This is an imaginary tale about an Earth where Lex Luthor is the Man of Steel. On this world, he is bringing Lois Lane to his Fortress of Solitude, and show her the truth about the man she loves... Clark Lang. Among his many space-trophies is the Ulran temporal prism, which is able to show past events -- such as those from Clark's life. A beam of light shines upon the crystal and a scene from the 1930's comes into view... Both girl reporter and Man of Steel watch as Jonathan and Martha Kent make their getaway from a bank robbery. These are the true parents of Clark Lang... whose real name is Clark Kent.

The Kents died in a car crash which signalled the end of the notorious crime couple of the century. Their son was in the care of a criminal scientist, who implanted a chromo-stimulant in him, and which would one day take control of his mind. The chromo-stimulant was designed after his parents' evil chromosomes, and which would make Clark Kent twice the criminal his parents were. It would be in his early teens that the chromo-stimulant would take effect. While robbing a gas station, the teenager was chased by a policeman, and twisted his ankle... his head struck the curb...

Clark Kent would be in a coma for ten years. Since she worked as a volunteer nurse, Lois was aware of the visits to the hospital by the police. The authorities are unaware of the chromo-stimulant and that Clark is a Kent. Only the doctor and the Man of Steel know about his secret. Superman has told Lois this in hopes that she would stay away from him. The girl reporter tells the Man of Steel that he is jealous of Clark. He is the man she loves, not Superman. As one of his Superman-Robots takes Lois back to Metropolis, he realizes that he had fallen for her when he became a reporter at the Daily Planet. The thought of her with Clark is torture for him. Another beam of light strikes the crystal, and he watches how Clark escaped from his hospital bed a few days ago.

The Man of Steel watches as an old man uses a device to teleport both himself and Clark away from the hospital. He recognizes the old man as the scientist who devised the chromo-stimulant. Before dying, Doctor Markhem managed to revive Clark Kent, who has taken the secret hideout for his own. He reads the news from the underworld teletype about a certain item he's been looking for. Grandovic is an ancient tibetan mystic who makes accurate predictions for the mob...

Grandovic's fees for fortune-telling are high, but Clark knows how he's going to raise the money. The following day... Lois Lane is complimenting Lex on his professionalism as a reporter. He thanks her for the compliment, but wishes that she regarded his alter-ego as highly. Both journalists turn and see that the back wall of the National Bank Building has begun to melt like butter. Lex's x-ray vision shows him that Clark Kent is at the control's of Doctor Markhem's matter-digestor. (Holy Bismoll, Batman!)

Telling Lois that he's going to phone in the story, Lex heads for a nearby phone booth... and changes to the Man of Steel at super-speed. The girl reporter's attention is on Clark Kent, who watches as Lois heads for the matter digestor... Fortunately for her, Superman has seen her predicament, and uses his invulnerable body to shield her from the crime machine's blast.

The hysterical woman begins to beat on the Man of Steel's emblem. Superman uses one finger to administer a super-love-tap to render her unconscious. Clark has activated the jet-propelled scoop-craft, which will take him and his stolen money away from the city. As the Man of Steel prepares to pursue him, his super-hearing picks up the sound of ticking... (Holy Timex, Batman!) The next second finds Superman carrying the matter-digestor (complete with cobalt bomb) away from Earth's atmosphere.

Clark Kent has won the first round against the Man of Steel, and with Grandovic's help, he'll win the rest of the fight. Many days later... Clark has spent time and money learning the mystic's exact whereabouts in the Tibetan mountains. Within a cavern, he finds the one whom he seeks. Hearing that his request will drain a portion of Grandovic's abilities, Clark presents him with the Warsaw Diamond, which was bought for two million dollars on the black market. Receiving his price, Grandovic tells Clark to pay attention to the mystic wall behind them...

The planet Krypton --A bright jewel of the universe, until the day it met with a destructive end. A geyser was the instrument of the planet's doom -- caused by Jor-El. Holding Krypton responsible for his wife's death, the scientist took his son, Lex-El, and headed for Earth. Lara's death had rendered Jor-El permanently insane... and upon entering Earth's atmosphere... their ship began to malfunction. The crash of the spaceship also caused the deaths of Jonathan and Martha Kent... who were blinded by the exhaust.

Clark has another reason for hating the Man of Steel -- Jor-El killed his parents. Once on Earth, the scientist did not gain super-powers -- but Lex-El became a Superboy. The two headed for Smallville, where Jor-El became Jordan Luthor, physician. His son became Lex Luthor, a student... His baldness was concealed by a brown wig, and he could use this identity whenever he didn't want to be the Boy of Steel. Clark remembers growing up with Lex, and being best friends in school... never guessing he was Superboy. With his insanity, Jor-El met a violent end. Now an adult, Lex went to college and studied journalism... then arrived in Metropolis, where he applied for a job at the Daily Planet. Now knowing his origin... Clark wants to know about Superman's weakness. Grandovic tells him to look to the wall... and see...

