Superwoman in Electric Earthquake

"Up in the sky,look!" "It's a bird!" "It's a plane!" "It's Superwoman!"

Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall
buildings in a single bound! This amazing stranger from the planet Krypton! The Woman
of Steel,Superwoman! Posessing remarkable physical strength,Superwoman fights a never
ending battle for truth and justice! Disguised as a mild mannered newspaper reporter,
Clara Kent!

The skyscrapers of Manhattan Island,New York shimmered in the dwindling dusk sunshine.
Under the harbor though,something wicked was brewing,as giant electrodes were plunged
into the island's edges! Out of an oddly shaped underwater building that the electrodes
and their cables were connected to, a elevated tube rose to the surface. Once in the
docks, the door in the steel compartment opened to reveal Professor Michael
Littlefeather,a member of the tribe from which the island took it's name,and a graduate
of NYU. Littlefeather had always been incensed at how his tribe had been cheated out
of their birthright,and studied science heavily to find a way to get even,after amassing
a large fortune doing freelance technological work,he finally put his dream into action.
Now,being a fair man,Michael was going to give his enemies one last chance to redeem
themselves. He took his speedboat to the mainland,and walked to the building of the
paper The Daily Planet where he demanded to see the Editor Perry White and two of
the paper's best reporters,Clara Kent and Louis Lane. At the meeting,Littlefeather stood
with his arms crossed and with a look of menace on his face said "And I still say
Manhattan rightfully belongs to my people." "Possibly,but just what do you expect us to
do about it?" Clara asked. "You have a newspaper. Publish the truth! Have the island
vacated immediately!" Littlefeather commanded,as looks of astonishment washed over
Perry and Louis' faces. "It's fantastic!" Louis angrily exclaimed. "Why,that's
ridiculous." Perry grumbled. "Ridiculous? Maybe modern science will make you think
differently!" Littlefeather indignantly responded,before leaving. As Louis watched him
leave,he knew the scientist was up to something and decided to follow him. Perry said to
Clara "I've never heard of anything so absurd." "You know,from the look in his eyes, I'd
almost believe he was in earnest." Clara responded. "No,he's just a harmless crank."
Perry reassured her. However,during this conversation,neither of them noticed Louis sneak
out the door.

Louis followed Littlefeather to the docks,where as the Professor untied his boat,Louis
climbed into the backseat and hid from sight. When Littlefeather reached his elevator,
he got out and pressed the button to open the door,only to see the reflection of Louis
in the steel! Louis,realizing he'd been spotted,tried to hide again,only to hear the
Professor's reassuring voice saying "Come ahead,Mister Lane,you wouldn't want miss this
story,I'm sure." Louis obeyed and walked towards the Professor and his elevator. Michael
politely motioned for Louis to go in first,then he followed him in and pressed another
button,which closed the doors,and the machine began it's descent into the ocean. Once
inside Littlefeather's laboratory, Micheal motioned Louis into a chair,then eased his
fingers to a button on the chair's side and pressed it. Metal restraints snapped around
Louis' arms and legs! "Just a precautionary measure." Littlefeather assured him. The
Professor then donned a lab coat,gloves and goggles and approached a massive control
panel. Micheal turned a dial and pulled a lever. Electricity jolted, and a telescope
emerged from the lab and gave the Professor a clear view of the island. "Now,Mister
Lane,get ready for the greatest story of your career." Littlefeather addressed Louis,
before turning back to the controls. The Professor pulled a lever which sent millions
of volts of electricity through the cables and electrodes and into the ground,causing
massive explosions which sent damaging earthquakes throughout the city! Vehicles crashed,
bridges collapsed, and people ran for their lives!

At the Planet,the building began to shake and shudder as a long crack went up it.
"Come on,Kent. Let's get out of here!" Perry told Clara as the lights went out. Once
outside,Clara confidently stated "This looks like a job for Superwoman!" as she took
her glasses off and let her hair down. Clara retreated to a private area,where she took
her jacket and shirt off,beginning to reveal her costume,when a pile of rubble fell on
her and covered her! But Clara finished taking off her outer garments and pushed the
rubble off,revealed as Superwoman! Seeing the explosions eminating from the coastline,
Superwoman flew to the docks and dove into the water.

