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in: Curt Swan/Cover Artist, Neal Adams/Cover Artist, Jerry Siegel/Writer,
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Action Comics Vol 1 373

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"The Battle of the Super-Pets!": This story is reprinted from Action Comics #277.

Action Comics #373 is an issue of the series Action Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of March, 1969. It was published on January 7, 1969.

Synopsis for "The Battle of the Super-Pets!"

This story is reprinted from Action Comics #277.

Krypto helps to protect Supergirl's civilian identity of Linda Lee, by preventing a prospective couple from adopting her from the Midvale Orphanage. As such, Supergirl shows favor to Krypto – a gesture that incurs the wrath of her cat, Streaky. Streaky attacks Krypto in a fit of rage. Superman arrives and Supergirl and he have to pull the two animals apart.

To settle the dispute, they decide to hold a series of contests between the two pets. Supergirl takes the animals to a far-distant planet and has them challenge each other to various games. But what Supergirl doesn't realize is that this planet is one of the worlds frequently used by Mister Mxyzptlk for his various pranks. As such, the two animals fall prey to various left-behind toys. Supergirl falls into a Kryptonite trap and Krypto and Streaky help her to escape.

As they decide to leave the planet, Beppo the Super-Monkey arrives to accompany them on the journey back to Earth.

Appearing in "The Battle of the Super-Pets!"

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  • The Mayor of Metropolis
  • The Interplanetary Multi-Dimensional Practical Jokers Club (Single appearance)
  • Mr. & Mrs. Morgan (Single appearance)
  • Mr. Galloway (Single appearance)

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Synopsis for "The Bride of Mr. Mxyzptlk!"

This story is reprinted from Action Comics #291.

Supergirl is escorting a plane that carries a nuclear cargo when suddenly the pilots turn into Bizarro monsters. She separates the Bizarros from the plane and secures the dangerous cargo so that it presents no harm. She then travels to New York and finds Bizarros all over the city. Supergirl wishes that Superman were around to help her with the situation but he is off in space. MXYZPTLK appears at this point and assumes responsibility for all the chaos. Supergirl immediately attempts to make him say his name backwards but the imp from the 5th dimension does not fall for any of her tricks. MXYZPTLK notices Supergirls frustration and decides to propose. To prove his love he produces a spaceship which carries Supergirls parents, Zor El and Allura. The three have an emotional reunion as Supergirl explains how she arrived on Earth. Supergirl introduces her Kryptonian parents to her earth parents but she is heart broken when she realizes that she must pick who she will live with on earth. Supergirl follows her Kryptonian parents to the fortress of solitude where they begin work on a secret experiment in the laboratory. Soon afterwards Supergirl conducts her Kryptonian parents on a tour of Earth when they once again run into MXYZPTLK. The imp still expects Supergirl to marry him and surprisingly her Kryptonian parents seem supportive of the idea. As the wedding ceremony gets underway, the wedding party drinks a toast to wedded bliss. Zor El then commands MXYZPTLK to say his name backwards and he cannot help but obey. As soon as he says the name backwards the 5th dimensional Imp disappears along with Allura and Zor El. It turns out that Zor El had poured Kryptonian truth serum into MXYZPTLK’s cup. The same serum they has produced while they were in the lab in the fortress of Solitude. They had intentionally sacrificed themselves to rid MXYZPTLK from Supergirls life.

Appearing in "The Bride of Mr. Mxyzptlk!"

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Synopsis for "Supergirl's Farewell to Earth!"

This story is reprinted from Action Comics #258.

After secretly saving a pair of children from a falling tree, Supergirl spots Krypto flying by and introduces herself to the super-dog. The two then frolic and play in secret until they are spotted by Superman. Upset that she revealed her existence to even Krypto, Superman decides that Supergirl has broken their pact and tells her that he is exiling her from the Earth. Fashioning a crude ship, Superman tosses her out into space where she lands on a savage planet where she has to build her own home and live off the land.

Missing the planet Earth, she decides to watch it from afar with her x-ray vision, where she witnesses a forest fire. She tosses huge icicles from her planet to Earth where they melt and douse the flames. Given a note from Superman by Krypto, explaining that a deadly Kryptonite cloud is coming to her planet, the note explains that he will allow her to return to Earth as Linda Lee for 24 hours until the danger passes and she has to resume her exile.

In order to explain her disappearance as Linda Lee, Supergirl tells a tale of how she got lost in the woods and found her way back home. When reporters show up to record the story, one in particular has a keen interest in Linda: Clark Kent. When Kent notices that she has no insect bites on her arms, and demands her to reveal herself to be a Supergirl, a fact that Linda does not deny. Disappointed that Linda would so easily give up her identity, Clark is surprised when she explains that she knows he's Superman. Supergirl explains that when Clark grabbed for her arm, she attempted to use her x-ray vision to cloud the glasses to give the illusion of insect bites, however when it had no effect on Clark's glasses (having been made from the glass windscreen of his Kryptonian vessel that brought him to Earth) she deduced his identity.

