Superman in "Super-Villain Showdown"
- Paul Kupperberg
- 20 hours ago
- 15 min read
From 2008, a YA chapter book I wrote for Stone Arch books, which I'd originally titled "The Super Showdown at Cripple Creek," with art by Erik Doescher, Mike DeCarlo, and Lee Loughridge.
CHAPTER ONE: A WALK IN THE HILLS
It was not often that Clark Kent found free time to do something other than work. Clark had two jobs, both full-time and both very demanding. Everyone knew he was a reporter for the Metropolis Daily Planet newspaper, where Clark spent many long hours every day uncovering and writing important stories about people who broke the law or cheated the public.
When he wasn’t doing that, he could usually be found hard at work at his second job, in his secret identity as Superman, the mighty Man of Steel.
With powers and abilities beyond normal men, Superman’s help in was in constant demand all over the world...and beyond! Whether dressed as Clark or Superman, the hero from the planet Krypton used both the powers he gained under the rays of Earth’s yellow sun and those of a talented writer and reporter to make the world a better place for everyone to live.
With a day off from the Daily Planet and no Superman-sized threats that needed his attention, Clark was spending the day exploring the Old West. One of the advantages to being Superman was that he could go anywhere in the world he wanted in minutes. Clark, who had loved old Western movies and television shows when he was a boy, had recently read a fascinating book about the outlaws of the time. It made him curious to visit some of the places where those stories had taken place.
Clark began his exploration in the hills of Arizona’s Painted Desert. It was called that because of the amazing red, orange, pink and gold colors of the barren landscape. It was here that one of the most fascinating stories Clark read had happened.
The outlaw Jess Manning and his eight year old son traveled together across the west. Whenever Manning would rob a stagecoach, train or bank, he left the boy hidden along his escape route in the care of his trusty horse, Nova. One day after a stagecoach robbery, Manning Big and Manning Little, as they were called, disappeared in these hills. They were never heard from again.
The reporter was following the old trail through the mountains the posse had chased the outlaw through almost 120 years ago. The trail cut through the harsh ground, surrounded by walls of granite, giant boulders heaped together in piles, scruffy mountain plants and sun-baked rocks. There were supposed to be caves somewhere further up the trail. Many people believe the Mannings had gotten lost in the caverns deep inside the hills.
Many had searched for signs of the lost Mannings ever since, but their fate remained a mystery.
Clark smiled and said to himself, “I’ll bet I’m the first one to look for them who has X-ray vision.”
One of Superman’s powers was the ability to see through rocks, even an entire hillside, with eyes that could work like the X-ray machine in a dentist’s office. As he walked, he scanned the hill with his X-ray vision peering at the caves beneath its thick, craggy face.
But while he was looking down at the ground at his feet, Clark Kent suddenly became aware of a sound from the sky. He looked up, switching his super-eyes to telescopic vision. This allowed him to see objects far away, as if through a telescope.
There, streaking through the sky a group of five flying objects. Clark took off the glasses he wore as a disguise and watched the objects. They were headed in his direction and each one had someone riding it.
“So much for my day off,” Clark said with a sigh. Faster than the eye could see, the mild-mannered reporter took off his jeans, shirt and hiking boots to reveal the familiar blue, red and yellow uniform hidden beneath it.
“But this definitely looks like a job for Superman.”
With a single, mighty bound, Superman was up, up and away, into the sky.
CHAPTER TWO: THE SECRET ORIGIN OF TERRA-MAN
In a streak, the Man of Steel flew up to meet the oncoming flying objects.
“Stop!” he commanded, shouting super-loud so that his voice rumbled like thunder through the sky. Though Superman would not attack without first learning what the visitors wanted, he remained cautious.
The five objects began to slow and, when they were close to Superman, stopped. On each of the airships, which reminded Superman of large motorcycles without wheels, sat an alien being. They were dressed in identical spacesuits which bore the same star-shaped insignia on their chests. Sashes wrapped around their mid-sections that held their blasters and other equipment, just like a policeman’s belt. Each ship was surrounded by an invisible force-field protecting its riders from even the cold vacuum of deep space.
“We come in peace, Superman! We are lawmen, just like you,” said one of the beings, appeared to be a man-shaped bush sticking out of the uniform.
