Superman #414 – “Revenge is Life—Death to Superman” – Elliot S! Maggin/Curt Swan/Al Williamson
This basically continues the story from DC Presents 87, where Superman was shanghaied to Earth-Prime and met the Superboy of that world. Since he’s missing from Earth-1, the Superman Revenge Squad (well, two alien members of the Squad) take the opportunity to invade the Fortress of Solitude, wreck the place, hack the computer, and take off. But the Fortress computer sends an automated alarm call to New Krypton, where the inhabitants of Kandor settled after the city was restored to full
size. The alert is received by Superman’s old friend Van-Zee and his (human) wife, Sylvia. Meanwhile, Superman and Superboy-Prime arrive on Earth-1 and Superboy is pulled into a vortex (as we saw in DC Presents 87). Superman gets ambushed by the Revenge Squad, who knock him out, wrap him up like a mummy, and drag him up to their spaceship. Jimmy Olsen witnesses the abduction and feeds the story to Clark Kent back at the Daily Planet. Clark Kent? Well, not really; it’s actually some kind of sophisticated AI program that can hold a conversation with Jimmy and type out Clark’s story at the same time. The Revenge Squad show up on New Krypton with Superman, trying to demoralize the New Kryptonians, but seeing their 
saviour captive just makes them want to fight more. The Revenge Squad is fine with that, since their real plan is to compound Superman’s grief over Supergirl’s death by enslaving all the New Kryptonians. The Revenge Squad use New Kryptonian science to bend the New Kryptonians’ wills to their own and Superman is powerless because new Krypton orbits a red sun. Despite his lack of super-powers, Superman busts loose and goes after the Revenge Squad, but they force the New Kryptonians to fight Superman on their behalf. Van Zee ends up beating Superman and the Man of Steel is chained like a dog. Sylvia slips him a device that turns out to be a miniature Phantom Zone projector. Superman banishes the two aliens to the Zone, which frees the New Kryptonians from their thrall. Apparently, when the
Revenge Squad used Superman’s computer to figure out a way to defeat him, the computer figured out a counter-strategy, sending a message to Sylvia about carrying a Phantom Zone projector at all times. The computer knew Sylvia would be immune to the mind-control, since she’s from Earth. Superman thanks them but takes off right away, retrieving Supergirl’s body from where he left it and bringing it back to New Krypton to tell her parents the terrible news.
Action #574 – “May the Best World Win” – Craig Boldman/Kurt Schaffenberger/Dave Hunt
This is a nice little story (set pre-Crisis) about Superman competing against an alien named Rad Zonon from the planet Ostok, which used to be in Krypton’s solar system. The Krytonians and Ostokians had previously vied against each other in athletic competition which ended in a dead heat. Before a rematch could be staged, Krypton blew up, but now Zonon wants to compete again with Superman as Krypton’s champion. Superman agrees and he and Zonon compete in some pretty wild events, since both of them have superhuman abilities on Earth. With all of Earth watching, Superman and Zonon run around the world, high jump over the moon, and deep dive through the oceans. They end up tied and the final
competition is an arm-wrestling contest to see who can keep from moving their arm even a micron. Zonon wins, but Jimmy was suspicious of the alien and asked Jenet Klyburn to monitor him. She found an energy burst coming from Zonon’s body that may have altered the measurements in the final contest. Superman reveals that Ostok was devastated when Krypton exploded and Zonon is the last survivor. He wanted to compete as a tribute to his dead people,but was too old. So he used energy to restore his youth and vitality, knowing it would kill him eventually. Superman uses his telescopic vision to see Zonon plant his victory flag on what’s left of Ostok before dying. When Dr. Klyburn tells him he actually won the final contest, Superman is actually sad about it, thinking that one more victory is basically meaningless to him, 
but meant everything to Zonon.
