The Superman Monster
Encyclopedia
The Superman Monster is an Elseworlds
tale, combining the elements of the Superman
mythos
with Mary Shelley's
Frankenstein
. It was written by Dan Abnett
and Andy Lanning
, was pencilled by Anthony Williams
, and was published by DC Comics
in 1999
.
Iceberg Lounge in 1888, newspaper editor Peregrine White entices his friend, Constable James Gordon, with a tale set five years ago in a small town in Switzerland, called Ingolstadt.
Philosophy student and scientist Vicktor Luthor is kicked out of Ingolstadt College after it is revealed that he had been conducting unorthodox and rather sacrilegious experiments as misguided attempts at reviving the dead. Afterwards, he began isolating himself from the world, and from his fiancé Eloise Edge, the daughter of Burgomaster Edge, in order to conduct his experiments away from prying eyes.
Two weeks later, Vicktor storms out of his engagement party when he witnesses a strange object fall from the sky and crash in the woods. The object is in fact a rocket from a doomed planet named Krypton, and inside is the dead remains of an infant. A recorded projection from the rocket reveals itself to be a projection of Jor-El, a scientist from Krypton who knew of his planet's certain destruction, so he sent in his son, Kal-El, to another planet in order for him to live. Jor-El programmed the projection to teach his son about Krypton's history, its science, and its technology. Vicktor decides to use this to his advantage, and constructs a Revival Matrix, meant to bring life into that which is dead. Buying body parts from a graverobber, whom he later kills, Vicktor builds a brand-new human being and brings it to life. Unfortunately, the process does not go as he planned, and his creation bears less a resemblance to a human being and more to that of a monster with chalky white skin. Horrified by his creation, Vicktor accidentally starts a fire in his lab, when the creature saves him from destruction using superhuman powers, and flies both his creator and himself away, only to be struck by lightning and cast into the forest.
The creature wanders off into Ingolstadt the next day, frightened by all the sounds and sights of everyday life, when he saves Elois Edge after her carriage loses control. She is not afraid of the creature, but the townspeople frighten him away, thinking him to be a savage brute.
The creature wanders back into the forest, where he meets Johan and Martha Kant, a kindly old couple whose only son had just died in a foreign war. The Kants take the creature in as their son. They feed him, cloth him, and educate him until he can function like a normal human being as his appearance slowly heals. They name him Klaus, and he uses his abilities to help them with their work, when a passerby witnesses Klaus' strength, and reports it back to town.
That night, Klaus discusses with his parents that he wishes to find his creator, when Vicktor brings a mob to the Kants home, and in the fight Johan dies of a heart attack and Martha dies inside their burning home. Klaus tries to attack Vicktor, but is weakened by a green stone that he wears on his cane, which came from Krypton. It is having an ill effect on Klaus because, as they say "like forces repel." That same night happens to be the night of Vicktor's wedding to Eloise, but Klaus interrupts the ceremony, wanting only for Vicktor to face justice. Vicktor fires a gun at Klaus, but the bullets ricochet off him and wound Burgomaster Edge in the arm and kill Eloise. Vicktor then beats Klaus with his cane until he passes out.
After the guests have left, Vicktor's friend, James Olafson, discovers Burgomaster Edge smothered to death. James returns to Vicktor's home, only to find Eloise's body suspended over the rebuilt Reviving Matrix. He tries to stop Vicktor, but he is shot and thrown into the cellar, where Klaus is subdued by a chain of the same green stones that Vicktor wears on his cane. James removes the stone, but Klaus is too late to stop Vicktor from reviving Eloise. Eloise and Klaus soon leave together, realizing that they were made for each other. At this point, James Gordon stops the story and asks Peregrine how he learned it. Peregrine reveals that when he was on a boat near the north, the crew discovered a babbling Vicktor Luthor wandering in the cold, until he finally died from exhaustion. Klaus then appeared to Peregrine, now angelic in nature, and took Luthor's body with him back to his home.
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...
tale, combining the elements of the Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
mythos
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
with Mary Shelley's
Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus . She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley...
Frankenstein
Frankenstein
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel about a failed experiment that produced a monster, written by Mary Shelley, with inserts of poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Shelley started writing the story when she was eighteen, and the novel was published when she was twenty-one. The first...
. It was written by Dan Abnett
Dan Abnett
Dan Abnett is a British comic book writer and novelist. He is a frequent collaborator with fellow writer Andy Lanning, and is known for his work on books for both Marvel Comics, and their UK imprint, Marvel UK, since the 1990s, including 2000 AD...
and Andy Lanning
Andy Lanning
Andy Lanning is a British comic book writer and inker, known for his work for Marvel Comics and DC Comics, and for his collaboration with Dan Abnett.-Career:Lanning works primarily at Marvel Comics and DC Comics as an inker...
, was pencilled by Anthony Williams
Anthony Williams (comics)
Anthony Williams is a Welsh comic book artist.-Biography:He broke into comics at Marvel UK, drawing for the series Action Force, The Real Ghostbusters and Transformers, among others...
, and was published by DC Comics
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...
in 1999
1999 in comics
-February:* February 3: Pioneering editor Vin Sullivan dies at age 87.* February 26: John L. Goldwater, co-founder of Archie Comics, dies at age 82.-March:* Incredible Hulk is canceled by Marvel with issue #474.-May:...
.
Plot
At the Gotham CityGotham City
Gotham City is a fictional U.S. city appearing in DC Comics, best known as the home of Batman. Batman's place of residence was first identified as Gotham City in Batman #4 . Gotham City is strongly inspired by Trenton, Ontario's history, location, atmosphere, and various architectural styles...
Iceberg Lounge in 1888, newspaper editor Peregrine White entices his friend, Constable James Gordon, with a tale set five years ago in a small town in Switzerland, called Ingolstadt.
