Credits | Characters | Plot Summary | Comments | Reprinted In Superman Chronology | Legion Chronology Editor: Mort Weisinger Writer: Jerry Siegel Penciller: Curt Swan Inker: George Klein Feature Character: Superman Supporting Characters: Supergirl Guest Legionnaires: Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Sun Boy Other Characters: Robots of Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Perry White, and Clark Kent; Fred & Edna Danvers "The Robot Master" (9 pages) At the Daily Planet, Clark notices that Lois, Jimmy, and Perry are back from an out-of-town newspaper convention earlier than he expected. When he sees that Lois is writing a story exposing Clark Kent as Superman's secret identity, and Jimmy says that they also know that Linda Lee Danvers is Supergirl, Clark uses his heat vision to burn the type-written story. However, the two give Perry a carbon copy of the story and Clark switches to Superman before pleading with them all to keep his secret. Concerned by their suspicious behavior, Superman then uses his x-ray vision to reveal that the three are really robot imitations of his friends. When confronted, the robots say that the information about the location of his real friends has not been implanted in their mechanical brains by the "Robot Master", whose identity Superman cannot possibly guess. A Clark Kent robot enters the room just before all four robots collapse. Superman then calls Supergirl for help using his super-ventriloquism, and the two take the inanimate robots to his Fortress for examination in an attempt to discover the identity of the Robot Master. After the two discover that the robots aren't made of any explosives or dangerously radioactive material, the robots start functioning again, and wander through the fortress seeing the rooms dedicated to the people whose likenesses they have. The robots start to fight over which of his friends Superman likes best, and all but the Clark Kent robot end up being destroyed. That night, while Superman and Supergirl sleep, the Clark Kent robot awakens from his "nap" and removes some objects from within lead tubes which lay amoung the remains of the other robots. It comments that, in this manner, the Robot Master was able to smuggle these objects into the Fortress, since the super-cousins couldn't see what lay inside the lead tubes. It then opens the door to the Fortress to allow the Robot Master to enter. Alarms are set off, waking Superman and Supergirl, who are greeted by six members of the Legion of Super-Heroes from the future! Saturn Girl explains that they had arrived in the 20th century early yesterday morning, their timescope showing them that the real Lois, Jimmy, and Perry were out of town, and they then ordered the robots to take their place at the Daily Planet. When Superman asks why, Cosmic Boy flashes an image of the moment when Supergirl came to Earth onto the wall and Supergirl realizes that today is the latest anniversary of the day she arrived on Earth and met Superman. The Legionnaires came to help them celebrate that memorable occasion and ask the Clark robot to show them to the objects he took from the shattered robots: Busts of the six Legionnaires present and of Superman and Supergirl. As the Legionnaires return to their own time, Superman and Supergirl thank the "Robot Master" for the surprise, which they will never forget. Saturn Girl calls the Legion's time-bubble simply a "time-machine". Although the cover dates do not match up, storywise, they are celebrating the exact day marking the 3rd anniversary of Supergirl's arrival on Earth. Supergirl first appeared in Action Comics No. 252 (May 1959) and it is in Superman No. 152 (Apr. 1962) that the anniversary is shown being celebrated. Artist Curt Swan drew Lightning Lad with a black collar and Saturn Girl without her usual high collar but a lower, rounded one. He also gave her short hair, in this story as well as Superman Annual No. 4 and Superman No. 156. However, in between these issues, he drew her with long hair in Adventure Comics No. 293. Showcase Presents: Superman Vol. 3 |
