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 decommissoning them, although Kal-El still used them to a limited degrees within his Fortress of Solitute 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 prescence 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 deactive 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 occured 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 villian 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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Atomic Antagonists Agonize Adventurers

An interesting historic fork in the road occurred when intentional incidents were insidiously instigated at a pair of nuclear power plants. While on one world, these was initiated by the TNT Trio terrorists of Ted Grand, Nat Tryon and Tim Moore under the employ of Lex Luthor which was thwarted by the superstrong caped crusader Superman... the trio's counterparts on a parallel planet these same three were scientists seeking to stabilized their facility from the superstrong caped crusader the Atom.

On Earth-One, the TNT Trio sought to damage a nuclear reactor in the Metropolis of Earth-One, they were opposed by Superman. However, while the hero captured Ted and Tim, Nat was trapped under some lead shielded equipment, hiding his presence from Superman who carried away his crony colleagues. Succumbing to severe radiation poisoning, once Tryon freed himself and made his way to one of his boss' Luther Lairs, he pleaded for Lex's help. Placing his henchman in a specialized suit while bathing him in rays to stabilize his condition, Luthor promised to return once the process was complete within a week. However, Luthor was captured by arch-enemy, resulting in Tryon remaining in this state for over a year until freed during a conflict between Superman and the villain named the Mole. Awakening now as sentient radiation, the metahuman menace known as Neutron was born!

On Earth-Two, following being submerged in the evil-inducing waters of the Koehaha River along with four other Justice Society allies by the golden age Superman of his world, the Atom later awoke craving to gain more power. Arriving at a nuclear power plant in Nevada, the Atom made his way into the reactor room, seeking to bathe in that facility's tholium rays. While Ted and Tim's counterparts were overwhelmed by Atom's indominable strength as he knocked both men out, the Atom was prevented from irradiating himself by the timely intervention of his superhuman godson Albert "Nuklon" Rothstein who pursued him across country.

Seeking revenge upon the men who turned him into a monster, Neutron hunted Ted and Tim before Superman intervened. After a brief battled, Tryon was subdued and imprisoned in a facility that could keep him locked away. However, the immortal villain Vandal Savage of Earth-Two employed a lawyer to legally overturn the case against Tryon, freeing Neutron to frame Superman for a crime he didn't commit. Once all was revealed including Savage's sinister schemes, Neutron was this time kept immobilized in S.T.A.R. Labs. That is, until the Fearsome Five felons freed him to enhance their ranks as they engaged in a rematch with their foes, the New Teen Titans. Once more, Neutron ultimately failed.

As for the conflict between Nuklon and his temporarily insane godfather Al "Atom" Pratt, the lad was able to overpower his elder and shield him from the Tholium radiation. However, Nuklon's own body was irradiated, further mutating him. When an incensed Atom approached the third scientist at that facility, Neutron's Earth-Two counterpart, he was told by the man that the radiation device he activated couldn't re reengaged for six months. Leaving the three men and Nuklon behind, the Atom left to reunite with his fellow Justice Society allies, who ultimately regained their sanity when opposed by Nuklon and his Infinity, Inc. pals

Vile Vrangs & Just Jeyes: Foes & Friends of Superman

Unique quirks occur in the parallel planes of existence where Earths One and Two reside. Among these, some alien species are dramatically different, not just in their form but also in their function. Such is the case with the residents of parallel planets Vrang and Jeyes.

The Vrang were an intergalactic species of conquerors, who first visited Earth-One in the early 1980s. Centuries earlier, they had been invaders of Krypton-One, enslaving the Kryptonians until an uprising rebelled against these alien overlords. During the late 20th century, a Vrang vessel discovered the remained of Krypton's Argo City floating in space, with evidence that two Kryptonians... Superman and Supergirl... survived! As they approached, Earth-One, the invisible energy-wrath residents of the Phantom Zone.... who were criminals exiled from Krypton before it exploded... escaped that dimension to face the hated Vrang.

The Jeyes were an intergalactic species of explorers, who first visited Earth-Two in the early 1950s. While it is possible that centuries earlier they had journeyed to Krypton-Two, their presence would have remained undetected. This is due to the nature of their physical being, as invisible energy-wraths. When one of their vessels crash-landed on Earth-Two, the Jeyes telepathically contacted Susie Thompkins... niece of that world's Superman.

While Superman-One worked alongside four Phantom Zone criminals to vanquish the surviving Vrang, Superman-Two along with Susie and his wife Lois Lane Kent assisted the Jeyes in restoring their space craft and sending them back to their homeworld. Later, Superman-Two asked for their assistance in borrowing one of their spacecraft for a special mission, which they gladly agreed to provide.

While the four Phantom Zone criminals, now in solidified physical bodies, used their superhuman abilities to counteract the Vrang spaceship's massive weaponry, only the golden age Superman directly confronted the Jeyes spaceship's amazing armaments. Although for the greatest hero of Earth-Two, his wife and niece lent support from a protective bubble nearby.

It’s interesting that on Krypton-One, a large number of Kryptonian survivors were phantoms while their Vrang foes still had solid bodies, while the Vrang's counterparts the Jeyes were themselves phantoms. Quite likely, some of these Jeyes were the phantom rogues who battled some of Superman's Justice Society allies.

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!