“You know who I am?” asked the Man of Steel.
“All the civilized universe knows of you, Superman,” said the alien. “That is why we sought you out first. I am Balther, commander of this team. It is an honor to meet you.”
“Thank you,” Superman said. “What brings you to Earth, Balther?”
“We are on the trail of the outlaw known as Terra-Man,” said Balther. “We have chased him across the known galaxies, but he always remains one step ahead of us.”
“I’ve never heard of Terra-Man,” Superman said.
“He is an evil man...and he was born right here on Earth,” said the blue-skinned, human-looking alien. “I am Tyrox, Superman. I have seen the cruel things Terra-Man has done. He steals, destroys and kills. He can never be trusted.”
A short, gray alien with rocky skin and three arms and three legs, said, “Call me Charop. We have tracked Terra-Man here. We believe he is trying to hide among his fellow humans.”
“Terra-Man was born more than one hundred of your years ago,” thought the alien who looked like a cross between man and dolphin whose name was Kharr. “His father was an outlaw. He perished in an encounter with an alien villain known as the Collector. The Collector’s ship had landed in the hills below, for purposes which we have never learned. That is when the Earthling outlaw came upon him.
“Of course, the human was frightened by what he saw and used his weapon,” Kharr continued. “The Collector was the faster of the two and was the victor in their duel. The Collector took the human’s young child off into space to raise to become the universe’s greatest outlaw.”
Superman thought, “If he’s that dangerous, I think it would be best if you let me try to take care of this Terra-Man by myself.”
“Of course, Superman. We are guests on your world and will do as you ask,” thought the tall, purple snake-man called Gyyhwn. “Be warned! The Collector made Terra-Man into something more than human. His powers and his weapons are great.”
“Thank you,” Superman said. “Do you know where I can find him?”
“Terra-Man is said to come from a place on Earth known as Cripple Creek, Arizona, United States of America. Are you familiar with this land?” Charop told him.
Superman smiled and nodded. “That’s not far from this very spot,” he said. “By the way, what was the boy’s name before he became Terra-Man?”
When Superman heard the name the rock-man spoke, his eyes went wide with surprise.
“Great Krypton!” the Man of Steel gasped. “So that’s what happened to Jess and Tobias Manning!”
CHAPTER THREE: ROUND-UP
Cripple Creek was a dusty and deserted ghost town less than twenty miles away. All the wooden buildings and stores along Main Street were tumbling down. Many were missing roofs. Some had long ago collapsed into heaps and were covered with sand. Sand blew through the empty windows and doorways of every building.
“No one,” Superman said, “has lived or worked here for many, many years.”
The Man of Steel stood at one end of Main Street. Everything was perfectly still except for the whisper of the wind.
In the distance, Superman heard the whinny of a horse.
Down the street, a dark figure stepped out from the shadows between two of the tumbling down buildings.
“Howdy, Superman,” the figure said. He stepped into the sun lit street and turned to face the Man of Steel.
Superman was surprised. He had expected Terra-Man to be like some sort of astronaut, dressed in a spacesuit to wander the universe. Instead, the intergalactic outlaw was dressed just like a real cowboy from the Old West. He wore a wide brimmed hat, blue jeans, a colorful serape, which is a sort of poncho, and boots with spurs. Around his waist he wore a gun belt with two six-shooters in the holsters. A long whip was coiled around one shoulder.
“Terra-Man, I’ve come to place you under arrest,” said Superman.
“I reckon you can try to arrest me,” said the outlaw with an evil smile. “But don’t expect me to come peaceably.”
Faster than the human eye could see, Superman put on a burst of superspeed and flew at Terra-Man. The Metropolis Marvel would have the lawbreaker in custody before Terra-Man even finished bragging.
Terra-Man vanished!
Even faster than Superman, who could move almost as fast as light itself, Terra-Man was down at the other end of the street. He grinned at Superman from under his mustache.
“I’m slipperier than a greased pig, partner,” the star-spanning thief laughed. “Best you give up tryin’ to capture me and save your breath.”
It was Superman’s turn to smile. He rocketed suddenly up into the sky, until he was just a distant dot. Terra-Man glanced up into the sky but never lost his smile. He stuck his fingers between his lips and whistled long and loud.
