Superman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told - Volume 2 Book

"The Mysterious Mr. Mxyztplk" is clearly the inspiration for Paul Dini's Mxy episode of Superman animated. It's a delightful story, with the terrific old-school, square-jaw Superman art (Ira Yarbrough replacing Joe Shuster in this case). Fast, fun and enjoyable.

"Superman's Other Life," by Otto Binder & Wayne Boring - Batman uses a device in the Fortress to show Superman what his life would've been like if Krypton hadn't exploded. By "startling twists of fate," Futuro, the Kryptonian superhero is created, Kal becomes his "Jimmy Olsen," Futuro meets Lois Lane, marries her and move to Earth, and Futuro duplicates the experiement that gave him his powers, empowering Kal with all of his Superman powers so that he can protect Krypton. Urgh. Five too many coincidences.

"Superman's Return to Krypton," Siegel and Boring. Much better. Superman is investigating an anomaly, which flees from him at high speed. Accidentally, he breaks the time barrier, is flung into the past, and finds himself in orbit of Krypton before it explodes. He races to the surface before his powers fade under the red sun, and is trapped. He meets his parents, falls in love with actress Lyla Lerrol, and tries to find a way to save his doomed world. In a more believable twist, Kryptonians don't think Jor-El is a loon for predicting doom: Jor-El never tells them! Krypton doesn't have space travel, so he doesn't want to terrify everyone until he can arrange the planet's evacuation. (I always thought this would be a better reason for the planet's failure to evacuate.) They nearly escape, but in a charming bit of continuity, Brainiac shrinks and steals Kandor before they can get the ultra-rare fuel that they need. Ultimately, Kal escapes doom when - in the story' only lame twist - a fire-beast caused the "rocketship" he's in (while helping Lyla film her movie) to blast into space, out to where there is a yellow sun, where Superman's powers return. Regretting his loss, Superman flies back to his own time and Earth. Classic.

"The Team of Luthor and Brainiac," Edmond Hamilton & Curt Swan. Eehh. Luthor and Brainiac team up, defeat Superman, and the Kandorians come to the rescue (why don't they ALWAYS operate outside of the bottle?). However, the Kandorians must let Brainiac and Luthor go that Brainiac will reverse the effect of the "coma-ray" that he subjected Superman to. Superman is duty-bound to let the villains go and swears to the Kandorians that he'll return them to normal size and bring Brainiac to justice, since they gave up their chance for vengeance to save him. Nice twist of having Kandor lose their chance for revenge, but otherwise, only decent.

"Superman Breaks Loose," Denny O'Neil & Swan. More set-up than story - Kryptonite no longer harms Superman - the famous scene of Superman eating Kryptonite comes from this story, but there is a mystery about the cost of the end of Kryptonite, which is not resolved in this story. In fact, outside of the set-up, the story itself is completely pedestrian. Not a "best story," imo, but perhaps the opening salvo of one.

"The Legend from Earth Prime," Elliot S! Magin & Frank Miller. In the far future, scientists searching parallel dimensions find recordings of the Adventures of Superman TV series starring George Reeves. They speculate, does this mean that Superman was really Clark Kent, rather than Morgan Edge or Bruce Wayne, as popularly believed. Charmingly cute.

"The Secret Revealed," John Byrne. One of the most character-defining Lex Luthor stories ever. The end, Luthor's refusal to accept Superman's secret ID, is a little hokey, but otherwise, this story is Lex at his most malevolent. Terrific.

"Life After Death," Jerry Ordway & Tom Grummett. One my first Superman comics, Jonathon Kent has a heart attack and pursues Clark into the afterlife. Doesn't make much sense outside the context of the Death and Return storylines, but it's a nice story about the bond between father and son, and it gives some good history of Jon Kent's family. Good stuff.

"Narrative Interruptus Tertiarus," Greg Rucka & Matt Clark. Terrific story about the hope that Superman engenders, with Mxy showing Lois and Clark a possible future where they have a daughter. Recommended.