Sinster Super-Weapons of Savage Supervillains

Kru-El of Krypton-One and Vandal Savage of Earth-Two mirrored one another in both their tenacity for survival, and their sinister scheming minds. Each were threats to their worlds' Kal and Kara... the Supermen Kal-El and Kal-L, as well as Kara Zor-El aka Supergirl and Kara Zor-L aka Power Girl, not just because they had superhuman abilities comparable to Kryptonian cousins, but their lack of morals meant they were unrestrained in cruelty and cunning.

Kru-El, himself a cousin of Kal and Kara, was imprisoned in the Phantom Zone when it was learned that he was developing forbidden destructive weapons to further his evil ends. These devices were placed in a box that was jettisoned to Earth-One. Upon being released from the Zone along with fellow criminals General Zod and Jax-Ur, the trio betrayed the Kandorian woman Lesla-Lar who freed them, and proceeded to use these against Supergirl. Among the weapons were a force-field beam, a disintegrator, a plant scourge ray, a mind-over-matter machine, and a time-reversal ray. Even equipped with these, the tyrannical trio was defeated by Superman, Supergirl... and Lex Luthor, aiding his foes in order to save his sister Lena from imprisonment in the city of Kandor.

Vandal Savage, while himself brilliant in strategy and in some sciences, relied on the equipment of his former teammates in the Injustice Society. Seeking revenge against the Justice Society, who had defeated he and his allies, Vandal utilized a wide-array of his cronies' creations, including:

Brain Wave's immobility cube

Thinker's heavy-ray beam

Per Degaton's paralysis beam

Their monitoring devices

Savage had himself developed a specialized suit, allowing him to fly. And years later, when facing the Justice Society on his robotic world of Colu-Two, Vandal developed equipment that transferred Power Girl's superhuman abilities to himself, in order to battle Superman with the goal of robbing the Man of Steel of his own abilities. These and previous schemes were hatched with the goal of restoring Vandal's immortality, which was slowly wearing off during the 20th century.

On an earlier occasion, Savage used these devices to manipulate the Flash of both Earths into drawing the meteor that granted him immortality centuries ago back to him. However, the result was transforming Vandal into a phantom on his native Earth-Two for a time.

Kru-El and Vandal Savage would return time and again to threaten humanity while seeking power and control. During the course of their crooked careers, as has been noted, they would rely upon their alliance with the Phantom Zone criminals and Injustice Society colleagues. 

In fact, it was two of the Injustice gangsters, who sent Vandal to Earth-One with the goal of changing that worlds history, which had it been successful (which it had, until that world’s Superman changed it back to normal) would've insured the Justice Society had another world to exploit. In addition, a revised history eliminating their other foes the Justice League of Earth-One would've have secured their supremacy over Earth-Two in the 1970s when they with writer turned supervillain Cary Bates had decisively defeated the Justice Society.

Machavelian Masterminds versus Men of Metal: Vandal Savage versus Shining Knight

Perhaps the most persistent pest to the family El of Krypton-One was the second cousin, once removed, of Kal-El/Superman known as Kru-El. Seeking to develop a stockpile of banned weaponry for his own sinister purposes, this black sheep of the El's was captured and incarcerated by Kal's father Jor-El.

Banished to the Phantom Zone, Kru-El would routinely throughout the years work alongside fellow prisoners of the Zone such as General Zod and Jax-Ur to attempt to exact revenged against the son of their jailer.

On one occasion, Kru-El... along with three other Zone prisoners General Zod, Jax-Ur and Professor Va-Kox... was instrumental in designing creatures known as Anachronids who disrupted space time continuum. This directly involved his cousin and fellow Justice Leaguer the Flash. A later encounter with the Phantom Zoners mentally controlling the Flash paralleled an earlier event when the Flash was briefly mentally manipulated by Va-Kox's cosmic twin Captain Luther Jarvis into battling the Spectre.

The several encounters between Man of Steel and Man of Malice on Earth-One were mirrored on Earth-Two by Kru-El's counterpart Vandal Savage... and another metallic man allied with Kal-L! We now consider the long running enmity between Vandal Savage as Genghis Khan vs the Shining Knight, Superman's fellow All-Star Sir Justin!

