Superman's Metropolis
Encyclopedia
Superman's Metropolis is a DC Comics
comic book
Elseworlds
publication and the first part in a trilogy based on German Expressionist cinema. It was written by Jean-Marc Lofficier
, Randy Lofficier and Roy Thomas
, and illustrated by Ted McKeever
.
The story of Superman's Metropolis is "patterned" after Fritz Lang
's film Metropolis
.
, the giant city
of Metropolis is starkly divided between upper classes who live in luxury and lower classes who toil under harsh conditions. Clarc Kent-son, son of Jon Kent, the Great Architect
and apparent Master of Metropolis, becomes aware of the social inequality
after meeting Lois, a teacher
from the undercity. He joins the workers to experience their daily lives, then begs his father to improve their lot, but in vain. In reality, the city is in thrall to the scientist
Lutor, an old colleague of Jon Kent from before the "time of smoke and soot" that came before the foundation 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 his mind-slave.
Concerned about a potential revolution
, Lutor identifies its leader, Lois, who prophesies
about a coming savior who will reunite the city. Later, Lutor captures Lois and uses her to create a robot
ic duplicate which he names 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, blanked away his memories and blocked off his powers, turning him into a social drone.
As Futura, disguised as Lois, leads the workers to a doomed rebellion, Clarc, now the Super-Man, the savior of Metropolis, intervenes. He fights, and defeats Futura by throwing her into a tank of molten metal. Meanwhile, Lutor reveals his metallic body powered by a kryptonite
heart
. He kills Jon Kent who, in the end, sacrifices his life for Clarc. Lutor is later destroyed by Clarc after a fierce battle. Clarc and Lois become the new, enlightened rulers of a reunited Metropolis.
Writer Jean-Marc Lofficier
had a fourth and final volume planned, entitled The Green Light, which would have introduced counterparts of The Flash, Green Lantern
and the Martian Manhunter
(based on Leni Riefenstahl
's The Blue Light
(1922) and Arnold Fanck
's Weiße Rausch - Der Neue Wunder des Schneeschuhs (a.k.a. The White Flame) (1931) (which also starred Leni Riefenstahl), and a female Aquaman
(based on Georg Wilhelm Pabst
's Die Herrin von Atlantis (a.k.a. The Mistress of Atlantis) (1932)). The book would have dealt with the rediscovery of Earth
. http://www.lofficier.com/superman.htm
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
Elseworlds
Elseworlds
Elseworlds is the publication imprint for a group of comic books produced by DC Comics that take place outside the company's canon. According to its tagline: "In Elseworlds, heroes are taken from their usual settings and put into strange times and places — some that have existed, and others...
publication and the first part in a trilogy based on German Expressionist cinema. It was written by Jean-Marc Lofficier
Jean-Marc Lofficier
Jean-Marc Lofficier is a French author of books about films and television programs, as well as numerous comic books and translations of a number of animation screenplays. He usually collaborates with his wife, Randy Lofficier .-Biography:Jean-Marc Lofficier was born in Toulon, France in 1954...
, Randy Lofficier and Roy Thomas
Roy Thomas
Roy William Thomas, Jr. is an American comic book writer and editor, and Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibly best known for introducing the pulp magazine hero Conan the Barbarian to American comics, with a series that added to the storyline of Robert E...
, and illustrated by Ted McKeever
Ted McKeever
-Career:McKeever first professional work appeared in 1987, when he published the first five parts of his unfinished series Transit , establishing his trademark style. This was followed in 1987-1988 by his 12-part series Eddy Current. This "12-hour book" centers on an escapee from an asylum...
.
The story of Superman's Metropolis is "patterned" after Fritz Lang
Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang was an Austrian-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute...
's film Metropolis
Metropolis (film)
Metropolis is a 1927 German expressionist film in the science-fiction genre directed by Fritz Lang. Produced in Germany during a stable period of the Weimar Republic, Metropolis is set in a futuristic urban dystopia and makes use of this context to explore the social crisis between workers and...
.
Characters
DC characters which appear in the story (in order of appearance):- Clarc Kent-sonClark KentClark Kent is a fictional character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Appearing regularly in stories published by DC Comics, he debuted in Action Comics #1 and serves as the civilian and secret identity of the superhero Superman....
- Lana LangLana LangLana Lang is a fictional supporting character in DC Comics' Superman series. Created by writer Bill Finger and artist John Sikela, the character first appears in Superboy #10...
