Superman Special Edition is a one-shot published in 1954.
Synopsis for "Prankster's Second Childhood"
This story is reprinted from Superman #55.
The boys of the Manley Academy for Problem Children have chosen to emulate The Prankster as their hero. Clark Kent and Lois Lane investigate why when the boys mischief endangers Lois' life by setting her dress on fire. Superman arrives on the scene just as a blimp in the shape of The Prankster flies by with a note thanking the children for helping the villain realize that he wants to live his childhood all over again.
The next day, The Prankster robs a bank and takes Lois hostage while Superman is locked inside the vault. The Man of Steel promises to let them go free if they will not harm Lois. He quickly assembles all the gold into a mammoth block that the thieves cannot carry, and he honors his word, leaving the scene. A crudely misspelled ad in The Daily Planet mocks Superman but leaves a clue that The Prankster will rob the Queen Maria of its valued art once it docks that night. This time, he gets away with the heist and the boys admire him even more.
Superman is desperate to get the boys' adulation before they grow up and emulate a life of crime, but The Prankster is one step ahead: he has decided to rob the dowager Mrs. Vanderick and taunts Superman with another clue. He arrives on the scene just as the wealthy woman is being assaulted and hastily constructs a madhouse full of trap doors and spring-loaded boxing gloves around The Prankster and his henchmen and Superman flies a busload of the troubled youth to the scene where they can see their hero turn into a punching bag. They pile on The Prankster and beat him until he begs to go to prison (with a note on his back reading “I'm a sap! I sure am!”)
Appearing in "Prankster's Second Childhood"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Junior Brown (Single appearance)
- Mrs. Brown (Single appearance)
- Benjamin Franklin (Mentioned only)
- Professor Manley (Single appearance)
- Mrs. Vanderick (Single appearance)
Locations:
- Metropolis
- Daily Planet
- Manley Academy for Problem Children
- Metropolis Bank
Vehicles:
- Queen Maria ocean liner
Synopsis for "The Richest Man in the World"
This story is reprinted from Superman #55.
Stephen Van Schuyler III is a famous man of action and the richest man in the world, but his money can't buy the love of Lois Lane. His secretary Mary Jones sets up an interview with Lane, even though Schuyler usually despises the press. When she arrives on his private island, he showers her with affection and shows off dozens of pieces of art he has made of her and a yacht bearing her name; the interview is all an excuse to propose to Lane.
Sensing something is afoot, Superman arrives to find Lois considering the offer. He insists that money can't buy happiness, but Lois proposes a test: whomever can get her the greatest wedding presents will be her suitor. For something old, Van Schuyler buys an elaborate ancient tapestry from Asia and Superman flies to a monastery and retrieves the machine that was used to make it almost 4,000 years ago. Superman wins.
For something new, Superman flies to Venus and retrieves a flower that was recently discovered by astronomers. Van Schuyler uses his personal cyclotron to make a radiant sun-diamond which Lois considers superior.
With the score tied, Mary slides a suicide note under the door and Superman learns that she has been in love with Van Schuyler and will kill herself if she can't have him. He races to save her from leaping off a bridge and wraps her in his cape to keep him warm. Mary takes it and uses this as something borrowed for Lois' third round present. Superman extracts radium from the Belgian Congo and uses it to illuminate one of the statues of Lois in Shuyler's garden. Having made an even more impressive gift than his own unique cape, Superman wins, and Van Schuyler admits defeat. He agrees to give the radium in the statue to medical science instead of leaving it as a monument to his lost love. Superman decides to quickly give Mary a make-over, transforming her into a fashionable woman instead of a buttoned-up professional and this allows her employer to appreciate how beautiful she is.
Back at The Daily Planet, Lois tells Clark Kent how no one could take Superman's place in her heart.
Appearing in "The Richest Man in the World"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Stephen Van Schuyler III (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Mary Jones (Single appearance)
- Jimmy Olsen (Cameo)
- Perry White (Cameo)
Locations:
- Earth-Two
- Africa
- Asia
- Indochina
- Lin-Mao Monastery (First appearance)
- Indochina
- North America
- United States of America
- New York
- Metropolis
- Daily Planet
- Sao Palo Bridge
- Van Schuyler Island
- Metropolis
- New York
- United States of America
- Venus
Items:
Vehicles:
- Lois Lane, a yacht
Notes
- Promotional giveaway from Kellogg's.
- This comic only reprints the first two Superman stories from Superman #55, omitting “Too Many Heroes”.