“The Mysterious Cube”: Does It Fit?

“The Mysterious Cube”: Does It Fit?


by Armand Vaquer

Michael Hayde’s book, Flights of Fantasy, on radio’s and television’s Adventures of Superman, described two 1957 episodes of the television series as “controversial” as they allegedly give the Man of Steel “new abilities beyond those established by his comic book persona.” Those episodes are “Divide and Conquer” and “The Mysterious Cube.”

In these episodes, Superman (George Reeves) is assisted by Professor Lucerne (Everett Glass, no relation to Carl). In both, Superman is perplexed by either a situation or substance that only the scientific advice by Lucerne can provide him with the solution to overcome each one.

In “Divide and Conquer,” Superman is jailed for suspicion (a phony charge by an evil and ambitious vice president in a fictional Latin American country) of being behind an attempt on the president’s life. Superman cannot not be in a jail cell and still preserve his Clark Kent identity at the same time, unless he can be at two places at the same time. He accomplishes this by the help of Lucerne who tells him that he can accomplish this if he expands his atomic structure by driving the molecules farther apart and then separate them. And then, as Lucerne says, “There might be two of you instead of one.”

Naturally, Superman purists would object to this on the grounds that this ability was never established in the comics.

The second episode, “The Mysterious Cube,” is about a criminal who is in a room-sized cube (for seven years) made of a strange alloy that Superman cannot penetrate so he can be declared legally dead and escape the charges against him. (It is interesting that Superman’s x-ray/heat vision or super-strength has no effect on the cube, but a jar of acid does.) This is the case until Superman discusses his problem with Lucerne (above).

Superman tells Lucerne that he can’t see though the cube or even smash through it. Lucerne comes up with the idea of having Superman rearrange his molecules to that they join with the cube’s molecules. If Superman can accomplish this, he might be able to pass through it. Superman gives it a try, and finds that, after much concentration, he can do it.

Mike Hayde, in his book, stated that both these abilities (splitting into two and passing though solid objects) were not established abilities in the Superman canon in the comics or otherwise. He is correct. At the time (1957), Superman was unable to perform these feats. To this date, he is still unable to split into two people in the comics.

However, Superman has been able to pass through walls in the comic books. How?

In the comic books, the Silver Age Superman has been able to pass though walls by vibrating his molecular structure. In a comic book in the 1970s, Superman stated that he was taught this ability by The Flash (Barry Allen). Vibrating through walls at super-speed has always been an ability of The Flash. Since Superman also has the ability of super-speed, he should be able to do this as well. Because his molecular structure is different from ordinary human beings, he probably needed to be taught to do this (and get around his differences) from someone who already knew how to accomplish it. Naturally, The Flash was the perfect teacher.

Although the word “vibrate” was never stated in “The Mysterious Cube,” it is clear that some vibration is needed for Superman to “rearrange” his molecules to allow him to pass through the cube’s walls.

So, is Michael Hayde is right or wrong concerning this?  Hayde is correct that as of 1957, Superman did not have this ability to pass through a wall. But he is incorrect as this ability was acquired by Superman (thanks to the tutoring by The Flash) in the 1970s and, therefore, is now a part of the established Superman canon. Hayde probably missed this little bit of trivia before writing his book.