- Lois LaneLois LaneLois Lane is a fictional character, the primary love interest of Superman in the comic books of DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in Action Comics #1 ....
- Perry WhitePerry WhitePerry White is a fictional character who appears in the Superman comics. White is the Editor-in-Chief of the Metropolis newspaper the Daily Planet.White maintains very high ethical and journalistic standards...
- Jon KentJonathan Kent (comics)Jonathan Kent and Martha Kent, often referred to as "Ma" and "Pa" Kent, are fictional characters published by DC Comics. The Kents are the adoptive parents of Superman. They live in the rural town of Smallville, Kansas...
- Jimmy OlsonJimmy OlsenJimmy Olsen is a fictional character who appears mainly in DC Comics’ Superman stories. Olsen is a young photojournalist working for the Daily Planet. He is close friends with Lois Lane, Clark Kent/Superman and Perry White...
- William HendersonInspector William HendersonInspector William Henderson is a supporting character in Superman comics published by DC Comics.Inspector Henderson first appeared in the 1940s radio series The Adventures of Superman, in which he was Superman's police contact. He was subsequently introduced in a similar role in the 1950s...
- LutorLex LuthorLex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and the archenemy of Superman, although given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Created by Jerry Siegel and...
/MetalloMetalloMetallo is a comic book supervillain and cyborg who appears in Superman stories published by DC Comics. Metallo's trademark is his kryptonite power source, which he often uses as a weapon against Superman. His traditional identity is John Corben... - Marta
- Dan TurpinDan TurpinDaniel "Terrible" Turpin is a character published by DC Comics. He first appeared as Brooklyn in Detective Comics #64 , and first appeared as Dan Turpin in New Gods #5 .-Publication history:...
- FuturaMekaniqueMekanique is a fictional supervillain in the fictional DC Universe. She first appeared in All-Star Squadron #58 .-Fictional character biography:...
Plot
In an undetermined futureFuture
The future is the indefinite time period after the present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the nature of the reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently exists and will exist is temporary and will come...
, the giant city
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
of Metropolis is starkly divided between upper classes who live in luxury and lower classes who toil under harsh conditions. Clarc Kent-son, son of Jon Kent, the Great Architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
and apparent Master of Metropolis, becomes aware of the social inequality
Social inequality
Social inequality refers to a situation in which individual groups in a society do not have equal social status. Areas of potential social inequality include voting rights, freedom of speech and assembly, the extent of property rights and access to education, health care, quality housing and other...
after meeting Lois, a teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
from the undercity. He joins the workers to experience their daily lives, then begs his father to improve their lot, but in vain. In reality, the city is in thrall to the scientist
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
Lutor, an old colleague of Jon Kent from before the "time of smoke and soot" that came before the foundation of Metropolis. Both Jon and Lutor fell in love
Love
Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, "God is love" or Agape in the Canonical gospels...
with the same woman, Marta. When she chose Jon over Lutor, the scientist killed her, then used advanced hypnosis
Hypnosis
Hypnosis is "a trance state characterized by extreme suggestibility, relaxation and heightened imagination."It is a mental state or imaginative role-enactment . It is usually induced by a procedure known as a hypnotic induction, which is commonly composed of a long series of preliminary...
to turn Jon into his mind-slave.
Concerned about a potential revolution
Revolution
A revolution is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.Aristotle described two types of political revolution:...
, Lutor identifies its leader, Lois, who prophesies
Prophecy
Prophecy is a process in which one or more messages that have been communicated to a prophet are then communicated to others. Such messages typically involve divine inspiration, interpretation, or revelation of conditioned events to come as well as testimonies or repeated revelations that the...
about a coming savior who will reunite the city. Later, Lutor captures Lois and uses her to create a robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
ic duplicate which he names Futura that will lead the workers to their doom. Meanwhile, Clarc discovers that he was a foundling
Child abandonment
Child abandonment is the practice of relinquishing interests and claims over one's offspring with the intent of never again resuming or reasserting them. Causes include many social and cultural factors as well as mental illness. An abandoned child is called a foundling .-Causes:Poverty is often a...
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, blanked away his memories and blocked off his powers, turning him into a social drone.
