Saturday 1 January 2022

KRYPTONITE COMES A CROPPER! A DEMAND CLASSIC (DEMANDED BY ME, THAT IS)...

Copyright DC COMICS

The KRYPTONITE NEVERMORE series which ran for 9 issues back in 1970/'71 in DC's The AMAZING NEW ADVENTURES Of SUPERMAN mag (starting in #233) is now rightly considered a classic.  And the fact that the story has been retold at least twice (that I know of) since then shows that I'm not just whistling through my @rse.  ("Language, Timothy!")  Nearly 22* years after the original saga, the 1992 SUPERMAN SPECIAL #1 tackled the tale again, followed around 9 years later in 2001 by SUPERMAN ADVENTURES #s 54 & 55.  It just goes to show that those who came after could recognise a good story when they saw one.

(*Based on Superman #233 going on sale around October/November '70, and the Special being published in September '92.)


Anyway, here's an image and cover gallery of the stories (or should that be story?) about Superman's sand-based nemesis, created when Kryptonite the world over was turned into harmless iron/lead/'pumice' (depending on just which version of the tale you prefer).  In fact, which version do you prefer, or are they simply different facets of the same shining diamond?  Let loose in the comments section, fellow Crivs.


And lest we forget - cast your pulsating peepers over the covers below while you're here.  (Can't have you thinking I've short-changed you, now can I?)




I might as well throw in the follow-up issue to Superman Adventures #54, as it was a two-part tale.  Ooh, scary, eh?  Incidentally, there's an intriguing revelation regarding Kryptonite's 'alleged' transformation into an inert substance, which is a nice little twist to the original version. 

6 comments:

baggsey said...

Hi Kid - thanks for reposting. I actually went onto trusty eBay and snagged the re-tellings of the sand creature/no kryptonite saga earlier this year following your previous version of the post. I concluded that I liked the original Swanderson version best, although the idea of doing what I suppose are "parallel universe" versions of events are quite entertaining.

Rip Jagger said...


These are among my favorite Superman issues. I need to read them soon. Thanks for adding one more thing to my already giant list. Seriously thanks.

Rip Off

McSCOTTY said...

I wasn't aware this story arc had been revisited . I like Walter Simonsons work a lot but his style here does not fit Superman for me. The best version, seriously?! lol of course it's the original O'Neill, Sean and Anderson classic!

Kid said...

Good to know that Crivens can be helpful to readers, B, when it comes to alerting them to certain issues they decide are 'must haves'.

******

My pleasure, RJ. It'll be good to read your thoughts on them in the fulness of time.

******

Yup, the original is best, McS, but it's good to see it inspired other professionals to do their version. It must have impressed them.

Phil S said...

I recall the Swan story. Alas I found the attempt to depower Supes totally confusing and a waste of time.
Some things we need Superman to do. Strength. Invulnerability. Flight . Speed.
The story when they had him just running around - it doesn’t work that way. When you have a hero you might be able to add a power. You can’t remove powers. By doing so you make the hero less heroic.

Kid said...

Thing is, PS, Superman's powers were ebbing and flowing at the time, hence his running around (on the oil rig) because he couldn't fly at that moment. I actually thought the storyline gave the series a much needed injection of tension and drama, as readers literally didn't know what could happen next. And I'd suggest that when a superhero triumphs over adversity when his powers are on the wane, well - that makes him even more heroic.



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