Superman didn’t face super-powered enemies from his native planet until a dozen years into his career. But once he did, they became a recurrent theme.
In The Three Supermen from Krypton! (Superman 65, July-Aug., 1950), the Man of Steel encounters Mala, Kizo and U-Ban, three Kryptonian brothers who’d attempted to blackmail their fellow Kryptonians by threatening to extract all moisture from the atmosphere.
Thwarted by Jor-El, they were placed into suspended animation. The planet’s ruling council condemned them to drift in space and, ironically and inadvertantly, saved them from Krypton’s destruction.
“This is a plot device that would often return in later years, eventually giving rise to the Phantom Zone,” noted comics historian Michael E. Grost. “Even at this early date, Krypton has no capital punishment.”
According to this tale, all natives of Krypton are familiar with their powers of x-ray vision, super strength and super speed, but flight is something new to them.
When the trio decides to rule Earth, Superman agrees to fight them on condition that the duel take place far from any people who could be injured.
The ensuing battle provides Superman with the new experience of being exhausted, and gives him the idea of tricking the super-criminals into turning against each other. Once they’re debilitated, he sends them off in a new prison-ship.
The terrible trio returned four years later in The Outlaws from Krypton! (Action Comics 194, July 1954), but this time, only Mala had enough nerve to tackle Superman — not that it did him any good.
The theme was too good not to spread to other media incarnations of Superman.
In 1957, David Chantler wrote the unproduced film screenplay Superman and the Secret Planet for TV’s Adventures of Superman cast based on this idea.
Of course, the Kryptonian criminal theme also formed the basis of the films Superman II in 1980 and Man of Steel in 2013.
And on Superman: The Animated Series (1996-2000) the menacing Mala became female.
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