| Slot: |
Superman 423 |
| Item: |
Superman 423 Modern |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
4002867002
|
Owner Comments
September, 1986
"Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?"
Alan Moore - Writer
Curt Swan - Penciler
Curt Swan & Murphy Anderson - Cover Artists
George Pérez - Inker
Gene D'Angelo - Colorist
Todd Klein - Letterer
Dick Giordano - Executive Editor
Julius Schwartz & E. Nelson Bridwell - Editors
Synopsis:
One day in 1987, Superman returned from space to find Metropolis had suffered major damage, which Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen said came from Bizarro. Superman enters a wrecked department store and confronts Bizarro, demanding an explanation for all the death and destruction. Bizarro explains his reasons to Superman: he had recently realized that all these years, he has not been a "perfect imperfect duplicate", and so he took the necessary steps to fix that. Realizing that Superman came from an alien world that was destroyed by a natural accident, Bizarro destroyed Bizarro World then attempted to destroy his own birth world starting with Metropolis. Then, realizing that Superman never kills anyone (even bad people), Bizarro went on a killing spree through the city, murdering several innocent men, women, and children. Finally, Bizarro states that since Superman must live, then he himself must die. He holds up a chunk of Blue Kryptonite and presses it against his chest, fatally exposing himself to its poisonous radiation. Bizarro bids a final cryptic farewell to his longtime rival, then quietly passes away from Kryptonite poisoning, leaving Superman, shocked, confused, and saddened over what has just happened.
Following this bizarre incident, Clark Kent gets ready to join his co-anchor Lana Lang in the WGBS news room when he receives two packages. The first smaller package is a group of Superman action figures that come to life, firing deadly heat-vision beams. The production crew watch as Clark Kent is attacked by the action figures' heat vision, figuring that he would never survive, when they saw that they exposed his Superman identity to them. The action figures now also speak in the voices of the Toyman and the Prankster, the two villains behind this attack. They have Superman open up the second package, which contains the dead body of Pete Ross, whom the two criminals have extracted information about Superman from. Superman finds out where the two criminals are hiding and bring them to justice, but as his civilian identity is now compromised, he fears that as the villains who were nuisances to him were becoming killers, he can only wonder what will become of those who are killers.
Notes:
-George Perez GCG Label.
-The story is continued in Action Comics #583.
-Superman in "Superman" a brief overview of the Superman comic book by E. Nelson Bridwell on the inside front and back covers.
-This is the final issue of the series under its original print run. The numbering sequence continues as Adventures of Superman (Volume 1). In 2006, the series reverted back to its original title beginning with issue #650.
-This issue is reprinted in DCU: The Stories of Alan Moore, Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?, DC Universe by Alan Moore and Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? Deluxe Edition.
-Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? was originally published as an imaginary story, a story outside of regular continuity. In Crisis on Infinite Earths: The Compendium, it was retconned as having happened on another Earth, (Earth-423). It takes place in the year 1997. The two-part saga is intended to represent the "final" Superman story, but does not actually take place within canonical Earth-One history.
Trivia:
-Regardless of DC's editorial intentions, this "final" Superman story was presented by DC as being an "Imaginary Story", a Silver Age convention, revived especially for this occasion, that served to tell "What If?" stories that would have been considered series-killers if they were to happen in the "real" continuity of the comic.
-The cover is a homage to the covers of the first eight Superman Annuals.
-The Crisis on Infinite Earths: The Compendium would retcon all Imaginary Stories as happening on various other Earths and therefore out of continuity for Earth-One.
-The story opens with a brief legend that ends thus: "This is an Imaginary Story... Aren't they all?"
Quotes:
"He never told me exactly what happened that night before the siege began, but as soon as I saw him the next morning, I knew something had upset him. He looked funny. He looked as if he'd been crying." —Lois Lane Elliot
|
| Slot: |
Superman Annual 11 |
| Item: |
Superman Annual 11 |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1278238001
|
Owner Comments
1985
"For The Man Who Has Everything..."
Alan Moore - Writer
Dave Gibbons - Penciler
Dave Gibbons - Cover Artist
Dave Gibbons - Inker
Tom Ziuko - Colorist
Dave Gibbons - Letterer
Dick Giordano - Executive Editor
Julius Schwartz - Editor
Synopsis:
Batman, Robin, and Wonder Woman pay Superman a visit at his Fortress of Solitude, with Batman and Wonder Woman bearing gifts for the Man of Steel's birthday. However, upon their initial entry, they see Superman standing rather still with a strange alien plant attached to his chest and wrapping its tendrils around him. They call out to him, but Superman doesn't respond. His mind is entranced by a vision he sees... a vision of him being on a Krypton that never exploded, living out the normal life of an average Kryptonian.
As the three heroes try to determine where the plant came from and what it's doing to Superman, a gigantic yellow-skinned muscular humanoid male named Mongul shows up, telling them that the plant is a Black Mercy, which gives its victims the desire of their hearts, trapping them in a dreamworld that they cannot escape from. He challenges the three heroes to take him on one-on-one to find one among the Earth beings worthy enough to kill. Wonder Woman steps up to the challenge, nearly breaking her hand when she gave Mongul a punch. Mongul throws her through a wall, where she enters the weapons room of the Fortress, and uses one of the more powerful energy blasters to take on Mongul. Meanwhile, Batman tries to reach out to Superman to get him to snap out of his dream world as he attempts to unwrap Black Mercy's tendrils from the Man of Steel.
Batman succeeds in pulling Black Mercy off Superman's body, only for it to now latch onto him and give him a fantasy based on the desires of his heart. In Batman's fantasy, he sees that his father, on the night that his parents were murdered by a low-life criminal on the street, succeeds in overpowering the criminal and thus preventing the murder from ever happening. Bruce grows up happily and even marries Betty Kane in that fantasy.
Superman, now freed from the Black Mercy's thrall, attacks Mongul in a rage, angry that he had been pulled from his fantasy of being on a Krypton that was never destroyed and losing everything that was so dear in the process. During this fight, Robin uses the gauntlets that Mongul pulled off his hands and grabs Black Mercy, pulling it off Batman and carrying it to where he would hope to dump it on Mongul.
The fight between Superman and Mongul, with neither side prevailing, carries over into a room where the Kryptonian is distracted by the statue of his parents holding up a globe representing the lost world of Krypton, and Mongul uses it to pummel Superman. However, Mongul is distracted by Robin calling to him and sees him through a hole in the ceiling one floor up. Robin then drops Black Mercy right on Mongul, and instantly it wraps itself around Mongul, giving him a fantasy of his own heart's desire. In that fantasy, he kills Robin as well as Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman and then takes over as the leader of a new Warworld. In reality, Mongul simply drops to the ground, with the heroes now relieved that the fight is over.
Batman and Wonder Woman finally present their birthday gifts to Superman. Wonder Woman shows him a perfect replica of the bottled city of Kandor, while Batman shows him a rare species of a plant blossom called the Krypton -- a blossom that ended up being crushed during the fight. Superman nonetheless is pleased that his friends and allies have even thought of bringing him gifts and then offers them coffee.
Notes:
- Signed by Dave Gibbons on 09/06/2014
- This story is featured in DC Universe: The Stories Of Alan Moore.
- Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, this story was removed from continuity. However, a recent flashback in Green Lantern Corps (Volume 2) #24 showed this scenario, implying that it was restored following the Infinite Crisis.
- This story was later adapted into a Justice League Unlimited episode of the same name, with Robin not featured in the adaptation.
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