Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Spaceopoly The Non-Legion Comics Trivia Thread Pt 5

If memory serves he also turned green which I never understood.

A woman is mugged and killed in an alley and a hobo dies of old age exacerbated by radiation poisoning. Batman investigates. How are these events connected and why are they a threat to Superman?

Did the Super Adaptoid turn into Kryptonite Man?

Erm. Woman and hobo. Um. Did the events in the alley give rise to a new super villain, who somehow hates Superman?

The hobo had been exposed to Metallo who mugged the woman?

The woman is working for Luther, and has run off with some Kryptonite. The homeless guy was an innocent bystander trying to save the woman from Neutron, only to die from radiation poisoning. The crime occurs in Gotham, so Bats in investigating and it's a threat to Supes as Bats forgot to take his anti-Supes Kryptonite capsule out of his utility belt.

EDIT: I guess Super Adaptoid had the powers form early Avengers member, The Hulk

No super villain creation.
No. Metallo is not involved.
Incorrect although has elements.
The woman used to work for Luthor (important), Kryptonite is involved but the mugging does not occur in Gotham.

Any of those points help? This might be a bit obscure for non-Superman readers so I am happy to entertain questions and will add more clues as I go.

This seems tantalizingly familiar. Is the woman victim that computer scientist who concluded that Superman was Clark Kent, and was fired for it because Luthor was too dense and egotistic, to accept that such a powerful Superman would deign to pass himself off as a lowly reporter?

You're definitely a big Supes fan, stile! I like learning about these cool stories through your trivia questions.

...and the winner of Pun of the Week is...stile86 for the use of "elements" in response to the mention of "Kryptonite" ? > Mad Audience Applause, but that's what you get when you host awards ceremonies in Arkham<


Not a bit of it! When a Boom Tube delivered, Orion gnawed, bargain copies of Jimmy Olsen's series to me, it also delivered the Tombola of Silver Age Plotting! Perfect for answering this sort of thing!

Because my Supes comic books are a bit limited, the woman I remember working for him was the one who discovered that Clark & Supes were one and the same. Luther fired her. This would be in the first couple of Byrne issues. From the "(important)" bit, I might be one the right lines. Thinking back, Luthor was complete slime. Weinstein as a super villain.

So, does she then try and prove her theory? Before she goes she might steal some of Metallo's kryptonite from Luthor's lab. The homeless guy is someone who stole that sample at some point? It's a threat to Supes, because of the Kryptonite and that she knows his secret ID. Batman is involved because... due to the Kryptonite he can't solve this one so it's an early post crisis World's Finest as Bats pieces together the clues and solves the homeless guy's death. Supes & Bats weren't on good terms, so does some of the woman's Luthor-science get fenced in Gotham? That would start Bats on the trail.

Yoikes! Sniped by Ibbster! stile will have to work out which one is closer!...

Thanks. Glad you enjoy learnign these tidbits.

Yes that is the woman, although this event happens 4 years later (in publishing time anyway).

LOL! Totally unintentional! Good spotting.


Yes you too have picked the right woman. Bonus points for guessing that she tried to prove her theory and did steal some kryptonite from Luthor.

OK I thought about holding out for one last detail, specifically the piece of kryptonite, but that seems a bit fussy. I am going to award the win to Thoth whose imaginative recreation covers a few more plot points. Here is the full story with some background (the writers during this period Jerry Ordway, Dan Jurgens and Stern McLeod were using lots of subplots and tying lots of lore together).

Way back in Superman vol 2 #1, Byrne's first new issue, Luthor captures Metallo just as he is about to kill Superman and tells Metallo that is a pleasure he is keeping for himself. He takes Metallo's kryptonite and fashions some of it into a jewel on a ring which he wears constantly on his right hand to tease Superman and keep him at bay. Not long after comes the incident you both remember when Luthor, wondering about how Clark Kent gets all the best Superman stories in the Daily Planet, puts one of his best scientist Amanda McCoy on to the problem and she concludes that Superman and Clark Kent are the same person, a conclusion that Luthor rejects. He is so enraged that he fires McCoy (after having forced her to spend the night with him) and makes sure that she can never find work again.

Over the years other plot points happen, such as the low level radiation from the kryptonite ring gives Luthor radiation poisoning, necessitating the amputation of his right hand (which he of course blames Superman for) and will eventually cause his death. Occasionally strange parcels arrive at Clark Kent's desk to the Daily Planet such as a scrapbook of newspaper clippings of disasters averted at the last minute and later clippings of Superman. He eventually finds out that it belongs to Ma Kent but not before Batman has deduced his double identity from it. In another seemingly unrelated incident a man superficially similar to Clark is rayblasted to death by Intergang in Kent's apartment while Superman is in exile in space and everyone thinks Clark is dead for a while but Superman has no idea who the dead stranger is.

Finally Amanda arranges a secret meeting with Kent where she uses the kryptonite ring to force him to admit he is Superman. He thinks this is some plot of Luthor's but once McCoy screams out her hatred for Luthor he suggests a teamup but collapses. Amanda thinks she has accidentally killed him and runs off in a panic. Wandering in a daze she is mugged and killed in a back alley.

Then follows the Three-part story titled "Dark Knight over Metropolis".

