unnamed) (Single appearance)

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Items:

  • Crystalline Meteor (Flashback only) (Destroyed)
  • Lois Lane's Locket
  • Superman (Statue only)

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Synopsis for "The Origin of Superman's Super-Costume!"

This story is reprinted from Superboy #78.

Superboy is demonstrating the indestructible features of his costume at a local carnival. A bystander asks Superboy about the origin of his costume but Superboy responds that he cannot answer because it would reveal his secret identity.

The question prompts Superboy to flashback to the time he landed on Earth in his rocket. He is found by the Kent’s and they adopt him. The Kent’s immediately discover his super abilities. They also discover that Clarks clothing tends to get destroyed while performing his amazing feats. They notice that Clark’s baby blankets are indestructible since they accompanied him from Krypton. Martha Kent gets the idea to unravel the material from the blankets to sew Clark a durable indestructible outfit. Clark uses his heat vision to sever the strands of yarn that Martha needs to complete her project. As Clark becomes Superboy, they sew a bigger costume for him with the familiar S that will stretch along with him as he grows older.

Appearing in "The Origin of Superman's Super-Costume!"

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Synopsis for "Krypton's First Superman!"

This story is reprinted from Superman #123.

Jimmy decides that it is time to make his final wish with the magic totem. Superman tells him that he should make a wish for himself, but Jimmy feels guilty for allowing the totem to be stolen in the first place. He wants to surprise Superman with his wish, so he types it out, rather than speaking it aloud. His wish is to send Superman back to Krypton to meet his dead parents, Jor-El and Lara. However, Jimmy mis-types the word "meet" and types "mate" instead.

Superman is whisked suddenly through the time stream where he winds up on Krypton many years before his own birth. As he is not meant to exist in this time, Superman can only appear as a phantom spirit. He finds Jor-El and Lara working alongside another Kryptonian named Kil-Lor. He is shocked to discover though, that his future parents are working alongside Kil-Lor to conquer the planet, Krypton. He cannot believe that his parents are actually traitors.

Suddenly, members of the Krypton Bureau of Investigation burst into Kil-Lor's lab and apprehend all three conspirators. Jor-El reveals that he is actually an undercover KBI agent, but fails to provide evidence proving his and Lara's innocence. The agents arrest the three of them, and place them inside a special behavioral modification satellite.

The phantom Superman follows the trajectory of the satellite and finds that he can regain his physical form once he is off the planet. The satellite sets down on an asteroid in a yellow star system. Now a corporeal being, Superman has the chance to physically meet his parents. Kil-Lor however has other plans. He discovers that he has super-strength, speed and the power of flight. He announces his intention to conquer Krypton and Superman and he begin fighting. Superman tricks Kil-Lor into using his super-strength to smash pieces of asteroid rock together, creating a chain reaction that turns the immediate area into Kryptonite. Kil-Lor grows weak from the effect and falls over unconscious.

Superman says his final goodbye to Jor-El and Lara, just as the two propose to one another. He returns to Earth through the space-time barrier and tells Jimmy of his adventure.

Appearing in "Krypton's First Superman!"

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Notes

  • Mxyzptlk's First Prank! was originally titled The Ghost of Jor-El!.
  • The Rainbow Clark Kent! was originally titled The Rainbow Superman!.
  • The Origin of Superman's Super-Costume! was originally titled The Origin of Superboy's Costume!.
  • Krypton's First Superman! was originally the third chapter of The Three Magic Wishes! and was titled Superman's Return to Krypton!.



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