The K-Metal from Krypton

Last updated
"The K-Metal from Krypton"
K-metal cover.jpg
Cover art by Angel Criado and Bob Rivard from the K-Metal from Krypton restoration website.
Publisher None
Publication date2003–2007
Genre
Main character(s) Superman
Lois Lane
Creative team
Writer(s) Jerry Siegel
Artist(s) Joe Shuster Studio (original material)
Penciller(s) Jon Bogdanove, Wayne Boring, Paul Cassidy, Angel Criado, Shane Foley, Leo Nowak, Bob Rivard, John Sikela
Colorist(s)Randy Sargent (restoration)

"The K-Metal from Krypton" is an unpublished Superman story written by Jerry Siegel in 1940 and originally illustrated by the Joe Shuster Studio. [1] The reason why National Comics (later to become DC Comics) never published the story; it was rejected because in it Superman reveals his identity to Lois Lane. This storyline features the precursor to Kryptonite called "K-Metal" and Lois learning that Clark Kent is Superman.

Contents

Like all Superman stories of the 1940s, the adventure originally had no title. The earliest known occurrence of the name "The K-Metal from Krypton" for the tale was in Gerard Jones' 2004 book Men of Tomorrow. [1] The story remained forgotten and unknown from 1941 until 1988, when Jerry Siegel's original script and story outline was rediscovered in deep storage in the DC Comics library by Mark Waid. [2]

Restoration

The surviving original story pages were worked on by Wayne Boring, Paul Cassidy, Dan Komisarow, Leo Nowak, and John Sikela. Artist Jon Bogdanove has agreed to contribute new artwork to the project. The comic was being restored, colored and published online, but was never completed. [3] The website includes all completed pages. For uncompleted pages, scans of the original artwork or script page are also included. [4] The restoration team is looking for any copies of the missing pages that they can find, and aim to replace any redrawn pages with restorations of originals if available. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lois Lane</span> Fictional character in the Superman series

Lois Lane is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in Action Comics #1. Lois is an award-winning journalist for the Metropolis newspaper the Daily Planet and the primary love interest of the superhero Superman and his alter ego, Clark Kent. In DC continuity, she is also his wife and the mother of their son, Jon Kent, the newest Superboy in the DC Universe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Superman</span> DC Comics superhero

Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book Action Comics #1. Superman has been adapted to a number of other media, which includes radio serials, novels, films, television shows, theater, and video games.

<i>Action Comics</i> American comic book

Action Comics is an American comic book/magazine series that introduced Superman, one of the first major superhero characters. The publisher was originally known as National Allied Publications, and later as National Comics Publications and as National Periodical Publications, before taking on its current name of DC Comics. Its original incarnation ran from 1938 to 2011 and stands as one of the longest-running comic books with consecutively numbered issues. The second volume of Action Comics beginning with issue #1 ran from 2011 to 2016. Action Comics returned to its original numbering beginning with issue #957.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Shuster</span> Comic book artist, co-creator of Superman (1914–1992)

Joseph Shuster, was a Canadian American comic book artist best known for co-creating the DC Comics character Superman, with Jerry Siegel, in Action Comics #1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Superboy</span> Fictional character in the DC Comics pantheon

Superboy is the name of several fictional superheroes appearing in American comicbooks published by DC Comics. These characters have been featured in several eponymous comic series, in addition to Adventure Comics and other series featuring teenage superhero groups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Siegel</span> American comic book writer (1914–1996)

Jerome Siegel was an American comic book writer. He is the co-creator of Superman, in collaboration with his friend Joe Shuster, published by DC Comics. They also created Doctor Occult, who was later featured in The Books of Magic. Siegel and Shuster were inducted into the comic book industry's Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1993. With Bernard Baily, Siegel also co-created the long-running DC character The Spectre. Siegel created ten of the earliest members of the Legion of Super-Heroes, one of DC's most popular team books, which is set in the 30th Century. Siegel also used pseudonyms including Joe Carter and Jerry S.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jor-El</span> Fictional character appearing in DC Comics

Jor-El, originally known as Jor-L, is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, Jor-El first appeared in a newspaper comic strip in 1939 with Superman.

<i>Superman: The Wedding Album</i> 1996 comic book by DC Comics

Superman: The Wedding Album is an American comic book published in 1996 by DC Comics. It is notable for featuring the wedding of Superman/Clark Kent and Lois Lane in DC Comics continuity, an event that was nearly 60 years in the making.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?</span> 1986 comic book story

"Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" is a 1986 American comic book story published by DC Comics, featuring the superhero Superman. Written by British author Alan Moore with help from long-time Superman editor Julius Schwartz, the story was published in two parts, beginning in Superman #423 and ending in Action Comics #583, both published in September 1986. The story was drawn by long-time artist Curt Swan in one of his final major contributions to the Superman titles and was inked by George Pérez in the issue of Superman and Kurt Schaffenberger in the issue of Action Comics. The story was an imaginary story which told the final tale of the Silver Age Superman and his long history, which was being rebooted following the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths, before his modern introduction in the John Byrne series, The Man of Steel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wayne Boring</span> American comic book artist

Wayne Boring was an American comic book artist best known for his work on Superman from the late 1940s to 1950s. He occasionally used the pseudonym Jack Harmon.

