The Man of Steel (comics)
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 1985–1986 series Crisis on Infinite Earths.
This article is about the 1986 John Byrne mini-series. For the series that ran from 1991 to 2003, see Superman: The Man of Steel.The Man of Steel
DC editors wanted to make changes to the character of Superman, including making him the sole survivor of his home planet Krypton, and Byrne's story was written to show these changes and to present Superman's origin. The series includes the embryonic Kal-El rocketing away from the destruction of Krypton and his birth upon landing in Kansas when he emerged from the artificial womb, Clark Kent as a teenager in Smallville learning that he was found in a crashed space ship, him being hired at the Daily Planet in Metropolis, the creation of his secret identity of Superman, his first meeting with fellow hero Batman, and how he finally learned of his birth parents and from where he came. The series also included the reintroduction of a number of supporting characters, including fellow reporter and love interest Lois Lane and archenemy Lex Luthor, who was re-branded from a mad scientist to a powerful businessman and a white-collar criminal.
The series's legacy persisted, as it set the new status quo for all of the ongoing Superman comic series for many years after it was published. The story stayed in DC Comics continuity as the origin of Superman until it was expanded upon in the 2003 limited series Superman: Birthright, which stayed canon until 2009. The title is a reference to one of Superman's nicknames which touted his invulnerability as making him the "Man of Steel".[1] It was later used as the title of an ongoing comic series and in a film reboot in 2013.
Production[edit]
In the years before Crisis on Infinite Earths led to the reboot of the DC Universe, DC editors and Marv Wolfman had been wanting to do a revision for Superman. Nothing was ever developed until then-publisher and president Jenette Kahn asked for revision proposals from various writers.[11] While regular Superman writer Cary Bates wanted the revision to still keep the then-ongoing continuity as it was, Wolfman, and other writers such as Frank Miller and Steve Gerber wanted to restart the continuity from scratch.[12] Wolfman, Miller, and Gerber all wanted to do the same thing: get rid of Clark Kent's career as Superboy, cut down Superman's powers, make changes in Lex Luthor's character, and make Superman the only survivor of Krypton, avoiding the other Kryptonian characters if necessary. However, regardless of wanting the same things, how each writer wanted to approach the revision was different.
After time had passed with no revision being granted the green light, executive editor Dick Giordano found out John Byrne was no longer under contract with Marvel Comics in May 1985. He and Byrne began talking about what Byrne would do with Superman if offered the job.[13] With DC agreeing with 99% of the revision, Byrne was given the go-ahead for what became The Man of Steel.[14] Byrne's original pitch was to mold Superman through a story arc over six or eight issues which would bring Superman to the point where he wanted him to be, but because DC insisted on a reboot, Byrne used that approach instead.[15]
The mini-series was designed to reboot the Superman mythos using the history-altering effects of Crisis on Infinite Earths as an explanation. Thus, for modern comics, The Man of Steel is the dividing point between the previous canon of the Silver Age, and the Modern Age. The two different versions are referred to in stories soon after and by fans as "pre-Crisis" and "post-Crisis", per Crisis on Infinite Earths being the major dividing line across the DC Universe as a whole.[16] The pre-Crisis stories were drawn to a close in Alan Moore's Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?.
In the first issue, during Superman's public debut, he was originally going to save a landing space shuttle. After the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, the Constitution was changed to "an experimental space-plane".[17]
The story has been reprinted in trade paperback form in several editions. With the release of Action Comics #584, Adventures of Superman #424, and Superman #1 in January 1987 there was a card in each copy that readers could fill out and mail to DC for a chance to win a rare copy of a collected trade paperback. This version was unique in that it was actually all six issues of the Man of Steel mini-series with the spines trimmed and rebound with a new cover with a photocopied note that read:
In 1987 it was first released as a trade paperback in deluxe paper for the mass market with new cover art by John Byrne, with a cover price $12.95 US/$17.50 Canada. In 1993, it was widely released using newsprint-type paper with a cheaper cover price of $7.50 US/$9.95 Canada. It was again released in 2003, cover price of $14.99 US with a new cover by Jerry Ordway and the title of Superman: The Man of Steel Vol. 1, which would be the first in a series of trade paperbacks to collect some of the early post-Crisis adventures of Superman.
