CHAPTER 1 SURPRISE ATTACK It was a beautiful day in Metropolis The morning had begun with a brightly shining sun and fluffy white clouds scattered across the sky Clark Kent was in an especially good mood because spring had finally arrived At noon Clark met his coworkers and friends Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen on the rooftop of the Daily Planet Building Clark and Lois were both reporters for the Daily Planet newspaper and Jimmy was a photographer Today they were in charge of covering an annual hot air balloon race in the neighboring county The high-rise rooftop gave them a great view of the event And since the weather was so pleasant the trio decided to eat lunch up there as well Lois did not enjoy cooking so she had brought a large ice-filled cooler to the roof What’s inside Jimmy asked You’ll see Lois said with a smile Clark was tempted to use his X-ray vision to look inside the cooler and see what she’d brought but he didn’t want to ruin her surprise So he waited patiently After they had all finished their lunches Lois finally opened the cooler Inside was a small carton of ice cream and three ice cream cones That’s it Jimmy asked clearly disappointed What’s so special about plain old ice cream Just try it Lois told him She carefully placed three scoops of ice cream onto each cone and then she passed the cones to her friends Jimmy licked the melting scoop His face broke into a huge smile It’s Jurgens ice cream he said How is that possible Jurgens Ice Cream Emporium was Metropolis’s most popular ice cream shop Lines to get ice cream during the hotter days wrapped around many city blocks However the
shop was only open during the summer Last year Lois explained I bought a carton of ice cream before Jurgens closed for the winter I’ve been saving it ever since I’m impressed you didn’t eat it all yourself Jimmy joked I doubt I’d be able to resist knowing it was in the freezer the whole time Lois and Clark laughed and shook their heads As they all happily ate their ice cream the day seemed like it was going to be a perfect But that’s when a large angry woman in body armor appeared in the middle of Metropolis Her voice rang out across the entire city Out of my way she shouted I’m Stompa and I’m gonna smash Metropolis to pieces Lois Clark and Jimmy walked over to the edge of the roof and watched as Stompa marched down the busiest street in the city A car got too close to her so Stompa smashed her foot into its hood SMASSSSH The car was shattered into a million pieces Using his X-ray vision Clark saw that no one was badly hurt It was only a matter of time though until someone was seriously injured Stompa needed to be stopped We’d better evacuate Clark told his friends If Stompa reaches the Daily Planet Building I don’t want to be here to greet her Relax Lois told him Superman will show up He’ll take care of this lady before we’ve even finished our ice cream Of course Lois didn’t know that Clark Kent was actually Superman Clark needed to get away from Lois and Jimmy so that he could change into his costume Otherwise no one would come to stop Stompa Well you can stay here if you want Clark told them pretending to be frightened But I’m getting out of here Lois and Jimmy watched as Clark raced down the stairs that led back inside the Daily Planet Building Clark’s a good guy Lois told Jimmy but he sure is a coward
The Man of Steel: Superman and the Man of Gold
Again and again, BOOSTER GOLD conveniently beats SUPERMAN to the punch in stopping the villains and saving the day, making the MAN OF STEEL wonder if this new hero is as all glitter and no gold…
