An Open Secret
PART 3
by Mark Alfred
5) In April,
1962’s Superman #152, Superman has agreed to wear a clock-faced
medallion during a money-raising drive for the Combined Charities of
Metropolis. Unbeknownst to him, two
members of the Anti-Superman gang have “fixed the clock sign Superman’s wearing
so that it contains midget gimmicks that send TV color impulses to our private
screen! We’ll keep tuned in till we
learn his Secret Identity!” Just as
they’d hoped, the big reveal takes place when Superman arrives at Clark’s
apartment. This disaster is remedied by
a trick involving a Superman robot and false Kryptonite, enabling our hero to trap
and fool the bad guys.
6) In May,
1967, Superman #196 tells how Clark becomes the surprise selection to
play Superman, in movie star Lyrica Lloyd’s new movie. Soon ensues a comedy of errors involving
“faked, special-effects” super powers.
The light deceptive tone turns more serious when Clark falls for his
beautiful leading lady. He proposes
marriage, revealing his Secret Identity, provoking her to faint – from the
shock, he supposes. But when she revives,
Lyrica tells the bad news: While on
location in Africa, she contracted a rare jungle disease. “That means ... my hours are numbered too!”
However, she says consolingly, “I can die happy,
Superman, knowing I would have been your wife ... if fate had been kinder!” She soon dies in Superman’s arms (no Cutting
Crew jokes, please), leaving the
heartbroken Man of Steel to reflect, “My Secret Identity will go to the grave
with her! But that’s no consolation to
me! Goodbye, Lyrica, my dearest –
forever!”
Years before, Superboy had undergone a sadly similar
experience in Smallville. The cover
story of Superboy #77, December, 1959, tells of “Superboy’s Best
Friend.” After his life is saved by the
Boy of Steel, new kid in town Freddy Shaw had become a best pal for the Lad of
Steel. This friendship eventually
prompted Superboy’s revelation of his Terran identity. Freddy helped cover for some of Clark’s
quick-change departures, prompting the thought, “He understands I must’ve taken
care of some emergency! It’s good to
have a friend who knows your secrets!”
However, before long Freddy developed dizzy spells which
manifested a fatal, feverish illness. At
the end of this tale, Freddy had been laid to rest, and Clark sadly recalled
“my first and last best friend!”
7) The scene: a fifth-floor window ledge. The players:
Clark Kent and Torpedo the mad bomber, caught in the act of planting his
29th device. When Torpedo
threatens to toss his bomb into the gathered crowd below, Kent claims an attack
of vertigo, and ducks into a darkened room. He doesn’t know that he’s being spied upon by
two baddies, Maxie and the Professor.
They watch Kent closely: “No look
of fear ... no sign of dizziness ... He isn’t pale! ... Now what would you
conclude ... if, in an emergency like this, Kent disappeared into that room and
Superman flew out of it?” Yes, this
happens before their eyes; the Professor’s years of investigations have paid
off in a big way.
En route to jail via the Superman Express, the Torpedo
vows to kill Kent, the man who tracked him down. Meanwhile, the Professor sets into motion an
elaborate blackmail scheme which includes plastic surgery to make Maxie’s face
a duplicate of Kent’s phizzog. The
doctor who performs this service is one Marlene, who gloats, “My mother was
Hitler’s greatest plastic surgeon ... And Mama taught me everything before she
died!”
Through a clever ruse, the Maxie-Marlene-Professor axis
of evil is soon privy to not only Superman’s, but also Supergirl’s Secret
Identities. They decide to extort the
Girl of Steel into robbery for them. But
the Maid of Might rebuffs them after much worry and consideration: “Do your worst! At least Superman can only call me a bungler,
not a thief!”
However, on their way back to town after their secret
Supergirl rendezvous, and ready to reveal Kryptonian secrets, the three are
slowed by a flat tire. Maxie, the man
with Clark Kent’s face, gets out and flags down a passing motorist for
help. Little does he know that the
oncoming car is being driven by the Torpedo, who has broken out of the slammer
to kill Kent. One bomb explosion later,
the Kryptonian Cousins’ secrets are safe.
This twisted saga of mutilation, Nazi-esque sadism, and
backfired revenge is told in February, 1967’s Action #346.
8) Action
#340, cover-dated August, 1966, introduced “the most dangerous villain Superman
has ever faced,” the Parasite. The story
begins as Jensen, a greedy, lowlife lab worker, comes upon a container marked
“Radioactive Waste.” The foolish
would-be felon reasons to himself, “I heard they used to ship payrolls like
this to fool crooks!” WRONGO,
sport! The strange energy which explodes
from the opened canister bathes the hapless Jensen in “strange, alien rays,
which penetrate every cell of his body!”
Upon recovering consciousness, Jensen finds that he can
now absorb energy from other people. In
fact he must do so: He quickly burns off
that force, and must have more. Jensen
discovers that his leechlike abilities allow him to likewise acquire
intelligence and skills from his victims.
Soon he hits the jackpot when he encounters Superman, learning the
Secret Identity. The Parasite realizes,
in the mighty battle which ensues, that he might not have an audience for this world-shaking
revelation: “How can I threaten to
expose Superman’s identity when I weakened everyone within hearing into
unconsciousness?” meanwhile the Man of
Steel presses the battle until he falls, drained, before the malefactor ...
just as planned.
Suddenly, the Parasite’s body begins to glow; quickly it
dissolves in a weird implosion of energy.
A recovering Superman reflects, “Though his parasitic ability allowed
him to sap my power, his body was still mortal!
It was too frail to contain the awesome energies he absorbed!”
Silver Age aside: Many Baby Boomers will recall Filmation’s
faithful adaptation of this Jim Shooter story, which first aired in December,
1966. Above is a frame-grab of the Parasite just before he goes Super-nova.
And, what pre-teen who watched the Filmation episode can forget Bud Collyer’s
doom-filled ending narration? “He didn’t
realize that an Earth man’s body was too frail to contain the super power of a
man from Krypton!”
End of Part Three
See you next Monday for more!
See you Thursday with a new music compilation!
