Action Comics #507 (May 1980)

Losing a family member can be hard for anyone...even for the Man of Steel. In the Silver/Bronze Ages, the passing away of his parents Jonathan and Martha Kent marked the end of Clark Kent's days as Superboy...and the eventual emergence of Superman.

The 1980s would be a landmark decade for the Man of Steel. Crisis on Infinite Earths and John Byrne's Man of Steel would radically revamp the character and his mythos. But the early 80s were still a time for Superman to engage in some Silver Age-style hijinks. What does that have to do with what I just said about losing a family member? Well, because in the Silver/Bronze Age era of the Man of Steel's books, it had been established that Jonathan and Martha Kent had died when Clark Kent was 18. He was unable to save his beloved parents, and it would spell the end of his time as Superboy.

But what if his father not only suddenly returned from the dead, but the world rearranged itself so that they never died at all? That is a mystery Superman has to deal with in Action Comics #507!

The cover is a Ross Andru and Dick Giordano piece. It's pretty good. It depicts a shocked Superman noticing that Jonathan Kent's grave is gone...and the man himself is standing right behind him. It looks like a setup for a horror movie.

"The Miraculous Return of Jonathan Kent"
Writer: Cary Bates
Penciler: Curt Swan
Inker: Frank Chiaramonte
Letterer: Milt Snapinn
Colorist: Gene D'Angelo
Editors: Julius Schwartz, E. Nelson Bridwell.
Executive Editor: Joe Orlando

The story begins with Clark Kent and Lana Lang reporting on Superman rescuing a ship called the Queen Dory. 

You may be a bit confused about this. Well, at this time, Clark Kent had become a television reporter for WGBS Communications. This would be wiped from history after Crisis on Infinite Earths...but considering the current state of DC "canon", who knows what is canon or non-canon anymore.

Anyway, once their transmission is done, Clark thinks about how crime has been on the upswing in Metropolis lately, and maybe he needs to do a bit more patrolling as Superman. However, he's taken out of his thoughts by Lana Lang. She has a table for the two of them waiting at this restaurant called Marcel's. They serve some great ham. Mmmm...ham...

Eh, anyway, Lana tells Clark that she has a mystery guest who hasn't seen Clark in a long time. The Kryptonian hero agrees to go, figuring that nothing will convince Lana to let him back out. The two head for the restaurant, where the mystery guest reveals himself.

...a Mr. Jonathan Kent. But he's supposed to be dead.

Let me explain. In the old Earth-One Superman canon, Jonathan Kent died in a flashback shown in Superman #363 (September 1981). He and Martha Kent died of infection by an alien organism. As I said earlier, then-18-year-old Clark Kent tried to save them, but he failed.

At first, Clark Kent is understandably angry about this, thinking Lana is pulling some sick joke. However, his super-senses are able to indicate that Lana thinks this is Jonathan Kent. It's especially odd as she did attend the Kents' funeral. It leads Clark to conclude that whoever "Jonathan Kent" is, he has Lana under some sort of hypnotic spell. He's determined to expose this imposter, and quickly.

Meanwhile, several blocks over, a rich couple sees a hippie-looking panhandler asking for some donations for a trip to Los Angeles. His name is Starshine. 

No, not that one. However, despite having more than enough money to spare him a bus or even a plane ticket, the rich couple sneers at him and tells him to get a job. Hey jerks, you ever consider the reason he wants to go to LA is because he wants to find some work?! Anyway, Starshine is all "Okay, no more Mr. Nice Hippie", and asks for their valuables. 

Can't say I feel too bad for those guys. If they just gave him twenty bucks, he'd have left them alone. Generosity is good for the soul after all. Back at the restaurant, Clark tries to befuddle "Jonathan Kent" by telling a story about how the two brought an injured rabbit home when Clark was ten. Clark thinks he caught the impostor, as that's a pretty obscure fact about his childhood. But "Jonathan" recalls it perfectly.

Meanwhile, at a bank, the guard tosses Starshine out. Evidently, Starshine asked for some change. Uh, Starshine, you stole a bunch of jewelry from a rich couple. Why didn't you just fence it? Angry about this, he uses his vocal trick to ask the bank to give him all its money. Meanwhile, Clark is using his microscopic vision to check the glass that "Jonathan" touched and discovers that even the fingerprints match up.

