Superman Unlimited #9 (2026)

Reporters Steve Lombard, Vicki Vale and Jack Ryder have drinks at the Bronze Swan, a bar near the Daily Planet, and share stories about billionares and wealthy people getting killed in admittedly dumb ways. Tech billionare Warren Pitt died when he got hit in the face with a pie that contained materials he was allergic to, fashion designer Kurt Coleman was drowned in paint while having a gender reveal party and songwriter Max McMahon was hit with a piano. Although Steve says their deaths look liked something straight out of Looney Tunes, Clark replies that those people dedicated their lives towards charity and progress, so they should be given respect. Ryder asks if the Joker is involved and Vale does not believe it, because if Joker was responsible for those deaths, he would have left a calling card. Clark says he has investigated the deaths and the culprit left no fingerprints, but Steve reminds him to go to the mayor's conference at City Hall. Later, Perry informs the gathered the press that the Metropolis Police Department has brought down Intergang's advanced weapon division, representing a significant blow to the Mannheim family. Clark asks who is leading the Mannheim family now that Bruno is behind bars, and Perry replies that the family is led by Bruce's sister, Minnie, a petty criminal. In an abandoned part of the city, Minnie has a meeting with the Oswald Loomis, the Prankster, and wants his services not just to kill a specific target but to destroy his entire legacy. As Minnie leaves, Oswald's nephew, also going by the name Prankster, accepts the contract and asks about his target, and Oswald replies that his target is Perry White. The next day, Steve invites Clark to see the Metropolis Meteors play at their home stadium and, as fate would have it, Perry has been invited to throw the first pitch. Perry steps into the mound and throws the ball at the glove of Mr. Meteor, the team's mascot, but suddenly, Clark's super-senses detect a disturbance. Mr. Meteor throws the ball back at Perry and all the baseballs held by members of the audience start flying at Perry at breakneck speeds, but before they hit him, Superman intervenes and shields Perry with his body. As Superman vaporizes the balls with his heat vision, the costume of Mr. Meteor has been abandoned and Superman deduces the man in the costume was responsible. Meanwhile, at Smallville, Jon reports on the activities of Steelworks Campus, which has been investigating multiple dimensional breaches, until he gets a call from his father. Clark asks if any of those breaches are connected to the fifth dimension, as he believes that Mr. Mxyzptlk could be involved in the attacks against Perry, but Jon is forced to hang up when he is visited by Mxyzptlk himself. Surprisingly, though, Mxyzptlk is not here to pull pranks at the expense of Superman of his family; instead, he has come to do them a favor. He warns Jon about Master Txyz, a fourth-dimensional demon that will become Jon's greatest enemy. Days later, at Centennial Park, Perry holds an event to give Superman the key of the city and personally thank him for saving Perry's life. A man hidden in the audience pushes a button on his wristwatch and, suddenly, all the gold paint on the key is dissolved and the key is revealed to be made of Kryptonite, which triggers Superman's golden aura. The culprit is actually the second Prankster and is using the time limit on Superman's aura to murder Perry yet again. He summons a large stone bird, an out-of-control plane and even the golden statue built to honor Superman against Perry, but Superman keeps Perry safe, at the cost of exhausting his powers. The Prankster escapes and decides to start the next phase of his plan. Later, at the Pranksters' hideout, Oswald and his nephew watch Clark's reporting on the Prankster's actions. The second Prankster believes that Clark will compare him to the Joker, only for Clark to mention Central City's Trickster instead. Insulted, the Prankster promises to kill Clark.