Superman flew high enough until he knew Terra-Man could no longer see him. Then, once again at superspeed, he dove back down toward Cripple Creek. He flew in big, fast circles. He hoped he could confuse Terra-Man and surprise him.
Just as Superman passed the highest rooftop in town, another flying object shot out of the sky and smashed into the Man of Steel.
The collision sent Superman tumbling out of control through the air. He was moving so fast, in the seconds it took him to regain control, he had traveled hundreds of miles. He shook his head.
“What hit me?” Superman said. “What could move so fast that even I didn’t see it coming?”
As Superman sped back to Cripple Creek, he got an answer to that question, flying towards him.
“Great Krypton,” Superman gasped.
It was a horse!
A flying horse...with wings! Seated on the sleek brown stallion’s saddle was Terra-Man. In one hand he held the reins. In the other, one of his six-guns.
“This here’s Nova,” Terra-Man said. “He’s a Mustang, used to belong to my pa, the outlaw Jess Manning! My alien step-pa made it so ol’ Nova can’t be hurt and can travel anywhere in the universe faster than any spaceship.”
Terra-Man gave Nova’s reins a shake and the great winged horse flew forward. It’s front legs kicked at Superman. The Man of Steel dropped below the reach of the hooves and swooped underneath the animal.
Nova whirled, faster than the hero of Metropolis expected any living creature could move. This time, his hammering hooves found their mark.
“Ooof!” With a shout, Superman went spinning through the air. Before he could right himself, Terra-Man was taking aim with his six-shooter.
“Let’s see if I can hit a movin’ target,” laughed Terra-Man.
Superman almost smiled at the idea of an old fashioned six-shooter being able to harm him. He was invulnerable, meaning he could not be harmed, certainly not by an ordinary gun.
Then he remembered Gyyhwn’s warning: “His powers and his weapons are great.”
It was too late! Thundering waves of energy blasted from the six-gun, battering Superman to the dusty ground. Gritting his teeth, Superman tried to push against the great force smashing into him.
“Can’t...mo-move...,” gasped the Man of Steel. “Feels like...I’m getting...heavier…!”
“That’s ‘cause you are, Superman,” said Terra-Man. “My alien step-pa also made me all kinds of super-weapons. Like this here one, which makes an hombre super-heavy.”
Superman felt like he were being crushed under a terrible weight. Even with his great super-strength, he could not so much as raise an arm. He could barely breath. It was like nothing he had ever felt before.
“You’re ‘bout a hundred thousand times heavier than normal, partner,” said Terra-Man with a smile. “A normal hombre would’ve been crushed by now.”
The ground under Superman’s back began to crumble. The Man of Steel could feel himself sinking into the earth!
The ground beneath the super-heavy Superman gave way. He began to plunge through the solid ground like a pebble dropped in a lake.
“Hasta luego, amigo,” Terra-Man said. “That means, see you later, friend.”
CHAPTER 4: TUMBLING TUMBLEWEEDS
Terra-Man chuckled as he spun his six-shooter on his finger and dropped it back in its holster. He patted Nova on the neck.
“Guess Superman ain’t so tough an hombre as I heard, Nova,” the outlaw said. “I was kind’a hopin’ he’d put up a better fight.”
Terra-Man hopped from Nova’s back. “Oh, well,” he said. “I guess we don’t got to worry about him interruptin’ us no more.”
The cowboy from outer space started walking up an alleyway between a tumbled down dress shop and a general store that was missing one wall. Nova followed behind him.
“We still got us a lot of ground to cover before we can hightail it back to where we belong,” Terra-Man said. “Now keep your eyes open, boy!”
The brown horse whinnied softly and shook his head up and down as if to say “yes.” Nova lowered his head and, like Terra-Man, carefully searched the ground before him.
“It’s got to be around here somewhere,” Terra-Man muttered. “We’ll walk every inch of this town if we got to!”
Nova stopped suddenly and reared back on his hind legs in surprise. Terra-Man looked quickly around but saw no threat.
“What’s wrong, Nova?” the outlaw said. He drew his six-guns from their holsters. His alert eyes darted everywhere for a sign of danger. “I don’t see nothin’, boy!”
