1. Action Comics #391 (August 1970): "The Punishment of Superman's Son"
2. Action Comics #392 (September 1970): "The Shame of the Super-Son"

Search our online database: Action Comics #391 The Punishment of Superman's Son DC Comics Aug 1970 Bronze Age - USA - English Comic - $0.15 Writer Robert Kanigher Penciller Ross Andru Inker Mike Esposito Cover Penciller Curt Swan Cover Inker Murphy Anderson Editor Mort Weisinger Superman (Kal-El / Clark Kent)

The following images come from Action Comics 392, Sept 1970, called ‘The Shame of the Super-Son!, this issue is part two of the story, ‘The Punishment of Superman’s Son’ from Action Comics 391, where Superman, believing that his son had become a menace, removed his superpowers by exposing him to Gold K. The story picks on how the Superman's son deals with the loss of his strength. If you want to know the ending, Superman, using special bracelets he received from the scientists in Kandor, gave his own superpowers to his son. Action Comics #391 and #392 feature a two-part Imaginary Story that may well have been the inspiration for the 1970's Super-Sons stories in World's Finest. This story (Aug & Sept 70) began with part 1: "The Punishment of Superman's Son!" At City Hall, Clark Kent and his son, Clark, Jr. witness Batman, Jr. receiving the Metropolis Medal of Valor. Batman is obviously very proud of his son, and announces he'll soon retire and let his son take his place. When Clark asks Clark, Jr. when he'll start acting like a Superman, Clark, Jr. says he's trying.

That evening, Superman flies to the planet Muse X-1 to take the Flowing Fugue, rarest plant in the universe, back to Earth. However, when he returns, he has to send in the Batman, Jr. medal presentation story, so asks Superman, Jr. to bring the musical flower to Maestro Mortini at the Metropolis Music Academy. However, Superman, Jr. flies too fast, and the friction burns up the plant. Superman berates him. Batman and Batman, Jr. show up, and Batman needles Supes about their sons. Supes gives his son another chance when a gang with a special tank tries to steal a computer. However, Supes, Jr. is tricked by a covering of fake Kryptonite on the tank. Superman decides to close the gap between him and his son by taking him to the Fortress of Solitude. However, when Superman has to fly off on an emergency and leaves his son behind, Supes, Jr. misinterprets the actions of a Superman, Jr. robot and accidentally releases the animals of the Interplanetary Zoo in the fortress. When Superman returns, he feels he has no choice but to expose Superman, Jr. to Gold Kryptonite, which wipes out his powers.

Concluding in the Sept. 70 issue of Action, we get to see a flashback to when Superman and Superman Jr. made an appearance on Father and Son Day in Metropolis. To teach his son a lesson, Superman used his powers to make Jr. fail to win any of the contests against normal human boys. The lesson was supposed to be that Supes Jr. should use his powers to help people, not to humiliate them. In the present, Clark Jr. is trying to adjust to life without superpowers, but when his father is exposed to Green K (and he fakes a weakness to it himself -- faked since Green K only affects super-powered Kryptonians), he gets the opportunity to save his father's life. Superman flies him to the Fortress, where he voluntarily uses a pair of Cosmo-Kinetic Bracelets to transfer his powers to his son.

"The Shame of the Super-Son!" was by Bob Kanigher, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito, and I believe they did the first part, as well. Also in this issue were the Legion of Super-Heroes in "The Legionnaires Who Never Were!" by Cary Bates, Win Mortimer, and Jack Abel, the last Legion feature in Action.