Supermen of America
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The Supermen of America are a fictional superhero team published by DC Comics. They first appeared in a special written by Stuart Immonen published in 1999, and a later mini-series written by Fabian Nicieza, which was published in 2000.
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[edit] Historical Supermen
The original Supermen of America was an official Superman fan club from the 1940s. Comic readers could send away for and receive special membership cards that also doubled as decoders. Members also received buttons and special certificates.
[edit] Team Origins
The young members of the superhero team Supermen of America were all young metas gathered by Outburst after the shooting death of singer Junior K-D from the boy band Crossfire. Outburst and his family had been saved from death at Doomsday's hands by Superman. The young naive meta was willing to accept Lex Luthor's funding for a team of superheros to protect the city in Superman's absence. Although Luthor volunteered money, Outburst was tasked with recruiting the members.
Outburst first recruited his girlfriend White Lotus, a young meta trained by the Warlords of Okaara, then he gathered Brahma, Loser, Pyrogen, and Psilencer. They were salaried heroes but they were determined to protect the city from villains emboldened by news of Superman's apparent death.
They refurbished buildings across Metropolis and turned them into community centers. The main building Outreach 1 served as the team's headquarters. After Psilencer's untimely death, Outburst and his inexperienced teammates were deeply shaken and reconsidered their vocation. It was around this time that the team met and recruited Maximum, the angry young protector of Suicide Slum. A former athlete, Maximum would have remained quadripelegic without special implants provided by Lexcorp.
A disgruntled Lexcorp employee discovered that S.T.A.R. Labs had hidden a capsule inside a special holding chamber called Lockdown 6 in the waters near Metropolis. Luthor successfully deployed Pyrogen to retrieve the capsule from Lockdown 6, but he encountered the Deep Six and was rebuffed. Darkseid, lord of Apokalips, also wanted the contents of Lockdown 6 and had sent the Deep Six to retrieve them. In the Vega system, the Warlords of Okaara sensed the danger presented by the capsule, and took preventative measures.
The Okaarans overpowered Earth's defensive forces and White Lotus desperately rushed to negotiate a peace settlement before they "cleansed' the planet. To save Earth from worse attacks, While White Lotus was negotiating with the Okaarans, the chamber was opened and the Unimaginable was unleashed. The Unimaginable's energy form possessed Maximum and he temporarily gained the powers of a God. Maximum's parents eventually convinced him to relinquish the power, which he dispersed safely.
In exchange for the Supermen's silence about his involvement with the Unimaginable fiasco, Lexcorp cut its ties with the Supermen of America charities, and Lex Luthor signed all property deeds over to the organization including Outreach 1.
[edit] Current Status
Some members of the group were seriously wounded and may have died during the 2006 Infinite Crisis event in the pages of The Omac Project #6. White Lotus was the only team member who appeared to be upright and unhurt. Other members appearing were Brahma, Outburst, and Loser. Brahma and Outburst are clearly down, and Loser is being attacked by two OMACs, therefore it is possible that White Lotus, Maximum and Pyrogen have survived.
According to a fan question directed to Dan Didio at the 2007 New York Comic Con, the Supermen of America died in The OMAC Project #6.
[edit] Membership
- Outburst (Mitch Anderson) - Outburst was the team leader, and has formidable powers of Magnetokinesis.
- White Lotus (Nona Lin-Baker) - White Lotus has a malleable Auric forcefield and was trained in martial arts by the Warlords of Okaara. She was the offspring of African-American and Asian parents.
- Brahma (Cal Usjak) - Brahma was originally super strong and invulnerable. In the mini-series he discovered the ability to change his size as well, but the larger he grew the more petrified and stonelike his form became.
- Pyrogen (Claudio Tielli) - Pyrogen was a powerful pyrokentic, and a hothead.
- Loser (Theo Storm) - Loser possessed a powerful dermal force field capable of withstanding anti-matter.
- Psilencer (Tim Thomas Townsend) - Psilencer was a prescient telepath and team tactician, killed by a gang member.
[edit] Later Additions
- Maximum (Max Williams) - Maximum was an African-American teenager created by Fabian Nicieza for the mini-series. Maximum's powers closely resembled those of Ultra Boy from the Legion of Superheroes. Max's powers come directly from Lexcorp, he can channel his special energies to increase his speed strength or senses to superhuman levels, but only one at a time.
[edit] Comparison Chart
There were many parallels between the 30th century Legion of Superheroes and the 20th century Supermen of America.
| Supermen of America | Legion of Superheroes |
|---|---|
| Outburst | Cosmic Boy |
| White Lotus | Karate Kid |
| Loser | Brainiac 5 |
| Brahma | Colossal Boy |
| Pyrogen | Sun Boy |
| Psilencer | Saturn Girl/Dream Girl |
| Maximum | Ultra Boy |
