One Of The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told

While I've always been just a tad bit more in awe of Alan Moore's "For the Man Who Has Everything" (Superman Annual # 11), there are so many more emotional moments to be found in Moore's other great Superman tale: "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" which ran in Superman # 423 and Action Comics # 583, marking the official end of the pre-Crisis DC Universe. That 2-part epic has once again been getting talked about lately, thanks to the announcement that Neil Gaiman is writing a "Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?" 2-parter to come out immediately after the conclusion of Grant Morrison's current "Batman R.I.P." saga. Because of that, today I decided to re-read (for the umpteenth time) the 1986 story that put a definitive conclusion to the Silver Age Kal-El's adventures.

There's so much to love about this poignant wrap-up that I almost don't know where to start. In the first part, we learn that Superman's been gone and assumed dead for many years by the time August 16th, 1997 rolls around (recall that this comic came out in 1986). Lois Lane has married Jordan Elliot and has a son with him, and is being interviewed by a reporter from the Daily Planet who's writing a "Last Days of Superman" retrospective. Through flashbacks narrated by Lois, we visit an earlier time when Superman's arch enemies had grown quiet for a while, allowing the Man of Steel to devote more of his time to assisting scientific research. But then that period of rest and reflection is shattered when several of the second- and third-tier villains return, more murderous than they'd ever been before. This development clearly shakes Kal-El, as he asks his friends at the funeral for childhood friend Pete Ross (killed by Toyman and the Prankster), "If the nuisances from my past are coming back as killers... what happens when the killers come back?" What, indeed?

After having his secret identity revealed by those nuisances, he gives up his Clark Kent identity for good. Luthor, meanwhile, has tracked down the robotic head of Brainiac, and is quickly taken over by the artificial creature, making for the most integrated "Brainiac-Luthor Team" of all time. As he/they plot a master plan, other lesser lights like Metallo and the Kryptonite Man attack Metropolis and the Daily Planet in particular, looking for revenge on the friends of Superman (especially now that his Clark Kent identity is known). To safeguard Lois, Jimmy, Perry White and the others in his inner circle, Superman takes them all to his Fortress of Solitude in the Arctic, where even Krypto the Super-dog shows up, looking a bit long in the tooth but still flying.

One of the most moving moments in comics history occurs at the Fortress, as the Legion of Super-Heroes pay a quick visit (from the 30th century) presumably because they know that this is one of their last chances to spend time with their 20th century friend (since his future is their past). But they've brought a surprise along with them, in the form of a young Supergirl (from shortly after she arrived on Earth in the dawn of the Silver Age). Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl, was visiting the Legion in the future when they decided to make their trip to the past (yeah, time travel... heh!). However, Superman had not long before held his (older) cousin's dead body in his arms after she gave her life to save the multiverse in Crisis on Infinite Earths # 7, making this encounter feel like he's talking to a ghost. When the teenage Kara innocently asks Kal-El if she grew up pretty, you'd better have a hanky or two handy for when you see the look on his face! The Legion presents Superman with a gold statuette of himself holding a Phantom Zone projector, and then beats a hasty retreat back to their own time period.

This series of scenes shows perfectly why Moore is the master of his art, because he addresses every single question any fan of the Silver Age might have at this point. Wouldn't Superman wonder why the Legion picked that particular night to visit him? (Covered!) How could the Legion bring Supergirl with them when they know she just died in that era? (Check!) Wouldn't Superman rip someone a new one over a move like that, and then realize his mistake and apologize? (You bet!) It's an amazingly satisfying handful of pages, while ripping your heart out in the process.

This issue ends with Lois (in 1997) recalling that she and the other friends in the Fortress never heard what happened that night after they went to bed (when the Legion came a-calling) but she knew that something had, when she saw Superman the next morning... because it looked like he'd been crying.

As the second part begins, Superman, Krypto and the friends are under siege from several villains: the Brainiac-Luthor hybrid, the Kryptonite Man and even the three founders of the Legion of Super-Villains, who've similarly come from the 30th century, but in this case they want to take part in the final destruction of the Man of Steel. Brainiac has erected an impenetrable force field around the Fortress, with the villains on the inside and any superheroes who might help Superman's cause on the outside.

Krypto, who just recently had a starring role in Superman # 680 (in 2008) but generally isn't seen all that often these days, has a great moment back in our tale from 1986. He builds up a good head of steam and then lunges at the Kryptonite Man, ripping the bad guy's throat out while getting himself a lethal dose of kryptonite poisoning in the process. His self-sacrifice is matched by Jimmy Olsen and Lana Lang, both of whom re-establish 1960's-style superpowers that they'd once had (Moore forgets nothing!) in order to take out some villains themselves. Their efforts aren't entirely in vain, but they're both killed before they can really save the day. Lana had rushed into battle after overhearing Superman confess that he loves Lois and only Lois but could never choose her over Lana without devastating the redhead by his actions. With one stroke, writer Moore explains roughly forty years of "Lois / Lana" stories, whereby Superman seemed to always lead both women on mercilessly.

The villain behind it all is finally revealed to be Mr Mxyzptlk, the 5th-dimensional imp who always spent his time befuddling the Man of Steel until Superman could trick him into saying his name backwards and being returned to his own dimension. Here he's a darker version of Mr Mxy, but with a great rationale provided by Mr Moore. Lois comes to the rescue when she recognizes what the Legion had given her man in the previous issue, and deduces that their visit was always about providing a clue to the Man of Steel, not sounding his death knell (as he'd assumed). Supes retrieves his own Phantom Zone projector from elsewhere in the Fortress and shines it on Mxyzptlk just as the not-so-cute imp says, "Kltpzyxm," causing him to be torn in half between the Phantom Zone and the 5th dimension. "He panicked when he saw the ray and made a fatal error," Kal-El tells Lois. "Just as I knew he would. I killed him, Lois. I intended to kill him." Because he'd broken his oath never to take a life (a well-known standard of the Silver Age), Superman feels that he has to pay the ultimate price for his action. And so he walks into the lead-lined room in the Fortress where he's stored gold kryptonite, the one substance that removes a Kryptonian's superpowers.. forever!

Lois wraps up her trip down memory lane with the Daily Planet reporter by saying that she never saw Superman again after that. He'd apparently left that chamber and walked out into the Arctic to die, a human being. The reporter leaves Lois, but she's joined by her husband, Jordan, and their son, Jonathan. Now, anyone who hadn't by that point figured out that Jordan Elliot is really a de-powered Kal-El (recalling that Kal's birth father's name was Jor-El) gets the additional clue of seeing young Jonathan (the name of Clark Kent's foster father) squeeze a lump of coal into a diamond... and a final wink from Jordan as he closes the door on that chapter in their life.

"Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" is simply a perfect finale to the thirty-or-so year history of the Silver Age Superman. Moore misses no notes at all in his 2-part celebration of the Man of Steel's life, and it's perhaps the finest sendoff any comic character has ever received.