Superman in "Terra-Man's Skyway Robbery"

The third Super Sugar Crisp minicomic from 1980 is "Terra-Man's Highway Robbery." (I have to say that I must have eaten a shitload of Super Sugar Crisp when I was a kid in order to get all these minicomics. But, like most right-thinking kids at the time, I picked my cereal for the prize inside, not for taste or nutritional value.)

Of all the possible Superman villains to use in this, Terra-Man seems to be an odd choice. Don't get me wrong, the space cowboy on a flying horse was a near-perfect Cary Bates creation. It just seems that a more high-profile villain, like Luthor or Brainiac or Parasite or Toyman or Mr. Mxyzptlk or any one of a dozen others would be more appropriate.

The story opens with Clark Kent having a friendly, innocuous chat with Frank, the doorman at Clark's Clinton Street apartment building. Frank, who apparently can talk about anything, mentions how full the moon looks, and Clark, realizing he's going to get sucked in to another one of those conversations, takes off at super speed.

Actually, he sees the shadow of a guy on a flying horse going across the moon. Whatever the case, he dodged a bullet there.

Meanwhile, Terra-Man has broken into the Metropolis Historical Museum in order to steal Cole Younger's pistol.

This all seems a bit excessive just for a pistol, especially when you consider the cost of all of Terra-Man's gadgets. I mean, what's his ROI on this caper? He could probaby just take the money he invested in his drill lariat, his glass-cutting spurs, and flying horse feed, and make a cash offer to the museum for the pistol. It would surely save a lot of trouble. Especially since he plans on ruining the pistol's historical value by rigging it to shoot lasers.


Just how uncomfortable would it be to ride around on your flying horse with a cactus in your hat?

Turns out, it's no ordinary flying cactus--it's an exploding kryptonite cactus. Nothing says, "1970s DC Comic" quite like "exploding kryptonite cactus."

In typical fashion, Superman finds the most complex method possible to escape from the falling kryptonite, and then he quickly captures the "cosmic cowboy."

"Cosmic Cowboy," not to be confused with "Space Cowboy," copyright 1973, Steve Miller.

Superman then further humiliates the guy in a yellow shirt and green cape by "hogtying" him, which leads to some pretty disturbing banter.
Is "I ain't been branded yet" a good retort to levy at a guy with heat vision? And Superman's response at first sounds like he's been watching a little too much Oz.