Legendary Lost Loves: Superman’s Shunned Sweethearts

Lost loves of were a common occurrence for the Superman of Earth-One, but not for his older Earth-Two counterpart. The younger version of Clark Kent had his childhood Smallville sweetheart Lana Lang, his college years romance with Atlantean mermaid Lori Lemaris*, his doomed engagement to Kryptonian actress Lyla Lerrol. Perhaps his greatest love was with Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane, although his sense of duty prevented them from uniting in matrimony.

For the Earth-Two Superman, he only met Lana Lang when both were adults after she was hired into the Daily Star. When he was introduced to the Atlantean Queen Octavia Paralea**, she only had eyes for Clark Kent, while he wasn’t interested in kind. Foreign actress Lita Laverne was secretly a spy, with neither party enamored with the other.

Whereas his doppelgänger limited his relationship to his Miss Lane to only dating, the older Superman proved that all along he had one true love… whom he later married… in his fellow Daily Star journalist Lois Lane Kent.

* Interestingly, the Atlantean mermaid and foreign actress of Earths One and Two were brunettes, while their Atlantean queen and Kryptonian actress doppelgängers were blondes.

** The Earth-Two Wonder Woman met the blonde haired Princess Octavia a few years before she was made Queen Paralea. The Earth-One Wonder Woman met actress Lyla Lerrol on Krypton-One shortly after Superman had departed that world and returned to her future era.

Alternate Earths: Earth-1A and Earth-2A

While most tales involving the Justice League and Justice Society prior to Crisis on Infinite Earths have been relegated to Earths One and Two, respectively, there have been notable exceptions as to their members. Specifically, the "Big Five" plus two whose tales were continuously published on Earth-Prime (our world) since their inception in the late 1930s/early 1940s and through the decades between the Society's last Golden Age tale and the League's first Silver Age tale. 

The so-called Big Five, these were Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Batman and Robin. And it was this quintet who became the core group known as the Super Friends*, as four Justice Leaguers and one Teen Titan were selected to training aspiring heroes Marvin White and Wendy Harris. Shortly after, they would turn their attention to the extra-terrestrial shapechangers Zan and Jayna, the Wonder Twins. While reference within the Super Friends and Justice League tales assert that these two groups existed concurrently on the same Earth-One, some oddities in the Super Friends tales do not quite line up with the League's mainstream continuity. As such, their stories may have occured on Earth-One, but not quite as they were written within the comicbook published on Earth-Prime**. 

As mentioned after the Crisis by author Roy Thomas, the dispersed energy of the seven superheroes who departed the 1940's All-Star Squadron had to be compensated by newer heroes taking their place. While Neptune Perkins assumed the place of his fellow former Earth-Two All-Star colleague Aquaman and Dan the Dyna-Mite substituted for Robin, three new heroes from a third pre-Crisis Earth... quite probably Earth-Eight... in Iron Munro, Flying Fox and Fury took the place of Superman***, Batman and Wonder Woman****. While their tales as the Young All-Stars would not be exactly as would've been the All-Star Squadron's tales with the "Big Seven" still active, many elements would be similar making the young heroes' adventures homages to untold Earth-Two Squadron tales*****.

Of course, the remaining duo of those seven characters included the Battling Bowmen known as Green Arrow and Speedy. While they were pulled from their native time period in the late 1940's due to their battle alongside the Seven Soldiers of Victory versus the Nebula Man, there were still stories told specially about the Earth-Two version through the late 1950s. We will consider this in the future.

* The Super Friend's actual Earth-Two counterpart team would the Super Squad, consisting of a core group with the Justice Society who... like the Justice League... were tasked with training a second generation of younger heroes.

** One such example of this is when Red Tornado mentioned his used of time travel referenced Super Friends issue# 8, while engaging in this feat a second time in Justice League of America #155.

*** E. Nelson Bridwell among others postulated that the golden age Superman's stories referencing Daily Planet instead of Daily Star, and a bald Luthor instead of a red-haired Luthor, transpired on Earth-2A. If so, then these same stories were also told on Earth-Two, as referenced by the tale of the Powerstone... where both a bald and red-haired Luthor claimed the object for himself.

**** Other members of the Young All-Stars including Tsunami, Sandy, Tigress would be reflections of Jayna, Zan, Wendy and Marvin with the Super Friends.

*****As shown by the accompanying picture, at least briefly before the inception of the Young All-Stars, members of the Freedom Fighters took the places of the missing "Big Five" in the Squadron. Although curiously, in the retroactively altered picture, golden age Green Arrow and Speedy remained until later wiped from existence!

The Questionable Quandary of Q-Energy

Each dimensional universe within the Multiverse has its own distinct physics. Each have the four fundamental forces: gravity, electromagnetism, the weak force, and the strong force. Although not the strongest of these, gravity exerts the most influence over each cosmos, given its extensive reach and its negative mass. While gravity gives weight to objects due to mutual attraction, which is a curvature to space and time due uneven distribution of mass. This is true in our realm of existence, typically labeled Earth-Prime, and in that of Earth-One where the Justice League reside.