The story has also been adapted in other countries. In 1995, Battleaxe Press comics in South Africa released the series under the name Superman as an introduction to the character before publishing newly released comics from DC.[26]
In 1990, the series was adapted into a radio play in England simply entitled The Adventures of Superman by Dirk Maggs for BBC Radio 4. It featured Stuart Milligan as Clark Kent / Superman, William Hootkins as Lex Luthor, Lorelei King as Lois Lane, Vincent Marzello as Jimmy Olsen, Garrick Hagon as Perry White, Shelley Thompson as Lana Lang, Dick Vosburgh as Jor-El, Barbara Barnes as Lucy Lane, David Graham as Fisher, Simon Treves as Metallo, Elizabeth Mansfield as Amanda McCoy, Burt Kwouk as Doctor Teng, and Jon Pertwee as Schwarz.[27]
Impact[edit]
From 1986 until 2003, The Man of Steel was the official Superman origin story. The 1998 limited series, Superman for All Seasons added to the story, but did not remove it from continuity. Byrne followed the story with three four-issue mini-series that retold and explored the new world of Superman: The World of Krypton (December 1987 – March 1988), The World of Smallville (April – July 1988), and The World of Metropolis (August – November 1988).[17] In addition to these stories, three on-going monthly comics featuring the new Superman's adventures were published by DC Comics. Byrne continued his stories in the brand new Superman #1,[28] and continued with Action Comics #584, while Marv Wolfman wrote Adventures of Superman which had been retitled from the original Superman book and began with #424.[29]
Byrne and Wolfman continued the changes presented in The Man of Steel in these on-going stories. Although most of Superman's powers remained unchanged, they did become limited to make him more believable. Additionally, he could no longer survive in space indefinitely without an air supply. These changes eliminated intergalactic and time travel stories. They also wanted to establish Clark Kent as the real person, with Superman being the disguise. Clark was no longer "mild-mannered", but became more assertive. He worked out to explain his muscular build and had written a "best-selling" novel before becoming a Daily Planet reporter.[17] Additionally, most stories of other characters trying to find out Superman's secret identity were eliminated, as it was not believed that he had an alter-ego.[30] Byrne also decided to keep Jonathan and Martha alive and well into Clark's adulthood to be important support characters for years. He also limited the use of Superman's weakness, Kryptonite. He removed all other forms besides the green variety, and made it an extremely rare element that came to Earth in one large rock with Superman's rocket.[17] Lex Luthor believed early on that the radiation emanating from Kryptonite was within safe limits for humans, but was proved wrong in later stories.[31]
Two of the biggest changes to Superman was reestablishing him as the sole survivor of the planet Krypton and the removal of his career as Superboy. These alterations in continuity would have a serious effect on the Legion of Super-Heroes. The Legion was formed based on the legends of Superman's adventures as a boy, and since they were still in continuity this was a problem. Additionally, Supergirl visited and worked with the Legion in many of their stories. Since Supergirl did not exist either, Byrne had to correct this incongruity.[32] He created a storyline in his two books where the Legion travels back in time to confront the post-Crisis Superman to find an explanation on Superboy's apparent disappearance.[33] It was revealed that the Legion's enemy, the Time Trapper had created a "pocket universe" where Superboy existed. Whenever that Superboy would travel to the future or the Legion would travel to the past, the Time Trapper shifted them in and out of the pocket universe.[34] This would also be used to explain the existence of Supergirl in the Legion stories.
One change of the Superman mythos introduced by Byrne was that Kal-El was not an infant sent from Krypton to Earth, rather, his fetus was placed in a "birthing matrix" equipped with a rocket engine and Jor-El's experimental warp drive, with Kal-El gestating during the trip to Earth. Once the rocket landed, Kal-El was fully "born" on Earth. This made him "born" an American, a plot point that would be used in Armageddon 2001, a DC Comics storyline which explored possible futures, one of which featured Superman becoming President of the United States.[35]
The planet Krypton in this series is cold and emotionally sterile, an idea Byrne borrowed from the 1978 film Superman and later carried on by other writers.
