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    Action Comics #398

    Action Comics » Action Comics #398 - The Pied-Piper of Steel released by DC Comics on March 1971.

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    For his first story as a TV reporter, Clark Kent covers the growing popularity of Folk/Rock festivals. But he discovers that the young people who attend the concerts promoted by Cy Horkin behave rather... oddly.

    1. The Pied Piper of Steel. Morgan Edge has taken over the Daily Planet and Clark is reassigned as a TV reporter. While covering Cy Horkin's rock concerts, he notices that the fans start obeying the lyrics in the songs. Horkin has developed an electronic brain that converts the lyrics into irresistible commands so that anyone listening to the music obeys him. He plans to command a mob to destroy the university that refused to elect him president. Superman pretends to be affected by the music as well and starts leading the mob in its quest for destruction. However, he leads them to Horkin's headquarters and they destroy the electronic brain instead.

    2. Spawn of the Unknown. Superman answers a distress call from a gamekeeper and discovers weirdly transmuted beasts in an extinct volcanic crater. The gamekeeper tells him that Professor Bruno, a botanist, experimented with growth hormones and after an explosion, the hormones caused local animals to become plants and take root in the ground. It seems that even Superman isn't immune to the effect, since he discovers a transmuted form of Supergirl. After a side trip to Egypt to foil some tomb raiders, Superman returns and attempts to remove the Supergirl-plant but in doing so he tears its limbs off. Just as he is about to believe he has killed Supergirl, she arrives and reveals that the mutated plants merely attempt to take on the forms of nearby animals rather than affecting the animals directly.

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    4.0 stars

    Average score of 2 user reviews

    60s End. Comics Get Better. 0

    I don't know what it is, but almost like someone turned a switch, as soon as the 70s start, comics start to get a lot better. Maybe it was a change in the culture, maybe a coincidence that it happened at the turn of the decade, maybe it was the increase in price to 15¢, or maybe it was the fact that stories became longer, covering more pages.  Whatever the reason, the comics of the 70s just 'feel' like they've taken a great step up in sophistication over just a few years before. Take this issue ...

    2 out of 2 found this review helpful.

    great concept 0

    superman goes to various rock concerts. the device was really well drawn. also this story was strong enough to be featured in the book 'superman from the 30's to the 70's. swan/anderson at the top of their game.superman goes to various rock concerts. the device was really well drawn. also this story was strong enough to be featured in the book 'superman from the 30's to the 70's. swan/anderson at the top of their game.superman goes to various rock concerts. the device was really well drawn....

    1 out of 1 found this review helpful.
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