That's pretty tough!

Ummm… why doesn't Superman just take the robot's place there, you know, Silver Age Super Speed?

What kind of factory just lets reporters roam around getting into hazardous things.

I'm not quite sure how the fact that Clark Kent has robotic metal hands invariably leads to the deduction that Clark must be Superman. It seems like a few steps in the logical syllogism are being skipped here.

I love that orange suit/red tie combo. Robot Clark has style!

Tough day, but obviously not a very tough robot by Superman standards. You'd think he'd know to make his robot doubles more durable than that.

Unless we're meant to understand that the robot blundered into a plastic solvent that was even too much for Superman's super-tough plastic. In which case it was REALLY a bad idea to leave it just sitting around!

I was thinking the same thing.

Why is he there, anyway? He uses the robot so he doesn't have to be there, yet there he is.

Don't ask,just buy it.

You're both just the right age for 'the hobby'.

Why is there not room for both unabashed enjoyment and critical response?

We can believe that Superman can make lifelike robots but get upset
when he uses them for a few moments' respite from Lois' daily shit.

PERFECT age for 'the hobby'.

Why is there not a middle finger smilie?

Because Lois has long suspected Clark is Superman and uses robots to conceal his identity.

Lois is suspicious like that. It's hard to put one over on her.

Why is Lois reminding Clark they work for the Daily Planet?
Why is the robot getting plastic solvent on his hands like an incompetent tool?
Is Superman really there, or is that just meant to be figurative like he's looking in from afar with super vision?
Clark has no excuse to have a robot double, though it's known by Lois that Superman has them, so it's not that big a leap to conclude Clark is Superman if she sees that since she often suspects it anyway.
Why is Superman coating his robots with cheap, ordinary plastic susceptible to such things, anyway? Doesn't he have better tech?
Perhaps the robot has or can find a pair of men's gloves.
Of course Superman could fix the problem with super speed in any number of ways.
Isn't the only reason Superman is having a tough day because his story in that comic sucks compared the one about Supergirl in the same comic? I hear it's great!

Things were more laid back. It was the era of smoking at your workbench, lax security, child labor and 3 martini lunches.

He wasn't a reporter, but a guy I knew in the late 1990s visited a factory and came away with holes in his shoes because he walked through acidic puddles. To be fair, they DID warn him to watch where he walked because of acid on the floor.

1. Because people in comic books for decades had a compulsion to repeat common-knowledge stuff at least once a month.
2. Kryptonian AI technology wasn't that good (Really, Robot-Clark has the most clueless expression on his face, doesn't he? Just be glad he didn't accidentally dissolve his own mug! ).
3. I'm leaning toward the figurative interpretation.
4. Of course Clark has no excuse to have a robot double. That's why Superman's so worried about Lois finding out!
5. I already as good as asked that question above! Again, maybe the solvent's really just that strong.
6. If he was smart he'd don the nearest pair of gloves all right. But we already know that that robot's obviously not the sharpest tool in the shed, so its a forlorn hope.
7. Maybe Superman got exposed to some green Kryptonite, so that his super-speed wasn't up to par that day.
8. Yes, it is tough when your cousin shows you up in what's supposed to be your own title by having a GREAT story. And of course it's just that much worse when the cousin who shows you up is a girl!

Still, the orange suit and red tie combo impresses me. That Clark Kent robot was flamboyant in an understated kind of way. I like that robot.

Health and Safety wasn't at its best back then.