When Vandar Adg had been exposed to radiation from a blazing meteorite, he was imbued with immortality. As such, he lived for centuries while adopting various aliases as conquerors such as an ancient king of Sumner, Egyptian Pharaoh Cheops, Roman leader Julius Caesar, and other individuals who on Earth-One were individual men throughout the years. His last foray into direct conquest before becoming a power behind the scenes was as the Mongul ruler known as Genghis Khan. A young Khan aka Temujin of Earth-One had inadvertently been aided in his claim to power by a mistaken time lost Superboy, who saved his life twice!

As Superman, he would later redeem himself somewhat by leading a crushing defeat against Earth-Two's adult Genghis during an adventure with his fellow Justice League members, as well as that world's Justice Society and Law's Legionnaires. More on that later.

Several centuries prior to his appearance as Khan, as Vandal Savage this immortal was a feudal lord in England during the age of Camelot when he first encountered one of his most enduring adversaries, the Shining Knight. The Knight and his flying steed Winged Victory were investigating a massive dimensional tuning fork installed in the countryside next to Savage's castle by the ageless Monitor, placed there as well as four other key points in history on two earths to prevent them from being destroyed during the Crisis on Infinite Earths. While the Knight along with Earth-One's Firestorm and Ice Maiden defended this fork from threats originating in the Anti-Matter Universe, it was the marvelously metallic armored Knight who aroused Vandal's interest that would develop over the years.

As Khan, Savage was plucked from the thirteen century do the twentieth century by the renegade scientist known as Doctor Doome. The Doctor had developed the means to traverse time, and employed various notorious conquerors from history including Attila the Hung, Alexander the Great and Napoleon Bonaparte as well as Khan to lead Doome's minions in modern conquest. The members of Law's Legionnaires (or Seven Soldiers of Victory) were dispatched to deal with these individual threats, with Knight choosing Khan. No doubt, this battle helped Genghis to recall when as Savage he had first encountered the Knight. Once defeated, Khan returned to his native time. Perhaps during his foray into the future, Savage recalled his earlier meeting with another Legionnaire, Vigilante, when that hero was sent to Ancient Rome when Vandal was Julius Caesar*.

Years later, the Legionnaires were thrust into the time stream after a battle with the Nebula Man, with each member arriving in a different historical era. Tied through the chronal device given to him by Doome, Khan was able to extract Shining Knight and bring him to the thirteen century in order to aid him in his conquest of China. It was during this occasion that the entity known as the Oracle dispatched teams of three heroes each to various eras in order to extract the Legionnaires and bring them back to their native era. Thus, it was Earth-Two's Sandman and Earth-One's Metamorpho and Superman who did this, with Superman's aforementioned victory versus Khan.

Vandal as Gaius Julius Caesar in ancient Rome had encountered a time-lost Vigilante of Law's Legionnaires as well as Rocky, a henchman of the Dummy. Then, centuries later as Count Lucovico, Savage met another of Law's Legionnaire in the Shining Knight, who sought the aid of Leonardo Da Vinci due to his invention of a time machine identical to that later used by the Dummy. It was that machine which the Dummy used in the 20th century to send the Legionnaires and his hood back to earlier eras.

Stealing this time machine and using it to pilfer from the Dummy in the 20th century, Savage would later utilize both technologies in Camelot and Colu-Two versus the Justice Society. encountered a time-lost Vigilante of Law's Legionnaires as well as Rocky, a henchman of the Dummy. Then, centuries later as Count Lucovico, Savage met another of Law's Legionnaire in the Shining Knight, who sought the aid of Leonardo Da Vinci due to his invention of a time machine identical to that later used by the Dummy. It was that machine which Dummy used in the 20th century to send the Legionnaires and his henchmen to earlier eras.