However, different universes manifest their own deviations on alternate forces which can affect these. Two typical forms of energy not classified under the fundamental four in Earth-One's dimension are Zeta-Beams and the Emerald Energy discovered by the Guardians of the Universe. In Earth-Two's dimension, alternate forms of energy are Nebuloid and Q-Energy, both with similar properties to their corresponding forces in their parallel planes of existence. However, a curious aspect of Q-Energy is its manipulation of mass in an unorthodox form, unseen in our reality.

This was first displaying when Barry Allen aka the Flash encountered beings of the 24th level of existence known as Gobdor. One of its residential rogues, Dro Dorno, employed a device harnessing Q-Energy which causes the Flash to become heavier. Something similar happened on Earth-Two decades earlier, when the villain known as the Thinker used his heavy-ray gun to increase the weight of his arch foe, Jay Garrick aka the Flash.

It was later revealed by scientist Lorraine Lewis that the destructive force she was using on Superman was Q-Energy from another "dimensional universe". Two years prior, that same energy had been brought over from Earth-Two's universe to Lewis' universe of Earth-One by Princess Ramia when she sought the assistance of the Green Lanterns of both Earths, and also been projected from the sword of Ramia’s perverted pursuer Prince Peril.

This energy lay dormant in the taxi cab Goitrude she had piloted with future husband Doiby Dickles, until it was unleashed by the former Lantern named Sinestro. He would also encounter Q-Energy within the Anti-Matter Universe of Qward, which the Weaponers of Qward used to empower their Thunderer force’s Qwa-Bolts weapons.

Years later, King Kull of Earth-S generated this same Q-Energy via a cloud-creating device, which he used to sink the Earth-Two continent of Atlantis once more. The Earth-One Superman, not connecting that the energy contained in this device was the same he encountered earlier with Lewis, was confused as to how a cloud could increase Atlantis' mass... as this isn't possible according to his world's physics. Q-Energy exerts temporary effects when used by Dorno, Ramia, Lewis, and Sinestro on Earth-One... and far more long-lasting, wide-scale effects in its native reality of Earth-Two.

Supermen of the Old West: The Super-Sire & the Super-Chief

Var-El was the great-grandfather of Earth-One's Superman, and a prominent scientist of his native planet Krypton-One. When he discovered the means of traversing vast tracks of interstellar space through a dimension of universal energy storage. Ending up stranded in the old west of the 1800's on Earth-One, Var-El lived his life assimilating to this new civilization while adapting to his new superhuman powers under Earth’s yellow sun and lighter gravity

Eventually, he was discovered by the Orgon, an adversarial alien race intent on assimilating knowledge from other species. Escaping them, Var-El met up with a time travelling Professor Hyatt, who had himself journeyed to Var-El's era alongside the Atom and Superman. After this adventure, Hyatt secretly smuggled Var-El to the 20th century, although the elder Kryptonian once more had to face a renegade yellow-skinned Orgon, whom he sacrificed his life to vanquish it.

In an alternate timeline, a young Clark Kent encountered remnants of Kryptonian technology within the Kawatche Caves, guarded by a local Native American tribe residing outside of Smallville's town borders. A mystery man from the stars mentioned a future of Naman who would protect their world, with a powerful extraterrestrial rock left behind.

A Kryptonian individual spoke through the technology, which mirrors how Flying Stag gained his meteor rock with powers and a mission. And in fact, it was later revealed that a Kryptonian Crystal in the 20th century which absorbed a portion of Kal-L’s powers and persona had traveled backward through time into the era where Flying Stag found it, making him in effect a human-Kryptonian hybrid and thus relation of Superman himself!

It has been speculated that perhaps Flying Stag may have been an ancestor of a superhumanly strong hero of the 20th century, Darrell "Doll Man" Dane, who himself had roots in the past with crimefighters in generations past of the Old West.

Secret Stories of the Super-Sons

The tales of the Super-Sons were set in an unspecified future, involving the adventures of Superman Junior and his best friend Batman Junior. They were said to be the sons of the Superman and Batman of Earth-One, and of two unidentified women who were their mothers. At first struggling to live up to the heroic legacies of their fathers, the pair eventually came into their own. During one such case versus the evil Doctor Sivana, the pair discovered that their foe hadn't previously existed, and began investigating their nature of their own existence. 

Using his own psuedo-science, Superman Junior was able to materialize himself and his pal into the physical universe from inside the Fortress of Solitude. In fact, he and Batman Junior were actually simulations within Superman's computer, which the World's Finest Team had used from 1973 until 1980 to view the potential lives of their virtual sons. This was an amusing diversion for the pair of Justice Leaguers, giving them a window into their lives once they finally settle down into domestic bliss and start their own families.

At the moment when Superman was disposing of atomic waste into his vast Fortress disintegrator, the computer simulations' artificial intelligence manipulated the discarded matter and formed new bodies for the pair of youths. Seeking out their fathers, the Juniors' inadvertently unleashed a series of natural disasters caused by the unstable natures of their own physical forms. Deducing that this was the cause for the recent chaos unleashed upon the world, Superman and Batman convinced the Juniors' to return to the disintegrator pit, thus destroying them from existence.

On Earth-Two, it was revealed that Clark and Lois Kent had a son of their own. Evidence points to their utilizing the bio-ray projector which animates comic strip characters, invented by the evil Funny Face, and revitalizing a clone of Superman's Flying Tiger disguise which the villain had previously used. It was revealed that eventually this son turned evil, and as he had never been mentioned by the 1970s, it seems likely that this Superman Junior likewise ceased to exist, returning to his two-dimensional existence once more. 

