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EPISODE 42: Superman Strength + Superman Adventures

The Last Sons read and discuss the Superman: Strength mini plus the popular Superman Adventures #41, requested by Super listener Patrick D. Ryall!

It's a surprise for the Last Sons and one which isn't a bad thing! Hidden gem worthy of more mention - tune in to hear all the discussion!

SYNOPSIS:

(courtesy of Connor-El & Wiki)

PART 1

A criminal named Fido and his gang are speculating on the origin of Superman and plotting how to deal with him. They send a dupe to rob a bank to test how fast Superman reacts, while Fido reveals his Super-criminal father claimed to have broken Supermans arm, and told him Superman was raised by the metropolis elite with a silver spoon in his mouth never having to struggle, hence his strict moral compass. Meanwhile Superman overhears them and warns them not to plot anything, and leaves. Lois picks up Clark and Pa Kent and over dinner Pa starts to tell a story from Clarks childhood about his first time to a city. In the past with Clark present Pa stole some candy from a crooked clerk overcharging people in need and gave some to clark, tellin him some rules can be broken. Later during a solar eclipse Clark sees a city in the distance and runs to it. Meanwhile Fidos gang creates a series of disasters from fires to blowing up a bridge, to hold Superman off while they break into lex corps to steal his old invention, a pair of gloves that can create dimensional portals. Superman eventually catches up with them and FIdo lures him through the portal, severing at the neck and coming into possession of the head of Superman!

PART 2

Jonathan Kent recalls an incident when Clark was ten-years-old and a solar eclipse caused his innate Kryptonian powers to briefly manifest before they should have. Clark ran from Smallville to Chicago in under an hour and found himself embroiled in a brewing conflict between two rival members which resulted in both of their detahs. In the present, Superman is suffering from a laboratory experiment malfunction in which his head has been displaced through a dimensional portal. A former scientist named John "Fido" Pollock has the head and plans on using it as leverage in order to gain favor with Lex Luthor. This is complicated by a series of disasters happening nearby, Superman pleads with Fido to release him to save them, promising he will come back. Fido complies and lets Superman go, superman rescues everyone he can but a child dies in the process. After Supermans return, Fido and his cronies bring Superman's head to Luthor's office and offers him a demonstration of his Trans-Locational Portal gloves. Luthor is unimpressed until Pollock also reveals that he has another invention that can alter the size ratio of volumes of matter and threatens to use this technology to destroy Metropolis. A fire fight breaks out between Fido's thugs and Luthors' security team. A pile of debris falls through the spatial portal and giant-sized coins, paperclips and batteries begin raining down on Metropolis. Luthor frees Superman so that he can save the city.

PART 3

Thanks to the efforts of criminal inventor John "Fido" Pollock, a wave of giant-sized pocket debris begins raining down on Metropolis. Superman flies out and deflects giant coins, fountain pens and paperclips from smashing through the city.

At Lexcorp Tower, Fido and his crew use their trans-locational gloves to escape before Luthor's security team can gun them down. They stop at another LexCorp facility to hijack a NASA hovercraft. Lois Lane is present and tries to sneak on board, but Fido captures her and uses her tech to shrink her down in size.

Superman arrives at the facility and his father, Jonathan Kent, tells him that the bandits have kidnapped Lois. Superman then takes off and flies after them.

He traces the crew to Cairo, Egypt. Fido comes up with another idea. Using the Trans-Locational Portal, he locates the imprisoned Metallo and steals a small piece of Kryptonite from his chest cavity. He intends on using to subdue Superman. When they realize that Superman is in range, they scramble into the hovercraft leaving behind one of their own, Hopper.

They open a dimensional portal to Chicago, but Superman is fast enough to follow them into the portal. They zigzag through the city, but eventually the Jet-Car runs out of fuel. By this point, Fido's cronies realize that there is no escape and they abandon him. While Superman rounds up henchpeople Trudy and Sulley, Fido hijacks a pick-up truck. Superman bears down on him, but Fido temporarily blinds him with one of the hi-tech weapons they stole from LexCorp.

Superman shakes off the effects, but Fido has one more ace up his sleeve. He enlarges the Kryptonite pebble he stole from Metallo and uses it to pin Superman to the ground. While Fido is boasting about his supposed conquest, Lois escapes from the vial she was trapped in and uses Fido's Scaling Gloves to return to normal size. She then uses the same gloves to reduce the Kryptonite block back to pebble size.

Through the course of this, Superman learns that Fido has always lived in the shadow of his abusive father, Frank "Pit Bull" Pollock – a man who once claimed to have broken Superman's arm in combat. Superman slightly recalls the event, and tells Fido that his father never bested him, and certainly never broke his arm. Fido knows that Superman would never lie, and the sudden revelation drives him into a fury. He unloads on Superman with every weapon at his disposal, but they do no good. Once his arsenal is spent, Fido collapses to the ground and Superman takes him into custody.

SHOW NOTES:

• Superman: Strength
• Superman Adventures #41
• Man of Tomorrow series (2020)
• Man of Tomorrow, animated film
• Zot!

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The music for this episode contains excerpts from various songs and is copyrighted by Styzmask. The music used on Last Sons of Krypton - A Superman Podcast is licensed under an Attribution License;