As Futura, disguised as Lois, leads the workers to a doomed rebellion, Clarc, now the Super-Man, the savior of Metropolis, intervenes. He fights, and defeats Futura by throwing her into a tank of molten metal. Meanwhile, Lutor reveals his metallic body powered by a kryptonite
Kryptonite
Kryptonite is a fictional material from the Superman mythos —the ore form of a radioactive element from Superman's home planet of Krypton. It is famous for being the ultimate physical weakness of Superman, and the word kryptonite has since become synonymous with an Achilles' heel —the one weakness...
heart
Heart
The heart is a myogenic muscular organ found in all animals with a circulatory system , that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions...
. He kills Jon Kent who, in the end, sacrifices his life for Clarc. Lutor is later destroyed by Clarc after a fierce battle. Clarc and Lois become the new, enlightened rulers of a reunited Metropolis.
Trilogy
This is the first of the trilogy:- Superman's Metropolis
- Batman: NosferatuBatman: NosferatuBatman: Nosferatu is a DC Comics comic book Elseworlds publication and is the middle of a trilogy based on German Expressionism cinema. It was written by Jean-Marc Lofficier and Randy Lofficier, and illustrated by Ted McKeever....
- Wonder Woman: The Blue AmazonWonder Woman: The Blue AmazonWonder Woman: The Blue Amazon is a DC Comics comic book Elseworlds publication and the final part of a trilogy, based on German Expressionist cinema. It was written by Jean-Marc Lofficier and Randy Lofficier and illustrated by Ted McKeever....
Writer Jean-Marc Lofficier
Jean-Marc Lofficier
Jean-Marc Lofficier is a French author of books about films and television programs, as well as numerous comic books and translations of a number of animation screenplays. He usually collaborates with his wife, Randy Lofficier .-Biography:Jean-Marc Lofficier was born in Toulon, France in 1954...
had a fourth and final volume planned, entitled The Green Light, which would have introduced counterparts of The Flash, Green Lantern
Green Lantern
The Green Lantern is the shared primary alias of several fictional characters, superheroes appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The first Green Lantern was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Martin Nodell in All-American Comics #16 .Each Green Lantern possesses a power ring and...
and the Martian Manhunter
Martian Manhunter
The Martian Manhunter is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in publications published by DC Comics. Created by writer Joseph Samachson and artist Joe Certa, the character first appeared in Detective Comics #225...
(based on Leni Riefenstahl
Leni Riefenstahl
Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl was a German film director, actress and dancer widely noted for her aesthetics and innovations as a filmmaker. Her most famous film was Triumph des Willens , a propaganda film made at the 1934 Nuremberg congress of the Nazi Party...
's The Blue Light
Das Blaue Licht
Das Blaue Licht is a black-and-white 1932 film written and directed by Leni Riefenstahl and Béla Balázs, with uncredited scripting by Carl Mayer. In Riefenstahl's film version, the witch, Junta, played by Riefenstahl, is intended to be a sympathetic character...
(1922) and Arnold Fanck
Arnold Fanck
Arnold Fanck was a pioneer of the German mountain film....
's Weiße Rausch - Der Neue Wunder des Schneeschuhs (a.k.a. The White Flame) (1931) (which also starred Leni Riefenstahl), and a female Aquaman
Aquaman
Aquaman is a fictional superhero who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted in More Fun Comics #73 . Initially a backup feature in DC's anthology titles, Aquaman later starred in several volumes of a solo title...
(based on Georg Wilhelm Pabst
Georg Wilhelm Pabst
-Biography:Pabst was born in Raudnitz, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary , the son of a railroad employee.Returning from the United States, he was in France when World War I began...
's Die Herrin von Atlantis (a.k.a. The Mistress of Atlantis) (1932)). The book would have dealt with the rediscovery of Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
. http://www.lofficier.com/superman.htm
Trivia
- In the original script for the movie Metropolis, the name of the robot was Futura. The fact that the robot in the story is named Futura is an in-joke referring to the movie.
- The city Superman protects was actually named after the silent movieSilent MovieSilent Movie is a 1976 satirical comedy film co-written, directed by, and starring Mel Brooks, and released by 20th Century Fox on June 17, 1976...
Metropolis. - This timeline was designated as a former part of the DC Multiverse called Earth-1927 in the Absolute Crisis On Infinite Earths HC.
- As of yet there has been no report of Earth-1927 appearing as one of the 52 worlds in the new multiverse.