As for a Batman Junior, a time-displaced daughter of named Helena “Huntress” Wayne briefly appeared during a case in 1942 involving the Justice Society, Justice League and All-Star Squadron versus evil analogues of the World’s Finest Team… Ultraman and Owlman.

The Mystery of JFK and the Last Son of Krypton

The President John F. Kennedys of Earths One and Two were both connected to the Last Sons of Krypton in unusual ways. While on the latter world, JFK's known interaction with Kal-L was only tangential, on the former world it is much more significant. And also, it was somewhat problematic as to which meetings were and were not canonical.

On Earth-Two, Kennedy was one of ten current and future presidents targeted by the sinister shadowy scientist known as Ian Karkull for revenge. However, thanks to the timely intervention of the Justice Society of America in early 1941, all save the tenth individual were saved from assassinations at the hands of various supervillians.

On Earth-One, a few tales in the early to mid-1960s chronicled Superman meeting with Kennedy. On one occasion, JFK even disguised himself as Clark Kent during a large televised event attended by friends and family of Superman, to preserve the double identity of an adult Kal-El/Superman himself!

However, a later told story in 1963 had an eight year old Superboy was tasked by Kennedy to secretly protect the Mercury space mission. A future version of Superboy traveled back in time to witness this encounter, which his younger version caused him to forget for security purposes.

When this Superboy tale was disputed on Earth-Prime by author T.M. Maple, the editor Bob Rozakis stated in essence that this tale was now canon, meaning that early tales told of JFK and Superman no longer took place on Earth-One. Which Earth, then, were they a reality?

Synthetic Supermen Simulate Stupendous Stories

In 1942, a failed cartoonist invented a bio-ray, which he used to bring cartoons of his competitors to life. Calling  himself Funny Face, this man sought vengeance for not being recognized as a talented artist, and sought ill-gotten wealth which his animated creations had stolen for him. Despite this, the golden age Superman was able to defeat he and his manufactured minions. The technology behind his bio-ray would be used soon after with the goal of exposing the Earth-Two hero's secret identity of Clark Kent!

Something similar happened on Earth-One, when Lex Luthor rebuilt a duplication projector, which created an imperfect non-living version of Superman. Known as Bizarro, this creature repeatedly pestered his “twin” Kal-El… while using the duplicator to create Bizarro versions of Lois Lane, Perry White, Luthor and others. They ended up migrating to the squire world of Htrae. Eighteen of their Tales of Bizarro World would be told.

A series of seventeen (actually eighteen, including a published tale in Superman #19 that also saw the debut of Funny Face) animated shorts regarding fictional tales of a cartoon version of Superman were brought to life*. This character had the same backstory as Kal-L, and because the projector which brought him to “life” was similar to the bio-ray, he imitated aspects of Superman’s history. The creator of this medium, writer Jerry Siegel, was also the mastermind behind Funny Face. In these shorts, besides Kal-L, there was a Lois Lane, Perry White, a recurring Mad Scientist foe and others. Why Siegel sought to reveal Superman’s secret identity as Clark Kent to fellow reporter Lois, and the world, is unknown. But then, he tended to do that in stories.

It had been theorized that the mystery man behind the mask of Funny Face was Siegel himself, and Superman admitted that the man who conceived the animated tales was also Siegel. This pseudo-Superman was similar to the “handsome” Bizarro which the original created as an “imperfect” version** of himself to date Lois. Just as this second Bizarro had a short lifespan, so too had Funny Face’s later duplicate of Superman, the Flying Tiger (who a now married Clark and Lois created as a cover alias for Superman to help him versus a foe).

* This animated Superman was seen interacting with his real life template, Clark Kent, at the end of his second theatrical tale.

** As film reels are duplicated and distributed to multiple movie theaters across America and later the world, the synthetic sentient Supermen and Lois Lanes in each of these mirrored the additional Bizarro Supermen and Lois Lane clones on Htrae.

The Mystery Son of Clark and Lois-Lane Kent

A mystery developed in February 1976, when writer E. Nelson Bridwell discovered a long concealed truth while interviewing the Supermen of two worlds. During this discussion*, the older Superman Kal-L revealed that he and his wife Lois Lane had a son**!

A legitimate question could be asked… was this a biological or an adopted child for the couple? It would be decades later in the late 1960s when  Kal-L’s long lost cousin Kara Zor-L arrived on Earth-Two, whom they would unofficially adopt. She would later take Superman’s place in the Justice Society as Power Girl, and she never mentioned a super-sibling.

A clue as to the identity of this “son” was a two-part tale (penned by E Nelson Bridwell in Superman Family #218-219), when Clark and Lois created the villain identity of Flying Tiger for Superman to use in his search for a hidden cache of Kryptonite that was being stored by a criminal gang in Metropolis to use against the Caped Crusader. Although pretending to only have the ability of flight through an anti-gravity device, Superman manifested his actual superhuman abilities in this identity.

Some time after this, an actual duplicate of the Flying Tiger was spawned from the criminal Funny Face’s bio-ray projector. The evil clone of Superman disguised as Flying Tiger was subdued and reverted to normal, while his creator Funny Face was captured. In effect, this fabricated Flying Tiger was a brain-child of Clark and Lois Kent brought to “life” from an idea made into reality!

