Action Comics Vol 1 485




 * "Yeah, I can picture it. There wouldn't be enough of Superman left to fill an ash tray! "
 * --One of the K-Iron device thieves

Summary
Volume: 1 Issue: 485 Month: July Year: 1978

Credits
Head Writer: Cary Bates Cover Artists: Neal Adams Writers: Dennis O'Neill Pencilers: Curt Swan Inkers: Josef Rubinstein and Murphy Anderson Letterers: Milt Snappin Colorists: Anthony Tollin Editors: Julius Schwartz

Synopsis
Cast of Characters:
 * Superman
 * Professor Bolden
 * Jimmy Olsen
 * Lois Lane
 * Morgan Edge
 * Perry White

Locations
 * Metropolis
 * Daily Planet
 * Metropolis Airfield

Items
 * K-Iron
 * Kryptonite
 * Kryptonite Engine
 * Transcontinental Mail-Rocket

First Appearances: No first appearances (see second Note). Final Appearances: Professor Bolden.

Synopsis: En route to the laboratory of Professor Bolden to help test a new energy source, Superman is attacked by a pair of thieves using Bolden's device. The device is made from K-Iron and is very sensitive to heat while also super-heating the Man of Steel to where the vacuum of space cannot extinguish the flames surrounding him. Falling into a nearby lake, all of the water is instantly evaporated and Superman is unconscious.

While unconscious, Superman dreams of Professor Bolden's first experiment: the Kryptonite Engine. Bolden had hoped to supply cheap electricity using Green Kryptonite as a power source, but the device fails. Through failure came success as the experiment rendered all Green Kryptonite on Earth into iron - thus removing a fatal weakness to the Man of Tomorrow.

In the offices of the Daily Planet, Morgan Edge assigns Clark Kent to cover the launch of the new mail-rocket for WGBS despite Clark's protests of being a newspaper reporter. Clark worries about being able to act as Superman if he's in front of millions on broadcast television.

During a commercial break, Superman seemingly foils a heist attempt on the rocket. However, a pair of jet planes appear in an attempt to hijack the rocket. Superman stops the planes but feels incredibly disoriented when over the site of Professor Bolden's experiment. The feeling eventually passes, allowing the hero to take care of the would-be crooks and get back to the Daily Planet. Edge decides to make Clark a permanent part of the TV news team over the protests of Perry White.

Superman begins to recover and buries the thieves in the sand using his super-breath. Professor Bolden appears and learns from Superman that the super-heated exhaust from K-Iron sets solid matter on fire. The professor walks back to his lab hoping his research will one day pay off.

Recommended Readings

 * Superman Family

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