"The Super-Outlaw from Krypton"From Superman #134 (Jan. 1960). Cover by Curt Swan & Stan Kaye. Story by Otto Binder. Art by Wayne Boring & Stan Kaye. Edited by Mort Weisinger
As you can see, the title on the cover is "The Super-Outlaw from Krypton" so the splash page "Super-Menace" must be just the heading for Chapter 1.
One other little oddity about this tale - it is the only Superman issue from 120 to 150 that has never had any of its contents reprinted. Since this spans about a 4-year run from the prime Weisinger years of 1958 to 1962, I find it rather odd that Mort never saw fit to include it in any of the numerous annuals and giants of the Sixties.
Our story begins with a disturbing splash page of our hero dislodging an entire skyscraper and hurtling upward with it while laughing mockingly, while its inhabitants peer out of their windows and question the Man of Steel's sanity. On the next page, we see Superman answering an SOS from an ocean liner about to strike an iceberg. He makes an unorthodox rescue by ripping the Transatlantic cable from the ocean's bottom and using it to tow the liner in to port. The ship's captain is grateful, but puzzled by Superman's method, observing that the Man of Tomorrow has callously disregarded the fact that it will cost millions to repair the cable.
In the following days, we see this pattern repeated - Superman diverts a meteor from a town, but it crashes into a dam, causing massive floods. He rescues some castaways from a giant sea creature, but leaves them marooned on an island. His behavior becomes increasingly more bizarre, as he seemingly adopts the sea-creature as a pet and takes him through Metropolis, leaving behind a trail of destruction.
The officials of Metropolis are becoming concerned. Although there has been no injury or loss of life from these incidents, they are nonetheless alarmed by Superman's behavior. They call upon an expert named Dr. Peabody (no relation, to my knowledge :wink: ), and it is his opinion that the Man of Steel has lost his marbles and must be subdued immediately! They call out for a world-wide kryptonite search, as they know that is the only way he can be captured.
Back at the Daily Planet, Lois is convinced that Superman can't be behaving this way, and that it must be one of his robots malfunctioning, while he's away on a mission. She sets out to prove her theory, and with the help of Jimmy's signal-watch, lures the Man (or robot?) of Steel to a lab, where he is bombarded by "100 billion volts of man-made lightning", enough to short out any electronic device. But alas, Superman shrugs off the fireworks, and mocks Lois, "Did you think I was a robot? Now you know the truth! I'm real!"
Our hero then flies to a mountaintop, and yells "My plan is working ... I'll keep on smashing, destroying, until I've achieved my goal!" He then creates even more havoc - using his super-breath to blow hurricane winds through a tunnel, creating a massive car pile-up - yanking a subway off the tracks and swinging it wildly through the air. Again, there are no fatalities, but the world is left wondering what Superman will do next.
Has the Man of Steel gone off the deep end? We'll find out in Chapter 2!
To be continued...