And just as the imperfect Superman clone Bizarro and his wife Bizarro-Lois together made a Bizarro Junior (which was briefly human and raised by Superman and Supergirl on Earth-One, before returning to Junior’s home world of Htrae), Clark and Lois Kent quite likely used the fully functioning bio-ray in their possession to create and raise a new “Flying Tiger” clone. This Clark Junior would have all the same abilities and weaknesses of his father. Why he was recreated*** and what became of him is an untold tale****.

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* During this same interview, certain facts were in error. For instance, Superman-One mentioned that an ancestor of his step-father Jonathan Kent was the masked man known as Silent Knight, who was secretly Brian Kent during the days of Camelot. As revealed in DC Who’s Who the Definitive Directory, Jonathan is NOT listed as a relative of Brian Kent. In All-Squadron, Silent Knight was shown as being from Earth-Two. Apparently, the folklore of his exploits was relayed in tales on Earth-One, just as comic book characters had portrayed heroes of other Earths. Jonathan heard of stories passed down from generation to generation about his ancestor... in fact Brian may have been the forefather of Jonathan’s counterpart, John Kent!.

** References to Lois Kent’ pregnancy were mentioned, as was an appearance by Clark Junior (within the Superman Dailies in 1946 and 1949), showing the potential future offspring of Mr. and Mrs. Superman. Since there is no record of this child possessing superhuman powers… in fact his father Kal-L himself hasn’t manifested these until he was an adult… the baby may have had a normal human physiology. As no later record of the lad was mentioned, he may have tragically died of crib death. If so, then the reproduced Flying Tiger Clark clone may’ve been spawned to ease the pain of this loss.

*** There is an established history of the Kent’s adopting a child to raise. In the early 1950s, they briefly sheltered the super-powered Liandly from the planet Rolez after she was accidentally transported to Earth-Two when she inadvertently triggered her father’s teleportation ray (in Superman Family #220). When she was pulled back to Rolez, this left Clark and Lois with a taste of having a child of their own, which a clone would provide them. The Kents would once more have opportunity to raise a teenager when, several years later, Kara Zor-L finally arrived on Earth-Two.

**** This “Clark Junior” could’ve been trained to be a replacement for the malfunctioning Superman robot which Kal-L had previously used (in Superman Family #195). In a text piece the Crisis on Infinite Earths Absolute Edition, it was revealed that Clark and Lois' son ended up turning evil, despite having been trained by the original Man of Steel. This may have explained Kal-L's absence from tales of the Justice Society from their revival in 1963 until 1969, when he rejoined their ranks as an active member. Likely, this heir to Superman would’ve been reverted back to the two- dimensional world he was created in.

Super-Shipping: The Lost Love of Superman and Batgirl

Superman of Earth-One has had a variety of love interests throughout the years. As a lad in Smallville, his childhood sweetheart was Lana Lang, while college his romantic interest was Lori Lemaris, and as an adult his steady girlfriend was Lois Lane. Other women also captured his attention, and as both Superman and Clark Kent, Kal-El of Krypton had a several candidates for true love. Among these was Barbara Gordon.

Although having met Batgirl when he and his best friend worked together as the World's Finest Team alongside the heroine and Superman's cousin Supergirl, it was later when that friend Batman encouraged him to ask out Batgirl's alter ego. And so, Clark accompanied Barbara to a diplomat dinner date, when he inadvertently blurted out confidential information (while under the influence of an alien device). This ended a stale first date between the two. although after their costumed alter egos teamed up to battle the evil organization known as M.A.Z.E., they parted as friends.

Soon after, the two met once more as Clark and Barbara, then later as Superman and Batgirl, to stop a criminal scheme to steal oil. They would pair up again to tackle the demented Doctor Horus. Still, no sparks flew between the two.

Interestingly, neither recalled their first meeting, when Clark as Superboy rescues a young Barbara from near drowning, and due to another alien artifact found his powers being transferred to her while she was Mighty Girl.

In a parallel reality, Kal-El's rocket ship landed outside Gotham City instead of Smallville, and was found by patrolman James Gordon. Leaving the infant in the care of Doctor Thomas Wayne and his wife Martha, the couple adopted the lad and named him Bruce, training him in the use of his superhuman abilities. 

During a dinner party, Bruce protected a dinner party from gunman Lew Moxon, seeking vengeance against Thomas Wayne and Commissioner Gordon. Disguising himself, Bruce conceives the idea of adopting an alter ego, as Superman!

In his new identity, Superman had numerous adventures, including one occasion where he took down terrorists. His civilian career was as a librarian, working alongside Gordon's daughter Barbara. The pair strike up a budding romance, which blossoms into engagement and finally marriage. Learning of her husband's dual identity, Barbara convinces Clark to use his super-intelligent mind coupled with his father's training to become a research scientist. Clark retires his Superman costume, and works full time seeking to cure the various illness that plague humanity.

Sometime later, Lew Moxon escapes prison and guns down James Gordon. Seeking vengeance, Barbara adopts the alter ego of Batwoman, and finally brings Moxon to justice... ending in his inadvertent death. The World's Finest Team Superman and Batwoman was created!

