DC Comics Presents #22

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Adam Blake (Captain Comet) is desperately trying to find Clark Kent. Learning from Lois Lane that he's covering a story at Metropolis Bay, he goes directly there. Jimmy Olsen watches as Superman blows an oil slick out to sea so it won't pollute the waterfront. Watching, Blake is waiting for Superman when he suddenly and unwillingly changes into a human comet and streaks through the sky. When Superman scoops up the human comet in his cape, it reforms into Captain Comet, who pleads for Superman to help stop his comet-attacks. Captain Comet explains that his mutant abilities, given to him by a comet on the day of his birth, have begun to fade and manifest themselves in comet-attacks, and he needs to be exposed to the comet once again to stop the attacks and restore his powers. Comet has scanned all interplanetary space and cannot find it himself. Bringing Captain Comet to his Fortress of Solitude, Superman uses super-speed to read through his science library and discovers that the comet will appear in Chicago, Illinois, at 2 A.M. that night, since unlike other comets it warps through space. Superman returns to Metropolis to do his nightly newscast as Clark Kent.

Meanwhile, a man named Starstriker – another mutant who was born at the exact same time as Captain Comet but whose latent mutant powers remained untapped – awaits the comet in order to gain the same powers as he. Superman and Captain Comet arrive to await the comet, but they are attacked by a missile fired by Starstriker. Firing missiles at the city to divert Superman, Starstriker uses his mental abilities to attack Captain Comet, causing him to have a comet-attack. Superman chases after the human comet even as the awaited comet warps into view, allowing Starstriker to bathe in its radiation and gain power. Starstriker teleports away, and Captain Comet tries to find him.

The next morning, Clark Kent is telepathically contacted at the Daily Planet by Captain Comet and attempts to change into his Superman costume but finds his powers are negated. At the JLA satellite, Superman explains his problem to Wonder Woman, then uses the teleporter to transport himself to where Starstriker most likely is – the Barringer meteor crater in Arizona. Meanwhile, Starstriker (who has captured Captain Comet and procured green kryptonite) sees Superman arrive and sends solid psychic duplicates of himself to battle and subdue Superman, whom he captures. Superman then escapes and frees Captain Comet, who removes his mental blocks and restores his full powers. Superman leaves to stop seven comets headed for Earth's seven continents, while Captain Comet (whose has recovered) confronts Starstriker. As Superman uses one of the comets to destroy the other six, Captain Comet outwits Starstriker by sending mental force back at him, stimulating a comet-attack. He also restructures Starstriker's mind so that any use of his powers will trigger a comet-attack. [“Plight of the Human Comet,” DC Comics Presents #22 (June, 1980)]