The World's Greatest Superheroes Part 10: Nuclear Crisis

1980 was a banner year for nuclear paranoia.

It was certainly a major issue of the presidential elections of 1980, which hover in the background of this storyline. In addition, the year previously, the blockbuster film The China Syndrome had been raking in box office and critical acclaim for its deeply concerned depiction of shoddy construction and narrowly-averted disasters at nuclear power plants in the United States. 

And just when the film began to receive backlash and criticism from advocates of nuclear power, who accused the film of sensationalist and inaccurate portrayals of the plants in question -- whoopsie-doodle, there was a meltdown at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island power plant, promptly followed by a massive waste spill at a uranium mill in New Mexico.  

All of this was certainly on the mind of Paul Levitz as he scripted a story in which Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane receive an insider tip about a fuel spill at a New Mexico power plant. After Superman mitigates the potential disaster, the reporters (including Clark) are held by the Feds as they investigate the source of the leak.  

That source would be Alex Simons, a man who introduces himself as the new owner of the Daily Planet and provides the paper's top reporters with the skinny on the impending nuclear disaster. 

We've established in an earlier arc that the World's Greatest Superheroes enjoys its own continuity. To that end, Alex Simons is a creation of the comic strip, cut from whole cloth. As is one other element of the tale...

With all of the danger of radioactive annihilation floating around the strip, it's easy to miss the most truly alarming part of the story: No, it's not merely the presence of vile villain Lex Luthor, nor is it Luthor developing superpowers equal to Superman's, nor is it even that the wretched, nasty Luthor is depicted smoking cigarettes! 

No, it's that Superman unilaterally decides to lock Luthor up in a special prison inside the Fortress of Solitude and leave him there to rot. Don't worry, he'll ask permission from the world's law enforcement agencies ... later.  

This storyline's cameo slot belongs to Batman, indulging that old Silver Age saw of disguising himself as Clark Kent while Superman needs to be elsewhere. In many ways, having him sit in a cell underneath a toupee and a pound of makeup seems like a real waste of Batman's valuable time.

10. Nuclear Crisis
(1980-09-01 to 1980-12-13)
Starring: Superman, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Batman
Villains: The Feds, Alex Simons, Lex Luthor
Creative Team: Levitz, Tuska/Colletta

*** To be continued ***