Superman's Metropolis

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Superman's Metropolis
Superman Metropolis.jpg
Cover to Superman's Metropolis, art by Ted McKeever.
Publication information
Publisher DC Comics
Format One-shot
Genre
Publication date 1996
No. of issues1
Main character(s)Clarc Kent-son
Lois Lane
Lutor
Creative team
Created by Jean-Marc Lofficier
Randy Lofficier
Written by Jean-Marc Lofficier
Randy Lofficier
Roy Thomas
Artist(s) Ted McKeever

Superman's Metropolis is a DC Comics comic book and a Superman Elseworlds publication. It is the first part of a trilogy based on German Expressionist cinema, succeeded by Batman: Nosferatu and Wonder Woman: The Blue Amazon . It was written by Jean-Marc Lofficier, Randy Lofficier and Roy Thomas and illustrated by Ted McKeever.

Contents

The story of Superman's Metropolis is inspired by Fritz Lang's film Metropolis .

Plot

In an undetermined future, the giant city of Metropolis is starkly divided between upper classes who live in luxury and the lower classes who toil under harsh conditions to maintain their wealth. Clarc Kent-son, son of Jon Kent, the Great Architect and apparent Master of Metropolis, becomes aware of Metropolis' social inequality after meeting Lois Lane, a from the undercity. He joins the workers to experience their daily lives, then begs his father to improve their lot only to find that the Great Architect is unwilling to listen. In reality, the city is in thrall to the evil scientist Lutor, an old colleague of Jon Kent from the "time of smoke and soot" that came before the founding of Metropolis. Both Jon and Lutor fell in love with the same woman, Marta. When she chose Jon over Lutor, the scientist killed her, then used advanced hypnosis to turn Jon into a puppet who would allow Lutor to rule Metropolis from the shadows.

Concerned about a potential revolution, Lutor identifies Lois Lane as a leader who prophesies the coming of a savior who will unify Metropolis. Lutor captures Lois and creates a robotic duplicate named Futura that will lead the workers to their doom. Meanwhile, Clarc discovers that he was a foundling adopted by Jon and Marta after he was found in a capsule that fell from the sky, and that Lutor (who discovered his powers while trying and failing to kill him along with his mother) erased his memories and made him believe he was human, turning him into a social drone like all the other wealthy inhabitants of the city.

As Futura, disguised as Lois, leads the workers to their deaths at the hands of Lutor's soldiers, Clarc, the "Super-Man", the prophesied savior of Metropolis, intervenes. He fights Futura and destroys her by throwing her into a tank of molten metal. Lutor then reveals his half human/half mechanical body, which is powered by a mysterious green stone in the place where his heart would be. He kills Jon Kent who manages to snap out of his trance long enough to sacrifice his life for Clarc. Lutor is then killed by Clarc after a fierce battle. Clarc and Lois become the new, enlightened rulers of a reunited Metropolis.

Publication

Superman's Metropolis is the first part of a trilogy, being followed by Batman: Nosferatu and Wonder Woman: The Blue Amazon .

Writer Jean-Marc Lofficier had a fourth and final book planned, entitled The Green Light, which would have introduced counterparts of Green Lantern, the Flash and the Martian Manhunter (based on Leni Riefenstahl's Das Blaue Licht and Arnold Fanck's Der Weiße Rausch - Der Neue Wunder des Schneeschuhs ) and a female version of Aquaman (based on Georg Wilhelm Pabst's Die Herrin von Atlantis ). The book would have been about the rediscovery of Earth, but was never published. [1]

Reception

The website GameRant ranked Superman's Metropolis as the third best Superman Elseworlds story, ranking behind Son of Superman and Kingdom Come . [2]

See also

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References

  1. The Lofficers' official site, page on Superman
  2. Boje, Jason (2024-08-07). "The 5 Best Superman Elseworlds Comic Stories". Game Rant. Retrieved 2024-09-28.