Red Tornado must come to Superman's rescue to fend off an invading force.
The unconscious form of Superman is brought before the Weaponers of Qward. Superman recovers, and immediately attacks his captors. A brief, but pitched, battle ensues. Ultimately, the Thunderers of Qward prove more than a match for the Man of Steel. Superman is lashed to an enormous crystal. From orbit, twin magnifying lenses focus the energy of Qward's dual suns on the Man of Steel. The resultant Q-Field generated by this action paralyzes every living creature on the Earth, leaving it defenseless in the face of Qward's colonizing force. An inter-dimensional gateway opens up between Qward and Earth. Qwardian colonizers pour through the rift, and establish a beachhead in Metropolis. Monitoring the invasion from within the Justice League Satellite, the Black Canary stares glassy-eyed at the screens, as paralyzed as the populace of Earth. As the Qwardians begin constructing their colony, a strong wind disrupts their workforce, heralding the arrival of the Red Tornado. The android hero makes short work of the colonizers. Their leader, Kimon, summons the Thunderers of Qward to deal with the Red Tornado. Their weapons, however, prove futile against the deflective power of the Red Tornado's whirlwinds. Kimon flees back through the gateway to Qward, with the Red Tornado in hot pursuit. Upon arrival, Kimon hastily shuts down the Q-Energy powering the gate, leaving the colonists stranded on Earth.
The Red Tornado just manages to slip through to Qward, but finds himself locked in place by the Q-Field. Superman advises the Red Tornado to fly through the field, as well as the crystal and Superman himself, at top speed. Doing so frees the Red Tornado from the Q-Field, while also powering up his android body. Superman instructs the Red Tornado to journey into orbit, to destroy the magnifying lenses, focusing the twin sun's rays down upon him. The Red Tornado finds that his power is not equal to the task of shattering the lenses. Switching tactics, the Red Tornado uses his whirlwind force to re-orient the lenses, so that they are stacked atop one another. Greatly intensified Q-Energy floods into Superman. The Man of Steel is on the verge of death, when, finally, the crystal he is bound to, shatters. The resultant explosion takes out most of the Weaponers of Qward. Superman and the Red Tornado mop up the rest. Back on Earth, Superman uses his super-hypnosis to recondition the innate evil tendencies out of the colonizers from Qward. The New Qward colony is established in Australia, thanks to a generous land donation from that continent's government. Kimon writes off the colonists as traitors, and foreswears all future involvement with Earth. On board the Justice League Satellite, the Red Tornado records his final thoughts on the outcome of this adventure.
Notes
- Chapter One: "None"
- Chapter 2 "The Last Line of Defense!"
- Chapter 3 "Duel in the Domain of Evil!"
- Chapter 4 "Secret of the Sinister Sea Lord"
- Epilogue
- Story continues from previous issue.
- This issue contains the Hostess Superhero Ad, Wonder Woman vs. "The Cheetah".
- "Pair Mail" the official name of the letter column debuts.
- "Daily Planet" Volume 78 Issue 48 week of December 11, 1978 edited by Bob Rozakis, production by Anthony Tollin and lettered by Typeset. Featuring a Christmas team up of Batman and Plastic Man in The Brave and the Bold #148, a Scalphunter and Bat Lash team up in Weird Western Tales #53 plus "Ask the Answer Man!" and "Direct Currents".
- "Hembeck" by Fred Hembeck.
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