The Triumphant and Tragic History of the Superman Robots

Early in their costumed careers, Kal-El and Kal-L surmised that they would need help in carrying out their super-feats, as Superman couldn't be in all places at once. Especially given his secret identity as reporter Clark Kent, each Superman developed lookalike robots who could substitute for their creator in times of need.

Kal-L of Earth-Two first used a lifelike dummy in 1944, then a remote controlled automaton in 1949 culminating in the robotic Krag in 1952 to combat an alien invasion. By the time he married fellow reporter Lois Lane, Kal-L built Clark Kent and Superman robots with artificial intelligence.

Kal-El of Earth-One first constructed Clark Kent and Superboy robots during his teenage years. As an adult, he gave a remote controlled replica to pal Jimmy Olsen. A Wonder Man robot was used to face an alien horde.

On both worlds, the increase of air pollution caused the Superman robots to progressively begin to malfunction. This led the Supermen into decommisson them, although Kal-El still used them to a limited degrees within his Fortress of Solitude and in his apartment. A couple caused them great trouble.

A Superboy robot escape the self-destruction decree of his master, and perceived that his master was evil for sending he and his "brethren" to an early "death". Secretly protecting Smallville for years, his presence was eventually revealed when Pete Ross and Lana Lang observed the automaton, and Kal-El tricked this robot into destroying itself.

A Clark Kent robot pretended to be his master, even convincing Kal-L's wife Lois until as Superman it began to malfunction. She was able to deactivate the Superman robot, and apparently the other robots were never utilized following this incident.

One remote control robot labeled Powerman was designed by Superman to safeguard his friends Batman and Robin from Lex Luthor who developed a dangerous death-ray. In fact, Kal-El conceived of Powerman's costume from a dream, which in fact was his recollection of an event which occurred decades early on Earth-Two.

On that world, Kal-L faced a Nazi sleeper agent named Heinrich Melch, who was secretly the Kryptonite-powered Atoman, Although the villain didn't have an opportunity to wear this costume, until his later revival in the 1980's, following the conclusion of their epic battles in the mid-1940s, Superman dressed the seemingly deceased Melch in this uniform, then placing him in a coffin. Following his awakening from prolonged suspended animation, Atoman journeyed to Earth-One to battle the World's Finest team of Superman and Batmen before returning with them to Earth-Two when he discovered his Superman was a different man..

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The Ladies Behind the Legendary Leeches of Parasite & Atoman

While themselves nearly as infamous as their fellow vile villains, the Luthors the Toymen and Pranksters, counterparts Parasite and Atoman may not have achieved their legendary status without the women behind the scenes. For Parasite, this was is former attorney turned wife Lorna Kramer*, a selfless woman who saw the good in the irradiated rogue whom she sought to legally defend. For Atoman, this was the black marketeer who gave prized Kryptonite meteor rock to Nazi scientist Der Teufel to spawn the irradiated Atoman.

Scarlet Widow initiated a bidding war with four prominent men including Teufel, demonstrating to potency of the recently discovered Kryptonite which weakened their mutual foe, Superman. Although Widow's relationship with Atoman was tangental through her client and his superior Teufel, together they were able to  hatch a threat upon the Superman of Earth-Two that nearly ended his life. Although Atoman failed to subdue and slay his foe after multiple encounters, Atoman would return decades later to renew their conflict, while the Widow retired from crime.

Lorna Kramer was a German American defense lawyer, working on the early release from prison request of her client, Raymond Maxwell Jensen aka the Parasite. After a period of time together, the pair fell in love, and as a newly wed couple sired twins. Despite this, the strains of Parasite's former criminal past as a recurring foe of Superman coupled with his powers becoming reactived due to an alien invader known as Mister Xavier caused the couple to divorce.

However, Raymond and Lorna's son Troy and daughter Trini inherited the mutated genes of their father, which nearly ended their lives. Having moved with her children back to her native Germany, Lorna eventually sought out her ex-husband who was able to restore their health with his renewed powers. With the aid of scientists, Parasite was able to extra enough energy from a captive Superman to rid the children of their life-threatening “para-fever”, while giving them temporary powers.

Sadly, continuing to be with his ex-wife and children might eventually have debilitating effects on them physically, as well as emotionally for the bad example he was setting. So Jensen left them once more, finding solace is his continual conflict with his greatest foe, Superman!

While neither Heinrich "Atoman" Melch nor Scarlet Widow had any children of their own, the doppelgängers of Troy and Trini were the German Jewish brother and sister Horst and Frieda, children of the telepathic mutant Friedrich who perished protecting his family and Wonder Woman from Nazi sailors using his power for their benefit. Unlike Troy and Trini, Horst and Frieda had neither father nor mother as they were placed in an American orphanage. Such was the sad tale of these children of gifted men with tragic lives.

* The existence and canonicity of Lorna and her children Troy and Trini were verified in the Parasite's entry in Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe Vol 1 17.