They see Lois Lane, girl reporter, and Clark recognizes her as the one who was almost swallowed by the matter-digestor. The mystic wall goes blank... and Grandovic asks him to leave. Unbeknownst to the Tibetan mystic, Clark had added a poison gas cartridge to the Warsaw Diamond. Before he dies, Grandovic tells him to look at the mystic wall... and see what will be the instrument of Clark's death... With the Tibetan mystic dead, Clark sees the image of a steering wheel, and knows that this means he'll die in an auto accident.

Days pass, and in Metropolis... Lex is using his telescopic-vision to see if the girl reporter will be on time for their lunch date, and sees that Lois is in trouble. Knowing her feelings for the Man of Steel, the reporter heads into an alleyway... then takes a frying pan from the trash... and throws it at the falling cornice... CLLINKKKKK!!! Lex rushes up to Lois, who sees the finger-impressions on the handle. He realizes that maybe he wanted the girl reporter to know who saved her life.

Since the Man of Steel didn't make an appearance, Lois begins to think that Superman isn't a gloryhound like she thought he was. Arriving at his apartment, Lex is relieved that his fellow reporter may be starting to like his alter-ego. He is caught off-guard by the killer-robot's attack. Its arms are "armed" with thermal units which turn his clothing to ashes. (Holy G.Q., Batman!)

CRAAASSHH! The mechanical device had not counted on dealing with an angry Superman. CRAAACCKKK! The Man of Steel uses a single super-chop to bring the robot down to size. A hidden tape recorder begins to play -- He listens as Clark Kent tells him that he knows about his secret identity. They are to meet on Mammoth Mountain at 7:00 to discuss the matter.

At Lois' apartment, the girl reporter buys a Glido-Brush from a Fulton Brush salesman. She admires the feel of it, and wonders why she couldn't resist this particular vendor. Two hours later, the Man of Steel arrives at Mammoth Mountain. Clark shows him a monitor screen, and tells him that if he interferes with the criminal's plans, Lois Lane will die. Both men turn as another Superman flies into view... and tells Clark that he's been talking to a Superman robot. (Holy Robocop, Batman!)

It's a stalemate, as "Clark" turns out to be a hologram. At his secret headquarters, Clark enjoys making a fool out of the Man of Steel. He can kill Lois Lane at any time. Pretending to be a salesman, he sold her a brush which contains an invisible, dangerous chemical. Using a subtronic signal device, he can alter the potency of the chemical at will. Days pass... and Clark Kent's crimes are on view in the Daily Planet, but there's no sign of Superman. He is forced to look the other way whenever a crime is committed, and knows that the life in danger is that of the woman he loves.

The next day finds Superman checking out his robots at the Fortress of Solitude... Robot XM-7 is missing, and has not retained the order about staying out of action. The robot had been malfunctioning for some time, and the last thing he needs is for him to run into Clark Kent. He finds XM-7 grappling with a Crime Machine, whose driver just made a subterranean getaway. At Lois' apartment, Superman reads the note from Clark Kent... about Lois' death. The criminal no longer has a hold on the Man of Steel, and the next job he pulls will be his last.

At the hide-out, Clark watches as the girl reporter revives, and wonders why he wasn't able to move the activator-dial past the stun setting. Seeing her beauty, he realizes that he has fallen for her. Seeing him, Lois wraps her arms around Clark in a warm hug, and he realizes that she can't resist him. Atop the tallest skyscraper in Metropolis... Superman waits for a sign of the next crime from Clark Kent. As the criminal plans his next crime, he listens as Lois begs him not to go up against the Man of Steel. He tells her not to worry, and that Superman will be amazed by what his sonic tractor can do. (Holy Green Acres, Batman!) On a busy street, the citizens of Metropolis watch as Clark Kent arrives in his fierce-looking crime machine...

As Superman flies towards him, Clark warns him not to come closer. The sonic tractor will transmit sonic-bombs throughout the city and kill hundreds. The Man of Steel continues to fly towards him, and Clark wonders if he has lost his hairless head. The nearby buildings... its people... are destroyed... and Superman let it happen. Clark can't believe it...

The next second finds the Man of Steel shaking the sonic tractor apart with super-vibrations... and Clark Kent's criminal career is through. When he hears about the people he supposedly killed, Superman points out that the only two living people in Metropolis are Clark and himself. In years past, he had constructed an exact duplicate of Krypton... and placed androids there in memory of the Kryptonians. It is these androids -- wearing Earth clothing -- who "died." It was a job for Superman -- taking the citizens of Metropolis to Gotham City, and placing the androids -- but it worked. He knew that Clark wouldn't show up if the city were empty.

