Metropolis Special Crimes Unit
Metropolis Special Crimes Unit is an agency that features in DC Comics.
Contents |
History
Origin
The Metropolis Special Crimes Unit was a division of the Metropolis Police Department and responded to criminal activities in the city of Metropolis on Earth.
Later on, Superman and the M.S.C.U. investigated the mysterious crimes of Baron Sunday who was a crimelord that had been murdering people through apparently supernatural means. For meddling in his affairs, the Baron swore that he would kill Superman as well for interfering in his affairs. (Superman v2 #26)
The emergence of a red beam of light saw the S.C.U. being dispatched to investigate it in case the matter was of extra-terrestrial nature. Lois Lane was present at the scene where she observed their operations for the first time and believed that their actions would be the future of police work. During this time, one of the S.C.U. officers came to be killed in the incident with it being reported by the Daily Planet. Captain Sawyer and her subordinates later attended the funeral with Lane writing a heartfelt obituary to officer Shelly who had died in the field. (Metropolis S.C.U. v1 #1)
A former member of the unit named Brian "Sal" Arsala came to be the head captain of a second branch of the S.C.U. that operated a second branch in Washington, D.C.. (Hawk and Dove v3 #23)
During a fight against Mammoth, an underpowered Superman managed to display his fearlessness and convince the supervillain to give up and turn himself over to the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit. (Adventures of Superman v1 #472)
After Riot escaped Stryker's prison, he went on a rampage in Metropolis during a time when Superman was away. This caused outcry that the S.C.U. was not able to handle dangers from Metahuman criminals. Mayor Buck Sackett then proceeded to have the S.C.U. begin to enlist Metahumans among their ranks to aid their officers. Initially, Maggie Sawyer was opposed to this but was forced to relent and begin accepting Metahumans into the S.C.U. (Adventures of Superman v1 #569)
In the aftermath, the police S.C.U. had the remains of the Kryptonian battle suit and had Harold Vekko study it. They wanted the armor analyzed so that if it could be duplicated and purposed as the ultimate in anti-terrorist gear. (Superman: Man of Tomorrow v1 #1)
The technology was used as the basis for the Simm-Bots that were based on the Kryptonian suits. (Action Comics v1 #705)
When Superman temporarily lost his powers, the S.C.U. established the Technology Squad that was called the Science Police by the public. (Superman v1 #654)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of history was created with a different series of events. At some point, Maggie Sawyer returned as Captain in the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit. (Action Comics v1 #957) The Atomic Skull as part of a custody arrangement with the S.C.U. was inducted as a police officer and aided in the capture of super-powered criminals that had escaped Stryker's Island prison. (Superwoman v1 #9)
Overview
They consisted of munitions experts, physicists, psychologists, paramedics and other such specialists all of whom were talented and dedicated to a fault. In the field, they were said to know each other deeply to the point that their movements were akin to that of a machine. (Metropolis S.C.U. v1 #1)
It was said that they were directly responsible to the Police Commissioner of the Metropolis Police Department. (Superman: Secret Files v1 #1)
A division established by them was the Technology Squad. (Superman v1 #654)
One piece of equipment within their arsenal was the Simm-Bots that were large bipedal humanoid machines that were operated by a pilot. These machines were built from Kryptonian battlesuit technology making them quite powerful. (Action Comics v1 #705)
An auxiliary facility for the Special Crimes Unit was built at the new Metropolis Police Department headquarters. (Superman: Metropolis Secret Files and Origins v1 #1)
Members
- Maggie Sawyer : a dark short haired woman who was formerly part of the Major Crimes Unit. (Superman v2 #4)
- Dan Turpin :
- Aaron Jace : (Metropolis S.C.U. v1 #1)
- Lyle Beedler : (Metropolis S.C.U. v1 #1)
- Russ Tenclouds : (Metropolis S.C.U. v1 #1)
- Lupé Teresa Leocadio-Escudero :
- Badmouth :
- Fireworks :
- Freight-Train :
- Roo :
Notes
- The Metropolis Special Crimes Unit was created by John Byrne where it made its first appearance in Superman v2 #4 (April, 1987).
- The group had a profile entry in Superman: Secret Files v1 #1 (1998).
- They received a profile entry in Superman: Metropolis Secret Files and Origins v1 #1 (2000) where they were described as being a nearly autonomous division of Metropolis Police Department and reported directly to the Police Commissioner.
Alternate Versions
In other media
Television
- In Superman: The Animated Series, the Special Crimes Unit appeared in the animated series continuity of the DC Animated Universe and were mentioned in the pilot episode "The Last Son of Krypton". They made an appearance in the episode "Tools of the Trade". Among their officers was its head Maggie Sawyer and her lieutenant Dan Turpin. They were deployed to deal with the threat of Intergang but were unable to match them with Superman defeating the criminals. Superman's actions led to the public seeing that the highly paid Special Crimes Unit was not being effective and instead had to rely on the Man of Steel. In the episode "Prototype", LexCorp designed the LexCorp Police Battlesuit for S.C.U. with the Series Alpha test run by officer Corey Mills. The suit that gave him super-strength, flight and built-in weapons but a neural link bonded him to the armor causing him to become mentally unstable. Sawyer stripped Mills of the suit after he went out of control but his obsession caused him to steal it back where he wen violently rogue until Superman stopped him.
Films
- In Superman: Brainiac Attacks, the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit appeared in the setting of the animated film.
Appearances
- Superman v1: (1984)
- Superman v2:
- Superman: Secret Files v1: (1998)
- Metropolis S.C.U. v1:
- Superman: Metropolis Secret Files and Origins v1: (2000)
External Links
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