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"Lex Luthor — Super Scalp-Hunter!": Lex Luthor de-ages Superman by a decade in order to rob him of his experience and memory. While a jet-hijacking distracts Superboy, Luthor dons his new green and purple Battle Array costume. Using his so

Quote1 Inform the task-force that the decoy may proceed... And remind them that they'll be paid triple-time for the period they spend in prison! Never let it be said that Lex Luthor's an unfair employer! Quote2
Lex Luthor

Superman #282 is an issue of the series Superman (Volume 1) with a cover date of December, 1974.

Synopsis for "Lex Luthor — Super Scalp-Hunter!"

Lex Luthor de-ages Superman by a decade in order to rob him of his experience and memory. While a jet-hijacking distracts Superboy, Luthor dons his new green and purple Battle Array costume. Using his sophisticated weaponry, Luthor sends Superboy on a collision course with the centre of the planet; but when he moves in to scalp Superboy with a laser — Luthor plunges down with him. To escape, he's forced to reverse the de-aging of Superman. Wrapped in Superman's cape, Lex is dragged from the Earth's core and out an undersea volcano; straight to prison.

Appearing in "Lex Luthor — Super Scalp-Hunter!"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Luthor
  • Luthor's Henchmen
    • Sklar
    • Task Force

Other Characters:

Locations:

Items:

  • Lex Luthor's Battle Array (First appearance)
    • Gravity Caster
    • Laser-Knife Glove
    • Pain-Inducing Glove
  • De-Aging Ray-Blast Cannon
  • Decoy Plan G-12
  • Omega-Barrier
  • Superman's Cape

Vehicles:


Synopsis for "The Loneliest Man in the Universe"

Supergirl tells Superman she is thinking about giving up her Supergirl identity to live the life of an ordinary woman, with a husband and children. To illustrate that she might feel different later on if she makes that choice, Superman tells her the story of Nam-Ek, the loneliest man in the universe.

Nam lived 500 years before Krypton's explosion, killed two Rondors for their curative horns, and extracted a serum from them to make himself immortal. But, since slaying a Rondor was illegal, Nam-Ek became a fugitive from justice and fled to the ancient Xan City. Drinking the serum from the horns, Nam-Ek transformed himself into a hideous, smelly "human Rondor" with a curative horn growing from his forehead.

Learning that he was immortal and invulnerable, Nam-Ek worked in solitude for five centuries, only to learn that he needed companionship. Unfortunately, since he was smelly and ugly, nobody wanted to get within throwing distance of him, and everyone drove him away, even though he believed that he'd cured Virus X. Just as Nam-Ek sought out another Rondor in hopes of changing himself back to normal, Krypton exploded. Nam-Ek floated in lifeless space, alone forever. Thus, Superman cautions his cousin about the danger of getting one's wishes fulfilled. He doesn't tell her how he knew of Nam-Ek. But she admits that she has some "heavy thinking" to do.

Appearing in "The Loneliest Man in the Universe"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Nam-Ek (Flashback only) (First appearance)

Other Characters:

Locations:

Items:

Vehicles:

  • Kryptonian Flier

Notes

  • First appearance of Lex Luthor's green and purple "Battle Array" costume, complete with Jet Boots, "Pain-Inducing Glove" and "Laser-Knife Glove".
  • "The Loneliest Man in the Universe" was reprinted in The Best of DC #40
  • Years after Krypton's destruction, Nam-Ek was found by the space pirate Amalak. After a subsequent confrontation with Nam-Ek on Earth[1], Superman and Supergirl imprisoned him in the Phantom Zone because Superman believed Nam-Ek to be dangerously insane while possessing Kryptonian super-powers and immortality[2].

Trivia

  • While Nam-Ek gained a kind of immortality from the Rondor horn; the Rondors themselves age and die like any mortal animal.


See Also


Links and References

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