Friday, August 10, 2012

Friday Night Fights: Hands Of Stone - Round 7: Loading Up On Karb (Part 2)!





In yesterday's introductory "Loading Up On Karb" segment, I spotlighted obscure Bronze Age Superman foe Karb-Brak. To make a long story short, Karb was an alien from a planet in the Andromeda Galaxy where everyone had Kryptonian-type powers. Unfortunately, Karb was diagnosed as fatally allergic to Kryptonian-type powers. So his planet's doctors sent him disguised as a human to Earth, specifically Metropolis, to recuperate, unaware that Superman, who also has Kryptonian-type powers, lived there. (Nice research there, alien docs!). Rather than do something logical like, say, moving to a city other than Metropolis, Karb decided his only recourse was to kill or banish Superman. After some vain attempts, Karb managed to use his alien Deus-Ex-Machine Psi-Machine to exile Superman to 1776 Pennsylvania and rewriting memories to make him (and the native 1776ers) believe that he's Clark Kent, reporter for the Pennsylvania Gazette. Superman's removal from the present sent Brak's debilitating allergy into remission.


OK, got all that? Good. Let's pick it up from here:


Clark eventually figures out his real identity and, after pausing briefly to thwart an attempt to steal the Declaration of Independence (either by British Loyalists or a time-travelling Nicolas Cage, not sure which), he makes his way back to 1976 for a showdown with our ailin' Andromedan.


Which brings us to tonight's round of Friday Night Fights: Hands Of Stone, featuring this bicentennial brouhaha from Action Comics#463, written by Cary Bates and illustrated by Curt Swan and Tex Blaisdell.





Even at death's door, Karb-Brak can still kick some ass!


You know who else can kick some ass? Spacebooger. And because our host loves the old-school hip-hop, tonight's fight music will be provided by Run-D.M.C.!