Credits | Characters | Plot Summary | Comments | Reprinted In Superboy Chronology | Legion Chronology Editor: Mort Weisinger Writer: Unknown Artist: George Papp Feature Character: Superboy (disguises himself as Dirk Jagger) Supporting Characters: Jonathan Kent Guest Legionnaire: Brainiac 5 Villains: Blackie Burke Other Characters: Professor Potter "The Fake Superboy from Krypton" (8 pages) Blackie Burke arrives in Smallville with the intention of relaxing after getting wounded in the head during a gang war, the result of which was hallucinations. The next day while hunting, he sees Superboy flying out of his secret tunnel. Back at his motel room, Burke is visited by Dirk Jagger, the son of Joe Jagger, Blackie's old cell-mate. Dirk shows Burke a box containing kryptonite that he got from gangster Ace Brodie. Dirk has the job of knocking off Superboy because the Boy of Steel put his father in jail. Ordering some foodstuffs from the Kent General Store lures Clark to Burke's motel room, where they knock him unconscious with the Green K. In a secret cave outside of town that Ace Brodie filled with Superboy exhibits, Clark is tied up with kryptonite cable while Dirk disguises himself as the Boy of Steel and studies up on Superboy. Visiting Professor Hugo Stanton in Metropolis, "Superboy" says he is in need of the scientist's super-serum in order to regain his lost powers. After correctly answering several questions to ascertain that he is the real Superboy, the professor gives him a drink of the serum. Endowed with super-powers, the teen flies back to Smallville with Burke. At the cave, it appears as though Clark has died and turned green from kryptonite poisoning. Suddenly, the statues of Jor-El and Kara call out and threaten Burke, voices which Dirk says he can't hear. When Burke tries to remove Dirk's Superboy mask, he discovers that the mask has become part of his face. Burke double checks Clark's hands to verify that the green skin is real, which it is, then he passes out from a whiff of knockout gas. Superboy unties "Clark", who is actually Braniac 5, then recalls how he saw Burke watching him emerge from his secret exit. He also noted that the man was carrying anti-hallucination medicine. Quickly devising an elaborate hoax to convince Burke what he saw was all a hallucination, Superboy called the green-skinned Brainiac 5 from the future and also involved Professor Potter so he could play the part of Professor Stanton. The green-skinned youth returns to the 30th century, and Superboy takes the still-unconscious Burke back in time to his cabin. He later awakens, thinking that it was all a dream.
Statues of Jor-El and Lara appear in this story. When Burke corrects Dirk as to the correct pronunciation of Krypton he says "Krypton! Krypton! -- "ton" ... like in a ton of bricks!" He must be saying this to make a joke, since "Kryptun" is the British way of saying Krypton, which is usually pronounced "Kryptawn" in North America. We learn that the Scarlet Jungle of Krypton is 600,000 sesatrons - the equivalent of 982 square miles on Earth. It is odd that Brainiac 5 is called in to pretend he is the kryptonite-poisoned Clark, since only his hands "turn" green because he is wearing a plastic Clark Kent mask. Evidentally, Chameleon Boy was not available at the time. Brainiac 5 visited the past and returns to the future by using his "time-belt", which looks exactly like his force-shield belt. Apparently he installed a device similar to the portable time-travel devices used by other Legionnaires on occasion into his belt for this mission. The oddest thing about this story is the scene which depicts Superboy flying back in time to the recent past so he can leave the unconscious Burke in his motel bed exactly ten minutes after he originally woke up on April 17th! Somehow, both Superboy and Burke are allowed to occupy the same time period as themselves, something that is considered a no-no by Silver Age time-travel laws. This issue went on sale Thursday April 25th, 1963. No reprints as of this writing. |
