Superman #77 (of 714)
The Man Who Went to Krypton
July 1st, 1952
1. The Man Who Went To Krypton: (Superman written by Bill Finger) Lois shows Clark a new book by an astronomer named Professor Enders about Krypton. Surprised by the book's detail, Superman decides to visit the Professor, but Enders insists it is all guesswork based on years of study by telescope. Superman then hears a news flash about a big mobile crane that has been seized by bandits and flies off to deal with that.
The bandits are swiftly dealt with and as Superman is flying them to jail a gangster named Rocky tells his friend Buttons they will never be big crime bosses as long as Superman is around. Buttons then gets the idea that Professor Enders might be able to teach them a few tricks. The professor refuses to help them so they search his lab and find a machine they think will make them rich, so they take it and abduct Enders to force him to show them how to use it.
Returning to Enders's lab, Superman finds it ransacked. He finds a hidden compartment with his X-ray vision. Inside, he is shocked to find a picture of Professor Enders on Krypton with his parents and himself as a baby. he also finds a diary detailing how many years ago Enders made radio contact with Jor-El, who instructed him on building a matter radio that transported him to Krypton. Jor-El knew of his world's impending doom and was looking for a planet to evacuate his people to. Earth seemed suitable but his people stubbornly refused to believe the end was coming and shortly after Enders returned home, radiation from Krypton's core made the matter radio unusable, leaving a model rocket the only means for Jor-El to save his son.
Now having the matter radio, Buttons forces Enders to build another and sends it hundreds of miles away to Coast City. He then charges criminals half their loot to send them to Coast City where they can be seen moments after committing a crime in Metropolis, thus giving them an alibi.
It doesn't take Superman long to find and catch them. they try to escape through the Matter radio but Superman travels to Coast City faster than it does and brings them to justice. In the end, he throws the machines into space and endorses Enders's book as accurate.
2. The Greatest Pitcher In the World: (Superman vs The Professor, The Fixer / written by Bill Finger) An unnamed professor makes synthetic kryptonite for a gangster called the Fixer. they manage to weaken and capture Superman with it but even under its effects, no weapon seems to be able to harm him so they try starving him to death. Days of constant exposure leave his body and mind weak until he is finally able to escape but by that point, he doesn't know who he is or what power he has.
He ends up pitching for a bush league baseball team called the Colts under the name Bud Mack, briefly remembering who he is on numerous occasions when Superman is needed before confusedly returning to his pitching persona.
He gets traded to the Metropolis Titans for their game with the Lions. Fixer, having bet everything on the lions, realizes Bud must be Superman, so they use a camera with the kryptonite in it to affect the game. Superman loses his balance and falls into a radiotherapy machine in the dugout, which restores his memory. he hits the camera with a foul ball that sends it flying into the harbor, keeps playing just long enough to tie the score, then fakes a leg injury so he can bow out of the rest of the game before nabbing Fixer and the Professor.
3. Jerry The Jitterbug: (gag strip)
4. Greatest Showman In the World: (full-text P.T. Barnum bio)
5. Private Pete: (gag strip by Henry Boltinoff)
6. Superman Meets Pocahontas: (Superman, Pocahontas / written by William Woolfolk) After seeing a wampum belt depicting Superman with an arrow in his shoulder, Lois gets a scientist who developed a time machine to send her back to investigate but it swaps her with a native girl. when Perry sends Clark back to protect her he swaps places with John Smith and they later realize the girl Lois swapped with was Pocahontas.
7. Professor Eureka: (gag strip by Henry Boltinoff)