Action Comics #396

Action Comics #396 (On Sale: November 25, 1970), has a cover by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson.

Proving that old ideas die hard, we get yet another "imaginary story" of Superman, "The Super-Panhandler of Metropolis" is by Leo Dorfman, Curt Swan, and Murphy Anderson. Superman's powers begin to fade over time. By the 1990s, he has dropped out of the public eye completely. Now he lives anonymously on the streets of Metropolis as a wheelchair-bound beggar. His friends are not aware of his condition. He does however retain his super-vision and super-hearing. As he wheels through the city, he sees how the improvements in technology have eliminated the need for a Superman. Climate control has melted the ice caps revealing his Fortress of Solitude. 

He returns to the abandoned building he now calls home with food he has bought for the two people staying with him. His latest attempt at finding a cure for his condition winds up destroying his Clark Kent outfit forcing him to panhandle in a blanket and shawl. In his attempt to get a coin that misses his cup he reveals his Superman suit and escapes the resulting hero-worshiping mob. This mess is continued next issue.

We end with  "The Invaders from Nowhere" also by Leo Dorfman, Curt Swan, and Murphy Anderson. Two aliens from the planet Krann appear in Superman's fortress and abduct the Man of Steel. The aliens have advanced technologies that they use to immobilize Superman and return with him to their home planet which has a red sun. They place Superman in a large machine that siphons off his super-kinetic energy as he tries in vain to escape. Oddly, Superman retains his superpowers under the red sun. The aliens use the siphoned energy to reignite their planet's core to save their dying world.

Superman feigns his own death. The aliens remove him from his cage. This allows Superman to escape and reach the alien ship which brought him to Krann. He then discovers that Krann is actually a microscopic world within a dust particle in his fortress. Their red sun was actually a model red sun which explains how Superman retained his powers. With the mystery solved, Superman observes Krann as it explodes. The alien experiment to save their planet backfired resulting in its destruction.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.