Superwoman followed the cable to where it connected to the ground and attempted to pull
it out,but the charge already reached the ground,and blew Superwoman back! Superwoman
immeadiately recovered and returned to the cable,where she successfully pulled it out
this time. Superwoman then went over to another cable and pulled it out. But upon going
over to a third cable,the second's electrode activated,knocking Superwoman down and
knocking loose several large rocks,which pinned her to the ocean floor! However,
Superwoman pushed the rocks off of her like they were nothing,and swam to the top to get
air. But one the cable she unearthed followed her up as she got to the surface and gasped
for air,the cable wrapped around her neck and brought her back down! Superwoman easily
freed herself and rushed to the cable as the electricity ran through it. Superwoman
grabbed one part of the cable,and when the surge reached it,it burst in two! Superwoman
then went to the Laboratory and began pulling the cables from their sockets,which made
the control panel pop and burst with explosions! The outer shell of the laboratory began
to rip open as well,unleashing a torrent of water inside! As the water rose,Littlefeather
panicked and escaped in his elevator,as Louis attempted to free himself from the chair!
Upon seeing The elevator head for the surface,Superwoman attempted to swim after it. She
had to fight against the current created by the hole in the lab,but she propelled herself
foreward and emerged from the water just as the elevator did so. Upon exiting the
elevator,Littlefeather found himself confronted by Superwoman,who grabbed him! "But a-
a reporter's still down there!" Littlefeather said nervously as Superwoman lifted him up!
Superwoman let go of the scientist and dove back into the ocean. Littlefeather unveiled
a bomb near him,set the timer,placed it into the elevator and sent it down! Superwoman
entered the laboratory and located Louis,the water was almost up to his head! Superwoman
then freed Louis of his metallic bonds,then took him in one arm as she walked towards the
hole in the wall. Meanwhile,Littlefeather made a getaway in his speed boat,when he saw
the water splash upwards with the explosion,he smiled broadly. Suddenly he felt the boat
rise in the air,and looked down to see Superwoman holding the boat upwards with one hand
with Louis clinging onto her.

The Planet headline the next day read "Superwoman saves Manhattan Island" "Story by Louis
Lane" a sub wrote "Superwoman Disappears Again" Clara and Louis were on a ferry watching
the city go by as Clara said "You know, Louis, the old island looks just as good as
ever." Louis replied "That's right, Clara,thanks to Superwoman."

THE END

Hi, dr. mc3:

I'm just now catching up after a few days away from the forum. As always, I enjoyed your tweaking of those classic cartoons. Nobody posted any feedback, I see -- par for the course, but still a damn shame.

I believe "The Mad Scientist" was the first of these cartoons to be produced. I've heard that the inventor was based on Nikola Tesla, but he doesn't look much like any photograph of Tesla I've ever see. I get a kick out of watching Superman punching his way through the death-ray. Now that's old school!

"Little Girl Lost" -- the episode that introduced Supergirl to the WB Superman series -- included an homage to "The Magnetic Telescope" when Granny Goodness used a giant electromagnet to pull a comet (called "Fleischer's Comet") toward Earth.

Thanks for commenting Argo! I agree that it is a shame that people haven't commented on these stories anymore. Maybe it's because they're persuing other avenues,or maybe I posted too many in a short amount of time and they got tired of them. Maybe I should do another original one next. Yes, "Superman" a.k.a "The Mad Scientist" was indeed the first Fleischer Superman short. And thanks for the little tidbits of info,Argo.

Just FYI, it's kind of annoying to have taken up the gauntlet and started posting more feedback only to find myself reprimanded for failing to post more feedback.

Dr M, I do continue to enjoy your vignettes.

Sorry about that,yara. The last thing I want to do is annoy someone. And glad to hear that you enjoy my stories,I really appreciate it!

yarac, I wasn't reprimanding anybody -- just giving dr. m a pat on the back. I was catching up after a week's absence from the forum and saw that he'd posted three new stories and hadn't gotten feedback for any of them. That's bound to be discouraging. Okay, I admit that "par for the course" was a little snippy, and I apologize to anyone who took it personally.

I certainly am still enjoying reading these, though I don't comment on them until after I've seen the original cartoon. The adaptations continue to be well done. I think the Mad Scientist is probably my favourite so far, but I couldn't say why.

I would certainly enjoy reading another original story if you decide to do one next.