Superman #245
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeSuperman #245 holds a dual identity that makes it genuinely interesting to track down: it is simultaneously a regular monthly issue of the long-running Superman series and DC-7 in the inaugural wave of 100-Page Super Spectaculars — a format conceived by editor E. Nelson Bridwell as DC's successor to the discontinued 80 Page Giants. Its lead story, a reprint of the 1964 'The Team of Luthor and Brainiac!' from Superman #167, brought that landmark Silver Age tale — the first-ever team-up between Superman's two most famous villains, and the issue that gave Brainiac a computer-based origin — to an entirely new Bronze Age readership just as Julius Schwartz was reimagining the Superman line. In reprinting that story, this issue also quietly canonized the name 'Ardora' for Lex Luthor's future wife, replacing the original 'Tharla' with the name she would carry in every subsequent appearance, making Superman #245 the functional publishing debut of the character as continuity would remember her. As the first character-headlined entry in the Super Spectacular format, it established a structural template — star hero bookending the issue, supporting characters filling the middle — that the entire subsequent run of Super Specs would follow.
In "The Team of Luthor and Brainiac!", Lex Luthor escapes prison only to uncover the long-lost alien menace Brainiac, reprograms him, and joins forces to shrink Superman and bring him down. With the help of the Kandorians, the Man of Steel fights back against this unlikely duo, turning the tide in a battle of wits and power. Written by Edmond Hamilton and Cary Bates, with Curt Swan’s iconic art and George Klein’s inks, this 1971 classic features a cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson.
In a bold twist of villainy, Lex Luthor escapes prison only to uncover the long-lost Brainiac, reprogramming the alien conqueror into an unlikely ally. Together, they plot to shrink Superman, testing the limits of power and deception — but the Kandorians and the Superman Emergency Squad stand ready to counter the threat.
When Rembrandt Van Rijn senses something amiss with one of his paintings, Kid Eternity and Mister Keeper investigate — only to discover the mysterious Count orchestrating a scheme that brings legendary artworks to life, including the Laughing Cavalier and the Discus Thrower, in a battle between art and chaos.
When a play dramatizing Superman’s battles with the Prankster arrives in Metropolis, the villain, furious at being mocked on stage, sets out to turn the performance into a real-life prank—targeting the producer and the audience with a scheme that blurs the line between theater and chaos. With Lois Lane caught in the middle, Superman must unravel the prankster’s next move before the show becomes a disaster.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
The DC 100-Page Super Spectacular format was the brainchild of E. Nelson Bridwell, who recognized that rising paper costs were killing DC's beloved Giant format and proposed a 100-page, reprint-heavy replacement that could be test-marketed at fifty cents. Superman #245 arrived as DC-7, the first of the character-specific issues in the series (DC-4 through DC-6 had been genre anthologies), and Bridwell served as its editor, assembling material from across DC's deep archive — Gold and Silver Age Superman, plus vintage stories spotlighting the Atom, Hawkman, Kid Eternity, Air Wave, and Super-Chief. The lead reprint, 'The Team of Luthor and Brainiac!,' had originally been scripted by Edmond Hamilton from a plot by a teenage fan named Cary Bates, with pencils by Curt Swan and inks by George Klein; for this 1971 reprint, the editorial team made a deliberate continuity correction, swapping the character name 'Tharla' for 'Ardora' throughout the story. The wrap-around cover was penciled by Curt Swan and inked by Murphy Anderson, a collaboration so associated with the Superman title that the pairing had already earned the collector nickname 'Swanderson.'
Trivia · 8 facts
- On sale October 14, 1971; cover-dated December 1971/January 1972; published by National Periodical Publications (DC Comics).
- Simultaneously numbered as DC 100-Page Super Spectacular DC-7, the first character-headlined issue in that series — setting the template of a named star hero opening and closing each Super Spec.
- Lead story is a reprint of 'The Team of Luthor and Brainiac!' from Superman #167 (February 1964) — the first-ever Luthor/Brainiac villain team-up and the story that retconned Brainiac into a humanoid computer created by the Computer Tyrants of Colu.
- This reprint edition edits the character name 'Tharla' (used in the original Superman #167) to 'Ardora' throughout, making this the issue where Lex Luthor's future wife first appears under the name by which she would be known in all subsequent DC continuity.
- The same lead story also contains the first appearance of Brainiac II (Vril Dox), ancestor of Legion of Super-Heroes member Brainiac 5; the original story's script was by Edmond Hamilton from a plot submitted by teenage fan Cary Bates, with art by Curt Swan and George Klein.
- Additional reprints span decades of DC history: 'The Count' from Kid Eternity #3, 'The Time Trap!' from The Atom #3, 'The Crowning of Super-Chief!' from All-Star Western #117, 'The Adventure of the Shooting Spooks' from Detective Comics #66, 'The Super-Motorized Menace' from Mystery in Space #89, and 'The Prankster's Greatest Role!' from Superman #87.
- The wrap-around cover is a Curt Swan/Murphy Anderson collaboration; the inside back cover features a Swan-drawn model sheet of Superman's face from every angle and in every emotion — a unique bonus feature not reprinted from any prior issue.
- The issue was reprinted in 2025 as part of DC Finest: Superman: Kryptonite Nevermore, a collected edition covering DC's early Bronze Age Superman material.
Full credits
Reprints
↩ Reprints Detective Comics #66 (1942), Kid Eternity #3 (1946), Superman #87 (1954), All Star Western #117 (1961), The Atom #3 (1962), Mystery in Space #89 (1964), Superman #167 (1964)
Reprinted in Superman Presents World's Finest Comic Monthly #87 (1972), Stålmannen #12/1974 (1974), Superman Poche #108-109 (1986), DC Finest: Superman: Kryptonite Nevermore #[nn] (2025)
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