Days after his return from death, Superman began noticing problems with his super powers. He could no longer fine tune such abilities as his super hearing or x-ray vision. They seemed to be growing at an exponential rate--and his body was growing too! Within a very short time, he had mutated into a huge hulking behemoth, and his powers were completely beyond his control. The slightest brush of his hand would bring down a building, and the destructive power of his heat vision could not be contained!

Emil Hamilton theorized that, when the Eradicator had channeled the kryptonite energy through his body into Superman's, it had changed in some fundamental way, and this was the explanation for Superman's uncontrollable increases in power. Superman worked with the scientists of Cadmus to find a way to drain his excess energy. Finally Superman determined that the only way to succeed was to use the Parasite.

Superman flew into deep space with the Parasite, and allowed his enemy to leech off his energy. There was so much energy, however, that it mutated the Parasite. Drunk on his new power, the Parasite flew to Earth, followed closely by Superman. There, the two of them fought a tremendous battle, before the Parasite managed to knock Superman into unconsciousness. By the time Superman had recovered, the Parasite had disappeared.

Before Superman could chase after him, however, a new crisis erupted.