Sinister Symbionts Siphoning Supermen

Two documented techniques were employed to drain powers possessed by the Supermen, one which left him weakened and the other which potentially had far deadly effects. Interestingly, two pairs of deadly doppelgänger employed each of these techniques against their world's Man of Steel, very nearly leading to the demise of the Last Sons of Krypton. Although each counterpart used a a different technique against Superman than had the other!

The first technique is exposing the heroes to Green Kryptonite, the radioactive substance remaining from the planet Krypton. On Earth-One, the criminal cyborg Roger "Metallo" Corben was implanted with a Kryptonite "heart" with a two-fold purpose, to keep his cybernetic body alive and as a radiological weapon against the modern day Superman. On Earth-Two, the German soldier Heinrich "Atoman" Melch was injected with a Green Kryptonite serum which both empowered his superhuman body and as a radiological weapon against the golden age Superman.

A less common technique is projecting purple energy dampening radiation, coming from an extraterrestrial origin. On Earth-One, janitor turned criminal Raymond Maxwell "Parasite" Jensen was inadvertently exposed to radioactive material brought from outer space, and which Parasite then used against Superman which weakened him. On Earth-Two, scientist turned villain George "Metalo" Grant developed a purple ray projecting weapon which likewise weakened Superman. While Parasite employed his purple ray aura to transfer Superman's abilities to himself, Metalo developed a related super-serum from the purple radiation to grant Grant his Superman-like attributes.

Parasites’ Power Plays

Maxwell Raymond Jensen and Heinrich Melch were the recipients of tremendous power thrust upon them through exposure to extraterrestrial radioactive elements. These substances transformed them into living atomic furnaces, burning through as much energy as they could absorb. As the Parasite and Atoman, these sinister supervillains required devices that would enable them to control these awesome abilities.

In order to maintain and harness this awesome energy, they were in possession of the Power Prism and Power Regulator. While the Parasite developed his Power Prism with the help of the stolen intellect he purloined scientists, Atoman was bequeathed his Power Regulator (or Control Device) from his mentor. That man was Dr. Teufel, a Nazi scientist bent on seeking vengeance against the man he believed was Germany’s greatest foe, the Superman of Earth-Two. And undoubtedly, the prime intellect from whom Parasite obtained the blueprints for his Power Prosm was Teufel’s counterpart on, the alien adversary known as Amalak. And  indeed, Amalak had a seething hatred towards all surviving Kryptonians in his universe, especially the Superman of Earth-One.

The synthetic prism of power enabled the Parasite the ability to drain energies and vitality from individual from afar, while his innate power required him to make physical contact with his prey to enable this energy-drain. Although in its test phase, the prism inadvertently empowered other random individuals, such as Superman’s young friend Jonathan Ross, this defect was later corrected. Parasite used the prism to animate some toxic muck from Earth-Two’s Slaughter Swamp which its famous resident, Solomon Grundy, brought with him to Earth-One on one occasion. This created an Earth-One version of Grundy, similar to how decades earlier the villain Per Degaton used his temporal crystal which empowered his Time Machine to spawn a temporal clone of Solomon in 1941.

Despite this technology which potentially could’ve tipped the balance of power towards Parasite and Atoman, it was the quick wit and strategy of the Men of Steel who always came out on top during their battles with the Supermen.

Supervillain Shenanigans at Sportsman Stadium

One of the landmarks of Metropolis is its state-of-the-art sports stadium. This structure, constructed in 1940 on both Earths One and Two, was where the city's professional football team the Metropolis Meteors played. And it has been the focal point of a few epic struggles involving this metropolitan area's most famous resident, Superman, and his adversaries.

Quarterback Steve Lombard sought assistance for his injured knee before a key game. Scientist Frederic Fowe used his ultra-violet healing ray, powered by solar energy, to restore Lombard's knee to normal. However, this caused the adverse effect of creating an ultra-competitive and highly dangerous energy twin, which Superman had to battle at Star Stadium. Apparently, this was the original name of the stadium on Earth-One, at least until this adventure in 1973.

By 1981, Star Stadium was renamed Metropolis Stadium, and was the designated site where the Kryptonite-powered villain known as Atoman challenged Superman to a duel to the death. However, Atoman announced that in fact he wanted this battle to take place at Sportsman Stadium, which Superman and others deduced was actually the now renamed Metropolis Stadium. Batman placed the pieces of this puzzle together, and deduced that Atoman was not from the world of the Justice League... but rather from the parallel planet of the Justice Society.

During their clash, Superman vibrated he and Atoman from the Earth-One reality, bringing them both to Earth-Two where a suddenly depowered Atoman was quickly subdued. Apparently in 1940, this stadium's proposed names included Sportsman, which wasn't used.

