Superman #196

Superman #196 (On Sale: March 21, 1967) has a great Curt Swan, George Klein cover. Superman pounding Superman; as a kid I ate this stuff up!

Really strange editing by Uncle Mortie here. The cover story, "The Thing from 40,000 A.D.," is a reprint from Superman #87, written by Bill Finger and drawn by Wayne Boring and Stan Kaye. A protoplasmic blob that can assume the shape of any living creature arrives in the present from 40,000 A.D. The creature battles Superman while trying to construct a machine to return him to his own time, from which he was exiled. By the way, The Thing reappears in DC Comics Presents #89, which clearly takes place on Earth-1.

The second story is the new one, "The Star of Steel" is by Otto Binder and Al Plastino in which Clark Kent attends a press conference for Lyrica Lloyd an actress who has returned to Metropolis after filming a movie in Africa. Lyrica befriends Clark and recommends him for the role of Superman in an upcoming film. Clark initially declines the offer, but Lyrica talks him into accepting.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.