The Man of Steel was highly regarded as an origin story for Superman. The first issue sold 200,000 copies.[36] The cover to that issue was named one of the "75 Most Iconic DC Covers of All-Time" by Comic Book Resources,[37] while users on that site voted it (along with the rest of Byrne's Superman run) as one of the "Top 100 Comic Book Runs" in 2012.[38] Issue #3, where Superman met Batman, was named by IGN as one of "The Greatest Superman/Batman Stories".[39] The website io9 called the mini-series "Must Read",[40] while others gave many examples of why it is loved.[41]
Although many people praised the story, it did have some detractors. Some claimed the series discarded the true Superman,[18] while others claimed that DC and Byrne did not understand the character of Superman.[42] Others have given examples of why the new Superman was overthought and did not work as a character.[43]
Legacy[edit]
In 2003, the story was finally replaced by the 12-issue limited series, Superman: Birthright, which added on elements to the origin story of Superman.[44] DC stated that Birthright and Man of Steel formed the full "official" origin for Superman. Birthright made use of many elements of Man of Steel that tied into the other series, but also introduced new aspects ignored by Byrne and thus brought back various pre-Crisis elements (such as Lex and Clark as childhood friends in Smallville). The Kara Zor-El version of Supergirl was also reintroduced. In 2005, the DC Universe spanning story, Infinite Crisis made further changes to Superman, which left questions once again about Superman's origin. It was not until then-monthly Superman writer Kurt Busiek stated that the post-Infinite Crisis Superman origin had yet to be established.[45] After the conclusion of Infinite Crisis, this origin was finally explained in the 2009 mini-series Superman: Secret Origin ending 20 years of The Man of Steel being the official origin. Eventually, only the first post-Crisis encounter between Superman and Batman remained canonical.
Many of the elements of the story were used in various other stories about the character. Other comic book series referred to it, such as the adaptation Superman: Earth One, which includes Clark Kent getting a job with the Daily Planet by providing an exclusive interview with Superman and the Elseworlds story Superman: Last Son of Earth which heavily refers to it and includes some frames and quotes copied directly from it.
Other elements were not seen in the story, but were adapted when Superman's origin was tackled by other media besides comics. In some pre-Crisis re-tellings of Superman's origin, Jor-El wanted to save both Lara and Kal-El by sending them away in the same rocket. Lara refused saying that the rocket was too small and might not make it to Earth because of her added weight, and she wanted to stay with her husband, an idea that was briefly touched on in Superman: The Animated Series. Byrne's original idea was to show a pregnant Lara leaving Krypton. After landing near Smallville, Lara would immediately succumb to a small chunk of kryptonite that was embedded in the ship's hull, introducing the dangers of the rocks. Lara would then have been found by the Kents while she was in labor. Before dying, Lara would have told them to look after her son. They would then take young Kal-El, an alien born on Earth, and raise him as their own just as they promised his mother. This was also Byrne's way to emphasize the Kents being chosen caretakers rather than them being a random couple who finds a baby in a rocket. The idea was not used because DC wanted Kal-El to be sent to Earth alone, but the idea of them being chosen was explored later in the television series, Smallville and in the novel Superman: Last Son of Krypton.[17] The only detail from the idea that remained in the finished comic is the kryptonite fragment embedded in the ship's hull, which weakens Clark just as Jonathan finishes his story.
According to Byrne, it was initially agreed upon that he could depict Superman "learning the ropes" as a young hero early in his career. This was part of the reason why Byrne eliminated Superboy from the mythos, as he felt Superboy would be an unnecessary character under those circumstances. Once Byrne officially signed on to write the story, however, he was informed that his Superman would need to be "up to speed" and an established hero by the time the relaunch of the monthly titles took place. Later, Byrne stated that he wished he had kept Superboy to fill the role of Superman still "figuring it out", but this idea was used extensively in the Smallville television series.[32]
An unused Marv Wolfman idea was to show Lois Lane and Lex Luthor being romantically involved and living together in Luthor's estate in the mountains until Superman came to Metropolis. Lois would then leave Luthor to go after Superman, another reason for Luthor to hate Superman. This idea was scrapped because Byrne did not want Lois as someone who was drawn to power (and he didn't want any mountains shown alongside the city either).[32] Therefore, The Man of Steel depicts Lois and Luthor as having only casually dated. This idea was explored during the first season of the television series, Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, and was a backstory in Superman: The Animated Series.
The title of the series was used once again in 1991 when DC gave Superman a fourth on-going monthly comic book, Superman: The Man of Steel.[46] It was also used for the rebooted film franchise of Superman in the 2013 origin story film, Man of Steel. The dystopian view of Krypton in the film is also heavily influenced by John Byrne's mini series in which they ruined their ecology and they don't have natural child birth.
The Man of Steel was later the name of a 2018 miniseries written by Brian Michael Bendis, Bendis' first major work for DC Comics.[47]