Philosophy student and scientist Vicktor Luthor is kicked out of Ingolstadt College after it is revealed that he had been conducting unorthodox and rather sacrilegious experiments as misguided attempts at reviving the dead. Afterwards, he began isolating himself from the world, and from his fiancé Eloise Edge, the daughter of Burgomaster Edge, in order to conduct his experiments away from prying eyes.
Two weeks later, Vicktor storms out of his engagement party when he witnesses a strange object fall from the sky and crash in the woods. The object is in fact a rocket from a doomed planet named Krypton, and inside is the dead remains of an infant. A recorded projection from the rocket reveals itself to be a projection of Jor-El, a scientist from Krypton who knew of his planet's certain destruction, so he sent in his son, Kal-El, to another planet in order for him to live. Jor-El programmed the projection to teach his son about Krypton's history, its science, and its technology. Vicktor decides to use this to his advantage, and constructs a Revival Matrix, meant to bring life into that which is dead. Buying body parts from a graverobber, whom he later kills, Vicktor builds a brand-new human being and brings it to life. Unfortunately, the process does not go as he planned, and his creation bears less a resemblance to a human being and more to that of a monster with chalky white skin. Horrified by his creation, Vicktor accidentally starts a fire in his lab, when the creature saves him from destruction using superhuman powers, and flies both his creator and himself away, only to be struck by lightning and cast into the forest.
The creature wanders off into Ingolstadt the next day, frightened by all the sounds and sights of everyday life, when he saves Elois Edge after her carriage loses control. She is not afraid of the creature, but the townspeople frighten him away, thinking him to be a savage brute.
The creature wanders back into the forest, where he meets Johan and Martha Kant, a kindly old couple whose only son had just died in a foreign war. The Kants take the creature in as their son. They feed him, cloth him, and educate him until he can function like a normal human being as his appearance slowly heals. They name him Klaus, and he uses his abilities to help them with their work, when a passerby witnesses Klaus' strength, and reports it back to town.
That night, Klaus discusses with his parents that he wishes to find his creator, when Vicktor brings a mob to the Kants home, and in the fight Johan dies of a heart attack and Martha dies inside their burning home. Klaus tries to attack Vicktor, but is weakened by a green stone that he wears on his cane, which came from Krypton. It is having an ill effect on Klaus because, as they say "like forces repel." That same night happens to be the night of Vicktor's wedding to Eloise, but Klaus interrupts the ceremony, wanting only for Vicktor to face justice. Vicktor fires a gun at Klaus, but the bullets ricochet off him and wound Burgomaster Edge in the arm and kill Eloise. Vicktor then beats Klaus with his cane until he passes out.
After the guests have left, Vicktor's friend, James Olafson, discovers Burgomaster Edge smothered to death. James returns to Vicktor's home, only to find Eloise's body suspended over the rebuilt Reviving Matrix. He tries to stop Vicktor, but he is shot and thrown into the cellar, where Klaus is subdued by a chain of the same green stones that Vicktor wears on his cane. James removes the stone, but Klaus is too late to stop Vicktor from reviving Eloise. Eloise and Klaus soon leave together, realizing that they were made for each other. At this point, James Gordon stops the story and asks Peregrine how he learned it. Peregrine reveals that when he was on a boat near the north, the crew discovered a babbling Vicktor Luthor wandering in the cold, until he finally died from exhaustion. Klaus then appeared to Peregrine, now angelic in nature, and took Luthor's body with him back to his home.
Publication
- "The Superman Monster" (by writers Dan AbnettDan AbnettDan Abnett is a British comic book writer and novelist. He is a frequent collaborator with fellow writer Andy Lanning, and is known for his work on books for both Marvel Comics, and their UK imprint, Marvel UK, since the 1990s, including 2000 AD...
and Andy LanningAndy LanningAndy Lanning is a British comic book writer and inker, known for his work for Marvel Comics and DC Comics, and for his collaboration with Dan Abnett.-Career:Lanning works primarily at Marvel Comics and DC Comics as an inker...
, with pencils by Anthony WilliamsAnthony Williams (comics)Anthony Williams is a Welsh comic book artist.-Biography:He broke into comics at Marvel UK, drawing for the series Action Force, The Real Ghostbusters and Transformers, among others...
and inks by Tom PalmerTom Palmer (comics)-Biography:Although Palmer has done a small amount of pencilling work , the vast majority of his artistic output since the 1960s has been as a comic book inker...
, one shot, ElseworldsElseworldsElseworlds 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...
, 19991999 in comics-February:* February 3: Pioneering editor Vin Sullivan dies at age 87.* February 26: John L. Goldwater, co-founder of Archie Comics, dies at age 82.-March:* Incredible Hulk is canceled by Marvel with issue #474.-May:...
)
See also
- Batman: Castle of the BatBatman: Castle of the BatBatman Castle of the Bat is a DC Comics Elseworlds special published in 1994. Written by Jack C. Harris with art by Bo Hampton as the artist and Tracy Hampton-Munsey as the letterer.In 1819 a troubled Bruce Wayne revives his father from the dead...
, the Frankenstein story as retold as a Batman story - Batman: Two FacesBatman: Two FacesBatman: Two Faces is a DC Comics Elseworlds special published in 1998. Written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, pencilled by Anthony Williams and features Tom Palmer as the inker....
, The Superman Monster is the sequel to this story - Frankenstein in popular cultureFrankenstein in popular cultureMary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, and the famous character of Frankenstein's monster have influenced popular culture for at least 100 years. The work has inspired numerous films, television programs, video games and derivative works...
- List of Elseworlds publications
External links
- http://www.comicvine.com/the-superman-monster-the-superman-monster/37-172848/