Interestingly, these tales show that while Kal-El as Clark did not attract Barbara, Kal-El as Bruce would. And Bruce would gladly retire as Superman, while Clark would resist this urge to have a normal life. Meanwhile, on yet a third world, Kal-L aka the Superman of Earth-Two as Clark Kent would serve more as an honorary uncle to Barbara's counterpart Helena, daughter of his best friend Bruce aka Batman. As members of the Justice Society of America, this Superman and Helena as the Huntress would work side-by-side on various cases.

The Secret to the Supermen's Super-Secret Identity

One of the oddest concessions in the mythos of the Supermen is how they disguised themselves by wearing a simple pair of glasses and a displaying a mild-tempered alter ego. It turns out, more was involved.

For the Earth-One Superman Kal-El, it involved his use of eye lenses for his glasses, made of Kryptonian glass remnants* from the space craft that brought him to his adopted world. Through these glasses, his super-will power mesmerized those who saw him, making them perceive him as he wished them to... as meek reporter Clark Kent!

For the Earth-Two Superman Kal-L, it involved an ability only he possessed, whereby he was able to mold his facial features** in any shape he desired. This allowed him to transform his gallant face into that of meek reporter's. How Kal-L could mold his invulnerable face in such a manner is unknown, but is perhaps a native born Kryptonian ability as many of his superpowers were those common on his homeworld.

Of course, Kal-El didn't realize his glasses produced this effect until years after he first adopted his Superboy alias. While his adopted parents Jonathan and Martha Kent, and his close friends such as Batman and his fellow Justice Leaguers, saw him as both Clark and Superman... none of them revealed that his appearance changed when donning his glasses. Apparently this was a subconscious effect, which even fooled telepathic fellow Leaguers Aquaman and J'onn J'onzz.

As for Kal-L, since he began his costumed career as an adult having thoroughly trained with his growing abilities, he would have knonwn that his malleable face was sufficient to protect his double identity. And apparently, this is the same technique used by his cousin Kara aka Power Girl, while using her Karen Starr alter ego. As to how Power Girl's counterpart and Kal-El's cousin Supergirl was able to disguise her connection to Linda Lee Danvers, with only a brunette wig, is unknown.

* Detailed in Superman #330 - during this tale, while battling Batman foe the Spellbinder, Superman learned of his glasses' unique attribute

** Detailed in Superman #253 - which also explained in 1972 (for the first time) that Clark and Lois were married, six years before the story of their marriage was told in Action Comics #484

Impossible But True: Superman versus the Hostage Hosts

Impossible But True were television shows highlighting incredible stories, that at their core covert crimes and elaborate hoaxes. It would eventually be revealed that criminal masterminds were pulling the strains, holding the shows' host and hostage hostage, until the Supermen helped to expose the truth and liberate their victims. 

On Earth-Two, Olga Olmstead was sole hostage of Impossible But True radio show on her world. However, she is eventually blackmailed by criminals, forcing her to pass along coded messages through her programs. Suspecting Olga's tenuous situation after she is fired for exaggerating, Superman tracks down the crooks behind the scheme. Following this, Olga is hired at the Daily Star as a columnist for a new series based on her former show. A few years earlier, another investigative reporter named Johnny Peril explored various mysteries around the world. While his works were more published rather than broadcast, they were just as no notable as to their impossible nature.

On Earth-One, Karen Duncan assisted Impossible But True host Roy Raymond. After a few years, Roger Rivers claimed to be a magician and seemingly stumped Raymond during one televised episode, leading Roy into staging a rematch during the next week's show. Instead, Raymond and Rivers both disappeared, neither to be heard from for the next few years. Later, Superman sought to uncover the truth and locate Raymond, which led him into a confrontation with Rivers... who was in reality a scientist... and Raymond. This scientist harnessed the vast untapped mental abilities lying dormant in Raymond's brain to cause a wide range of inexplicable events throughout the years. Superman was able to awaken Roy's mind, with Raymond lashing out at Rogers with his powers. Following this, Roy Raymond is hired by WGBS-TV to host a renewed Impossible But True Program.

While counterparts Roy Raymond and Johnny Peril as well as Karen Duncan and Olga Olmstead were seemingly overshadowed by such costumed crusaders as the Supermen of their Earths, they still left lasting impacts for those following their careers and those who’s lives they helped save.

Supermen Revenge Squads of Two Earths

The Superman Revenge Squad had its origin on the planet Wehr II, when Superboy interferred in their goals of interstellar conquest. The Wehrian dictators and their minions banded together to form the Squad, intent on destroying their mutual foe. Tracking Superboy’s thought patterns to his adopted home world, they planned to transmit a devastating bomb that would obliterate Earth-One. Temporarily removing memory of his alter ego as Superboy, the Squad’s scheme was squelched. They would return later enlisting Superboy’s aid to save their sun. 

Years later, the now Superman Revenge Squad hatched various catastrophes upon Superman, utilizing red Kryptonite to induce nightmare visions and other mind molding methods to mentally manipulate the Man of Steel. On one occasion, the Revengers created a replica of Earth-One in another universe including synthetic versions of Superman’s friends and family. Another time, they refashioned a Superman robot into the being known as Ajax as their pawn against his former creator. Each occasion ended the same, with Superman coming out victorious, and the Revengers involved eliminated by their overlords due to their failure.

