Action Comics #113

Just an Ordinary Guy: The Man Who was Always Late!; Skulduggery in the Subway!; The Two-Fragant Vagrant!; Gold Rush--1947! last edited by luphawk on 02/02/20 10:29AM View full history

"Just An Ordinary Guy" (Superman)
"The Man Who Was Always Late!" (Zatara)
"Skulduggery in the Subway!" (Congo Bill)
"Willy"
"The Too-Fragrant Vagrant!" (Hayfoot Henry)
"An Old Friend" (text story by Ewald Ludwig)
"Gold Rush--1947!" (Vigilante)

Cover; The crowd seems humored that Superman can't even lift 100 pounds, he must have normal strength!

Superman: The Planet is running a feature in which they interview "average" men to see if they would like to be Superman. Naturally, most people say they would jump at the chance, but the reporter himself figures he would be bored silly as Superman since there would be no challenges to overcome. This sets Clark wondering what it would be like being an ordinary man, so at home he hypnotizes himself into believing he has lost his powers for a day.

When he goes out into the rain, he catches a cold, and then spots some burglars robbing a house. Without his powers he is unable to stop them, so when the police arrive, the thieves pretend that they caught someone impersonating Superman and robbing the house. The police, seeing that Superman has no powers, put him in jail.

Superman manages to trick a guard into believing he has removed a bar from his cell window, so when the guard comes in to investigate, Superman trips him up and escapes through the open cell door.

Meanwhile, the thieves have decided to return to the scene of their original crime and try the robbery again. This time, they use a fake permit to pretend they are there to demolish the house, and start battering the house with a wrecking ball. Superman jumps in to try to stop them but without his powers he doesn't get very far, until he spots the real reason why the thieves are breaking into the house: a stash of jewels hidden in the walls.

With their true identities revealed, the thieves try to escape by throwing a stick of dynamite at the pursuing cops, and by instinct, Superman shields them from the blast with his body. Fortunately for him, the 24 hours of powerlessness expire just as the dynamite explodes. With his powers back, Superman rounds up the thieves.