With an explosive roar, the ground at Terra-Man’s feet burst into a blinding cloud of dirt and stinging stones. The outlaw staggered backwards, throwing his arms up over his face to protect his eyes.
“No,” said Superman, who erupted from the ground like he had been shot from a cannon, “now you don’t see anything!”
Nova came charging out of the blinding storm of dirt to butt Superman in the chest. The Man of Steel grabbed hold of one of the reins and leapt onto the Mustang’s saddle. With an angry snort and a loud whiney of protest, the horse began to buck wildly in the air to throw Superman from him. Superman held on tightly, clinging to the angrily kicking horse like a rodeo rider.
“Whoa, boy,” called the Man of Steel. “Easy, Nova! I’m not going to hurt you!”
“Well ain’t that sweet of you,” snarled Terra-Man.
The outlaw wiped the last of the dust from his eyes with one hand. With the other, he reached for something in the band of his cowboy hat.
“Too bad me’n Nova ain’t inclined to be so nice to you in return,” he said.
Terra-Man threw what looked to Superman’s eyes to be a handful of twigs into the air. The twigs exploded in size, growing into giant, eight-foot tall tumbleweeds. Tumbleweeds were plants that broke off at the roots and were blown around by the wind as lightweight rolls of dried and tangled branches.
“Now, Nova,” Terra-Man yelled.
The horse made a final, violent lurch. Surprised, Superman lost his hold on the reins. He flew off into the air and the tumbleweeds rushed at him like bees to honey.
Superman righted himself but, before he could fly out of the path of the tumbleweeds, something wrap around his ankle. It was Terra-Man’s lasso! The outlaw’s rope held the Man of Steel just long enough for the tumbleweeds to catch up to the superhero.
The giant plants moved around him like living creatures. For every one he swatted away, three others raced at him. Before he knew what happened, he was trapped inside one of the giant plants. Superman tried to break through the tangled twigs, but while the thin branches bent and twisted under his fists, they refused to break.
“Best you forget bustin’ out, Superman,” Terra-Man said. “These are unbreakable alien ‘weeds! Only thing I gotta warn you about is not to get caught in the wind!”
The cluster of tumbleweeds trapping Superman suddenly began to tumble wildly across the ground. It felt as though he were being blown by an invincible hurricane. It lifted him and the tumbleweeds up into the sky, bouncing wildly around like a leaf caught in the wind until he was gone from view.
Terra-Man laughed as he watched Superman go.
What the outlaw could not see was that Superman, though trapped and defeated, was also smiling.
CHAPTER FIVE: SHOWDOWN AT CRIPPLE CREEK
As soon as Superman was sure Terra-Man could no longer see him, he took a deep breath and blew as hard as he could on the tangled branches of the tumbleweed. His breathe came out super-cold and froze the twigs solid in seconds. Then, with a single punch, he shattered the frozen plant, now as brittle as glass. He was free.
Rather than returning to Cripple Creek, Superman sped back to the hills where he had left the posse of alien lawmen to wait for him.
Superman said. “I think I’ve found the reason Terra-Man is here,” Superman told them, “and the way to stop him—cold!”
“Tell us, Superman,” Tyrox thought eagerly. “His weapons have always proved too powerful for us.”
“If this all works the way I think it will, that won’t be a problem this time,” Superman thought. He reached into a secret pouch in his cape and removed a small, yellow glowing orb, about the size of a golf ball, he had hidden there. “Thanks to this! I found it when Terra-Man made me so heavy I went crashing through the earth...”
# # #
Even the terrible heat of high noon under a blazing desert sun did not stop Terra-Man and Nova from their search. They walked up and down every street and alley. Terra-Man checked each building, pacing back and forth over every bit of Cripple Creek.
By the time they were done, Terra-Man and his winged horse stood back where they had begun their search, at the end of Main Street.
Terra-Man pulled a bandana from his back pocket and wiped his brow. For the first time, the outlaw from space was sweating.
“I don’t understand it, Nova,” Terra-Man said. “Step-pa’s charts and notes said this was where he left it! So why ain’t it here?”
“Maybe because someone else found it first,” said Superman, stepping out from the doorway of the old saloon up the street. In his hand was the glowing yellow orb.
