User Reviews

Here we go with another eccentric "professor." This one is Prof. Van Wick, a man who was looking through his telescope at the time Superman broke an asteroid (an early episode) that was headed to Earth. He noticed Superman getting weak as some strange-glowing metal came out of the asteroid. He was in Africa at the time and saw one of the strange-looking particles fall nearby. It turns out to be Kryptonite and he brings that rock back with him to Metropolis to sell to a gangster for eight million dollars.

Meanwhile, another man. "Gary Allen" (Robert Lowery) who also was in the same vicinity in Africa at the time of the famous explosion, seems to be affected, too, by Kryponite. Just by coincidence, Allen is a friend of Clark Kent's and is on the same plane to Metropolis. The rock, hidden in a suitcase, makes Allen feint when it appears near him at the checkout counter. This happens to Kent, too, who comes to his rescue.

The rest of the story - with, yes, a ton of holes in it - involves how Superman can get rid of that rock, capture the crooks, and save Jimmy and Lois who - for the hundredth time - are taken hostage. Nothing "super," but the usual entertaining show. The crooks, as usual, were dumb and fun to watch and had names like "Big Tom Rufus," "The Snorkel" and "The Dutchess."

This is an OK episode with enough holes to make Swiss cheese jealous. I don't really pay much attention to those because this is not a serious documentary. A guy comes up with some Kryptonite which was introduced in an episode where Superman saved the world by diverting an asteroid. Why this guy wants to harm Superman isn't clear. He does offer to sell it and must know that the people he is dealing with aren't very nice. Another guy is also affected by the stuff, even though he is just a friend of Clark's. I never really understood why. It just added to the confusion in the plot. A trap is set and because Jimmy and Lois have again stuck their noses in things (Jeepers Mr. Kent!) he is force to try to save them, but there is Kryptonite in the house and he can't get near it. Meanwhile the other guy is dying (for some reason) and the threesome is about to get burned up with napalm. Just your average day at the office. It works out anyway. One thing. I was curious why the people who owned the house had a flame thrower (they call it a weed burner). Just one of those plot things I mentioned.

EVERYONE who was ever a kid in this Land of Ours can tell you just what is the one substance that can hurt or even kill Superman; for it is just that the Man of Steel is as revered and treated much the same way that would be Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill, John Henry and a Conservative Democrat.

KRYPTONITE would be what we are looking; that substance being of course radioactive chunks of rock that are fragments of the exploded Planet, Krypton. The radioactivity that emanates from any specimen of the greenish, glowing mineral is harmful, even lethal to native born inhabitants of Krypton.

INASMUCH as the young son of Joel and Lara was the only surviving person from the cataclysmic eruption of that doomed planet, it shouldn't harm anyone else.* Or would it?

OUR STORY today is one of the Superman TV Episodes that has the deadly Kryptonian radioactive element at the center of the story. This Episode, "The Deadly Rock", is not only one in that exclusive Kryptonite stories; but also it has one distinction all to itself. That being that it is the only Superman Episode that makes mention of a previous adventure.

WHEN at the beginning of the story, this South African planter and amateur scientist/mineral & gem collector, Professor van Wick (Steven Geray) states early on in the story that he watched through his telescope as Superman collided with the huge Meteor which threatened to crash land right on the City of Metropolis. At that time, Superman was nearly destroyed and suffered a weakened condition as well as Amnesia.**

ADDING to the complications in this episode was the freaky occurrence that the substance also affected a friend of Kent's, Government Investigator, Gary Allen (Robert Lowery). They do come up with a theory of why this is in recounting that Mr. Allen, who is a pilot, was flying his aircraft in an area of the sky near to the position of the Meteorite when Superman made his contact.

PROFESSOR van Wick, however, has an agenda that is far outside of any scientific interest; for he understands what he has and understands that many an Underworld Kingpin would pay royally in order to get their hands on "The Deadly Rock."Through his contacts in the Metropolis Underworld, the Professor makes a meet with one Big Tom Rufus (Robert Foulk), a gang leader and interested potential buyer.