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Blue-skinned Nugat, Karmeel, Ksuu and their brothers were servants of Creator2, a planetary designer tasked with creating a new world in place of Earth-Two. In order to do this, Creator2 and his Wehrians and aids  sought to merge their universe’s Earth with that of Earth-One, using the android Red Tornado’s dimension-spanning abilities. They knew they would be opposed by the Justice Society of America. And so, Creator2’s blue-skinned Mendicant slaves were equipped with web-snares specially developed to capture the Society’s individual members.

Using these, they subdued Superman, Doctor Mid-Nite and the Flash. The effects of the alien nets which captured the trio were felt by Earth-One's Superman, Flash and... Batman!. Soon almost all of the JSA were left comatose by this alien horde. However, thanks to the intervention of the Spectre along with Doctor Fate and the Thunderbolt, Creator2’s space-vessel was destroyed, along with all its occupants. This ended the threat of a potential Superman Revenge Squad that could’ve formed to menace Earth-Two and its Superman in the years to come.

Sinister Super Sensory Syndicate Substitutes

In a bid to catch the leaders of the Big Four Syndicate, the World’s Greatest Heroes of Earth-One hatched a scheme whereby Superman is seemingly murdered by the alien pirate named Motan. Before perishing, Superman made a will that bequeathed his essential organs to his most worthy successful, the Batman. Rather than have these surgically inserted into his human body, Batman keeps them in his possession until Lex Luthor steals them. Implanting them in the Syndicate’s Big Four gang chiefs, each one receives a different superpower: hands for super strength, eyes for heat vision, ears for enhanced hearing, and lungs for powerfully frigid breathe. However, these were artificial powers from an android duplicate of Nim-El, Superman’s lookalike uncle. This elaborate hoax was to draw out the Big Four, capturing them and ending their unlawful reign of the criminal underworld.

On Earth-Two, Dr. Brett creates a metallic armor to impersonate a robot while using a mysterious mannequin in a glass case to assume the alias of Sense-Master. Heightening the senses of five crooks, he sends them on missions to obtain five jewels that together compose the Lifestone. All five fiends attract the attention of Law's Legionnaires, and ultimately Brett uses the Lifestone to animate the statue of Atlas in order to attack the assembled avengers. They overpowered the statue and reflected the Lifestone’s rays back onto Brett. This caused the mad scientist Sense-Master to transform into an immobile stone himself.

Back over on Earth-One in the 20th century, a Master-of-the-Five-Senses and his henchwoman Miss Marvelous caused the following members of the Blackhawks team to lose certain senses: Hendrickson his sight, Andre his sense of smell, Stanislaus his hearing, Chuck his sense of taste, and Olaf his sense of touch. 

This Blackhawks tale and that of the World’s Finest mimics what happened to the increased acuity of the senses of Doctor Brett’s five henchmen: Eagle-Eye Nelson, Mr. Hound, Mickey Gordon, Leo Palate and Fingers O'Fallon respectively. In all instances, the bad guys were beaten… senseless!

Reign of the Superman - Secret Origin of the Ultra-Humanite?

In 1933, a chemist procured a meteorite, from which he extracted a unique element distilled into an experimental portion. This man, Professor Ernest Smalley, hypothesized that this potion could grant a human tremendous mental abilities. Seeking a test subject, Smalley found the ideal candidate in a bread line...a vagrant named Bill Dunn. 

And indeed, Dunn gained the power of telepathy, mind-control and enhanced vision. However, a side effect of this potion turned the normally good natured Dunn into an evil megalomaniac. Slaying Smalley, Dunn enacts a sinister scheme to rule the world, until the effects of the potion begin to wear off. Dunn believed that within a short time, he would lose these tremendous gifts. 

While “Bill Dunn” never reappeared, another supervillain from the same era rose to prominence, one with vast intellect he seemed to acquire due to a scientific procedure. In the decades to follow, this sinister scientist manifested mental might equal to his world’s most powerful telepath, even challenging that man… Brain Wave… into a battle of the mind he ultimately won.

So what if, while unable to read minds as before, Dunn still retained some of the other skills? What if it continued to corrupt him? What if his legend grew over time, under a different alias?

Indeed, six years later in 1939, a man whose appearance quite resembled Dunn began terrorizing the Metropolis of Earth-Two. This criminal mastermind, identifying himself as the Ultra-Humanite, had repeated clashes with the new hero known as Superman. In fact, when these two titans met, Ultra recalled how a scientific experiment granted him an agile and learned mind! Was the meteorite Smalley used Kryptonite? Could Dunn have been one-in-the-same as the Ultra-Humanite*?

In fact, Ultra's story mirrors that of another amazing mind, the android known as Brainiac. On planet Colu-One, the robotic overlords of that world implanted the mental pattern of a humanoid scientist into Brainiac's mind. This android would be a recurring adversary of the Superman of Earth-One. And like human turned automaton Brainiac, Ultra sought an artificial body when he once attempted transplanting his mind into the metallic frame of Robotman. Ultimately, the Humanite became a super-simian instead.

* The creators of Bill Dunn in the 1933 tale “Reign of Superman”, Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster, were also the creators of the Ultra-Humanite in 1939.

