Librarium of Geek Veritas: Superman: Welcome to Metropolis!

The film, Superman, left a few questions that are answered in the prequel novel, Superman: Welcome to Metropolis! The young readers novel is by David Lewman who had previously wrote Before The Batman (2022). The book took place before The Batman in the same year had young Bruce Wayne meeting Edward Naughton who becomes The Riddler. Lewman is great in capturing the world of the superhero film in the book. It has a cover with David Cornswet as Superman, hovering above dark cut-outs of Metropolis. The novel is a paperback with 138 pages, a fast read. In the film, it noted that Superman made his first appearance in public three years ago. So this is Clark Kent getting his reporter job at the Daily Planet and meeting the staff.  

Clark is about to enter the Daily Planet building while it is raining. He politely waits as several people rush in to get out of the rain. Right from the start we get Clark showing those Smallville values before himself. He finally walks in using “a tiny portion of his hidden strength.” Why Clark has the appropriate strength in everyday situations? It is because he had a lifetime of refining his use of strength. A Kryptonian who just arrived on Earth like Supergirl would have to spend some time absorbing sunlight and would be awkward with all of the super abilities. He checks in with the security guard and tells the truth that he doesn’t have an appointment withe Perry White. This leads to the phrase that Clark believes in truth. “And justice. And a better tomorrow.” As a thought, ok, but I’m glad this was not used in the film. 

The security guard softens at Clark’s awkward look and tells him Perry is at the top floor. Clark, dripping wet, introduces himself to Perry and says he has his articles from Smallville Sentinel. This was the newspaper from the New Adventures of Superboy. Perry isn’t interested in small city reporters and rejects Clark. A reporter, Flores, interrupts them to tell about a toy factory attack. Perry is looking for a scoop and Clark says he will bring him one. Clark finds an alley to change into his Superman suit. His flying is accompanied by “WHOOSH!” as a sound effect. This captures the comic book sound effects, but also meant to be read aloud like a parent with a child. Superman flies to the toy factory. Toy factory? I’m thinking one of Superman’s early villains, Toy Man, who debuted in Action Comics #64 (1943), but no connection here. He uses his x-ray vision to find the egg-shaped titanium tank. 

Superman is hit by lasers and guns from the tank. This is a problem that I had with the Superman: The Animated Series, Superman wading through enemy attacks, he has super speed and could possibly deflect energy than just stand there. It does show his invulnerability which he may not know the limits at this point. The tank tries to escape, but Superman rips it apart and spills out the crew. This is his first act as a superhero. The police arrive and asks about his identity. He says, “You can call me… Superman.” So he dubs himself. I always have a problem with this since it is very selfish to name your superhero identity. I prefer Lois Lane dubbing him since it connects them. It also feels arrogant to name yourself Superman. Then, we get introduced to Lex Luthor, also bald at this point, with his henchman, Otis. This seems to be Otis with a little of the goofiness from Ned Beatty’s perfect performance in Superman the Movie (1978). The James Gunn film had him as grim and just cold. 

Luthor thinks of him as a metahuman. He says that the toy factory attack was because his competitor, Winslow Schott?, hid contraband inside of stuffed animals. Luthor is upset that Superman makes him look weak. An interesting statement about the character. Otis brings up the meta humans like Hawkgirl, Green Lantern, and he adds, Mr. Wonderful. A nice send up of the Shark Tank host.Then, gets the other names jumbled. Luthor says they inferred with his plans, but strangely has no strategy in dealing with them. Clark has changed back to his suit and takes his briefcast to a diner next to the Daily Planet. He writes the story on his laptop and here again, it would only make sense for an after action report for the military or police, but for the public, this is a selfish profile about himself. Clark submits the story to Perry White who can't believe Superman's actions. Perry calls in Flores who says he can't file the story since the police blocked off the area. Flores says that what he did hear about the tank and Superman. He tells Flores to run Clark's story. 

At a secret lab, a technician, Patel, is working on a robot body. He reports to his supervisor, Moore, about the robot passing tests of weapons used against it. Luthor enters and Moore activates Metallo. The villain was introduced in Action Comics #252 (1959). He has his bodyguard, Murphy, to attack Metallo. The robot throws Murphy, but stops when the bodyguard holds up his hands in surrender. Moore explains that Metallo didn't see Murphy as a threat and went into Vigilant mode. I wonder if Moore may be a nod to writer Alan Moore and the bodyguard's name a tribute to Superman inker, Murphy Anderson. Luthor wants to do something about the robot's brain. We move to John Corben, an assassin who is anonymous and takes out a weapon from a dumpster. He heads to the LuthorCorp garage and his target is Lex Luthor. The high tech weapon explodes and Luthor has a surgeon check on the body, alive, but damaged. Back at the Daily Planet, Perry introduces Clark to Jimmy Olsen.The photographer is impressed by Clark's story. Then, he meets Lois Lane who is suspicious of his Superman story. 

Um, Clark meets Jimmy before Lois? I do like Lois' no-nonsense personality. Their first meeting, a little delayed at chapter seven, it would be nice if they were on the scene of the toy factory attack. Jimmy is interested in the metahumans especially Hawkgirl. Does he like her to the point of ignoring other women? Perry explains that he wants Lois and Jimmy to show Clark around the office. A "young blond woman", Brianna, stops by to mention the robot trying to take over city hall. I wonder why not also introduce Cat Grant? The robot has a "human face" and Clark adds that he is a cyborg. It's strange to have Metallo make a public debut. Perry assigns the story to Lois and also has Clark and Jimmy go along with her. They arrive at city hall which is strangely empty now, if Metallo wanted to make a public display, why chase away everyone? Lois shouts her name and asks his demands. Shouldn't that be the job of the police? 

Jimmy tries to take Metallo's photo, but he crushes the camera. He is not helpless without his camera, Jimmy still has his cellphone. Metallo grabs hold of Jimmy and Lois finds that Clark is gone. Superman lands and frees Jimmy. He takes hold of Metallo's hand and uses heat vision, but his metallic body is able to resist Superman's power. During the battle, Superman asks Lois to leave, and she says she will do so if he gives her an interview. Metallo throws a fountain which just an occasion for Green Lantern, Guy Gardner, to take a drink. Hawkgirl joins him and then their team member, Mr. Terrific with his T-Spheres also arrives on the scene. Good dialogue by Lewman that Lewman that feels like the relationships from the film. So this is the first meeting with Superman and the Justice Gang so dubbed by Guy. Metallo is defeated, but he returns with Kryptonite that is also Clark's first encounter with the deadly mineral! Later, Lois and Clark interview businesses to find information on Metallo. Clark goes to Holt Industries so we see the lab of Mister Terrific's secret identity, Michael Holt. Plus, Clark returns to Smallville to talk to Ma and Pa Kent. David Lewman tells many first encounters with characters, more material with this prequel novel, with Superman: Welcome to Metropolis!  

Four T-Spheres out of Five! 

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