Source: Action Comics #337 (1966)
Type: Posthypnotic suggestion
And now... the Silver Age classic entitled "From Riches to Rags!"...
It all starts when the INFAMOUS Tiger Gang steals from a rich country club. I know they're infamous, but maybe it's your first day. Here they are:
Superman arrives at the club in a purple limousine with a Superman crest on it, a top hat, cane and white gloves. Why? He doesn't know himself! But the can does come in handy.
For his next trick, Superman feels compelled to play the pauper to shame City Hall into bulldozing a slum and building better housing.
Although he does feel bad that he could have done all that at superspeed without incurring the city any money. Next up, Superman meets Sir Jeffrey Winston, a famous British lawyer (who of course wears his robe and wig at all times) in Metropolis to film a tv series about his most famous cases. His life is in danger from a criminal, so Superman stands in for him - a third disguise.
But can we blame Perry White for asking why this cunning plan was even necessary?
We sure can't. And now things start to get more Silver Agey... Clark Kent's next assignment takes him to an Indian reservation (which is just like going back in time), where some evil white men steal a tall ceremonial pole made of jade (I think somebody mixed up their Indians) from the poor savages who don't know what they've got. Superman could stop them easily, but of course, he needs to put on a disguise. One chief's headdress later, and he's ripping up the pipeline the baddies are escaping on.
And then he uses a bow and arrows to pin them to a tree. And still he doesn't know why he's doing all that (and yet, he's never wondered why his plans were so convoluted in the past). Anyway, Clark has diner with Lois when the escaped lawyer-attacking crook decides to shoot the reporter who told his story (guy just wants revenge at all costs, it doesn't matter on who). He hits a ketchup bottle before Clark's invulnerable chest (carefully inserted into the story earlier, I hope you noticed), so it looks like he's wounded. Clark can't help but play the part to confound Lois. Except he can't let a doctor operate on him, especially not with "volunteer nurse" Lois Lane!
So he calls both away with his super-ventriloquism, then shows up as Dr. Superman (Lois reminds us he's a licensed surgeon as per another insane Silver Age story) and super-operates on "Clark" behind closed curtains.
Super-surgery, of course, leaves no scar and Clark is free to go home right that minute. Superman next sees some kids playing, realizes something, then looks up in the sky with his telescopic vision, realizes something else. We'll have to wait for the reveal, but for now he's warning people that he might steal a gold shipment or something. Of course there are no precautions people can take that will stop a super-thief, and on cue, Superman does show up to rob the gold train. They hid kryptonite aboard, so he steals that instead, with his trusty... lead-lined kryptonite-hoover-copter?
So what the hell, right? Well... when Superman was child, he learned this nursery rhyme:
And because a comet from the Kryptonian system was passing while he was singing it, it put a hypnotic suggestion in his mind. Now the comet has returned, so Superman was cursed to take on each role in turn.
And that's the Lord's honest truth!
Type: Posthypnotic suggestion
And now... the Silver Age classic entitled "From Riches to Rags!"...It all starts when the INFAMOUS Tiger Gang steals from a rich country club. I know they're infamous, but maybe it's your first day. Here they are:
Superman arrives at the club in a purple limousine with a Superman crest on it, a top hat, cane and white gloves. Why? He doesn't know himself! But the can does come in handy.
For his next trick, Superman feels compelled to play the pauper to shame City Hall into bulldozing a slum and building better housing.
Although he does feel bad that he could have done all that at superspeed without incurring the city any money. Next up, Superman meets Sir Jeffrey Winston, a famous British lawyer (who of course wears his robe and wig at all times) in Metropolis to film a tv series about his most famous cases. His life is in danger from a criminal, so Superman stands in for him - a third disguise.
But can we blame Perry White for asking why this cunning plan was even necessary?
We sure can't. And now things start to get more Silver Agey... Clark Kent's next assignment takes him to an Indian reservation (which is just like going back in time), where some evil white men steal a tall ceremonial pole made of jade (I think somebody mixed up their Indians) from the poor savages who don't know what they've got. Superman could stop them easily, but of course, he needs to put on a disguise. One chief's headdress later, and he's ripping up the pipeline the baddies are escaping on.
And then he uses a bow and arrows to pin them to a tree. And still he doesn't know why he's doing all that (and yet, he's never wondered why his plans were so convoluted in the past). Anyway, Clark has diner with Lois when the escaped lawyer-attacking crook decides to shoot the reporter who told his story (guy just wants revenge at all costs, it doesn't matter on who). He hits a ketchup bottle before Clark's invulnerable chest (carefully inserted into the story earlier, I hope you noticed), so it looks like he's wounded. Clark can't help but play the part to confound Lois. Except he can't let a doctor operate on him, especially not with "volunteer nurse" Lois Lane!
So he calls both away with his super-ventriloquism, then shows up as Dr. Superman (Lois reminds us he's a licensed surgeon as per another insane Silver Age story) and super-operates on "Clark" behind closed curtains.
Super-surgery, of course, leaves no scar and Clark is free to go home right that minute. Superman next sees some kids playing, realizes something, then looks up in the sky with his telescopic vision, realizes something else. We'll have to wait for the reveal, but for now he's warning people that he might steal a gold shipment or something. Of course there are no precautions people can take that will stop a super-thief, and on cue, Superman does show up to rob the gold train. They hid kryptonite aboard, so he steals that instead, with his trusty... lead-lined kryptonite-hoover-copter?
So what the hell, right? Well... when Superman was child, he learned this nursery rhyme:
And because a comet from the Kryptonian system was passing while he was singing it, it put a hypnotic suggestion in his mind. Now the comet has returned, so Superman was cursed to take on each role in turn.And that's the Lord's honest truth!
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