Bart Benson (1963)

A lumberjack and foreman of the Selwyn Lumber Co., which is owned by the immensely wealthy farmowner Digby Selwyn and his daughter Sally Selwyn, of whom Benson is employed by. It is unknown if he is of any relation to Bart Benson, the owner of the Bart Benson Construction Co. (S No. 124/3: "The Steeplejack of Steel"). Benson was a chief rival for Sally's affections, along with Jim White, who unknown to anyone, was Superman amnesiac and powerless due to the effects of Red Kryptonite and dressed in the clothes of his Clark Kent identity.

Benson was requested by the Selwyns to employ 'Jim' to help him with the work on the timberland. Benson took an instant dislike to him, especially since Sally clearly began developing romantic feelings for 'Jim', ("She's sweet on him! But he's not kiddin' me! He's as much after her dough as I am!"). Benson then began embarking on several jealous-driven schemes to get rid of 'Jim' permanently, which included drugging a horse at a rodeo to get violent which resulted in 'Jim' getting paralysed. Then while 'Jim' was alone by a river in a wheelchair several days later, Benson pushed a boulder that knocked 'Jim' into the river and out to sea, where he was presumably drowned. It was never discovered by anyone that Benson committed these foul deeds, and it was assumed that 'Jim' committed suicide when in actuality Superman was found by the the mermaid Lori Lemaris and her people in the sea, where he subsequently recovered and all the effects of the Red Kryptonite wore off. Yet by then Superman had no memory of his time with the Selwyns, and certainly not of Benson's crime. (S No. 165, Nov 1963: "The Sweetheart Superman Forgot")