Clark Kent's pockets aren't quite empty, as he produces Professor Markhem's final creation -- an energy weapon to be used against the Man of Steel. Superman is suddenly drained of his strength. The energy weapon has extracted his super-powers and placed them into a nearby steering wheel... which has begun to glow. The first one to touch the wheel will gain powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal man. Clark kicks Superman to the ground, then runs towards the steering wheel. The Man of Steel uses his wits and a long pole to grab the steering wheel first.

Superman's powers have returned, while Clark Kent begins to collapse from total defeat. The chromo-stimulant has short-circuited. He had avoided steering wheels because of the Tibetan mystic's prediction, and now he pays the price... The Man of Steel sees that Lois Lane is among the living, and with the death of Clark Kent, she finds that she has no feeling for him whatsoever. Superman has a theory... it was the super-criminal brain of Clark Kent which caused her to become hypnotized by him. They see that in death, Clark Kent is free from the influence of the chromo-stimulant... free from the evil that twisted his soul, and caused him to become a criminal.

On the cover of Superman #231, a robot doesn't know what to make of this particular Man of Steel.

Not having the first part of this two-part story, I can only speculate on the history of this imaginary parallel Earth.

Most of what we needed was in the story.

Clark Kent was adopted and raised by the Langs. I don't know if Lana Lang existed on this Earth.

She did, and treated Clark as her brother. (She only appeared in 2 panels.)

Jonathan and Martha Kent were the Bonnie and Clyde crime team on this Earth.

Clark Kent didn't become a criminal until he became a teenager.

Lex Luthor is not a mild-mannered reporter, while this Superman does lead a solitary life at his Fortress of Solitude.

As a journalist, Lex wears a brown-haired wig and wears a brown suit.

Luthor kept his hair in a "World's Finest" imaginary story where he was Superman to Clark's Batman. Lex was still a reporter and he used the glasses as a disguise.

Jor-El destroyed Krypton after the death of his wife. Was the planet responsible for her death?

Eh... at a stretch. The Els were demonstrating a teleportation device that went on the fritz due to a power surge. The power company was undermanned due to a Krypton-day celebration. (Incidentally there's no way the son of Jor-El and Lara should've been genetically identical with the usual Lex Luthor. But as Super-Lex said on this issue's splash, "You must admit it's different!")

For some reason, Jor-El did not become super under Earth's yellow sun and lighter gravity. Did his insanity cause him to reject these abilities?

More or less. (You realize I'm going by memory on all this.) Jor-El discovers he's got some kinda virus that inhibits his super-powers. The virus can either be brought on by insanity or be transmitted hereditarily. Jor-El decides his ancestors dealt him a bum hand. The caption says, "Like most madmen, Jor-El doesn't realize he is insane." More of that Silver Age moral absolutism.

Clark Kent and Lex Luthor were boyhood friends in Smallville.

If Argo City survived Krypton's destruction, will this Superman meet up with Lena Zor-El, and adopt her as his secret weapon against crime?

If he was such a mystic, why didn't Grandovic sense the trap Clark set for him with the Warsaw Diamond? Was he "tuned" on another channel when it happened?

Where would life be without little surprises? More seriously, not even a comic book mystic can foresee everything.

Clark Kent tried to "steer" clear of his destiny, but he had taken a wrong turn a long time ago.

And why didn't he come up short when he saw the super-powers had been transferred to the instrument of his death? Maybe there was nothing to do at that point but forge ahead.

The matter digestor resembles a cross between a tank, a helicopter, and a steam shovel. (Holy Tonka, Batman!)

The sonic tractor looks like a yellow submarine... yellow submarine... yellow submarine...

Was this Superman affected by his father's insanity? Jor-El's destruction of Krypton must have impacted Lex-El's life on some level. Does this Man of Steel fight a never-ending battle as atonement for his home planet's destruction?

Lex-El was just a toddler when Jor-El went psycho. He thought it was just something grownups did when his daddy took him to live on Earth; he didn't even see Jor-El's synthetic geyser turn Krypton into one big mudball. (Incidentally, that soggy death meant no Kryptonite.) As far as we can tell from this story, Lex never did learn of his father's insanity. You touch on some interesting points, but they're likely to remain unexplored.

Two (only two?) things that always bothered me about part 2:

How the heck did Clark hide a poison gas cartridge INSIDE a diamond?

S.C.: Maybe Professor Markhem invented a minature diamond drill?

And why on Earth did he steal Superman's powers, then TELL him that the first one of them to touch the wheel would gain the powers? (I guess that's just part of the unwritten Villain's Code... always boast about your Master Plan when the hero still has time to prevent it.)

S.C.: Maybe his programming including a crash course on gloating at your enemy when you think you have him right where you want him. Less talk and more walk would have meant the end of Supes, though.

Review by Steve Chung, comments in italics by Bob Buethe, comments in bold by Brad W.