The Man of Steel (comic book)
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- This article refers to the comic book limited series, for other uses, see Man of Steel.
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The Man of Steel was a six-issue comic book limited series released in 1986 by DC Comics, several months after the 12-issue limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths completed. The Man of Steel was written and penciled by John Byrne and inked by Dick Giordano.
The mini-series was designed to revamp the Superman mythos. Using the history-altering effects of Crisis as an explanation, it was decided by DC to give Superman an updated look and feel by completely rewriting his history, as an attempt to attract more readers. Thus, for modern comics, Man of Steel is the dividing point between the previous canon and the current one; most comic fans refer to the two different versions as pre-Crisis and post-Crisis, per Crisis on Infinite Earths being the major dividing line across DC's universe as a whole. This and Superman: Birthright are regarded as the "official" origins of Superman.
The Man of Steel was followed by three four-issue mini-series which retold the world of Superman, called The World of Krypton (December 1987 - March 1988), The World of Smallville (April - July 1988), and The World of Metropolis (August - November 1988)
The series has since been collected in trade paperback form in several editions. The first used a better paper stock after the series’ completion. In 1993, it is reprinted with newsprint-type paper and priced cheaper. More recently in 2003, it sported a new cover by Jerry Ordway and retitled as Superman: The Man of Steel vol. 1, the first in a series of trade paperbacks collecting the early adventures of the post-Crisis Superman.
Contents |
[edit] Story
The Man of Steel retells Superman’s story beginning with his origin. Each issue focuses on a different time in the early years of his career. In telling the story, Byrne drew from all available media to have depicted Superman for inspiration.
The series reboots Superman continuity for a modern audience. Previous depictions of the comic book Superman and his mythology are discarded. Some characters’ backgrounds were largely altered.
[edit] Issue One
The first issue chronicles the origin of Superman, from his flight from Krypton to his arrival on Earth where he is discovered by his adoptive parents, the Kents. The story fast forwards to a high school football game after which adoptive father Jonathan Kent takes the now-teenaged Clark for a ride. By this time, Clark has developed most of, if not all, his powers as Superman. Jonathan reveals to Clark the truth that he (Clark) was never their biological son and that he was found from a crashed spaceship. The revelation causes Clark to decide to use his powers for the greater good. For the next few years during his studies in university, he has been saving lives and averting disasters in secret until an experimental space shuttle forces him to expose himself to the public. He meets Lois Lane for the first time and both felt a connection to each other but before they could react to it, a mob surrounds them. Clark is unable to deal with the sudden attention. In order to preserve Clark’s secret identity, Jonathan comes up with the idea of a superhero identity. Clark adopts a costume and the name he was given in the news, Superman.
- The planet Krypton was a cold and emotionally sterile planet, an idea Byrne borrowed from Superman: The Movie.
- Kal-El was not an infant sent from Krypton to Earth; rather, his fetus was placed in a "birthing matrix" equipped with a rocket engine and Jor-El's experimental warp drive, with Kal-El gestating during the trip to Earth; once the rocket landed, Kal-El was fully "born" on Earth. This also made him "born" an American, a plot point that would be used in Armageddon 2001, a DC Comics storyline which explored possible futures, one of which featured Superman becoming President of the United States.
- Clark's abilities developed gradually in the yellow sun environment, starting with resistance to injury, then strength, x-ray vision, etc., with his ability to fly being the last to emerge. It took until his late teen years for all of his powers to develop; thus, Clark only adopted the Superman identity in adulthood, and never was Superboy.
- The Kents secretly adopted Clark and passed him off as their biological son. Prior to finding Clark, Martha Kent had a history of failed pregnancies. Friends and relatives assumed that they kept Martha’s “pregnancy” a secret in fear of losing another child. It also helped that a blizzard closed off Smallville helped in the Kents’ alibi. In some pre-Crisis depictions, the Kents surrendered baby Kal-El to an orphanage before having a change of heart and legally adopting him as their own. The Man of Steel, Birthright, and Smallville all involve the same circumstances and cover-up of Clark's adoption. Although in Smallville the problems raised and the cover up of his adoption were taken in a much more serious and realistic manner.
- Clark mentions that he has been making Metropolis his base of operations for about three years.
- While the pre-Crisis Superman's costume was invulnerable (as a result of being made from the blankets in the rocket that brought him to Earth), the post-Crisis Superman's costume was made of ordinary material. But while the cape often became ripped and torn (or even completely destroyed on occasion) for dramatic effect, the rest of the costume was usually left untouched. It was later explained that the Post-Crisis Superman's body generated an invisible "aura" that surrounded him and contributed to his invulnerability. Objects held close to him, such as his costume, were protected from harm; his cape, meanwhile, could easily sustain damage in battle. The Superman S-shield is an original design by Clark and Jonathan.
- Byrne made some adjustments to Superman's costume. While keeping every classic element, he significantly increased the size of the S-shield so that it almost entirely covered the chest. The cape is also made larger and longer, its flowing in the air made to look more dramatic.