“Tomorrow is Canceled” – Bob Greenberger, Barbara Randall/Howard Bender/Dave Hunt
This is a goofy little Mxyzptlk story, where the imp stops time to celebrate the birth of his son. Clark convinces Mxyzptlk that stopping time will rob him of seeing his son grow up, so Mxyzptlk restarts time and Clark gets him to say his name backwards to send him home.
DC Comics Presents #88 – “Prophecy of the Demon Plague” – Steve Englehart/Keith Giffen/Karl Kesel
This one starts with Superman restoring the moon to its proper orbit, from which it was knocked by the ongoing Crisis. In Boston, Jack Ryder (aka the Creeper) interviews a weird hermit on his TV show. The Hermit has been predicting the end of the world for years, but now it looks like his gloom-and-doom prophecies are coming true. Ryder doesn’t seem too bothered by whether the world is actually ending or not, but he
likes milking the fear for his ratings. In Metropolis, three network bigwigs ask Clark Kent to talk to Ryder and get him to tone down his doom rhetoric, since Clark is known for delivering bad news in a way that leaves people with hope. Clark goes to Boston to talk to Ryder, who has no interest in changing his tactics to please the suits. Later, Ryder transforms into the Creeper and pounds some thugs in an alley. Elsewhere, the hermit is wandering around spewing more doom-laden prophecies when he notices some runes on an old aqueduct. As he approaches, the demon who was trapped in the 
aqueduct emerges and takes over the hermit’s body. Jack Ryder tracks down the hermit to invite him to be a regular on his show, saying they can reach a national audience; the hermit (or the demon) likes that idea. On Ryder’s show that night, the demon uses his eldritch energy to steal the souls of everyone watching … except Clark, whose will power is too strong. Superman tries to destroy the transmitter, but is foiled by the magical energy, until he channels some lightning through his invulnerable body. The demon attacks, using its magic to take control of Superman’s mind. Creeper shows up to help and
when the demon tries to possess is mind, he finds Creeper’s fractured psyche more than he can handle. That loosens his control on Superman, who smashes the demon apart. Creeper wonders if Superman was worried about killing him, since he and the demon were linked, but Superman says that he was willing to risk it to save the world. Instead of being upset, Creeper congratulates him on showing some ruthlessness … although he still considers Supes to be a stuffed shirt”.
All-Star Squadron #52 – “From Fear to Eternity” – Roy Thomas/Arvell Jones/Alfredo Alcala
Last issue, Johnny Quick, Liberty Belle, and Green Lantern tried to follow Harbinger and Firebrand through a space warp, but ended up on an alternate Earth. Which Earth? Well, judging by the pissed off Captain Marvel flying at them, I’d say it’s probably Earth-S. Turns out Cap isn’t after them, but the shadow demons behind them. They help him fight the shadow demons, saving Cap when the demons turn him back to Billy Batson against his will. Liberty Belle’s sonic power and GL’s ring finally blast the shadows apart and Cap tells the All-Stars that his Earth is undergoing the
same red skies and weird weather phenomena as Earth-2. He says he hasn’t head anything about Firebrand and takes them back to his place to rest. We get a reminder that Johnny and Belle are married now, so it’s okay for them to spend the night together. Green Lantern’s ring charge runs out, so he and Cap go to China to dig up the meteorite that gave GL his powers on Earth-2. Luckily, the meteorite is intact on this Earth and GL recharges his ring. The next morning, Captain Marvel and GL get Belle and Johnny out of bed (after what looks like quite a night) and Cap leads them to the old subway 
tunnel where he got his powers. Shazam appears and says he can send a magic bolt to guide them home, but Cap has to stay in the tunnel. The All-Stars follow the bolt to the Rock of Eternity, where GL’s ring points the way home through a portal. (Apparently, Captain Marvel hasn’t been to the Rock of Eternity yet, so going there now would screw up the timeline … although the Crisis is about to make all that moot anyway.)