Superman is naturally worried about the mysterious lady with the ring who knows his identity but has no idea how to find her. Meanwhile an old hobo dies in an alley in Gotham showing signs of radiation poisoning. Amongst his few possessions Batman finds a strange green ring (which he determines has a low level of radioactivity - in this period of post-Crisis stories kryptonite is extremely rare and generally unknown which is why he does not immediately recognise it) and a bus token from Metropolis so heads there to investigate. Superman and Batman are not exactly friends during this period, in fact they find each other's methods of operating quite irritating. Nevertheless they team up to foil a plot by Intergang and to solve their mysteries which end up joined. It seem the muggers, who did not notice the ring which was later found in the alley by the hobo, stole Amanda's keys and ransacked her apartment but completely missed her diary telling the whole story including Superman's dual identity. In her attempts to prove her theory McCoy had mailed things like the scrapbook to Kent to provoke a reaction and hired a PI to investigate Kent without letting on why. It was the PI who was killed in Kent's apartement. After that Amanda didn't want to get anyone else killed and so stole the ring from Luthor's vault and confronted Clark. Batman has had the ring all along without letting Superman know but he now leaves it for him as he departs.

In the the concluding scene Superman visits Batman in his cave for the first time and gives the ring to him saying that although they may not be friends, if the need to stop him (Superman) ever arises he wants the means to do so in the hands of someone he can trust with his life.

Wow what a ramble.

Take it away Thoth.

Thanks for the information on what happened with that subplot. I think the start of it was exactly when I stopped reading the book. I was aware Amanda had come back, but I don't know if she'd been identified as such in the book. Superman had just gone into space. I don't think I outlasted Byrne's tenure by too long.

I have two questions! The second was something I tripped over, and might be a little hit or miss. So.?

1) The defeat of Despero had cost the JusticeLeagueAmerica the life of Mister Miracle (or so they thought). Max Lord looks to reinforce the team & J'Onn makes an invite. Who is asked to join/ change membership status in that issue & who turns up to join?

1 -
2 -
3 -
4 -
5-
6 -
7 -
8 -

I'm not counting L-Ron!


The second question was... What was unusual about Doom Patrol member Scott Fisher's superhero career.

That was a nice read, stile! I remember the Metallo scene.

and a nice story leading to Batman and Superman becoming somewhat friends (though it's not my favorite dynamic between the two).

Poor Amanda. Always sympathized with her, she was quite a tragic character, ruined through no fault of her own.

I should know the answer to this. I collected and read all of JLI/JLA/JLE right through to the end of the run but my memory is a bit vague on these later issues. It was a robot copy of MM that died crashing a shuttle into Despero wasn't it?
Hmm. Was this when Tasmanian Devil was recruited?

Didn't read much of this run except for crossovers. Did he never get a super-hero name before he died?

I remember the recuitment drive, though I probably can't name them all.

1) Starman (Will Payton)
2) El Diablo
3) Hawk
4) Dove (Dawn Granger)
5) Black Canary?
6) Doctor Fate?
7) Orion?
8) Lightray?

I have vague recollections of this, but can't quite figure it out

1) The defeat of Despero had cost the JusticeLeagueAmerica the life of Mister Miracle (or so they thought). Max Lord looks to reinforce the team & J'Onn makes an invite. Who is asked to join/ change membership status in that issue & who turns up to join?

1 - Black Canary
2 - General Glory
3 - Hal Jordan
4 - Aquaman
5- Power Girl
6 - Blue Jay
7 - Wonder Woman
8 - Batman



The second question was... What was unusual about Doom Patrol member Scott Fisher's superhero career.

Wasn't that the kid who could acid burn through things because he was exposed to toxic waste as a kid? He died of the cancer his powers gave him

Like with CMK, I remember the recruitment drive, but not all the details. i do know it was a mix between former Leaguers and entirely new heroes.

1 - Hawk
2 - Dove
3 - Starman Will Payton
4 - Huntress
5 - El Diablo
6 - Orion
7 - Lightray
8 - Lobo

On Scott Fisher: didn't he slip into a coma and die during Invasion?



I'm pretty sure that wasn't. The Mr. Miracle copy died before Breakdowns, Taz showed up in Breakdowns. Taz was already attached to the JLI Australia embassy earlier on, but only went to join the American branch during Breakdowns.

Q1.


Yes, it was.



No, it wasn't. Ibby has all the Taz facts above. I did wonder why we never saw much of him at the time, even though he was part of the global team.

1) Starman (Will Payton)
2) El Diablo
3) Hawk
4) Dove (Dawn Granger)
5) Batman
6)
7) Orion
8) Lightray

Guy Gardner tried to fight Starman into joining.
Fire had a long chat with El Diablo, with Beetle getting bored at the bar.
Huntress & Ice felt that Hawk & Dove were rude about not wanting to join. Huntress has been mind controlled by Max Lord to even be on the team.
Orion & Lightray arrive as real Scott goes on extended leave to be with Barda.
Batman is asked to move from part time status to full time, by J'Onn, but declines. J'Onn is also looking to take some leave, which is why he asked Bats back.

One to get.

Q2.


Yes, he did. Clearing the decks for Morrison's run.



Yay! Right first time. He might have only got his name in a previews magazine, but got bumped off before they gave it to him in the book.

That last one is going to bug me until I or someone else gets it. I can see the Mike McKone artwork in the issue like it was yesterday, but I'm blanking on another recruit/re-joiner that I've missed...

Superman?

I remember thinking it odd, that Max mind-controlled Huntress into joining... and she ended up not doing much while she was with the team!

I remember Hawk, Dove, Will Payton etc. being on the cover...

Hm...

I'll guess Atom (Ray Palmer)?

Jay Garrick?

Not Superman, Atom or Jay.

Big Barda?

Doctor Fate?

Question?

Hawkman, perhaps? for a second try?