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"Vengeance of the Tomb-Thing!": This story is reprinted from World's Finest #202.

The Best of DC #20 is an issue of the series The Best of DC (Volume 1) with a cover date of January, 1982.

Synopsis for "Vengeance of the Tomb-Thing!"

This story is reprinted from World's Finest #202.

Lois Lane, an archaeologist, and the Batman are taken prisoners in the Middle East by a bandit chieftain who has bent a defective Superman Robot to his will, and are set to unearthing the tomb of the mysterious ancient Malis. Meanwhile, the real Superman has been on vacation in his Fortress of Solitude, testing the rest of his robots, but he finally decides that he would no longer use them because they are malfunctioning due to the planet's pollution. Finally, when he returns to Metropolis, he learns of Lois' fate and goes to rescue her.

Superman arrives in time to prevent his defective robot from injuring his friends and he manages to damage the machine. Batman in turn attacks the bandit and knocks him down, but the man accidentally opes the the ancient tomb, releasing the evil from inside. Superman is soon weakened by a red light and his robot attacks him, revealing that he has become sentient and he holds a grudge against Superman. Meanwhile, from inside the tomb comes a large mummy with a red glowing sphere instead of head, that attacks everything in its sight. When the thing comes for Superman, Batman throws his cape over the red sphere, covering the red light and stopping the weakening effect it had on Superman. While Superman recovers, Batman takes care of the already damaged Superman robot and by the time Superman regains his strength, he takes down the ancient mummy, which turns out to be another robot. Without a solid explanation for whatever happened, the group of friends decide to leave everything behind.

Appearing in "Vengeance of the Tomb-Thing!"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Bedouin Brakh (Single appearance; dies)
  • Malis, King of Stars (Single appearance; dies)

Other Characters:

  • Chucky (Single appearance)
  • Dr. Harkley (Single appearance)

Locations:

Items:

Vehicles:


Synopsis for "A Matter of Light and Death!"

This story is reprinted from World's Finest #207.

Superman's alter ego, Clark Kent has been mind-controlled into finding a magic weapon which can destroy Superman and he gives it to some hit-men to finish the job. However, Superman senses recent memory-gaps and enlists Batman's help to investigate the mystery.

Batman follows Clark Kent closely on every single activity during the day, but he is not able to find anything suspicious. At night, Batman visits Clark at his apartment, where something finally happens as Clark becomes mindless and attacks Batman. The Dark Knight starts following Clark to an abandoned gym, where he meets the hired killers and gives them the Satanstaff, the magical artifact that will destroy Superman. As Clark leaves the place, Batman attempts to stop the thugs, but they use the magic staff against Batman and manage to overcome him.

After this, the killers attack Superman, who has returned to normal and with the magic from the staff, they manage to apparently kill the man of steel. As proof of their deed, they lock Superman in a gold crystal rock and they take him back to their hideout as a trophy. The thugs are just waiting for Clark to return with their money, but they are shocked to learn that Superman's death and their part on the kill was all part of a plan by Dr. Light, the Justice League enemy. Light explains that he used Superman's alter-ego against him and then he had them hired to eliminate the strongest member of the Justice League with help from the light device he created after being inspired by the powerful magician, Zatanna. Dr. Light proceeds to eliminate the killers, but before he could destroy Superman's corpse, Batman stops him and Light is forced to retreat.

A few moments later, Superman breaks free from his prison and after Batman informs him about Light's plan, the Man of Steel follows the light trail left behind until he reaches Dr. Light's hideout and finally captures the villain and destroys the Satanstaff.

In the aftermath, Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent enjoy a magic show by Zatanna.

Appearing in "A Matter of Light and Death!"

Featured Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Doctor Light I
  • Nicholas Slye (Single appearance; dies)
  • Hud (Single appearance; dies)
  • Mumbles (Single appearance; dies)

Other Characters:

Locations:

Items:

  • Satanstaff (Single appearance)(Destroyed)

Synopsis for "Fugitive from the Stars!"

This story is reprinted from World's Finest #211.

The Krush, alien manhunters, come to Earth in search of a woman who is a fugitive from their planet. At first, Superman and Batman decide to aid in the search, but become suspicious of the Krush's intentions. Their fears became serious when the aliens capture Superman and threaten to wipe out mankind with a giant missile if they don't deliver the fugitive.

After searching across the entire prison system for the fugitive, Batman is unable to find the woman, but he stops a counterfeit ring by accident. Afterwards, he remembers one last prison he has not checked and he asks Supergirl to take him to the Fortress of Solitude, where he plans to locate the female fugitive in Kandor. While in the bottled city, Batman finds the woman and learns that her crime was speaking out against the warmongers of the planet Krush, for which she was condemned to die. Batman refuses to help the Krush take her back and Superman, who was never in fact captured, assumes Batman's disguise, challenges them to battle, defeats them, and forces them to honor an agreement they had made with him and leave the planet. Afterwards, the woman remains safe in Kandor.

Appearing in "Fugitive from the Stars!"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Other Characters:

  • Wendell Sypes (Single appearance)
  • Sarah Jongueler (Single appearance)

Locations:

Items:

Synopsis for "Peril of the Planet-Smashers!"

This story is reprinted from World's Finest #208.

Certain day on Earth-Two, Doctor Fate assists the police with some criminals and afterwards, he is summoned back to the hospital, where his work as Doctor Kent Nelson is required. Upon reaching the hospital, Nelson learns that the patient is in fact a dying alien, who uses telepathy to warn him about an impending doom upon Earth.

Meanwhile on Earth-One, Superman seeks for a solution to his plight against magic after a recent encounter with it. He goes to Zatanna, asking to be rid of the weakness, but the Maid of Magic is uncertain of the very source of her powers, much less she knows how to help the Man of Steel. Determined to find help, Superman uses his abilities to travel across worlds and arrives to Earth-Two, looking for Doctor Fate.

Superman locates Kent Nelson at the hospital room with the agonizing alien and soon, they take the being to the Tower of Fate, where Doctor Fate learns that the source of danger for his world comes from two sources: the Yucatan Jungle and Stonehenge. Without delay, Doctor Fate goes to Yucatan, where he has to fight a similar alien to the one he is helping, but has no success. The same situation happens to Superman when he goes to Stonehenge and returns defeated by a similar alien. On their way back, Superman and Fate have to stop a series of disasters and help people in need, which marks the beginning of the world's destruction.

Once again, Fate taps into the mind of the dying alien and learns the nature of his race and also the place where the other aliens will start their world conquering quest. Superman and Fate travel to the Lost Valley of Ur, where Fate was granted his powers in the beginning. The two of them find three aliens surrounded by a protetive sphere and when they attempt to attack them, they are simply unable to penetrate the force field. Fate gets and idea and bestows all his magic powers on Superman, making him an unstoppable force. With his new powers, Superman is able to defeat the aliens easily and peace is restored.

In the aftermath, Superman is finally able to tell Fate the reason why he reached to him in the first place, but after the experience they had together, Superman realizes that his vunerability to magic is useful and he decides to remain the same, even though Doctor Fate could've removed the weakness.

Appearing in "Peril of the Planet-Smashers!"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Other Characters:

  • Nurse Jennings (Single appearance)

Locations:

Items:



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