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"Superman: "The Man Who Saved Kal-El's Life!"": Superman seems stymied by Paul Pratt, a thief who appears capable of being in two places at once. But he is contacted by Prof. Amos Dunn, who tells him an incredible story: years ago, before Krypton's destruction, he received

Quote1 1692! Why, that's the year when the "Golden Witch" terrorized this section of the country! We talked about her in school last term!... So many people saw the witch, some historians suspect there may be some truth to the weird story! Quote2
Supergirl

Action Comics #281 is an issue of the series Action Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of October, 1961.

Synopsis for Superman: "The Man Who Saved Kal-El's Life!"

Superman seems stymied by Paul Pratt, a thief who appears capable of being in two places at once. But he is contacted by Prof. Amos Dunn, who tells him an incredible story: years ago, before Krypton's destruction, he received radio transmissions from Jor-El, instructing him to construct a matter transmitter / receiver apparatus on Earth.

With a unit on Earth and one on Krypton, humans could be teleported across both planets, and Jor-El hoped to use this device on a mass basis to save the Kryptonian people. Dunn did go to Krypton, where he saved the lives of Jor-El and baby Kal-El after both were attacked by creatures from Jor-El's aquarium. Superman confirms this by examining the scars on his ankle where the Kryptonian fish-snake bit him. However, on the eve of Krypton's destruction, the apparatus on Earth malfunctioned and could not enable Jor-El, Lara, or Kal-El to teleport to Earth. Later, Dunn saw Superboy, knew that he was the former baby Kal-El, and resolved to tell him of his encounter with him and Jor-El when the youth was an adult.

Now, Dunn confirms that one of his assistants has stolen the transmitter plans and is using it with Pratt to commit robberies via teleportation. Armed with this knowledge, Superman intercepts the two thieves and captures them.

Appearing in Superman: "The Man Who Saved Kal-El's Life!"

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  • Gerald Greer
  • Paul Pratt

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Synopsis for Supergirl: "The Secret of the Time-Barrier!"

Posing as Kara Zor-El, Lesla-Lar has fooled Superman, convincing him that Supergirl is ready for a public appearance. Before doing so, Kal-El has to check on an experiment in his Fortress of Solitude, so the duo travel there.

Inside, while Superman is busy, Krypto Krypto becomes suspicious of "Supergirl" and realizes that she's someone else. Sensing the real Supergirl's presence, Krypto's x-ray vision finds that she's inside the bottle city of Kandor. Still brainwashed into believing she's Lesla-Lar, Kara has been ironically cast as herself in a Supergirl movie being filmed in Kandor.

Utilizing a change ray in Superman's fortress, Krypto pulls the real Supergirl from Kandor and sends Lesla-Lar back to the Bottle City. Unfortunately, upon being teleported out of Kandor unexpectedly, Supergirl trips and bangs her head on a table. Still depowered, she is knocked unconscious.

Supergirl comes around, still believing her living in Kandor was a dream, when Superman returns from his experiment to find a depowered Supergirl with spotty memory. He tries the same experiment on her that restored her powers (really a ruse by Lesla-Lar). Superman then decides to test his next theory and brings Supergirl back in time. He's apparently proven right because upon arriving in the year 1692, they find that Supergirl's powers have been restored. Superman states whatever is effecting her super-powers is only in the present day.

Superman decides to leave Supergirl enjoy her powers in this era. Kara remembers the legend about a "Golden Witch" terrorizing that area of the country in 1692, and wonders whether she'll be able to unravel the mystery. She happens upon a superstitious town whose people are going through hard times, and she uses her powers to provide food, fresh water, medicine, and coal to heat their cottages, which she also repairs. Upon completing her task, Supergirl decides to abandon her plan to search for the "Golden Witch" and returns to her own time, unaware that the locals believe her to be a witch.

Upon returning to the present, her powers fail again and she is saved from falling down by Superman. Superman returns her to her home, and tells his cousin that he cannot reveal her to the public now that her powers are uncertain, but he doesn't want her to give up hope.

That night, Linda checks an encyclopedia and realizes she was the "golden witch". Later she goes to bed, unaware she's being watched by Lesla-Lar, who waits for Supergirl to fall asleep so that she can take her place once more.

Appearing in Supergirl: "The Secret of the Time-Barrier!"

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