Superman 86
Clark, Lois, and Perry are in London, about to open a new branch there, and the older man is scoffing at a tale in another paper about a dragon. He says they would never publish a false tale like that, and Clark pipes up about, what if it’s not fake? He is laughed at and told if he ever brings in a story about a dragon he would be fired on the spot. The real story, according to Perry is a jousting tournament, put on by the descendants of famous knights.
Because all the details remain the same among-st the witnesses, Clark wants to investigate the dragon tale, but worries that his co-workers might wonder why Superman was in England. Clark hears some of the knights saying that they want to seek out the dragon as well, and so he challenges one of the knights, and of course wins. This allows him to become one of their group, and he goes with them to search for the beast.
They soon find claw marks upon the ground, and the dragon appears. In order to protect the knights Clark steps forward and his armor is melted from his invulnerable body when it breathes flame on him. But stray flame burned one of his comrades and so he rushes him to a hospital after trapping the dragon with a large canyon around it. But when it rains the creature is able to swim across the gap and is free.
In his delirium the knight mutters about Superman’s identity and reveals it to Lois and Perry. Clark has no time to come up with a story, as he must go fight a dragon. While he does this task, sidetracked by putting out fires and the like, they write-up the story. The dragon breaks into a museum and perishes next to bones that look like itself. Superman says that it was a prehistoric beast and the added carbon dioxide caused the flaming breath and instinct made it want to die next to its kin.
He was able to clear up the reveal of his identity by stealing a wax figure of Clark they had made to fit his armor, so the real Clark wouldn’t have to stay there. Thinking Superman hid inside the wax figure, in order to help his friend, his identity was safe.
2
Perry White wakes from a nightmare to Superman fighting, well is it really fighting when Superman is going after regular crooks? I don’t think so.. So I guess I’ll saw he was swooping down to catch them and being shot at. So he runs to the office to write-up the story, just as Clark dons his less colorful suit and does the same. To their shock they find Jimmy Olsen, (eeeeeeeee! Jimmy has been around, but this is his first month as a named character, and I am super excited) the cub reporter of the Daily Planet is now the editor. Lois explains that it’s just for a day, as it’s boy’s day when all the jobs are given to kids so they can learn how they are.
Clark types up the Superman story for Perry and then the two are called in to the editor’s office by Jimmy. As the town is pretty quiet right then Jimmy suggests that the two look into an old unsolved case that took place exactly seven years ago. As the statute of limitations would end tomorrow, Jimmy wanted them to solve it by then. He gives Clark the photos of the crime, and tells him to run the plates. Lois was in charge of the only witness and Perry was to look in the jewelry stores to see if the stolen goods had been sold.
I think it was a tad silly that he switches to Superman to check on the plates, but I suppose he could just say Clark asked him to. He finds that one of the cars at the scene belonged to a criminal known as Snipe. Lois meanwhile has located the witness siting at the same table in a bar with Snipe! Blinded by anger and a need for justice she tells him that he is nothing but a crook and she bets his testimony was fake. But, she doesn’t have the strength or training to resist when they capture her. (Lois Lane, Karate Champ. I want it.) Still she does have a super (boy)friend, and he spots her as the crooks are about to throw her-bound and gagged- into the sea.
He saves Lois and gets the story confirmed that the ‘witness’ was a member of the gang, as was Snipe. The jewels had yet to be recovered though, so Superman headed out to see if Perry found anything. The usual editor was tired, and sore, and he’d been looking at the photos of the gems for so long he knew them each by heart. And so when one of them was right under his nose he knew it at once and headed out to the paper. The owner of the store where Perry found the jewel was run by a member of the gang though, and when Perry arrived to tell Jimmy what he had learned, they were both held at gunpoint.
He didn’t want to kill them, just hold them til the statute of limitations expired. Superman located his friends and, seeing their predicament blew Chloroform through the air system and put them to sleep. When they awoke they found themselves handcuffed and being brought to jail by boy police officers.
3
It was a normal day at the Planet, with Lois printing a story praising the man of steel, with Perry’s approval. The next day though things started going wrong. It started small, with a picture being changed into something ridiculous. Then Perry went to investigate the type machine which was spitting out sardine cans. When he exclaimed in shock the thing spoke! “Someone – Please- Get Superman at Once!” he calls and so Clark sheds his over clothes and asks his help. Before Superman can speak a voice comes from thin air, and says Superman is too stupid to explain anything.
Mr. Mxyzptlk appears and tells Perry he will continue to give the Planet a hard time til they retract the lie that Superman is the greatest person to have ever lived. He was, and he wanted that in print. Perry says he’ll think on it, and then begs Supes to get the imp to go home. Forming a plan Superman challenges Mxy to do better than him in a series of tests. Superman smashed a rock, and Mxy changes another into rockcandy. Superman collects an entire crop of grapes, and Mxy changes them to grapefruits, which cost more. Superman then unearths an old temple, claiming only he could possibly read the runes upon it. He ‘translates’ the first word and almost gets Mxy to say the second, but he catches himself in time.
Returning to the Planet Perry flatly refuses Mxy, and he leaves, saying he’s gonna put out his own paper and out sell the Planet. Perry tries not to worry, though he should, as Mxy has access to the fourth dimension, and is able to print news from the next day. Crimes are stopped before they happen, stock is bought at great profit, and weather is watched with greater knowledge. But as many good things as it did, it did just as many bad. Knowing this has to stop Superman gathers up a bunch of goose feathers (?) and then changes the feed of future news to the printer.
Next Paper he puts out says that Mxy is going to become a laughing-stock, and when he leaves his office he sees everyone is indeed laughing at him. After circling the globe to find the same results everywhere he leaves. Superman explains to his friends that he used super speed to tickle everyone as Mxy came near them.
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