This is, no lie, one of my favorite comic books ever.

The story itself is sort of dull and the art no doubt seems dated to the modern eye, but this story…

 

Superman nuked

 

 

Basically, in this issue, Superman dreams that the U.S. and the (then-still-extant) Soviet Union go to war. Nukes fly, and the planet is devastated, leaving Superman as the sole survivor of yet another world.

Consequently, the Man of Steel decides that maybe it’s time just to gather up all of those nukes and chuck them into the sun (as was fashionable at the time; see the dreadful Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.)

But then something happens… Something small and instructive, and Superman realizes that while he possesses the power to disarm the world, he does not possess the moral authority. That there is a higher purpose at work here — that Humanity must learn how to deal with its own incredible power, just as Superman himself did.

It’s a nice bit of storytelling, and tackles some serious subject matter in a far superior way than that nightmarish fourth Superman movie.

(From Superman #408, June 1985. Cover by Ed Hannigan and Al Williamson.)