Hawkman – “Shanghaied into Hyperspace”
This is the first of a series of back-ups that tell what happened to the JSAers that were shot into space last issue. These stories are all based on Golden Age tales that were supposedly set on other planets, but Roy is using the Crisis (and Harbinger’s dimension-warping powers) to say that these
stories all took place in alternate universes, with different planets than the ones we know. This story has art by Al Dellinges based on Joe Kubert’s Golden Age art, although the original story was by Gardner Fox and Sheldon Moldoff. The story is very Golden Age: Hawkman lands on (alternate universe) Saturn and saves a dude named Aka, who’s in love with a Princess (Ysult) whose father is a tyrant trying to wipe out Aka’s people. Thanks to the different gravity, Hawkman has superior strength (like John Carter on Mars) and can control the local birdlike mounts, so he soon leads Aka’s people to victory, taking Ysult’s father down himself. Aka and Ysult get married and unite their peoples in peace. This story not only rips off Burroughs, there are shades of Witch World and Flash Gordon as well.
Infinity Inc. #21 – “Shadows at Midnight” – Roy Thomas/Todd McFarlane/Tony DeZuniga, Steve Montano
This one starts with the wedding reception of Green Lantern and his old nemesis, Harlequin (who turned out to be his secretary, Molly Mayne). The actual wedding was featured in the Infinity Inc Annual, which I’ll be reviewing in a week or two. There’s the usual social stuff at the reception, with the Infinitors and JSA hanging out and having fun. Rick Tyler is worried about Beth Chapel, who lost her eyesight last issue and went home to her parents in South Carolina. Now she won’t take calls from anyone but Dr. Mid-Nite. Brainwave Jr. shows up at the reception and Jade is very glad
to see him. Another surprise guest shows up … Yolanda Montez, who seems to have acquired cat powers somewhere. Wildcat is ready to throw Yolanda out (to protect his secret identity), but Fury invites her to stay. Nuklon notices Yolanda from across the room and still has a thing for her. Harbinger shows up and takes most of the heroes with her to fight the Anti-Monitor in the pages of Crisis. Rick finds one of Dr. Mid-Mite’s Blackout Bombs that he dropped and suddenly decides to go see Beth in South Carolina. He gets arrested for hitchhiking, carrying munitions (the Blackout Bombs), and drugs (Miraclo pills). The cops find his new Hourman costume and put it on him for some 
reason before tossing him in jail. Rick manages to snag some Miraclo (with a peanut butter sandwich) and busts out of the jail. He wails on the cops and speeds off at super-speed, hitching a ride from a friendly trucker. In Orangeburg, south Carolina, Beth is in church listening to her father (the reverend) give a fire and brimstone speech. Beth isn’t in the mood for religion, since she’s been experiencing weird visions in spite of her blindness. Beth asks her brother John to take her home and Rick is waiting for her. Beth can’t see his Hourman costume, but recognizes his voice and almost blows his secret identity. Beth
isn’t thrilled to see Rick, but when he tells her about the JSA vanishing she admits she’s known Dr. Mid-Nite’s secret identity for years. She also knows Mid-Nite isn’t blind, so his advice about her career didn’t really help, it just pissed her off. Rick tries to get her to stop feeling sorry for herself, but she gets mad at him. They’re interrupted by some shadow demons that burst in and attack. Rick and John are knocked out, but when the lights go out, Beth realizes she can see in the dark … and seems to have super-strength too. She fights the demons and John wakes up and drives them off with his flash camera. Beth tells Rick how she can see in the dark but not the light and explains 
things to her parents when they get home. Beth figures her powers are a gift from God and wants to use them to fight evil, starting with whatever’s causing the Crisis. Rick uses his artistic talents to design a costume, which Beth’s mom whips up in record time. Reverend Chapel isn’t too thrilled to have a costumed vigilante as a daughter, but Beth is insistent. Their talk is interrupted by a cannonball crashing through the window, so Beth new Hourman and Dr. Midnight head out to investigate the source.