But this was not the end of Khan, as he would be pulled forward in time on one more occasion as a temporal phantom alongside other historical villains in order to battle the Patrol consisting of Fred, Pedro and Slim. Once returned to his earlier time period following defeat, Savage forsook being a direct ruler and instead assist others behind the scenes. As such, his first modern day appearance as Vandal Savage was versus first Green Lantern and then as a member of the Injustice Society versus the Lantern's Justice Society. He would return over the decades to battle the Society three more as well as the Flash of both earths.

Eventually, Savage met his own world's Superman in ancient Camelot which he returned to in order to lead the Society into a trap and draw them to a planet of his own design in order to siphon the Man of Steel's power into himself. And the person who led Superman and the Society to Camelot to pursue Vandal? The Shining Knight who had a link to the villain throughout the centuries. Eventually, Savage moved to Earth-One for a few months, first attempting to change that world's history to make him a conqueror and later an insidious business man. After decisive defeats versus the Man of Steel and his old foe Immortal Man with the Forgotten Heroes assisting them, Vandal Savage disappeared from Earth-One.

* Both Savage's Julius Caesar and Genghis Khan personas would be pulled forward in time to battle the Patrol members Fred, Pedro and Slim... although since these past versions already existed in 1943 at a point when their future version, Vandal, already existed... they appeared as phantoms.

Sinister Strategists of the Stars

This Twice-Told-Tale may seem a bit recycled, as we previously considered Vandal Savage's final battle versus the Justice Society of America as paralleling his battle with Earth-One's Superman. Both had Savage confront the Supermen of two worlds, however since that second tale was erased from Earth-One's history when Superman went back in time and changed events back to the way events originally occurred... a new tale took its place.

On Earth-One, Superman had a fierce foe in his criminal cousin  Kru-El, who had been banished into the penal Phantom Zone prior to the destruction of Krypton-One. Several times over the years, he and his fellow Zoners bedeviled his cousins Kal-El and Kara Zor-El aka Supergirl. Incarcerated for procuring weaponry, this would be the means by which Kru-El would torment Kal's Superman.

Possessing similar powers to his kin, Kru-El nevertheless proved less adept at fighting with these abilities. Just like his counterpart Savage, who had for a period of time been transformed into a phantom caught between dimensional planes of existence, was a master strategist.

On Earth-Two, Savage sought to regain his own immortality through an infusion of Kryptonian energies. Concocting an elaborate plot whereby Savage lured the Justice Society along with the Shining Knight back to the age of Camelot, assuming the alias of the sovereign known as King Arthur,  After subterfuge, Vandal was able to achieve what he felt was the means to restore his long last vitality which had not failed him for untold eons before this.

Vandal drew Superman and Power Girl to an artificial world, Colu-Two. There, under the influence of a Kryptonite sun of his own creation, while channeling the cosmic energies of Star-Spangled Kid's cosmic converter belt and Power Girl's own super powers, Savage battled with Superman in order to steal the Man of Steel's power. This, he theorized, would restore his immortality... however he was instead defeated.

However, a couple of mystery men pulled Vandal through a worm hole in space and kept him from being captured. This would be result in his journeying to Earth-One, in order to change history as mentioned above. Perhaps they were universe's version of the Sun-Thrivers who created Krypton's original red sun and the planet itself.

Sinister Scientists Secluded in Shadowy Subspace

The Phantom Zone... the repository of the most vile criminals from the planet Krypton-One once Jor-El had discovered it... within only a few years was abandoned as to inhumane to imprison its illegal occupants. However, shortly thereafter that world exploded, and it would be years later when Jor-El's son Kal-El received the Phantom Zone Projector when Superboy would first encounter this now superpowered foes. Yes, they gained superhuman abilities like the Boy of Steel under Earth-One's yellow sun, and so individually and collectively, these criminals would face off versus their prisoners's son repeatedly through the years. And each universe has a similar twilight dimension adjacent to or, as evidenced by the appearance of Jur-Ll of Krypton-Three who used his Zone to travel to Earth-One's city of Kandor.

Since the Zone was a manifestation of an alien entity of its universe known as Aethyr, there was no corresponding entity or pocket dimension like the Zone through which Jor-L of Krypton-Two could transport his planet's criminals to... and in fact there is no record of any such infamous individuals having existed there. However, as often happens between these two universes, counterparts sometimes come from different places in each realm.

