Than-Ar

An official of [[Kandor]] and longtime friend of [[Superman]], sometimes rendered '''Than-Kar''', who agrees to transform himself temporarily into a “metalloid,” or metal man, by means of a special “force-radiating instrument” capable of transforming human flesh into “invulnerable metal” and to embark on a bogus crime rampage in Kandor as part of an elaborate scheme devised by Superman for undoing the serious loss of morale and self-confidence recentiy suffered by [[Batman]] as the result of having been wounded by a ricocheting bullet during a battle with criminals. The plot becomes unexpectedly complicated, however, when [[Jhan-Ar]], the evil brother of Than-Ar, steals the force-radiating instrument, manufactures a series of duplicate instruments with which he transforms himself and two accomplices into metalloids, and then unleashes a genuine metalloid menace in Kandor. The villains are ultimately defeated and apprehended by Batman and [[Robin]], however, with the aid of Superman and [[Jimmy Olsen]], who function throughout most of the adventure in their Kandorian identities of [[Nightwing]] and [[Flamebird]] (WF No. 143, Aug 1964: “The Feud Between Batman and Superman!”; “The Manhunters from Earth!”).