METALLO!

Responding to a bank alarm in Metropolis one day, Clark Kent and Lois Lane found themselves face to face with what seemed like an ordinary human criminal. But there was nothing ordinary about the man who called himself Metallo!

When Superman "arrived" on the scene, the fight turned ugly. Superman found himself growing strangely weaker as he faced this new foe. Try as he might, he could not seem to gain the upper hand.

The two fought so violently they brought the building down around them. Lois watched in horror, certain she had seen the demise of the Man of Steel. Her shock was increased when the rubble parted to reveal Metallo--who was, amazing as it seemed, a robot!

Superman was not defeated, however. The Last Son of Krypton pulled himself up and faced Metallo again, more determined than ever to subdue him. But the strange weakness he had been facing all through the fight continued.

Then Metallo revealed the source of Superman's weakness--and, incidentally, Metallo's power: a heart made of a green-glowing rock he called Kryptonite, a fragment of the Man of Steel's home planet Krypton! Exposed directly to the strange mineral's radiation, Superman fell to the ground, powerless and dying.

That might have been the end of Superman, had Metallo not suddenly disappeared in a strange light. For the moment, Superman was safe.

Lex Luthor had been responsible for stopping Metallo moments before he could deliver the coup de grace to Superman. In his labs at Lexcorp, Luthor removed Metallo's kryptonite heart for his own use. That, however, was not the end of Metallo. His reserve battery pack allowed him to escape Lexcorp and begin a search for a new power source. His search led to an encounter with the Doom Patrol, and another meeting with the Man of Steel.

The next time Metallo appeared, he was working in partnership with Brainiac, who had taken over a laboratory belonging to Lexcorp. Metallo used Brainiac's superior intelligence and resources to rebuild his own body. He struck out on his own after Brainiac's defeat, and emerged again after some further technical upgrades. Still, in spite of his increased firepower, all the Man of Steel had to do to defeat him was remove Metallo's head. Even an upgrade which kept Metallo invlunerable so long as he was touching the ground proved little problem for Superman.

His next upgrade, however, did present a challenge to the Man of Steel (who was also facing challenges brought about by his new electrical powers). This upgrade allowed Metallo to absorb any machine he touched, from cars to subway trains to nuclear-powered aircraft carriers--even the new Man of Electricity himself! Metallo used Superman as his main energy source, and it was only by turning himself off that Superman was able to stop Metallo--that time.

When Lex Luthor returned from his near-death state following the Fall of Metropolis, and targeted Intergang and Morgan Edge for destruction, he arranged to have Metallo's head stolen from Stryker's Island. Metallo was released near Metropolis Airport, and managed to graft himself onto a 747 jetliner. Superman was foced to leave an interview which had arranged with Lex's new media operation, LexCom, to deal with the menace. Making short work of Metallo, Superman tore off his head and dove into a pile of sand which he hardened using his heat vision, encasing Metallo's head in glass.

When Brainiac-13 downloaded itself into Metropolis during the Y2K crisis, every piece of technology in Metropolis got a massive upgrade--including Metallo. Now able to generate kryptonite radiation, Metallo seemed unstoppable. Unfortunately, one thing the B13 virus did not upgrade was Metallo's weakness. Once his head was removed, he was rendered powerless.