- Title: Superman #123
- Comic Vine: link
- Writer: Otto Binder
- Artist: Dick Sprang
Superman Sunday takes us back to the Silver Age and the first appearance of Super-Girl (but not the one who you might expect). “The Girl of Steel” is the first of three stories in the comic. Although the look of Super-Girl would be used for later variations of the character, this version is not Kal-El‘s cousin from Krypton. Instead the character sprung to life from Jimmy Olsen making a magic wish on an ancient artifact Superman guilted an archeologist into giving his best friend. Oh, the Silver Age.
Super-Girl’s presence proves awkward as the Man of Steel and Super-Girl have trouble working together, also she inadvertently outs Clark Kent’s secret identity to Lois Lane (who spend much of the issue crying over Superman having found a better match for her than Lois could ever be). In the end, Jimmy uses the totem to reverse his wish and Super-Girl ceases to exist. Oh, the Silver Age.
The other two stories also focus on wishes being granted by the totem. In “The Lost Super-Powers” Superman has his powers taken from him by gangsters who steal the totem. Superman attempts to hide the fact that his powers are missing which becomes difficult after agreeing to be a live test dummy at a pistol club (which he survives thanks to the help of a giant magnet – oh, the Silver Age), having to fake his flight during a parade, and duplicating his powers through a number of illusions at public appearances making the crooks believe the totem allowing Jimmy to retrieve the totem to cancel out their wish.
“Superman’s Return to Krypton” offers the final wish for Jimmy who hopes to surprise Superman with a trip back to Krypton to meet his parents… only when typing up the wish Jimmy makes one slight typo. Oh, the Silver Age. The story is the most bizarre of the bunch, although through his appearance in the past Superman does get to spend time with his parents and help play matchmaker between the pair before returning to the present in a bit of a Back to the Future-style story. Thankfully, that uses up the wishes and prevents Jimmy from offering Superman any more “help.”
[DC, $.10]