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: Lois Lane, Lana Lang, Jimmy Olsen, Perry White, Lori Lemaris, Supergirl Guest Legionnaires: Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad Villains: Underworld gang member, Bizarro Other Characters: TV announcer, citizens of Metropolis, Navy officer, Tembo the giant elephant, Luma Lynai (in Superman's thoughts only), Lex Luthor (in Superman's thoughts only), photographer, helicopter pilot, Mayor of Metropolis, Steven Snapinn and his Little League team "Superman's Day of Doom" (9 pages)
In this story, Superman Day is being celebrated, but it isn't specified why that particular day was chosen for the event. According to the DC Super-Calendar of 1976, calendar editor E. Nelson Bridwell noted that Superman Day is June 11th and is the anniversary of Superboy's first public appearance. Since Superboy's first public appearance happened when he was 12, this story marks the 30th anniversary of Superman public persona. Superman Day is also shown being celebrated in Action Comics No. 328, where they say it is an annual event. When Lois uses the predictor machine to find out who Superman will marry and it prints out L...L..., she automatically thinks of only her or Lana, but Clark thinks "Or Lori Lemaris, or Linda Lee... or any of the other girls with the initials L.L. that I have met in my career!" It is telling that Superman still considers his cousin Linda Lee a potential mate. Besides being too young at the time, he has stated on a past occasion that on Krypton the marriage of cousins is unlawful. Also, since her adoption, she is now Linda Lee Danvers. Other L.L. candidates include, among others, Lyla Lerrol, Luma Lynai, Lucy Lane, Lenora Lemaris (Lori's younger sister), Light(ning) Lass (not yet introduced publishing wise, but chronologically, Superman would know her) and Lena Luthor (aka Lena Thorul, introduced in a Lois Lane comic by this time, but not re-introduced in Supergirl tales yet). The underworld threatens Clark Kent but they never appear later in the story. They couldn't have arranged the gift from Bizarro, as they don't know Clark is Superman. They were probably just thwarted in their plans because they couldn't locate Clark at the parade. Bizarro greets Superman by saying "good-bye", but says "so long" when he leaves instead of "Hello." Obviously, they are so stupid that they can't even get their own code of backwards behavior right.
Luma Lynai's home world of Staryl has its sun incorrectly colored orange in this story; it should be blue, according to the text (and logic) of Action Comics No. 289. Steven Snapinn is probably named after a real-life relative of letterer Milton Snappin, possibly his son. Steve Snappin is also the name of a classmate of Clark's at Smallville High (as mentioned in Superboy No. 140); perhaps he is the Little Leaguer's father. Since the L.L. clue turned out to stand for "Little League" and not the initials of the boy's name, then the future wife of Superman could be just about anyone. For example, it could be Sally Selwyn, since she was a "Lost Love" and a "Lumber Lady".
No reprints as of this writing. |
It's Superman Day in
Metropolis, and preparations are being made for a big
parade honoring him in the afternoon. Space-ships and
rockets are bringing gifts for Superman from his friends
on other worlds. One such gift lands near a navy carrier,
and an officer brings it to Clark Kent at the Daily
Planet to give to Superman. Lois Lane and Lana Lang, who
is visiting, unwrap the parcel and discover that the
mathematical geniuses of the Cybern galaxy have sent
Superman a predicting machine that can answer three
questions about the future. Though Clark warns them not
to use the machine as it belongs to Superman, Lois and
Jimmy think it's just a hoax, and decide to try it just
for laughs. Lois asks the machine for the name of the
girl Superman will marry, but the machine just displays
the letters "L...L...", which hardly narrows
down the answer. Just then, Perry White steps in and
tells Jimmy he has two out-of-town assignments for him to
handle after the parade is over, so Jimmy asks the
predictor machine where he'll be going. The machine again
reads "L....L....". The others are more certain
than ever that the machine is a phony, but Clark knows
from Perry White that Jimmy will be going to Las Vegas
and Los Angeles. Meanwhile, a member of the underworld
calls Perry White to let him know that they have plans to
kill Clark Kent during the parade as revenge for putting
half of his gang in jail. Perry warns Clark and arranges
for him to have a police escort all day. Clark shrugs off
the threat and the escort, as he needs to attend the
parade as Superman and is invulnerable. To prove to Perry
that he'll be all right, Clark asks the predictor machine
who will save him if he gets into trouble today. Clark
expects it to say "Superman," but again it just
shows "L....L....". During his final patrol
before the parade, Superman stops Tembo, a giant elephant
who is on a rampage, by hurling iron rails around him
like a fence until his keepers arrive. Landing in a
public park that is empty because everyone is attending
the parade, Superman is approached by Bizarro, who also
has a gift for Superman in a lead box - green kryptonite!
Bizarro flies off, leaving Superman alone in the park
with the kryptonite. Superman's only hope is the
machine's prediction that he will be saved by someone
with the initials "L....L...." Trying to figure
out who it could be, he thinks of Lori Lemaris, who is in
the parade. He tries to contact her telepathically, but
she has trained some electric eels to spell out
"Superman" in his honor, and their electrical
discharges create static interference and so she can't
hear him. Next his telescopic vision spots Lightning Lad,
of the Legion of Super-Heroes, in the parade flashing
lightning bolts in his direction. Superman thinks he has
been spotted, but it turns out Lightning Lad was just
using his bolts to create light for a photographer who
ran out of flash bulbs. Then Lois and Lana fly by in a
helicopter. Superman thinks they are laughing at him, but
instead they untangle the strings of a giant Superman
balloon that got stuck on a flagpole. Superman spots
Supergirl digging underground nearby, but she emerges at
the parade with a statue she carved of him from a diamond
lode. As the parade finishes, his friends wonder where
Superman has got to and the Man of Steel runs out of
hope. Just then, some kids return to finish their ball
game, and a ball rolls in Superman's direction. One of
the boys spots his peril, and closes the lead box on the
kryptonite. Superman hurls the box away into space, then
turns to shake hands with the boy, who he is sure has a
name with the initials "L.L.", but the boy
introduces himself as Steven Snapinn. Superman doubts the
predictor machine's ability, but, as Steven bends to pick
up his ball, Superman notices lettering on the boy's back
- Little League! As a reward for Steven and his Little
League team, Superman makes them guests of honor at the
great stadium rally that evening.
Superman also thinks of Lex
Luthor as a potential savior, though he is said to be a
prisoner on a robot world in this story. Lex Luthor was
tried for murder on the robot world in Action
Comics No. 292 for killing one of them, but
Superman got him off by rebuilding the robot with parts
from one of his Superman robots. However, when Superman
departed, he left Lex stranded on the planet.