Clark finds himself wondering if maybe this is his father brought back to life. I mean, it's the DC Universe, so it's not implausible. After all, at this point, Superman has encountered some wacky things in his life. He's traveled to other worlds and dimensions, been turned into all sorts of bizarre creatures thanks to Red Kryptonite, and is a member of the Justice League. His dead father being restored to life is likely very low on the weird scale for him.

The dining party hear about a commotion, and Clark discovers that Starshine is robbing the bank. Jonathan acts like he has an ulcer that acts up. He claims that he takes pills to help relieve it, but he's fresh out, so asks Clark to get it refilled for him. Clark agrees and makes his exit. You see, it's a semi-truth. Jonathan used to have an ulcer, but it cleared up. He kept the empty pill bottle around so that he can give young Clark Kent an excuse to leave and change into Superboy. Superman uses his microscopic vision to check the bottle. The bottle is the same one. Even the yellowing of the label is authentic. As he flies off, he renews his determination to prove "Jonathan Kent" is a fake, and he knows how to prove it. But that can wait for now. He's got a bank robber to stop. 

Superman flies to the bank, and asks Starshine how he's pulling his trick off. Starshine says that he's really not interested in the money (which explains why he didn't fence the jewelry he got from the rich couple earlier), but he just wanted to teach a lesson in manners. Superman is not impressed, and grabs the hippie. Starshine turns him down, and he finds the Man of Steel rude. As such, he tells Superman to go take a slow boat to China...please. 

Superman finds himself losing control of his body. He drops Starshine, and flies off towards a junk heading for China.

Superman realizes that this is a literal slow boat, as he calculates at that the speed the junk is going, it'll take him a full day to reach port. He solves that problem by using his super-breath to push the junk to its destination. With Starshine's command fulfilled, Superman feels that he's back in control of his body again. As such, he flies home. When he returns, the police report that Starshine returned the money to the bank, and Lana Lang reported it. Superman returns to Marcel's and find that "Jonathan" is gone. There's one last place Superman wants to check, the place that will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that "Jonathan" is a fake...the Smallville Cemetery.

You see, Jonathan and Martha were buried there together. Superman arrives as Clark Kent, and gets a wreath to place at the graves. He finds something that shocks him. 

Remember, Jonathan and Martha were buried next to each other. Martha's grave is still there. But Jonathan's? It's vanished. There isn't even a tombstone. It's like reality has been altered...a foreshadowing of DC's mangling of its canon to the point it's utterly incomprehensible? Not really. Superman is aware of it here. 

He even goes to his old childhood home. Former Smallville police chief Parker should be staying here, as he's been taking care of the place since his retirement. But there's no sign of him, and all of Jonathan's possessions are there, as if he's still living there. Even the mail that has come in indicates that Jonathan has been alive all these years. All the evidence indicates that only has Jonathan returned from the grave...history has been altered so that he never died in the first place.

Meanwhile, in Metropolis, Jonathan Kent asks a pair of men for the location of Clark's home. However, the men are not interested in playing map, they want Johnny's money. All his money. Superman arrives, and gives the muggers a thrashing in the form of showing off his juggling skills and tossing them to the cops.

With Jonathan safe, Superman takes him to his home. He hugs his father, even though he's still a little confused. Meanwhile, the story ends with Starshine issuing a command to the people of Metropolis...well, anyone there over 30 years old. 

That's right! The youth are taking over!

I found this to be a rather interesting story. It does feel like it was trying to be a more "modern" take on a Silver Age Superman story. What helps is Curt Swan doing penciling duties. Swan had been Superman's regular artist for nearly twenty years at this point, and he's synonymous with the Silver Age Superman. I've seen Swan's art from the 1960s and looking at what he's doing here in the 1980s, it's pretty clear that his art style had undergone some evolution over the decades. 

His interpretation of Starshine doesn't quite work for me at times. You see, he's supposed to be a youthful hippie type, but the way Swan draws him, he looks quite a bit older at times. Doesn't really help sell the idea that he's a young'un. However, it can be argued that maybe he looks more haggard making him look older, so yeah. I find it a bit weird the character is meant to be a hippie-type of character even though the comic is from the 80s. It's so bizarre. Hopefully, there's a story explanation. 

The mystery of Jonathan Kent's return is actually pretty intriguing. I do feel that it would make a great set up for a psychological thriller/horror story. I mean, imagine if you remember someone you love dying, but not only are they suddenly still around, but as far as everyone is aware, they never died in the first place. Talk about a mind screw. 

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2006 trade paperback Superman in the Eighties.