It's Halloween and people dressed up as superheroes magically and suddenly possess their powers. In order to solve the problem, Superman must enter the House of Mystery in "The Haunting Dooms of Halloween."
The Haunting Dooms of Halloween!
Ricky, a young boy in a Superman costume, approaches a neighbor's door on Halloween. Shortly after being given a treat, a magic word is spoken, transforming Ricky into Superman. Ricky/Superman flies off to resolve an emergency. At Lois Lane's Halloween party, the obnoxious Steve Lombard purposefully causes Clark Kent to spill his drink on Lane. Ricky/Superman crashes into Lane's apartment, and makes ready to away with her. Jimmy Olsen, costumed as the Norse God of Thunder, Thor, intervenes on Lane's behalf. Suddenly, Olsen, too, is transformed, actually becoming Thor. In the confusion, Ricky/Superman flies out the window with Lane. Kent, costumed as the Green Lantern, uses his actual super-powers to fake another transformation. Pretending to have become the Green Lantern, Kent pursues Ricky/Superman and Lane. Kent's pursuit is barred by a pair of birds, transformed into monstrous avian creatures. Kent uses his powers, as Superman, to propel the birds away, while also changing into his Superman costume. By that time, though, the trail has grown cold. At the House of Mystery, the caretaker, Cain, regales a group of children with tales of the supernatural. Suddenly, Mister Mxyzptlk appears. When Cain mispronounces the imp's name, Mister Mxyzptlk corrects him. Ricky/Superman arrives with Lane.
Mister Mxyzptlk uses his magic to transform all the children into real versions of whatever costume they're wearing, much to Cain's dismay. His protests fall on deaf ears, though Mister Mxyzptlk does correct him in pronouncing his name again. Superman trails Lane to the House of Mystery, by following the scent of her perfume. A voice emanating from the house informs Superman that he has until the stroke of midnight, a mere hour away, to find Lane, or she will be lost forever. Superman discovers that his x-ray vision is useless within the walls of the house of mystery. The first room he searches is filled with an amorphous, tentacled glob. The horrific creature tries to draw Superman into it's hidden maw. Superman flies through the next door, into a room tilted 90 degrees. After re-establishing his center of gravity, Superman moves on. Mister Mxyzptlk shorts out the lights, plunging the house into darkness. A glowing skeleton descends down the stairs, and attacks Superman. Superman repels his attacker, only to discover that the skeleton is really just a small boy. Mister Mxyzptlk reactivates the lights. Superman opens another door, entering into the bullpen at the Daily Planet. Lana Lang greets him, just before Perry White hands him a story for rewrite. Though wearing his Superman costume, all of his co-workers address him as "Clark".
Superman settles into his daily routine at the Daily Planet, rewriting the article assigned to him by White. Olsen gives Superman the cold shoulder, for revealing his identity to the world, without telling Olsen first. At that, Superman remembers that he's looking for Lane. Superman finds Cain and Ricky at Lane's desk. Superman attacks Cain, trying to force him to reveal Lane's location. Gunmen enter the bullpen, and reveal that the walls have been repainted with Kryptonite based paint. Superman collapses, falling through a trap door. He awakens in a coffin. As he exits the coffin, Superman is attacked by a vampire. Fearing the vampire might be another mystically transformed child, Superman opts for an indirect attack. Using his heat vision on a gas lamp, Superman creates an burst of incandescence. The vampire does, indeed, revert to a child. The clock begins sounding the midnight hour. Superman follows the scent of Lane's perfume to another door, only to discover the sole occupant of the room is a skunk. Believing Lane is lost to him, Superman gives in to despair. However, when Mister Mxyzptlk reveals himself to be the instigator behind Superman's troubles, the Man of Steel bursts into laughter. Knowing the imp is merely a prankster, Superman realizes that no real harm has come to Lane. Cain purposefully mispronounces Mister Mxyzptlk's name backwards. This time, when Mister Mxyzptlk corrects Cain, he is sent back to the 5th dimension, for speaking his own name backwards.
Code Name: Liberator-Liberator Mission: Freedom or Death!
Commander David Marcus engages the Malaglon forces, in orbit over their world, in his starship, the Liberator. Marcus, along with his ship, are destroyed. Commander Martin Champion addresses the next class, at the Atari Academy, for Mission: Liberator. Despite heavy losses, the almost certain suicide mission still garners volunteers. The Atari Force discovered the Malaglon slaver race in a parallel dimension, opting to end their reign of terror. However, the Malaglon slave colonies proved too well defended. Every attempt by the Atari Force to damage the Malaglon's operations has ended in failure, and death. The next volunteer selected for Mission: Liberator is Bob Marcus, Commander David Marcus' brother. Marcus pilots the Liberator Star Fighter into warp space. Marcus departs too quickly for Champion, in the scout ship, Scanner One, to follow. Champion worries that Marcus is out to settle a grudge for the Malaglons' killing of his brother. Marcus engages the Malaglon forces, in orbit over one of their slave worlds. Launching remote probe fighters, Marcus gets through the first line of the Malaglon's defenses, when he destroys three scout-ships. The Malaglons launch missile from several surface missile bases.
Marcus' probe fighters destroy the missile volley, then target the bases themselves, wiping them form the face of the planet. The Malaglon's manage to launch one of their saucer-craft, the kind which destroyed Marcus' brother's Liberator. Marcus, however, proves a better tactician than his brother, and destroys the Malaglon saucer-craft. Marcus continues his assault in Malaglon space, managing to liberate over two dozen Malaglon slave worlds. Marcus penetrates deep into Malaglon space, making it all the way to their home territory. Marcus is nearly destroyed when the next wave of Malaglon ships prove swifter than expected. Marcus targets the Malaglon master base, only to find that each time he fires upon it, the planet itself rotates the base out of the line of fire. The Malaglons launch too orbital missile bases. Under heavy fire, Marcus desperately tries to strike the master base, only to watch it roll out of his targeting sights each time. Marcus brackets his fire pattern on either side of the base. To avoid the first volley, the planet rotates the base directly into the second volley. With the base destroyed, Marcus claims victory over the Malaglons. With the slave populace liberated. Marcus declares Mission:Liberator accomplished.
Notes:
- "The Haunting Dooms of Halloween!" written by Dan Mishkin, penciled by Curt Swan, inked by Tony DeZuniga, colored by Gene D'Angelo and lettered by John Costanza.
- "Liberator Mission: Freedom or Death!" written by Gerry Conway, penciled by Ross Andru, inked by Dick Giordano, colored by Adrienne Roy and lettered by John Costanza.
- 16-page Atari Force preview (same as preview in New Teen Titans #27).
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