Superman #422 – “Dark Moon Rising” – Marv Wolfman/Curt Swan/Larry Mahlstedt, Tom Yeates
This one starts with a guy being chased into the subway by a bunch of well-dressed men with guns. They corner him, but get a surprise when he turns into a werewolf and pounds them. Despite his bestial instincts, the werewolf refrains from killing any of his assailants. The oncoming subway scares him and he attackers the driver, but again stops short of killing him. Superman hears the emergency call about the runaway subway and goes to investigate, running straight into the werewolf, who’s strong enough (or
magical enough) to actually hurt him. While fleeing, the werewolf saves a woman from being run down by a car, which surprises Superman. But he has to save the runaway subway car, so the werewolf gets away. Superman goes to his Fortress to analyze some blood the werewolf left on him, while the werewolf raids a meat locker and falls asleep in a warehouse. We see the guys who were chasing the werewolf talking about how they have to find him (and kill him) before the night of the full moon, when he’ll be able to control his transformations. That night, Lois has a date with some movie star and Superman checks the computer analysis of the blood, confirming he was 
attacked by a werewolf. He gets a call from Inspector Henderson about the werewolf, saying some scientists from Lupus Labs (yeah, that’s not suspicious) want to see him. On the way, Superman finds the werewolf robbing a jeweller who winds up dead. The werewolf distracts Superman by putting an innocent man in danger, getting away again. At Lupus Labs, the scientists tell Superman the werewolf is Lawrence Thomas, who accidentally discovered a serum that causes lycanthropy and used it on himself. They urge Superman to bring the creature down, but something’s bothering Superman about the whole thing. He finds the werewolf in an electrical plant and they fight. The werewolf separates them from some workers who try to join the fight, almost as if it wanted to protect them. The werewolf ends up knocking Superman out and
stealing his costume, forcing him to borrow a track suit from a sporting goods store. Superman tracks Lawrence down through his ex-wife and finds him fully human again. Lawrence explains how the other scientists stole his discovery and tried to kill him and Superman remembers that the werewolf who stole the diamonds was right-handed, unlike Lawrence. Turns out all the scientists are werewolves too (as well as criminals) and want to kill Lawrence to keep him from talking. Despite his vulnerability to them, Superman fights the werewolves, giving Lawrence the chance to get a lightning rod from the roof. When the lightning hits, Lawrence and the others are changed back to human beings. Clark writes up the story for the Daily Planet, giving Lawrence credit for apprehending the criminals.
Action #582 – “The Strange Rebirth of Jor-El and Lara” – Craig Boldman/Alex Saviuk/Kurt Schaffenberger
This one starts with Superman having a nightmare about the destruction of Krypton. He’s been having the nightmare a lot lately and figures it represents some repressed memory in his subconscious. With his super-computers, he retrieves a memory of Jor-El using some kind of mind-transfer device on him when he was a baby. After analyzing his brainwaves, Superman finds there are three separate brain patterns in his head and wonders if he might actually be able to reconstitute his parents. He travels to numerous planets to gather scientific knowledge and equipment before
attempting to pull the brain patterns from his head and make them flesh. Apparently it works, because a couple days later Clark Kent introduces the gang at Galaxy to his “birth parents” (Jordan and Laura Ellsworth), who he claims to have tracked down. (I guess Clark told everyone the Kents had adopted him.) Naturally, Jor-El and Lara have super-powers on Earth, so Superman has to teach them how to use their powers while showing them around. They’re having a little trouble adjusting, since (from their perspective) it’s only been a few days since they experienced Krypton’s destruction. If you’re 
thinking this is all too good to be true (and probably bullshit), you’re not the only one; Superman has a nagging feeling something’s wrong … and judging by the two shadowy figures observing him and his parents, he’s right. When he shows his parents the Phantom Zone projector and the trapped Kryptonians don’t display any animosity toward Jor-El, Superman knows something’s up. The phantom criminals can see “behind the scenes”, so they know Jor-El and Lara are fakes … something Superman figures out when they start beating the shit out of him. They knock him out, tie him to at he Kryptonian rocket in which he first arrived on Earth, and send it to explode over Metropolis, saying it’ll take out the whole city. The two aliens watching this tableau are
upset when their video goes out, so they fly down to see if Metropolis really is gone. They run into a pissed-off Superman instead, and we see they’re Rokk and Sorban from Ventura. Apparently they have a passion for gambling and once had a bet that they could make Superman kill someone (way back in Superman 171, from 1964). This time, the bet was that they could get Superman to kill his parents (or someone who looked like them) to avenge the destruction of Metropolis. We get a long-winded explanation of how the aliens pulled off their scheme and Superman explains how he knew something was up and 
let himself get strapped to a fake rocket. Instead of punishing Rokk and Sorban the usual way, Superman decides to separate them, figuring that’ll cut down on their scheming. We learn that Superman sent the fake Jor-El and Lara into the space between the time-stream (or something), but since they were originally incorporeal beings “borrowed” by the aliens, he doesn’t think that’s too harsh … in a way, he’s returning them to their natural state. This kinda reminds me of the early 90s storyline about Chameleon bringing back Peter Parker’s parents; I wonder if this was the inspiration?