With all said, the two Kryptonians fly up into the sky in secret, where they meet up with Krypto. Superman reveals that the whole chain of events was a test to see how well Supergirl could protect her secret identity. Convinced that she passed the test, Superman allows her to resume her civilian identity and operate in secret as Supergirl until the time is right to reveal her to the world.

Appearing in "Supergirl's Farewell to Earth!"

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Synopsis for "The War Between Supergirl and the Supermen Emergency Squad"

This story is reprinted from Action Comics #276.

Clark Kent and Lois Lane are called to the estate of John Kiley, a rich and charitable man who is now on his deathbed. He summons Clark in private and reveals that he has been a huge Superman fan for years. He reveals a secret room full of Superman memorabilia devoted to his hero. Kiley admits that his time is very limited and he explains that it has long been his goal to find out Superman’s true identity. He had hired detectives in the past to investigate but his results were inconclusive. He does however state that his investigative efforts pointed to one man, Clark Kent. He then asks Clark to confirm his suspicions and confess that he is really Superman. He reiterates that he is a dying man and would present no threat with this knowledge. Clark reasons that Kiley only has moments to live so he confirms that he is really Superman. He reveals his costume underneath his clothing and demonstrates his superpowers in front of Kiley. Ten minutes later the doctor confirms that Kiley has passed away with a peaceful smile on his face. Clark leaves the estate along with a number of other reporters. As Clark is typing up Kileys obituary the setting returns back to Kileys mansion where Kiley himself is waking up from a self induced coma. He had apparently used a drug which slowed his heart rate enough to make Clark believe he was a dying man. The doctor warns Kiley that the drug he used has been known to cause hallucinations and that Clark’s demonstration might have been a side effect of the drug. Kiley refuses to believe that his observations were an illusion, He reveals that he is the secret leader of the Anti-Superman Gang and that he has a secret plot to lure Superman into a Kryptonite trap. The Anti Superman gang sets up the trap in one of Kileys mines. They also prepare an electronic jamming device to prevent Superman from summoning any help from his Superman robots. Clark Kent arrives on the scene to cover the story of a collapsed mine. He is escorted into a mine shaft where he is pushed into a chamber containing a huge chunk of Kryptonite rock. Clark attempts to summon his robots but the jamming device holds them at bay. Superman now realizes that his only hope is the Superman emergency squad from Kandor. They frequently monitor Superman’s activities and they see that he is in need of assistance. They receive Clark’s instructions to bring a can of green paint as they arrive at the scene with Supergirl. Upon arriving, they cover the Kryptonite rock with the paint which contains lead. The lead renders the Kryptonite harmless and Clark recovers. He then asks Supergirl and the Superman emergency squad to assist him in convincing Kiley that his Superman demonstration was just an illusion brought on by the medication he used to slow his heart. Supergirl and the tiny Supermen put on a show that leaves Kiley and his gang convinced that they are hallucinating. The Anti Superman gang is arrested leaving Superman to conclude that he must utilize the Superman Emergency Squad more often in the future.

Appearing in "The War Between Supergirl and the Supermen Emergency Squad"

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Synopsis for "Supergirl's Greatest Challenge!"

This story is reprinted from Action Comics #287.

After spending time at her friend Margie's house where her Superman fan-club has Lois Lane over as a guest visitor, Supergirl (as Linda Lee Danvers) returns home. There she is told by Fred Danvers that the sheriff is about to blow up the tree stump which hides the secret exit to their home which Supergirl uses to leave unseen. Supergirl rushes off to prevent the entrance from being seen. Returning home once more she gets a signal from the Legion of Super-Heroes to visit them in the 30th Century.

At first she wonders why the Legion called her because they all appear to be busy doing other things, however she strangely finds them at the Legion's headquarters. The Legion quickly have her board their ship to go out into space to stop the Positive Man. Supergirl succeeds in doing so by attracting a negative creature from space to cause the two to explode.

Returning to Earth, the Legion members find that their super-powers no longer work, and in order to avoid a crime spree, Supergirl with the help of Whizzy (the future descendant of her super-cat Streaky) help make it appear as though the Legion still has their super-powers by helping them out behind the scenes.

However, this is all a trick, and the "Legion" members are really members of the Chameleon men, alien shape changers who are posing as the Legion. With Supergirl's guard down, they use a Phantom Zone projector to shunt both Supergirl and Whizzy into the Phantom Zone. Using Whizzy's telepathic abilities, they gain the aid of the owner of an android factory they had saved earlier to send in an android resembling the Chameleon Men to enter the Legion base and free Supergirl and Whizzy.

Supergirl then quickly defeats the Chameleon Men, trapping them in a transparent dome, and freeing the other Legion members. After she says goodbye to the Legion and Whizzy and returns to her own time and relates to the story to Streaky.

Appearing in "Supergirl's Greatest Challenge!"

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  • Positive Man (First appearance; dies)
  • Chameleon Men (Single appearance)

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