Reign of the Supermen #55: The Three Substitute Supermen

Source: Superman #115 (1957)
Type: Replacements/disguisesSuperman began Silver Aging before 1958 if we go by this story in which Perry White appears to offer people the chance to be Superman for 8 hours at a time while Superman is on a mission in space. He's left his uniform and a kryptonite-fueled device that can give his powers to people who have already been exposed to lots of kryptonite radiation (sorry Jimmy and Lois, you weren't exposed ENOUGH). In truth, Superman is posing as each of these guys in an elaborate scheme to find and capture the Organizer. Here's how you catch a crime boss Superman-style:
1. Discover that a convicted felon died in a plane crash and convince the authorities not to release that information.
2. Establish false identities as three different people, and put enough time into them that they have track records, co-workers, etc.
3. Make one of them actually the alternate identity of the dead convict.
4. Have Perry make a Metropolis-wide appeal for these identities to come forward and act as Superman.
5. Play out your fantasies as the first two identities. Examples: Buster is a screw-up who destroys Perry's desk and a statue. Winters is a show-off who catches school buses with his little finger and drinks molten steel for fun. No really.
6. Leave the convict's fingerprints wherever the third identity goes.
7. Pray to God that the Organizer desperately wants an 8-hour Superman he can control, enough to do background checks and fingerprinting on each of them, then sends him an invitation.
8. Wait for the Organizer to hatch a plan, unmask and bring him in.

It's the easiest thing in the world!

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