While on Earth-One the aforementioned Star Stadium was renamed Metropolis Stadium, on Earth-Two it was initially named Sportsman Stadium, at least until the mid-1940's when Atoman and the golden age Superman first dueled. Following this, it was renamed Metropolis Stadium as evident in a 1951 case. At that time, Superman and his wife Lois Lane Kent encountered the supervillains Harlequin and Sportsmaster, assisting Green Lantern in capturing the latter criminal. Apparently by 1981, it was renamed Sportsman Stadium by 1981, when Atoman finally reunited with his old foe, the original Superman of Earth-Two!

Superman's Sinister Super-Foes

Superman, both of them, had several foes to face... providing different challenges.  From the seemingly ordinary to the extra-ordinary, from those direct analogues to the more divergent deviants.

Among the most prominent problematic pests of these prime protectors were:

• Lex Luthor and Alexie Luthor, geniuses without peer and their greatest foes.
• Brainiac and Ultra-Humanite, second most prolific enemies, each brilliant.
• The Toymen, Pranksters, Puzzlers, J. Wilbur Wolfingham - business clad gimmicky goons.
• Mister  Mxyzptlk and Mister Mxyztplk, powerful pests from the 5th dimension.
• Metallo and Metalo, super strong robots using weakening radiation.
• Parasite and Atoman, radioactive rogues:  superhuman powers and draining others.
• Atomic Skull and Mister Bones, caped skeletal foes capable of weakening others.
• Vartox and Cyclotron, superhuman physique, energy manipulation used to help and hurt Supes
• Two Colonel Futures, one a misguided scientist the other a malevolent mastermind.
• Amalak and Teufel, two fanatical alien scientists mastering Kryptonite. 
• Terra-Man and Sir Traytor, centuries-old master criminals.
• Grax and Creator2, blue-skinned alien scientists.
• Superman Revenge Squad and Creator2’s Mendicant slaves, more blue-skinned alien baddies.
• Marauder and Shaman, older bearded adversaries.

Problematic Powerhouse Piledrivers

Raymond Maxwell Jensen was a janitor with greedy ambitions. When he learned that the laboratory he was working in had hazardous containers stored within, he suspected they were secretly used to store funds. However, the container was realy storing radioactive materials from outer space which Superman was experimenting on. By opening this hazardous container, Jensen's flesh was seared and he was transformed into an atomic furnace. Capable of absorbing and burning through energy at rapid rate and in massive quantity, Jensen also consumed the intelligence of the resident scientists, and learned that as the Parasite he would need to leech a power source greater than mere humans to survive. His target was Earth-One's Superman, and upon discovering his alter ego, Jensen adopted the alias of reporter Larcon Leech. Gaining employment at the Daily Planet, Leech was able to leech powers off Superman gradually. Eventually, his scheme was revealed leading to his imprisonment.

Heinrich Melch was a soldier in Germany during World War 2 with revenge in his heart. When his father and another scientist discovered how to liquefy radioactive Kryptonite meteorites*, they injected it into Melch's blood stream making him an atomic furnace. This provided him superhuman abilities harnessed from the energy, while gaining the ability to drain the life from his foe simultaneously Traveling to America at the conclusion of the war, Melch adopted the alias of reporter Henry Miller, obtaining employment at the Daily Star in order to close in on his prey Superman who had an association with that newspaper. After a series of confrontations versus his heroic opponent, Melch as Atoman was finally defeated despite having severely weakened Superman. 

Thinking Atoman was dead following this final battle, Superman buried Melch in a lead lined coffin while cladding the villain in his hooded costumed. However, Atoman survived and struggled to revive himself for decades to come.

Parasite would appear to have perished more than once although he gained the ability to rprotect assemble his atomic mass. On one occasion, he came into conflict with fellow felon Lex Luthor, as both were in a competition to defeat their common foe first. Later, Jensen adopted the identity of Superman's long lost brother, using power that he stole from his enemy while attempting to frame him in the court of public opinion. With Batman's assistance, Superman was able to expose this sinister scheme. 

Some of his other malevolent machinations included spawning a clone of the Solomon Grundy from Earth-Two to use against the Man of Steel and other subterfuge. Concurrent to these events, Parasite developed a Power Prism which like his own inherent abilities was capable of drawing energy from individuals and transferring them into others, such as himself.

A similar object known as the Power Stone, originating from outer space, likewise could pull energy from some and imbuing it upon others. This allowed first Alexei Luthor of Earth-Two, and shortly thereafter the Ultra-Humanite, to gain superhuman abilities matching their mutual foe Superman. 

As to Atoman, he finally revived himself decades after he seemingly perished, still feeding upon the radiation coursing through his veins. Now on Earth-One, Atoman sought revenge against the man whom he thought vanquished him and his people long ago. However, that world's Superman alongside Batman eventually figured out where Atoman was truly from, and brought Atoman back to Earth-Two where the pair as well as the original Superman and Robin defeated him.