- At the end of the issue, Clark/Superman is about 22/23, as shown below, the rest of the story takes over four years, which ends with him at 26/27, depending on which month it ends.
[edit] Issue Two
Daily Planet editor-in-chief Perry White assigns Lois Lane to get an interview with Superman. Meanwhile, Superman is all over Metropolis rescuing citizens and foiling bank robberies. After a series of failed attempts to interview Superman, Lois decides to take a gamble and plunges her car into the harbor. Superman arrives and takes her home. She finally has the scoop on Superman only to find out she was beaten to the headline by the new reporter, Clark Kent.
- Lois Lane was written as an aggressive reporter and person from the start, and never expressed a desire to find out Superman's secret identity (and indeed, never seemed to consider that Superman might have an alter-ego). She was also responsible for coming up with the name Superman.
- The Mr. L in the limousine who wished to talk with Lois is none other than Lex Luthor.
[edit] Issue Three
Superman and Batman meet each other for the first time. Batman is on the trail of the criminal known as Magpie. He is interrupted in a lead by Superman who regards him as an outlaw. Rather than risk capture, Batman informs Superman that should the latter make any attempts to come near him, a signal will be activated that will trigger a bomb and kill an innocent life. The two are forced to work together and eventually capture Magpie. In the end, Batman reveals to Superman that the endangered innocent is Batman himself. Superman departs cautioning Batman against crossing any further lines. Batman admits to himself of a respect for Superman’s innate goodness and wonders if, in a different reality, they could have been friends.
- Superman's relationship with Batman, which was much closer pre-Crisis, became much more tentative, as each disagreed with the other's methods and attitudes. An allusion is made to their pre-Crisis friendship with Batman’s pondering at the end of the story.
[edit] Issue Four
Lois and Clark are guests at a party to be held on Luthor’s luxury liner. Upon arriving, they are entertained by Luthor in his private chamber on the ship. When Luthor insinuates his desire of Lois, the latter is offended having some knowledge of Luthor’s past. Lois refuses to be one of Luthor’s trophy wives and decides to leave the ship. She and Clark are then confronted by South American terrorists who promptly throw Clark overboard. As the terrorists are trying to cordon the hostages, Clark changes to Superman and lifts the liner ship which surprises everyone on board. This opens an opportunity for Lois to seize control and knock out the terrorists. Luthor then reveals that he allowed the terrorists to get onboard just so that he could coax Superman to come and include him on his payroll. Superman refuses Luthor’s offer and is deputized by the mayor of Metropolis to arrest Luthor. A few days later, Luthor confronts Superman and warns him of a day of reckoning.
- Superman's arch-nemesis Lex Luthor was no longer a mad scientist but instead a power-hungry billionaire, "the most powerful man in Metropolis," who resented Superman's overshadowing presence. Instead of battling Superman directly, Lex would use hired minions and staff on his payroll or manipulate others to confront Superman, while employing various methods (bribery, plausible deniability, legal trickery, etc.) to ensure that none of the incidents could be conclusively linked to him.
- Clark mentions that it has been almost eighteen months since he beat Lois on the scoop on Superman, possibly making him Superman for almost two years.
[edit] Issue Five
The story begins with Superman confronting Luthor after foiling another of the latter’s revenge schemes. However, Luthor is able to elude arrest when Superman is unable to tie the villain to his criminal act. Superman leaves but not before his body is scanned by Dr. Teng’s cloning machine. Due to Superman’s alien heritage, the machine is unable to duplicate his DNA as it can only recognize known lifeforms. At first the clone appears to be a perfect duplicate of Superman until it keels over unconscious and its body starts to crystallize. Frustrated, Luthor orders the body to be disposed of. Days later, the duplicate resurfaces thinking it is Superman and helping Metropolitans. The people, upon seeing it, flee in fear. It later meets a blind Lucy Lane, Lois’s sister, who attempted to commit suicide by jumping off a building. Superman encounters the creature and engages it in battle. The fight ends in a final blow, shattering the imperfect duplicate into a dust cloud which somehow restores Lucy’s sight.
- On the opening page of this issue, Superman is seemingly capturing Luthor, who is wearing his Pre-Crisis power suit. However, the next page reveals that it is one of Luthor's pawns in the suit. Luthor claims that the suit had been stolen and that he had no knowledge of the plot to attack Superman. Unfortunately, the suit's systems have left the man inside a vegetable, unable to tell the truth of Luthor's involvement. The reader later learns that Luthor was responsible for all of the above, which Superman suspects.
- The villain Bizarro was established as an imperfect clone of Superman, created from the superhero's DNA, rather than as a duplicate resulting from an imperfect duplicating ray. Furthermore, Bizarro is no longer an "imperfect opposite" of Superman and as such, has identical rather than opposite powers.
- Lois mentions that she has been dreaming of kissing Superman for 3 years now, indicating that he has been active in Metropolis at least that long at this point.