“The power pack,” cried Terra-Man in surprise. He whipped out his six-guns and aimed them at Superman. The Man of Steel strolled out to the middle of the street and turned to face Terra-Man’s guns.
“I thought it was something like that,” Superman said. “It was buried under Main Street. I never would have found it if you hadn’t made me sink into the ground.”
“I came halfway across the galaxy for that little geegaw, Superman,” Terra-Man growled. “It’s mine, so you best hand it over. Pronto!”
Superman closed his fist around the glowing orb.
“It’s mine now, Terra-Man,” said the Man of Steel. “I’m betting that without it, none of your weapons or powers can work.”
“You got it half right,” said Terra-Man. “The power pack’s got all the energy needed to power me and Nova for more than one hundred years. The Collector, my alien step-pa, left dozens of power packs hidden all over the universe for when he might need ‘em in an emergency. That’s why he was on Earth, to hide that there one.”
Terra-Man raised his guns and aimed them at Superman.
“The half you got wrong,” said the outlaw, “is that you think I gotta be holding the power pack to use its energy. All I got to be is close to it...and not even as close as this!”
Terra-Man was laughing when he pulled the triggers of his six-shooters.
He stopped laughing when nothing happened except for the twin clicks of empty weapons.
“Something’s wrong,” Terra-Man shouted. “Get him, Nova!”
The winged Mustang snorted in anger and took a leap at Superman. The great horse’s wings flapped, but he could not leave the ground. Like Terra-Man’s six-shooters, Nova’s powers no longer worked.
“How in tarnation…?!” sputtered the angry Terra-Man.
“You made a mistake coming to my planet and making trouble, Terra-Man,” Superman said.
Terra-Man shoved his six-guns back into their holsters and said, “I don’t need shootin’ irons for the likes of you!”
Terra-Man quickly uncoiled the whip from around his shoulder. He snapped it several times in the air, its deadly tip making a sharp CRACK in the still air.
“Be careful with that thing,” Superman warned. “You could hurt someone with it.”
“That’s just what I intend to do!” Terra-Man snarled. He stepped towards Superman, the whip snapping closer and closer to the Man of Steel.
Superman’s hand flashed out and grabbed hold of the flashing whip at superspeed. Terra-Man gasped in surprise. Then, with a flick of his wrist, the Metropolis Marvel jerked the whip from the outlaw’s hand.
Terra-Man stepped back and said, “Ain’t no one ever done that before.”
“That’s only because no one’s ever known about your power pack before,” said Superman.
Superman made a pretend gun out of his finger and pointed it at Terra-Man.
“Bang!” said the Man of Steel.
Then, with his superbreath, he blew a blast of air at the startled outlaw. Terra-Man said “Ooof!” and fell backwards to the ground.
Superman kept blowing. Terra-Man rolled across the ground, just like the tumbleweeds in which he had trapped Superman. Terra-Man tumbled helplessly until he came to a hard stop against the inside of the glowing energy-cage that appeared around him, as if by magic.
Or alien science!
Balther, Tyrox, Charop, Kharr, and Gyyhwn came out from the alley where they had been waiting in hiding. Bather and Kharr each held a device in their hands that created the energy-cages now imprisoning Terra-Man and Nova.
“Let me outta here, you lowdown snakes,” shouted the angry outlaw as he grabbed hold of the glowing bars of glittering energy imprisoning him. “I’m Terra-Man, dagnabbit! Ain’t a Cosmic Prison been built can hold me!”
“That was before your weapons ran out of power,” said Superman, “because my police officer friends from space surrounded your power source with an energy-draining force-field. That’s what’s blocking the power pack’s energy from reaching you and Nova.”
“Thank you, Superman,” said Charop. “We could not have apprehended Terra-Man without you.”
“Always glad to help put an owlhoot like this hombre in the hoosegow, pardners,” Superman said with a smile. For just a moment, the Man of Steel felt just like the sheriff in one of the old western TV shows he watched when he was a boy.
“Owlhoot? Pardners?” said Gyyhwn. “I do not understand, Superman. What is a ‘hoosegow’...?”
“The hoosegow, my friends,” said Superman, “is where Terra-Man’s going to go for a very, very long time!”
THE END
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