What happened to the man of tomorrow?

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

What happened to the man of tomorrow? (org. Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? ) is a 1986 two-part crossover comic written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Curt Swan , which was published in Superman # 423 and Action Comics # 583.

action

The year is 1997, and Superman has not been seen by the public in several years. The reporter Tim Crane wants to write an article entitled "The Last Days of Supermans" for the Daily Planet and therefore visits Lois Elliot , who was very familiar with the hero when she was still her last name Lane, to learn more about her . So she tells him what happened back then.

After there were hardly any threats on earth, Superman was almost exclusively active in space. But one day Bizarro raged in Metropolis, but when the steel man arrived, he took his own life with blue kryptonite . When Superman subsequently appeared in the Daily Planet as Clark Kent, he received two boxes. One contained explosive Superman dolls that burned his suit, unmasking him. In the second box was the body of Pete Ross and from one of the dolls the prankster and the toyman could be heard saying over the radio that he had told them his secret. Superman was able to track them down and arrest them using the radio waves, but he did not find out more from them. Shortly thereafter, Metropolis was attacked by Metallo beings that Superman was still able to fend off. Still, he knew he had to protect his friends, so he took Lois, Jimmy Olsen , Perry White , Alice and Lana Lang with him to his fortress of solitude . Krypto , the super dog , also came to them as support .
Lex Luthor found Brainiac's mask in the Arctic , but when he put it on, it took possession of him. He allied himself with the Kryptonite Man and together they built a barrier around the Fortress of Solitude so that no one could come to their aid. Jimmy and Lana decided not to be idle and with the help of the Elastic Lad serum and a mysterious essence they gave themselves superpowers. However, in the fight against Luthor and Kryptonite Man, both she and Krypto lost their lives. Superman now combined that this was all the work of Mr. Mxyzptkl . He also appeared and stated that he had done this out of boredom due to his immortality. He then turned into a monstrous giant creature, but Superman shot at it with the phantom zone projector. Mr. Mxyzptkl tried to escape into the fifth dimension by pronouncing his name backwards (Lktpzyxm), but the beam was already halfway through and he was torn apart. Lois said to Superman that he had no other choice, but he could not forgive himself for breaking his oath, and entered a chamber that had a golden sheen. Meanwhile the barrier was gone and the Justice League arrived, but there was nothing they could do. When they opened the chamber, it was empty and Superman was gone.

Lois explains to Tim that Superman would have died that day, and Tim thanks him for the interview. When her husband Jordan Elliot speaks to her, their baby Jonathan presses a piece of coal into a diamond, and Jordan winks at the reader.

Special

In this story Alan Moore explains in a funny way how Superman could not be identified all these years despite the missing mask: "He combed his hair and wore glasses!"

Expenses (selection)

  • First published in Superman # 423 and Action Comics # 583, DC Comics, September 1986.
  • Alan Moore, Curt Swan, Todd Klein: Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? DC Comics, New York 1997, ISBN 1-56389-315-0 .
  • Alan Moore, Curt Swan: Superman. What happened to the man of tomorrow? Translated by Christian Heiss. Panini-Comics, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-86607-420-0 .