From 1984, Superman Special #2, "The Demon with a Cape!" Story by Cary Bates, art by Gil Kane.
I'm not positive this was an inventory story, but maybe: the main conceit of this "imaginary story" is that Brainiac here avoided transforming into the metallic new version, remaining the classic green-skinned alien. And...that's about it, it's a pretty standard Superman story otherwise. I say that because usually the imaginary stories go a little harder, like Superman dies or becomes a polygamist or a Canadian or something.
Brainiac has hoodwinked an alien planet into believing he was their "mystic seer," and that Superman was a demon bent on their destruction. With a satellite converting the star's orange radiation to red, Supes loses his powers, and is in pretty deep until a telepathic alien girl conspires to help him. Brainiac punches Superman up a bit, and sentences him to the "throne of agony," which has him worried for a minute. It's a fun little story with nice art, but I think they probably should've either set it...or maybe released it before Brainiac's upgrade.
Sounds like a pretty cool story, and pretty much standard Superman fare. For me, its elevated to an even better story with that legendary Gil Kane art. That man's art could make almost any bad story look like a classic, and I'm sure it has a couple of occasions. Otherwise, if other traditional Superman artists like Kurt Shaffenburger or Curt Swan. Now I know these next words will be viewed as sacrilege, but Swan and Shaffenburger's art always looked boring to me. Sure they were really good story-tellers and solid hands, but nothing that flew off the page or defied page and panel layout, like innovators like Kane and the like.
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