AS with most of the rest of the series, the cast has a good supporting cast of character actors in supporting roles. Jim Hayward, Sid Melton, Vincent Perry, Ric Roman and Lyn Thomas round out the cast. Series Regulars Kent/Superman (Big George), Lois (Noel Neill), Jimmy (Jack Larson) and Mr. White (John Hamilton) all get good face time in this one. Robert Shayne (Inspector Bill Henderson) must have been on his annual furlough, for he makes no appearance other than having his name in the usual credits at the show's conclusion.

"THE DEADLY ROCK" is a well written story for a half hour episode. It has plenty of action, good storyline and character interaction (both the Good Guys as well as the Bad Ones). It is also an adventure that would have stood up well as an entry in Action Comics, Superman Comics Magazine or as a serialized story in the then McClure Newspaper Syndicate's SUPERMAN Comic Strip.

AS far as a rating for an episode within the framework of the Superman Series, me buddy, Schultz says it should be rated SS½! We heartily concur.

NOTE: * Yes, we understand, believe me. Over the years there has been many a story about other survivors; such as Supergirl, the residents of the shrunken city of Kandor and all those in the Phantom Zone. We must stick to the story at hand and deal with all those as they come up.

NOTE ** The story to which this one refers is "Panic In The Sky"; which was from the series' excellent second season. This entry was an adaptation from DC Comics WORLD'S FINEST COMICS, No. 68, dated January/February 1954, entitled "The Menace From The Stars"; which was also adapted to an episode of LOIS AND CLARK: THE NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN (1993-97).

NOTE: *** THE earliest of the Superman stories had him leaping rather than truly flying. There was no mention of X Ray Vision, Telescopic Vision or Super Breath. As he became more Super, writer/editor Mort Weisinger came up with the Kryptonite angle in order to give Superman an Achille's Heal.

POODLE SCHNITZ!!

This is a fun tale but as usual FULL of holes. Its never explained WHY the rock affects Allen in the first place. Another item why in the name of all thats super didn't the big guy used his heat vision to burn up the rock and not the weed burner?

One should note here that Robert Lowery was the second actor to play BATMAN in the movie serial "Batman and Robin" and many times in the comics Bats had super powers so in a way its was almost like having Bats and Super together. BTW on the old radio show Batman was on a few times

The name "Gary Allen" makes one think of "Barry Allen" who later on was the second FLASH

This is one of the odder episodes in the series and not one of the more interesting ones. Kryptonite made it's first appearance in the 2nd season episode "The Defeat of Superman" and not in "Panic In The Sky" that this episode alludes to. This time Kryptonite affects more than just Superman. Lacks the humor of the other lighter fare episodes in the third and fourth seasons. Other than a stock shot of Superman flying there's really no super. Everybody knows that one of Superman's powers is to burn things up with eyes so why does he use a flame thrower to destroy the deadly rock instead of his heat vision? Story Editor and Superman Comics editor Mort Weisinger was asleep at the wheel on this gaffe.

A really good concept for this episode with Kryptonite making its deadly return, but affecting an old friend of Clark Kent's in Gary Allan (Robert Lowery), returned from world travel. It's interesting how often United Airlines is shown, both as Gary's plane and in the wall posters at the airport; were they a sponsor? The two heavies living high on the hog in a spacious house are also well-cast, like Lowery, but why they picked Steven Geray to play Professor Van Wyck as a sputtering, stammering milquetoast who does everything expect balance a circus ball on his nose for attention is bothersome. There was a lot of dramatic possibility in this story, but Van Wyck is just a cartoon, not a character. "The Adventures of Superman" as a series in whole, especially in its later years, was not kind to professors (i.e., Pepperwinkle; Van Wyck; the Yoda-talking Rolfe Sedan character in "The Big Freeze", etc.), so I wonder if Florida Governor Ron DeSantis grew up watching this series, given his horrid attitude toward college and university faculty and higher education in general.