The K-Metal from Krypton

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"The K-Metal from Krypton"
K-metal cover.jpg
Variant Cover art by Angel Criado and Bob Rivard from the Saga of the K-Metal restoration website.
Publisher Superman Through the Ages!
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"The K-Metal from Krypton" is the popular title of an unpublished Superman story written by Jerry Siegel in 1940 and originally illustrated by the Joe Shuster Studio. [1] National Comics Publications (later to become DC Comics) never published the story. Although the comic contained story developments that the publishers may have seen as potentially damaging to the franchise, such as Superman revealing his secret identity to Lois Lane, the reason that the story was never published is ultimately not known. 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 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. At that time, Waid and others at DC Comics began to refer to the story with the name "K-Metal." [2] 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]

Restoration

The surviving original story pages were worked on by Wayne Boring, Paul Cassidy, Dan Komisarow, Leo Nowak, John Sikela, and Joe Shuster. Artist Jon Bogdanove contributed two pages of new artwork to the project. The comic is being restored, colored, and published online. [3] The website includes all completed pages. When available, scans of the original artwork 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 when available. [5]

The K-Metal restoration project originally adopted the name "The K-Metal from Krypton" in 2004 both for its website and for the reconstructed version of the comic book, choosing to use the non-official title assigned by Gerard Jones. But after learning of his criminal activities and conviction, changed the name of the project to "Saga of the K-Metal". [6]

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 SAGA of the K-METAL!". Superman Through the Ages!. Retrieved 2025-09-19.
  5. ↑ "The Saga of the K-Metal: You Can Help". Superman Through the Ages!.
  6. ↑ "Superman Through the Ages! Forum: K-Metal project name change". Superman Through the Ages!.
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