Superman #232

Superman #232 (On Sale: October 13, 1970), AKA Giant #G-78, has an all Krypton cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson, or as we used to call them, Swanderson. This is a strange issue of Superman in that half the stories are of Superboy.

We begin with Superman in "Superman's Return to Krypton" by Jerry Siegel, Wayne Boring and Stan Kaye and is reprinted from Superman #141 (1960).While out on patrol, Superman is stopped by Professor Galsworthy at the Metropolis Observatory, who has made an astonishing discovery. Showing Superman his telescope, they find a strange planet out in space, Superman goes to investigate and learns that it's actually a living creature. 

Upon his approach, the living creature flees, Superman chases after it but goes too fast and ends up flying through the time barrier and into the past. Finding himself in a sector of space before Krypton exploded, he begins to lose his powers due to proximity to the system's red sun. Trapped on Krypton, Superman frets over the fact that now that he is stuck on Krypton, he will be as doomed as everyone else when the planet explodes. He is mistaken for an extra in a movie production which earns him a job and later meets Jor-El and Lara who are just getting married. He befriends the newlyweds and becomes Jor-El’s assistant.

Superman then falls in love with Lyla Lerror, a movie starlet. He is cautious of getting involved with her since Krypton is doomed. Jor-El reaches that conclusion as well and decides to build a ship to reach Earth. Superman sees Jonathan and Martha Kent before they were married and even assists in catching a crook.

Jor-El’s space ark is built in the city of Kandor. However, the city and the ark are stolen by the space villain, Brainiac. Without the ark, Superman realizes he will stay on Krypton until its destruction. He agrees to wed Lyla after the completion of her latest film. As an extra on the film set, Superman is on board a prop rocket when a flame-beast breaks loose and powers the rocket’s engines. Superman is launched to Earth again where he regains his powers. He travels back to the present with only the memory of his home planet.

Next is Superboy in "Father's Day on Planet Krypton" by Leo Dorfman and George Papp and reprinted from Adventure Comics #313 (1963). Superboy celebrates father’s day with his foster parents by giving Jonathan Kent a new pipe created from a meteor. Wanting to honor his Kryptonian father too, Superboy uses his mind prober ray to discover the Kryptonian father’s day rituals. He learns that Kryptonian’s honor their ancestors inside a crypt containing statues of their family.

Weeks later, Superboy discovers the statues belonging to his family floating in space. He covers them with lead to protect himself, since they have been transformed into Kryptonite. Then he places objects within a chest in the hands of the statues. By doing so, Superboy is able to learn about his family history.

We return to a Superman story with "The Fugitive from the Phantom Zone" by  Edmond Hamilton, Curt Swan and George Klein and reprinted from Superman #164 (1963).  When Superman is called to stop the accidental detonation of a nuclear missile, he diverts it into space where the detonation opees a rift in the Phantom Zone, allowing villain Ras-Krom to escape. Ras-Krom set out to cause a larger nuclear war to blast free the rest of the Phantom Zone criminals; but is deterred by Superman. When Ras draws a Kryptonian demon for luck, Superman not only knows that he is dealing with an escaped Phantom Zone inmate -- but he is a superstitious one.

As Ras-Krom continues to try to free his brothers from the Zone, Superman uses Kryptonian superstition against him. An artificial comet drives Ras-Krom into a magnetic cave that disables his belts' safety aura, and Jimmy Olsen sends him back in the Zone with a plastic Phantom Zone Projector.

We end with Superboy in "The Wizard City" by Bill Finger, Curt Swan and George Klein and reprinted from Adventure Comics #216 (1955). Superboy investigates the disappearance of missing museum curator Professor Mark Olsen, who has gone in search of a fallen meteor in Africa. Superboy discovers the professor in the dense jungle held captive by some knights. He learns that a Wizard City exists nearby, and the professor's guide, Vedders, has gone there.

Superboy locates the city, which was brought to Earth in the meteor. It is a Kryptonian city which has fallen to Earth after the planet's destruction. The Kryptonite prevents Superboy from approaching, so the professor dresses as Superman to stop Vedders from using the weapons of the city.

After defeating Vedders, Superboy and the professor return to civilization. The professor's young son Jimmy is grateful for his father's return. Jimmy idolizes Superboy and eventually grows up to be Jimmy Olsen, Superman's pal.

Edited by E. Nelson Bridwell.