DC Comics Presents #96 – “The Deputy” – Dan Mishkin, Gary Cohn/Joe Staton/Kurt Schaffenberger
This one starts with Blue Devil checking out Metropolis after having moved there recently. He sees Superman and realizes he’s kind of redundant in Metropolis, since the Man of Steel seems to have everything covered. Superman is fighting Terra-Man and Blue Devils decides to help, but can’t do much to stop the giant meteorite Terra-Man uses to flatten Superman. Terra-Man indicates that he’s started some trouble out in space and Superman’s telescopic vision confirms it. Superman takes off, telling Blue Devil to handle Terra-Man. Unfortunately, Terra-Man has help from a
bunch of aliens. Out in space, Superman approaches the comet streaking toward Earth and realizes it isn’t a true comet, since it’s projecting some kind of energy field. He’s so focused on the fake comet, he doesn’t notice the aliens who ambush him with energy blasters. In Metropolis, Terra-Man uses his high-tech cowboy crap to keep Blue Devil from getting too close. Some buzzsaw spurs reveal the meteorite Superman caught actually has some kind of beacon inside. In space, Superman finds himself trapped in a plasma 
cocoon by the aliens, which is basically like being caught inside a giant jellied salad. He can’t break free, so he’s helpless to stop the aliens from heading through a space warp to attack Metropolis. In Metropolis, Blue Devil is overwhelmed when the other aliens show up. Terra-Man reveals that the beacon is actually a giant railway switch and the “comet” Superman tried to stop is a huge space train, coming through the warp to destroy Metropolis. Blue Devil isn’t strong enough to throw the switch, so he tosses his trident through the warp, hoping it’ll find Superman. The Man of Steel has realized
that he can only escape his Jell-O prison by moving very slowly, since the plasma uses his own energy against him. He has one hand free when Blue Devil’s trident flies past and he grabs it, letting the trident pull him free of the plasma and back through the warp. Superman pounds the aliens and throws the giant switch, sending the space train back where it came from. Blue Devil ends up decking Terra-Man and Superman thanks him for his help.
JLA #253 – “Pyre” – Gerry Conway/Luke McDonnell/Bill Wray
Last issue, Despero (now more powerful than ever) showed up in Gotham, captured Batman and Vixen, and cut the city off from the rest of the world with walls of fire. Naturally Despero allowed the JLA inside the perimeter, since he wants to gloat over his triumph. He demonstrates his new ability to manipulate matter and energy by animating a statue, turning it into a fire-breathing dragon. While the JLA fight the dragon, Despero tells Batman how he plans to reshape the
world to suit his whims. He’s planning on killing Batman and the others as soon as the original JLA shows up, since they’re the ones he really hates. Gypsy uses her “nightmare” power to freak the dragon out, which distracts it long enough for the others to smash it with a huge rock (which seems to cause Despero some physical pain). Batman starts wondering about Despero’s new powers and Despero says he underwent purification in the Flames of Py’tar (which he’s recreated in Gotham), a column of nuclear plasma that can alter whatever comes into contact with it. Despero recounts his origin for Batman and Vixen, 
telling how his planet of Kalanor developed nuclear technology millennia ago. But an explosion devastated the planet, wiping out the original inhabitants and mutating many other species, including Despero’s people, who ended up ruling the planet because of their telepathic powers. The nuclear cataclysm also created a pillar of nuclear plasma, the Flame of Py’tar, which became a place of worship for Kalanorians. They started fighting among themselves and finally Despero’s father ended up as the victor. Despero killed his father and ruled Kalanor, until his numerous defeats by the JLA. He remembered the Flame of Py’tar, which was known to transform some who entered it, while
killing others. Despero took the chance and after enduring ultimate agony, gained ultimate power. From Despero’s story, Batman realizes that the Flame of Py’tar reduced Despero to atoms and rebuilt him, a process that occurs continuously. If they can destroy the Flame while Despero is exerting his power, maybe they can destroy him too. Batman works himself loose from his bonds and frees Vixen, telling her to get the others and attack the Flame while Batman distracts Despero. Unfortunately, when Vixen goes to get the other Leaguers, she finds they’ve all been knocked out.