Earth 116 Review

One day, at police headquarters in Smallville, Chief Parker holds a press conference. The police have captured Phil the Faker, the famous counterfeiter, but must still find the phony $20 plate if Phil is to be convicted. Superboy flies into the room, telling Chief Parker not to bother. Using his x-ray vision, Superboy locates the missing plate under a floorboard in the police station itself, where Phil had hidden it! The reporters laugh, saying the Police Chief goofed. After they leave, Chief Parker tells Superboy he wishes he'd have told him about his discovery in private, instead of embarrassing him in front of the reporters. The Chief is surprised to see that Superboy is amused.

The next morning, Superboy spots Chief Parker driving to work. The Boy of Steel states that he will now take the next step in his master plan to smash the old coot's career. Superboy secretly flies up behind the Chief's car and begins pushing it faster and faster. He then quickly flies ahead of the car, stopping it so that he can charge Chief Parker with driving over 60 mph in a 30 mph zone. Superboy says he feels it's his duty to take the Chief to traffic court to be punished. Superboy silently laughs as the judge scolds Chief Parker and fines him $50. That evening, when Superboy returns home, Pa Kent pulls out the newspaper and asks Superboy why he dragged his old friend to court. Superboy says he cannot cover for someone who does wrong, even if it is a friend. He then tells his father to drop the subject.

The next morning, Superboy arrives at police headquarters, where he finds many FBI agents and reporters. One reporter explains that a bunch of top gangsters have been rounded up, and Chief Parker will personally grill "Big Gus" Diller, the crime syndicate boss. The Chief enters the room and, as he approaches the line-up, states that he must put on his glasses before he can begin. Superboy uses his heat vision to slightly melt the lenses, causing Chief Parker's vision to become distorted. The Chief decides he must go through with the interrogation, but he ends up confronting the wrong man, again embarrassing himself. Superboy suggests that maybe Chief Parker is too old for the job and should resign. Once outside, the reporters mock the Chief themselves, agreeing with Superboy's assessment. Lana Lang tells them to stop, that Chief Parker deserves respect for all his years of service. Superboy responds by saying the Chief deserved his job once, but old age has made him inefficient and incompetent. Superboy continues badgering the Chief to quit.

Later, Chief Parker sits alone in his office, writing a letter of resignation. Suddenly, Superboy and Krypto fly into the room. Superboy says that if Parker signs the paper, he will be making a terrible mistake. In the next moment, a second Superboy flies into the room! He proclaims that they may have stopped the Police Chief from resigning, but they can't protect the Chief from him. The two Superboys begin to fight, but then suddenly the duplicate Superboy stops and remarks that his body is tingling. He now realizes what has happened.

He explains that, a few days earlier, a missile from outer space carrying a hyper-atomic warhead was heading toward Earth. If it were to strike the planet, it would destroy it, so he obliterated it in space. However, the missile contained a red kryptonite rock, probably placed there by a space-foe as a booby trap. For 48 hours, the red k forced him to ruin a good friend. However, he was unaware that the explosion had hurled him into a parallel universe, so he ended up trying to torment this world's Chief Parker. The effect finally wears off, and the duplicate Superboy fades back into his own universe.

Chief Parker is happy that Superboy arrived in time to help him, but Superboy says he has Krypto to thank. Superboy was on a special mission in a distant solar system. Krypto found him and led him back. When asked how Krypto knew that he was being menaced by a Superboy from a parallel universe, Superboy only smiles. Shortly, Superboy and Krypto return to the Kent home. Superboy couldn't tell the Chief that it was Pa Kent who had sent Krypto to bring back his master. Pa Kent was fooled briefly, but he soon caught on. He noticed something that no one else did. The colors of the alternate Superboy's emblem were reversed, a yellow "S" on a red background!

Review by John L. Censullo (Outpost2).