Action Comics Vol 1 471

"One of Our Phantoms is Missing!"

Cover

May, 1977

One of Our Phantoms is Missing!

The Private Life of Clark Kent: The Long Weekend

Editors

Julius Schwartz

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Action Comics # 470	Action Comics # 472

You're out of your realm trying to fight me, Superman! Don't you know nothing can harm a phantom?

— Faora Hu-Ul

Action Comics #471 is an issue of the series Action Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of May, 1977.

Synopsis for "One of Our Phantoms is Missing!"

Superman returns home to find a strange, elderly man in his apartment. Within two seconds Superman goes out, changes clothes, goes back to his apartment and knocks the man out stealthily. As Clark leaves to get smelling salts, a blurry, female-looking phantom appears over the man.

Clark gets the man come to. He explains he is Jackson Porter, Clark's new neighbor, and claims he came over to borrow a hammer and found the door open, but Clark grows suspicious. No one of his locks have been forced, but he is sure he locked up before leaving his apartment. After an awkward conversation, Porter returns to his apartment, adding his wife Katie is a big fan of news anchor Clark Kent.

Later, a strange phantom is seen terrorizing the streets of Metropolis. Morgan Edge is angry that the phantom was seen floating near the apartment of his "star reporter" Clark Kent, and Kent failed to put together a story on the incident. Clark decides to investigate the matter on his own as Superman. Later, when Clark Kent returns home, he finds out that Mr. Porter's wife passed away fifteen years ago, long before he started out his anchorman career, which contradicts Potter's earlier statement.

Meanwhile, Mr. Potter is talking with a phantom he believes to be his wife. Suddenly, the ghost vanishes when she feels someone is coming. Mr. Potter welcomes Clark Kent at the same time the ghost appears floating several blocks away.

Clark is talking to Mr. Potter, who tells his deceased wife's spirit still keeps him company and in fact she was the one wanted him to move there, when he hears screams and runs off.

Superman finds the ghost wreaking havoc and attacks, but the phantom is not only strong but also invulnerable. Then the blurry mist surrounding the mysterious phantom vanishes, and she reveals to be Faora Hu-Ul, an escaped criminal from the Phantom Zone. She has figured out a way to slip and out of the Zone at will and has spent several days testing her new powers, wrapping himself in Phantom Zone mists to conceal herself from Superman. However, she's now ready to put her master plan in motion. Before Superman can stop her, she fades back into the Zone.

As Superman ponders about his newest enemy, Faora flies to the apartment of Jackson Porter, where she has been masquerading as his wife's ghost since Mr. Porter unknowingly holds the key which allows her to leave the Zone.

Appearing in "One of Our Phantoms is Missing!"

Featured Characters:

Superman

Supporting Characters:

Galaxy Communications
- Morgan Edge
- Steve Lombard

Antagonists:

Phantom Zoners
- Faora Hu-Ul (First appearance)
Xviar (Mentioned only)

Other Characters:

Frank Jackson
Jackson Porter (Clark Kent's neighbor) (First appearance)
Kathleen Porter (In a photograph only)

Locations:

Metropolis
- 344 Clinton Street
Phantom Zone
Gulf of Mexico (Mentioned only)
Krypton (Mentioned only)

Items:

Vehicles:

Synopsis for "The Private Life of Clark Kent: The Long Weekend"

Clark Kent is bored and looking for something to do. He meets Harry Davis, a private investigator who mistakes Kent for a man named Lionel Maxwell. He is trying to locate Maxwell to inform him that he stands to inherit a million dollars from a deceased relative.

Kent takes an interest in the matter and tracks down the real Lionel Maxwell. He finds him living in poverty in Barolsville, Pennsylvania. Maxwell wants nothing to do with his inheritance, citing that wealth only leads to misery. Kent convinces him to accept the inheritance and give the money to his poverty-stricken neighbors.

Appearing in "The Private Life of Clark Kent: The Long Weekend"