Other Amoral Androids Afflicting Kal and Kara of Krypton

An android of alien origin known as the Chief, created by Vandal Savage, was first utilized as a henchmen when his master joined the Injustice Society and they both battled Hawkman. Following a swift defeat by the Winged Warrior, the Chief was retrieved by his master to be used for another scheme decades later, which involved Kal-L. 

Power Girl also became the prey of the Chief on a robotic world designed by his creator, luring her into a trap whereby Savage leached Kara's superhuman abilities to use against Kal-L in battle. With the aid of their Justice Society comrades, however, Superman and Power Girl defeated both Vandal and the Chief, with the latter left behind on his ravaged world.

Might this Chief android have gained his mental engrams from the displaced mind of the Ultra-Humanite, foe to all Kryptonians in his universe? His first appearance in 1947 (when it assisted Vandal Savage in his bid for conquest as a member of the Injustice Society versus Hawkman) was during the period when Ultra was in seclusion following an earlier defeat in the spring of 1942, when he battled Superman and the All-Star Squadron. 

Later tales elude to a relationship between Savage and Ultra as confederates of crime, and Ultra was the sole known possessor of Brain emulation technology. Additionally, Vandal needed a high-level genius to assist him in designing Colu-Two and its artificial suns, which the Humanite would eagerly assist to satisfy his thirst for revenge against his arch-enemy.

Another android who plagued Superman and Supergirl was Pulsar Stargrave, a synthetic being thought to have been the 30th century version of the android Brainiac of Colu-One. Possessing the ability to project massive amounts of light, heat and immense energy, Stargrave proved a formidable foe to all he opposed.

Pulsar grew his reputation by defeating both the Time Trapper and Mordru, thought to be the most powerful entities of their era. Presenting himself as the long-lost  father of Querl Dox aka Brainiac Five into recruiting his fellow Legionnaires into joining him on battling a galactic threat. Eventually, Stargrave’s true scheme was revealed, as he sought to be unchallenged in his galactic supremacy. While battling Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes, the teen team were able to overpower him and throw him into Colu's sun. 

Pulsar would return and would attempt to sway Querl into joining him, claiming to be the adopted great-great-great-grandfather to the boy genius, as Brainiac raised Querl's ancestor Vril in the 20th century. Once more, he was outwitted and was thought to be destroyed, although this would not be the case.

Stargrave returned one final time, when he employed Computo drones into attempting to annex planet Bismoll into his rule. On that occasion, Bismoll’s Legion member Matter-Eater Lad along with the Legion of Substitute-Heroes defeated Stargrave and his minions.

Space Sectors of Green Lantern Corps Meet Council of Living Suns

The Guardians of the Universe partitioned and designated 3600 Space Sectors for their Green Lantern Corps, with the goal of combatting evil throughout their reality. This was due to the wave of evil unleashed by one of their own, Krona, which spawned the Multiverse. Throughout countless centuries, generation after generation of these power-ring protectors would monitor their section of the universe, of which the first official Corps member from Earth-One was Hal Jordan. He was tasked with guarding sector 2814, and as Green Lantern inspired others such as Guy Gardner, John Stewart and Charlie Vicker to likewise assume this identity at various times.

In fact, Charlie was assigned sector 3319, although he eventually returned to his homeworld. The renegade Green Lantern known as Sinestro had been given stewartship over sector 1417. Tragically, the Green Lantern of sector 2813 Tomar-Re was unable to save a prominent world there, Krypton-One, from exploding due to internal pressures whose origin was a mystery for years. These are but a few examples, as several other sectors have been identified progressively over the years, made more widely known by their Green Lanterns interactions with Hal Jordan over time.

On a parallel dimensional plane, the Guardians released a portion of their energy into that other universe, spawning the Starheart. For a time it would be alone, as a sentient star. Eventually, it would find fellowship in similar cosmically imbued sentient beings within  stellar bodies throughout their universe’s numerous galaxies.

In fact, both Krypton-One and Krypton-Two were designed by the Sun-Thrivers, gaseous beings whose existence had depended on their encasing themselves within an artificial sun. However, the sun needed a counter-balance to maintain its internal gravity, and so pulled together enough mass to form a large planet within that red sun's orbit. Given the nature of its creation, each Krypton was prone to be doomed eventually. With the aid of Kal-El, the Superman now of Earth-One, they built an orange sun to sustain them.

Kal-L, aka the Superman now of Earth-Two, likewise encountered twin Kryptonite powered green suns orbiting Colu-Two. Utlizing his universe's Sun-Thrivers technology  to create them, the immortal villain Vandal Savage used these green suns to siphon off energy from Superman and Power Girl. When he failed and escaped capture with help from mystery beings (probably Savage’s allies the Sun-Thrivers) the twin suns remained.

Throughout the centuries since its creation in the 6th century, the Sun-Thriver within one of these two Kryptonite suns turned insane. Known as Aquarius, now a member with other sentient suns of the self-titled Council of Living Stars, it was stripped of power and banned for its insidious actions. After briefly regaining power through Starman's Cosmic Rod before being defeated by the Supermen and their allies in the Justice League and Justice Society, Aquarius was no more.

The remaining members of the Council of Living Stars, each inhabited by a Sun-Thriver and imbued with power like that of the Starheart, took a more active role in policing their reality than had their counterparts. They assumed the role of intergalactic protectors for sections of their universe... as had the Green Lantern Corps!