[edit] Issue Six
Clark returns to Smallville after a long time away. His adoptive parents pick him up. Jonathan Kent was about to tell him something but Martha shushed him. Later that night, Clark could not sleep as he wonders what his Pa Kent was about to tell him. When he went for a midnight snack, a “ghost” of Jor-El surprises him and touches him. Superman discovers himself to be on an alien planet where he encounters his biological mother, Lara. As the hallucination wears off, he is face to face with his old flame, Lana Lang. In a flashback, it turns out that on the night that Clark learned his heritage he went to Lana and revealed the truth of his powers to her. She confesses her feelings to him. She realizes that Clark can no longer belong to her, that he belongs to the world and this fact had hurt her. She had gone through a period of depression and finally accepts the fact. The next day, Superman thinks about what she said and starts wondering about where he truly came from. He goes to the location where Jonathan hid the rocket ship he was found in only to find that the ship is gone. The hologram of Jor-El reappears and tells him to be silent and to learn. It appears that Superman is under some kind of psionic attack but the Kents arrive in time and break it off. Superman flies away, realizing that it was not a mental attack but a download of knowledge of everything about Krypton into his brain. He finally knows his true parents and where he came from and though he appreciates the knowledge he has been given, in the end, he embraces his humanity ever more.
- Superman was made the sole survivor of Krypton's destruction (vs. the earlier version having other survivors such as Supergirl, Krypto, etc. attached to him).
- Superman had no memory of his existence on Krypton, but he instead identified himself as a citizen of Earth.
- Pre-Crisis, Pete Ross knew of Clark's abilities since they were teenagers, while Lana Lang suspected Clark of being Superboy. Post-Crisis, Pete never learned this information. Instead, Clark revealed his abilities to Lana just before he left Smallville.
- Clark's adoptive Terran parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent are alive and well in Clark's adulthood, and Clark visits them periodically. (Pre-Crisis, they had died shortly after Clark's high school graduation).
- Clark is twenty-six years old by the time the story ends.
[edit] Impact of changes
The Man of Steel became the official origin story for Superman from 1986 through the early 2000s. It is also the most successful effort to establish consistency in the Superman comic mythos. The changes were so successful that they were adapted to other media featuring Superman.
Many of the biggest changes were on Superman himself. While many of his standard superpowers remained, Superman was effectively limited in power and scope to make him more believable. He still had superhuman strength, vision powers and super breath but while the pre-Crisis Superman at his peak could easily move planets, the post-Crisis version strained at moving a commercial airliner in flight. His vision powers still include x-ray, heat and microscopic/telescopic vision but are set at a more realistic level. He no longer had the ability to survive in space indefinitely without an air supply as he had done often in pre-Crisis stories. The powers dropped in succeeding stories include his ability to travel through time, freeze breath (though he still possessed super-powerful blowing strength), and super intelligence.
Byrne made the most important changes to Superman's personality. Superman's alter-ego Clark Kent was no longer "mild-mannered"; he became more assertive, and an important half of a double life. Man of Steel established Clark Kent as the "real" person, with Superman being the "disguise" - a reversal of the earlier canon. Stories featuring people actively trying to discover Superman's secret identity became practically non-existent. It was not known to the general public that Superman had a secret identity since he did not wear a mask, and most generally assumed that Superman was the full-time identity. Additionally, Superman's status as the sole survivor of Krypton is restored. This resulted in the writers having to come up with an alternative explanation to related characters such as Supergirl and General Zod and the Phantom Zone villains.
The changes among Superman’s cast include Lana Lang, Jimmy Olsen and Lex Luthor. Lana and Jimmy did not adopt any superhero identities (pre-Crisis they stumbled onto superpowers practically every other day). The Lex Luthor as the evil billionaire became the most accepted version of him. Clark's adoptive parents are still alive and well and remain important supporting characters to this day.
After the limited series, Byrne took over the storytelling in the monthly Superman series. The change he made to Superman’s greatest weakness, Kryptonite, was limiting the form to only the green lethal original. Other variant forms of kryptonite such as gold, yellow, blue and white no longer existed; only green remained. The other more popular version red Kryptonite would eventually resurface later on. Kryptonite was also made a much rarer element and extremely hard to find and acquire. Because of this it eliminated a previously ridiculous plot point of even the most common criminals using the radioactive object to elude or eliminate Superman. Superman's enemies had to become even more creative in finding a way to battle him.
The removal of Clark's Superboy career, as well as Supergirl, from continuity would have a serious impact on The Legion of Super-Heroes. Byrne would later admit that removing Superboy from continuity was a mistake.[1]
In 2004, another story of Superman's origin, a 12-issue limited series called Superman: Birthright, was published, which DC stated that this, and Man of Steel, was the full "official" origin for Superman. Birthright made use of many elements of Man of Steel that tied into the other series, but also introduced new aspects ignored by Byrne or brought back various pre-Crisis elements (such as Lex and Clark as childhood friends in Smallville). Nostalgia and fan demand also brought back the Kara Zor-El version of Supergirl while the recently-shocking DC Comics storyline Infinite Crisis made further changes to Superman. Despite these changes, The Man of Steel is responsible for giving the public a version of Superman that is more identifiable and human. Both Man of Steel and Birthright are in canonical as the official origins of Superman.
