Credits | Characters | Plot Summary | Comments | Reprinted In Superman Chronology | Legion Chronology Editor: Mort Weisinger Writer: Robert Bernstein Penciller: Curt Swan Inker: George Klein Feature Characters: Superman Supporting Characters: Lana Lang, Perry White, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Lori Lemaris Villains: Dixo and Vagu of the Superman Revenge Squad, three Revenge Squad members at their headquarters (one speaks) Other Characters: TV Announcer, TV cameraman, ambassadors of the United Nations (one speaks), another TV studio employee, a male TV viewer, Daily Planet employees, at least five Superman Robots, citizens of Paris, BBC news announcer, three other announcers, TV viewers, Swiss miners, citizens of Metropolis, a policeman, the Superman Emergency Squad "Superman Goes Wild" (13 pages) Superman has given Lana Lang's TV network exclusive coverage of his latest super-feat: breaking a huge diamond into 103 pieces, one for each member nation of the United Nations. Instead of merely breaking the gem, however, Superman pulverizes it into dust and says he washes his hands of the U.N. When a shocked Lana questions him, Superman says he had been overcome by a wild urge to do the opposite of what was expected of him and publicly apologizes for his misdeed. Meanwhile, in a spaceship just outside of Earth's atmosphere, two members of the Superman Revenge Squad say that death by green kryptonite is too good for Superman; they plan to turn him into the most hated person on Earth by using their telepathic signal gun, tuned in to Superman's brain, to hypnotically compel him to do terrible deeds. At the Daily Planet, Superman's friends despair over having to write a story about Superman's misbehavior. Jimmy calls Superman on his signal-watch to find out more about the story from the Man of Steel himself, but when he arrives Superman yells at all his friends for bothering him, taking away Jimmy's watch and smashing all of the Planet's typewriters. A moment later, Superman seems to come out of a daze and doesn't remember a thing; Jimmy surmises he is under some kind of hypnosis. Perry gives Superman a chance to redeem himself by telling him of a space capsule that was fired off course. However, the Revenge Squad members use their device again, and when Superman reaches the capsule he destroys it. He then pushes the moon slightly out of orbit, causing massive tidal waves. He dives to the depths to see what havoc his deed is causing in Atlantis, when suddenly he comes to himself again. Lori Lemaris watches as Superman repairs all of the damage his mischief caused her city. As Superman returns the moon to its proper position, the Revenge Squad contacts him and tells him what they are doing to him. Superman decides to activate his robots so they can entomb him in green kryptonite so that he won't be able to carry out any more evil commands, but the Revenge Squad can read his mind. They tell him that they have blacked out the monitors in Kandor so they can't see his peril, and hypnotically induce him into destroying his own robots by hurling them at world famous landmarks, ruining them. The people of the world are advised to search for green kryptonite and collect it to use against Superman. When a giant meteor is found in Switzerland, a group of miners rush to extract it but then Superman arrives. He gives them ten minutes to leave the valley, then seals it shut by pushing the surrounding mountains together. Perry White broadcasts a pleading appeal for Superman to surrender himself. Superman, temporarily freed of hypnotic control, sees the broadcast, and a nearby policeman begs him to listen. Afraid of what his next evil deed will be, Superman gives the policeman a message for Perry, which he says he must repeat verbatim: "I won't surrender to anyone except my long-time friend, editor Perry White!" After the message is delivered, Perry gets some green kryptonite chains he says he had buried in a lead-lined vault in the basement. He then re-broadcasts his appeal to Superman and the Man of Steel arrives at the Planet Building and submits to being shackled by Perry. A moment later, though, he snaps his bonds and says he will soon destroy the entire world. The city panics, and even the Revenge Squad is shocked to see that Superman has now lost it for real, as they are not using their hypnotism on him now. They gleefully watch as he rips open the door to his Fortress of Solitude and fires a bullet at the Bottle City of Kandor. However, the next instant they see the Superman Emergency Squad emerge from the bottle, having received super-ventriloquistic orders from Superman. Realizing too late that Superman had only been feigning his last bout of madness, they are helpess when the Emergency Squad destroys their equipment; their hypnotic device could only control the Man of Steel himself. Rather than be caught, the members of the Revenge Squad blow themselves up. Back in Metropolis, Superman thanks Perry for his help. In his message for him, Superman had called him "editor" Perry White, which was a signal for him to execute Plan "P" for Perry, which was for him to shackle Superman in public view with fake kryptonite chains. Superman then goes to repair all of the damage he had caused as Jimmy says part of him can hardly wait to use Plan "J"! Jax-Ur and Mon-El appear on the splash page only, watching Superman from the Phantom Zone. Although Mon-El was made an honorary member of the Legion in a story published previously to this one (Adventure Comics No. 300), that was his 30th century self; the Mon-El from the 20th century is not yet a member of the Legion. Lana Lang works for the WMET TV network, as seen in other stories. On page 4, panel 4, Jimmy says that Supergirl is in the future "helping the Legionnaires conduct a scientific experiment". This is an unchronicled adventure that the Legion of Super-Heroes had with her. The world points of interests that Superman is shown destroying are: the eiffel tower, the globe atop the daily planet building, the sphinx, and the leaning tower of Pisa. Superman mentions that besides Plan "P" for Perry he also has a Plan "L" for Lois and Plan "J" for Jimmy. According to the letter column of Lois Lane No. 31 there is also a Plan "V" for Van-Zee (from Kandor) and Plan "PR" for Pete Ross. Lois carried out Plan "L" in Lois Lane No. 29/3, which took place before this story. However, as it included using a type of red kryptonite that was a cure for green kryptonite, and each type of red K can only be used once on him, Superman and Lois must have come up with new details for Plan "L" to be carried out in the future. Plan "J" is shown being used in Jimmy Olsen No. 68/3. Showcase Presents: Superman Vol. 4 |
