Book Review: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? by A. Moore et al.

Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? written by Alan Moore with art by Curt Swan

After the Crisis on Infinite Earths saga in the mid-1980s, DC Comics was going to reboot all their characters. Just before the reboot, Alan Moore wrote this story of the last days of Superman, when all his enemies and allies came together in a story for one last time. A Daily Planet reporter comes to the house of Lois Elliot (nee Lane), who tells how Superman disappeared ten years earlier. She was an eyewitness. After Superman's secret identity was revealed, his rogues gallery start killing people and trying to destroy Metropolis. Superman flees to the Fortress of Solitude, taking all the people he knows best to protect them from his enemies. Lex Luthor finds a nearly-defunct Brainiac who takes over Luthor's body (against Luthor's will, of course) and schemes for the ultimate downfall of the Man of Steel.

The story cleverly weaves in a lot of characters and resolves a lot of the questions often left hanging, like does Superman prefer Lana or Lois? What happens with Krypto and Supergirl? Will Jimmy Olsen always be the "damsel in distress?" The story is melancholic and satisfying, a fine farewell to a character who will never really leave us.

The book reprints "The Jungle Line," a crossover story with Superman and Swamp Thing (a character for whom Alan Moore wrote a definitive saga). Superman has been infected by a Kryptonian disease that survived travel through space on a meteorite. It drains his powers before it drains his life. He drives south away from civilization, hoping to die in peace and quiet. His feverish perceptions make him crash the car in a swamp where Swamp Thing discovers him even though he doesn't recognize Superman. He helps the Man of Steel to recover. The story is an interesting depiction of Superman facing his mortality though, like every serialized narrative, his experience does not fundamentally change who he is.

Also reprinted is "For the Man Who Has Everything," where Batman, Robin, and Wonder Woman come to the Fortress of Solitude to celebrate Superman's birthday. Another gift giver has beaten them to the punch, for Supes has an alien plant attached to his chest. Superman is in a sort of coma where he imagines he is in his best possible life--married to an actress, with two kids, living on an undestroyed Krypton. Again, Moore explores an interesting idea as the trio try to free Superman from what might be his perfect life.

Recommended--these are some classic stories.