<i>Superman</i> (comic book) Comic book series featuring Superman

Superman is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the DC Comics superhero Superman as its protagonist. Superman began as one of several anthology features in the National Periodical Publications comic book Action Comics #1 in June 1938. The strip proved so popular that National launched Superman into his own self-titled comic book, the first for any superhero, premiering with the cover date summer 1939. Between 1986 and 2006 it was retitled, The Adventures of Superman, while a new series used the title Superman. In May 2006, it was returned to its original title and numbering. The title was canceled with issue #714 in 2011, and was relaunched with issue #1 the following month which ended its run in 2016. A fourth series was released in June 2016 and ended in April 2018, while the fifth series was launched in July 2018 and ended in June 2021. The series was replaced by Superman: Son of Kal-El in July 2021, featuring adventures of Superman's son, Jon Kent. A sixth Superman series was released in February 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Publication history of Superman</span> Aspect of history

Superman is an American fictional character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and featured pervasively in DC Comic books. The character debuted in Action Comics issue #1 in June 1938 and has since become a paradigm for superhero characters.

<i>The Man of Steel</i> (comics) Comic book limited series featuring Superman

The Man of Steel is a 1986 comic book limited series featuring the DC Comics character Superman. Written and drawn by John Byrne, the series was presented in six issues which were inked by Dick Giordano. The series told the story of Superman's modern origin, which had been rebooted following the 1985-86 series Crisis on Infinite Earths.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Superman and Lois Lane</span> Fictional couple in DC Comics

Superman and Lois Lane are a fictional couple and the first superhero comic book romance. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, both characters including Superman's alter ego, Clark Kent, first appeared in DC Comics' Action Comics #1. They have remained in a complicated relationship ever since. A supercouple, they are among the best known fictional couples and have appeared in multiple media adaptations.

<i>Superman</i> (comic strip) American comic strip by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster

Superman was a daily newspaper comic strip which began on January 16, 1939, and a separate Sunday strip was added on November 5, 1939. These strips ran continuously until May 1966. In 1941, the McClure Syndicate had placed the strip in hundreds of newspapers. At its peak, the strip, featuring Superman, was in over 300 daily newspapers and 90 Sunday papers, with a readership of over 20 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Superboy (Kal-El)</span> Superman in his preteen and teen years

Superboy is a superhero that appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Jerry Siegel and Don Cameron and is based on the character of Superman that Siegel co-created with Joe Shuster. Superboy first appeared in the comic book More Fun Comics #101 in 1945.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Origin of Superman</span> Fiction depicting the early life of Superman

The origin of Superman and his superhuman powers have been a central narrative for Superman since his inception, with the story of the destruction of his home planet, his arrival on Earth and emergence as a superhero evolving from Jerry Siegel's original story into a broad narrative architype over the course of Superman's literary history and as the character's scope continues to expand across comics, radio, television and film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joanne Siegel</span>

Joanne Siegel was an American model, who in the 1930s worked with Superman artist Joe Shuster as the model for Lois Lane, Superman's love interest. She later married Superman's co-creator Jerry Siegel and sued for restoration of her husband's authorship copyright in the Superman character.

<i>Nights of Horror</i> Fetish comic book series by Joe Shuster

Nights of Horror is an American series of fetish comic books, created in 1954 by publisher Malcla, drawn by comic artist Joe Shuster, who is also one of the original creators of Superman. The comic stories were written by an author under the pseudonym Clancy, who also used other pseudonyms for different issues of the books. The stories are based on situations of BDSM, bondage, torture, and sexual slavery, featuring both men and women as the tormentors and victims. The series was important in the conviction of Jack Koslow in 1954, during the trial of the Brooklyn Thrill Killers. The books themselves were seized and banned first by New York City, then by the State of New York for violating obscenity laws, and the case went to the Supreme Court of the United States. The Court determined that the ban was not in violation of First Amendment rights, and upheld New York's request for destroying copies of Nights of Horror. Shuster was never named as the illustrator until Gerard Jones published the information in 2004.

National Comics Publications and All-American Publications, two precursors to DC Comics, were formed publishing American comic books such as superhero comics starting in the 1930s. Primary Comic book anthology titles created by the company was More Fun Comics, Adventure Comics, Detective Comics, Action Comics, All-American Comics and Superman. Other companies like Quality Comics and Fawcett Comics would later be merged into DC. Quality started by introducing comic books like Feature Comics and Smash Comics.

References

  1. 1 2 Jones, Gerard. Men Of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book, 2004, pg. 181-183, ISBN   0-465-03656-2
  2. Waid, Mark. K-Metal: The "Lost" Superman Tale, Alter Ego #26, 2003
  3. "Superman Through the Ages! Forum: K-Metal Komplete". Superman Through the Ages!. Retrieved 2012-07-03.
  4. "Presenting "The K-METAL from KRYPTON!"". Superman Through the Ages!. Retrieved 2012-07-03.
  5. "The K-Metal from Krypton: You Can Help". Superman Through the Ages!.