Data courtesy of the Grand Comics Database under Creative Commons license.

Issue Details

Issue #242
Published July 1958
Cover Price 0.10
Pages 36
Editing Whitney Ellsworth (credited); Jack Schiff (managing); Mort Weisinger, George Kashdan (assistants)

Cover Details - "The Super-Duel in Space!"

Characters Superman; Brainiac
Genre superhero
Pencils Curt Swan
Inks Stan Kaye
Reprinted in Superman: The Man of Tomorrow Archives (DC, 2004 series) #1; in Showcase Presents Superman (DC, 2005 series) #1

1 page Little Pete public service announcement "Are You a Litter Bug?"

Genre children
Script Jack Schiff
Pencils Henry Boltinoff (signed)
Inks Henry Boltinoff
Letters Henry Boltinoff
Notes no dialogue

13 page Superman story "The Super-Duel in Space"

Characters Superman (brief origin); Lois Lane; Brainiac (villain, intro); Professor Kimda; Superboy (flashback); Jonathan Kent (flashback); Martha Kent (flashback); Superboy (flashback); Kandor (intro); Fortress of Solitude
Synopsis While Clark Kent and Lois Lane are passengers on an experimental rocket, the rocket is snagged by the alien Brainiac. Clark switches to Superman, but can't penetrate Brainiac's force shield, so moves the rocket out of the control of Brainiac's ship. Brainiac turns to his primary goal, which is to shrink and bottle the great cities of Earth in order to restore them to normal size and repopulate his own planet, whose native people have all been wiped out by a plague. Superman returns to Metropolis, expecting Brainiac to also snatch that city, and through that gain entrance into Brainiac's ship. Once inside, he finds a bottle with a shrunken Kryptonian city. He enters the bottle, but loses his powers under its artificial gravity. There he seeks the help of a scientist who helps him plan a way to restore the cities of Earth while Brainiac lies in suspended animation for the trip back to his own planet. But unfortunately there isn't enough power to restore Kandor, so Superman places it in his Fortress until he can find a way, as Brainiac's ship rockets away, with Brainiac unaware that he is returning home empty-handed.
Genre superhero
Script Otto Binder
Pencils Al Plastino
Inks Al Plastino
Reprinted in Superman Annual (DC, 1960 series) #2 (1960); in Superman (DC, 1939 series) #217 (June-July 1969); in Superman from the Thirties to the Eighties (Crown Publishers, Inc., 1983 series) #nn (1983); in Superman: The Man of Tomorrow Archives (DC, 2004 series) #1; in Superman in the Fifties (DC, 2002 series) #nn; in Showcase Presents Superman (DC, 2005 series) #1; in Superman: The Bottle City of Kandor (DC, 2007 series) #[nn]

1 page Little Pete filler

Genre children; humor
Script Henry Boltinoff (signed)
Pencils Henry Boltinoff (signed)
Inks Henry Boltinoff
Letters Henry Boltinoff

6 page Tommy Tomorrow story "The Traffic Cop of 2058, A.D."

Characters Tommy Tomorrow; Brent Wood
Genre science fiction
Script Otto Binder
Pencils Jim Mooney
Inks Jim Mooney

Half page Shorty filler

Genre humor
Script Henry Boltinoff
Pencils Henry Boltinoff
Inks Henry Boltinoff
Letters Henry Boltinoff

1 page text article "Gag Bag"

Letters typeset

6 page Congo Bill story "Safari From Space"

Characters Congo Bill; Janu; Xov (villain)
Genre jungle
Pencils Howard Sherman
Inks Howard Sherman

1 page Nature Wonderland filler

Genre fact
Script Martin Naydel
Pencils Martin Naydel
Inks Martin Naydel