.....There is not a single frame of this story that makes any fucking sense.
Seriously, all of this in order to trick a pair of aliens.
Superman, JUST FUCKING PUNCH THEM. PUNCH THE BAD GUYS. HOW HARD IS THAT? YOU DON'T NEED TO GO THROUGH ALL THIS NONSENSE.
And this was all planned, Superman mad this whole contingency plan, and apparently he made ones for Lois and Perry if the text is to be believed. Can you imagine Supes sitting down with them and like "Okay Jimmy, if aliens come, I want you to put on this Helmet and pretend your evil, then shoot me with a gun that will make them think I've turned into the Devil, then i will make a fake deal with the devil with Perry, then when the aliens are convinced I am evil we will board the ship, and the shrunken Kryptonians in my horns will wreck their shit, its foolproof! They'll never see it coming!"
Seriously, no one at any point just raised their hand and was like "Superman, this sounds like the dumbest thing I have ever heard in my life." No one?
Not to mention the fact that Superman completely destroyed the reputation of the Daily Planet and gave away the identity of a high profile undercover agent.
Also, for an evil genius Braniac sure hired himself some stupid henchmen. Even when one of them suspects a trick (no shit, Sherlock), the other convices him otherwise by saying Superman never goes against his word. Apparently it never occurred to him that a Superman supposedly turned evil would have no inherent reason to keep his promises. Nor that even an actually still-good Superman might use an obvious and facile loophole (an attack by proxy) so as to honour the letter but not the spirit of his promise.
Its even worse when you realize that these two guys are Coluans, the same species as Brainiac. Which means they are also super intelligent humanoid computers.
So either Brainiac was overselling his races genius, or the other Coluans collectively decided to install Windows Vista while Brainiac was out.
Alternatively, the Bad guys could have just decided to shrink Earth while Superman was wasting time going through this nonsense.
But I see your point, clearly Civil War could have been averted if the New Warriors, in Lieu of going in and fighting Nitro, instead put on an elaborate and nonsensical stage play where they pretend to turn into literal demons and arrange a mob boss to become Mayor of Stanford, only to have Ant Man and Wasp pop out of a Pinata and knock out Nitro, revealing the r use.
For extra effect, while wearing the helmet Jimmy should've laughed maniacally (while contorting his face into various creepy rictuses) and said, "Must. Do. Evil. Theengs. To. Best. Friend. Superman!"
"Okay Superman, we've enacted your absurdly complicated plan exactly as you had requested. Can...can you release our families from their cage in the Fortress of Solitude now?"
Okay, I can get why the Red Kryptonite Ray Gun was believable. A weapon that inverts a Kryptonian's moral axis while also depowering them seems like it'd be super handy the next time, say, Zod showed up, and by the Silver Age standards, hardly unlikely or a terrifying violation of someone's mind at all.
Why the hell would Superman have a Hate-Helmet lying around, though?
Would it be stupid for me to think they did this just to mess with the overzealous religious groups who keep on thinking "Comic books are evil"? I mean, I know that some of them took offense to how He-Man plays things out... and not in THAT way as other claim it to be...
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no subject
Date: 2018-04-19 02:37 pm (UTC)Seriously, all of this in order to trick a pair of aliens.
Superman, JUST FUCKING PUNCH THEM. PUNCH THE BAD GUYS. HOW HARD IS THAT? YOU DON'T NEED TO GO THROUGH ALL THIS NONSENSE.
And this was all planned, Superman mad this whole contingency plan, and apparently he made ones for Lois and Perry if the text is to be believed. Can you imagine Supes sitting down with them and like "Okay Jimmy, if aliens come, I want you to put on this Helmet and pretend your evil, then shoot me with a gun that will make them think I've turned into the Devil, then i will make a fake deal with the devil with Perry, then when the aliens are convinced I am evil we will board the ship, and the shrunken Kryptonians in my horns will wreck their shit, its foolproof! They'll never see it coming!"
Seriously, no one at any point just raised their hand and was like "Superman, this sounds like the dumbest thing I have ever heard in my life." No one?
no subject
Date: 2018-04-19 02:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-04-19 07:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-04-19 03:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-04-20 03:49 am (UTC)So either Brainiac was overselling his races genius, or the other Coluans collectively decided to install Windows Vista while Brainiac was out.
no subject
Date: 2018-04-19 06:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-04-19 10:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-04-20 01:48 pm (UTC)Superman goes in swinging, someone accidentally bumps up against it, and he's gonna have to get another bottle in the fortress for Metropolis.
no subject
Date: 2018-04-20 05:00 pm (UTC)But I see your point, clearly Civil War could have been averted if the New Warriors, in Lieu of going in and fighting Nitro, instead put on an elaborate and nonsensical stage play where they pretend to turn into literal demons and arrange a mob boss to become Mayor of Stanford, only to have Ant Man and Wasp pop out of a Pinata and knock out Nitro, revealing the r use.
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Date: 2018-04-19 02:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-04-19 03:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-04-19 03:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-04-20 12:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-04-19 03:25 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2018-04-19 07:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-04-20 12:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-04-20 12:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-04-20 09:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-04-19 09:27 pm (UTC)It must have been really cramped inside those horns.
no subject
Date: 2018-04-19 10:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-04-20 12:50 am (UTC)Why the hell would Superman have a Hate-Helmet lying around, though?
no subject
Date: 2018-04-20 01:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-04-20 01:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-04-20 09:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-04-20 04:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-04-21 06:19 am (UTC)