DC Comics Presents #12 is an issue of the series DC Comics Presents (Volume 1) with a cover date of August, 1979.
Synopsis for Superman and Mister Miracle: "Winner Take Metropolis"
Las Vegas: Mr. Miracle puts on a stunt for a television special for the UBC Network wherein he escapes from a locked steel coffin suspended high in the air that is being attacked by fighter jets. When it seems that Miracle is killed in the stunt, he surprises them when he exits one of the fighter jets alive and well, pulling off yet another successful stunt. He basks in the glory for a moment until he is told by one of the television crew that the ratings for his stunt would likely be overshadowed by yet another documentary about Superman that is scheduled to appear on a rival network in the same time slot. This irks Miracle, who believes that his status as a New God put him above and beyond Superman and is angry that he must forever live under the Man of Steels shadow. Not even a talk from Big Barda and Oberon seem to cool his tempers and he speeds off into the city.
There, Miracle spots Carolyn Dole, a member of Intergang and decides to follow her to see what she is up to. Following her to an Intergang hideout, Mr. Miracle watches as Dole is shown a new device that allows them to reprogram peoples minds. They indent to use it against Superman in order to make him incapable of functioning, and test it out on a stool pigeon. The device turns out to be a great success when it prevents the stoolie from being able to talk about the plans he intends to leak to the FBI about Intergang. They then teleport away to formulate a plan to use the device on the Man of Steel. Realizing that this is bigger than his personal rivalry with Superman, Mr. Miracle hops down and looks around for clues but finds none. Miracle decides the best thing to do would be to try and get word to Superman, returning to his home he contacts Clark Kent at WGBS news and tries to warn him about the coming attack on Superman but realizes that he too has been effected by the machine and can't tell Clark about the coming attack. Hanging up the phone, he attempts to write it down, but finds that he can't do that either. Finding himself in the ultimate trap, Scott Free then begins planning a way to save Superman by getting around the mental blocks put on his mind.
This comes by way of suddenly relocating to Metropolis in what appears to be an attempt to overshadow Superman as the a local superhero. At first, Superman is surprised to see Mr. Miracle beating him to the punch, rescuing people in Metropolis who find themselves in danger. But ultimately, Miracles sudden increase in fame in the area begins to get at the Man of Steel and his pride gets the better of him. Confronting Miracle over the city, he makes a wager with him to determine who will be the defender of Metropolis.
Soon a highly publicized competition is set up, Mister Miracle and Superman must race through a former Nevada nuclear testing range during a storm. The first to reach Las Vegas wins the right to protect Metropolis. Because of the radiation in the area, camera crews can only wait at the finish line to see who will make it first. This leaves Superman and Mr. Miracle alone at the starting line. Mister Miracle gets Superman angry enough to attack him on purpose in order to mix him up and go the wrong way (Miracle having gone so far as rearrange the mountain range) this makes Superman fly away from where Intergang has set up their device to alter his mind. With Superman duped into going the wrong way, Mr. Miracle crashes Intergang's plan and smashes their device, freeing him from it's mental blocks. When Superman realizes the ruse and tracks down Miracle, he learns the truth and both heroes then turn the members of Intergang over to the police.
When Miracle later boasts about helping someone else get out of a trap, even though he had to pretend to lose a wager to do so, Superman offers him to go back and try again. Miracle retorts that a good magician never does the same trick twice.
Appearing in Superman and Mister Miracle: "Winner Take Metropolis"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Intergang
- Carolyn Dole (Single appearance)
- Xugat (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Lana Lang
- Lola Barnett
- Johnny Nevada
- Highfather (Flashback only)
- Howard Cosell
- Darkseid (Mentioned only)
Locations:
Items:
- Mentropy Machine
Vehicles:
Notes
- Reprinted in: