Title: "The Superman of the Past"
Pages: 24
Feature(s):
Superman (of Earth-1)
Writer: Bill Finger
Penciller: Wayne Boring
Inker: Stan Kaye
Reprinted From:
Superman #113 (1957)
Feature Character(s)
Supporting Character(s)
Villain(s)
- A renegade scientist (no further appearances)
Guest Appearance(s)
Other Character(s)
- Queen Latora and the Vergoans (an alien race; no further appearances)
Comments:
Chap. 2: "The Secret of the Towers"
Chap. 3: "The Superman of the Present"
This is the first book length Superman story.
Synopsis:
Superman finds a helmet stuck in a Kryptonite meteor. After dislodging it, he discovers it to be a mental-image viewer that belonged to his father Jor-El.
When he views the images, Superman learns that Jor-El found an asteroid containing a race known as the Vergoans. The Vergoans and their queen, Latora, planned destruction for Krypton, so Jor-El went to the asteroid to stop them.
Upon his arrival on the asteroid, Jor-El gained super powers similar to Superman. He fought Latora’s robot army initially, until finally he learned that the Vergoans needed Krypton’s uranium core to re-ignite their sun. They chose Krypton because it was already a doomed world. Jor-El returns home with news of the coming calamity, and Latora continues her search for another planet with a uranium core.
After defeating a renegade scientist, Superman locates Latora still on her quest years later. He flies to the asteroid and uses his power to create a planet with the necessary uranium core. He reignites their sun, leaving the queen and her people happy at last.