PETRIFIED SPACEMAN

Real Name: Unrevealed

Class: Extraterrestrial (Ice World)

Occupation: Astronaut

Group Affiliation: None

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Ice World, formerly Metropolis

First Appearance: Action Comics I #226 (March, 1957)

Powers: The Petrified Spaceman was a giant who possessed superhuman strength and durability. He could project heat, cold and magnetic waves, and could turn intangible or invisible at will. Like all members of his race he needed extreme cold to survive.

History: (Action Comics I #226) - An astronaut from Ice World explored other planets, but crashed on Earth, and the temperate environment was too much for his body to stand and he went into torpor. Over the ages his body and his spaceship were covered by earth and stone until ages later archaeologists from Metropolis dug him and his craft up. Sideshow exhibitor Barnum Bolton wanted to display the "Petrified Spaceman," and offered to donate to the Daily Planet's clear-air fund to hire Superman as a bodyguard so the scientists would be assured their specimen wouldn't be damaged. The Spaceman was shown to the citizens of Metropolis, but Superman's arch-enemy Lex Luthor was lurking nearby, and shot at Superman with a synthetic-kryptonite rifle. The shot missed Superman and struck the Spaceman, reawakening him. He went on a rampage in his clouded mental state, looking for ice to cool him down. He mistook glass for ice, and smashed into stores and cars for his plunder. Superman went into action, but his powers countered the hero at every turn, and he turned invisible, leaving the Metropolis city limits. Superman realized that the Spaceman didn't mean any harm, and what he was actually after, so he brought blocks of ice to cool him down, restoring his mind. The Spaceman was grateful, and Superman returned him to his home world by constructing a spacecraft out of ice and hurling it into space, guided to Ice World by his telescopic vision.

Comments: Created by Otto Binder & Wayne Boring.