This was similar to the precedent set by Thanagar-One's Hawkman and Earth-Two's Hawkman, neither a native of his doppleganger's home world. Since Jor-L did not have opportunity to discover his own Phantom Zone, it was left to various scientists of Earth-Two to find the means to pierce the dimensional barrier into this new plane of existence. However, those men of Earth-Two who did so utilized access to it not to imprison felons but to bribe the innocent and empower their crooked cronies. Vandal Savage inadvertently became a transdimesional phantom in this realm like his cosmic twin Kru-El, when he tried to expose himself a second me time to a flaming meteorite that originally gave him immortality… hoping to gain new life from it. Then there was Professor Hunt aka Maligno of Earth-Two, counterpart to Doctor Xa-Du who with his wife used sinister science to torment Superboy and, years later, Superman.

Zoners manipulated the Flash three times, first when Luther Jarvis mentally controlled the Scarlet Speedster, sending him against Earth-Two's Spectre. After this, a quartet of crooked Kryptonians led by Jarvis’ counterpart Professor Va-Kox orchestrated a race between Flash and Earth-One's Superman, in order to open a path out of the Zone. And later Va-Kox’s allies mentally manipulated Flash against Superman shortly before the Fastest Man Alive’s death during the Crisis on Infinite Earths.

And, in fact, the Zoner's counterparts originated on Earth-Two, and as such encountered either that world's Superman or his allies in the Justice Society. The scientist that pierced the barrier into what was known as the Fourth Dimension, was Anton Unreal aka Uriah, who like his cosmic twin Quex-Ul aka Charlie Kweeskill of Krypton-One knew secrets of these shadowy realms. While those in the Zone could become phantoms, so too were the so-called “Spirit-Masters” who were other individuals whom Unreal exiled to this realm prior to his imprisonment of Steve Trevor. This led to his girlfriend Wonder Woman intervening to save him. Several of these Masters had been around a few years earlier when they battled the heroine’s Justice Society teammate the Spectre. While the fearsome phantoms that plagued Earth-Two actually originated from that planet rather than their universe's Krypton like their dopplegangers, they had powers comparable to the Kryptonians within their twilight dimensional analogue to the Zone.

Foremost among these was the megalomaniac Zor, the counterpart of General Zod himself. Although he was originally a prominent military leader of Krypton-One, Zod sought to usurp control of the planet's government then ruled by the Science Counsel, which he bitterly opposed. To that end, Zod crested an army of imperfect duplicate of himself to provide him the "manpower" to enact his scheme. Failing at this, his banishment into the Zone began an adversarial relationship between he and the house of El of whom Jor-El was his prime opponent. As the scientist perished along with most Kryptonians, he sought victory over his foes’ son, Kal-El. However, Kal as Superman repeatedly outmaneuvered the military strategist, despite Zod's near perpetual command over his fellow Zone prisoners. Zor was himself a disenfranchised member of a mysterious organization that decided to use his superhuman powers for conquest. This led him towards several battles versus his arch enemy the Spectre, and eventually appeared as a globe-being to battle the Justice Society, much as Zod had employed globe brains from space versus the Legion of Super-Heroes. Zor was kept imprisoned for indeterminate periods of time by his adversary.

Then there was the Kryptonian scientist Kru-El, cousin of Jor-El who like his counterpart Vandal Savage was a procurer of illegal weaponry with a thirst for power. Two other malevolent masterminds in  Gaz-Or and  Bandar were among the worst of their lot, given the crimes they orchestrated. There were others such as Thul-Kar and Kalthoon who styled themselves as prophets, although they were actually master manipulators. Then there were the more common criminals, such as Gra-Mo and Ace Chance. who along with countless others were occupants of these other realms adjacent to the twin Earths sought to plunder from others. 

Even some unspecified occupants of the Spectral Zone or Fourth Dimension enlisted by Kalthoon who like various unidentified prisoners of the Phantom Zone were recruited into Zod's phantom army.