Metropolis (DC)

Revision as of 07:34, 2 August 2020

Metropolis is a city that features in DC Comics.

History

Pre-Crisis

Metropolis was the name given to a city that existed within the United States of America. (Action Comics v1 #16) Originally, the land belonged to a Native American tribe that was led by an Indian Chief by the name of Gray Wolf. They were known to had formed an uneasy peace with the other tribes in the area. Around three centuries ago, settlers from the Old World arrived in the region where they found the region that became Metropolis Island in 1644. The settlers offered to buy the land from the Native Americans and offered the tribe guns which they intended to use to break their peace treaty with the others allowing them to conquer the northern tribes. Despite his attempts at fostering war through omen, it was deemed that peace was to reign and the tribe ousted him. Gray Wolf then departed with his followers where he tricked the settlers into thinking he was still chief of his tribe and made the deal for the guns which he intended to conquer his tribe. The tribal council elected a new leader named Flying Eagle who helped defeat Gray Wolf and his followers. Flying Eagle was then made the new chief of the tribe and the land was sold legally to the settlers through him. (Action Comics v1 #148)

It was said that the city of Metropolis was founded by a man named Jeremiah Galloway. (World's Finest v1 #67) The machinations of the Ultra-Humanite saw the mad scientist unleash the deadly Purple Plague on the city in an effort to wipe out humanity. It was only the efforts of Henry Travers and Superman was a cure discovered for the disease thus thwarting the supervillains plans. (Action Comics v1 #19)

Several prominent citizens in Metropolis were abducted by Zytal on his Empire City in the Sky that was actually an identity of Lex Luthor who was using this elaborate plan to steal their private business secrets. (Action Comics v1 #42)

After being hit by a car, rich citizen Curtis Galloway was informed that he was dying and he decided to vent his anger and frustration against the city. This saw him place clues for $5,000,000 that was to be given to criminals if they found the stash leading to a crime wave affecting Metropolis thus leading to untold damage to the city. All this was part of Galloways revenge against the city. (World's Finest v1 #67)

Post-Crisis

Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events.

For some time, the Algonquin Indian tribe was known to had settled in the region where Metropolis was eventually located. By December 31, 1620, Dutch settlers from Europe had come to create a settlement in the region and came into conflict with the local Indians. Before the battle commenced, fire from the sky struck the ground around them with the two groups uniting and making amends. (Superman: Y2K v1 #1)

Due to his efforts, the settlement was renamed as Fort Hunter with it over time eventually taking the name of Hunterville. It then came to be referred to as Hunter City where during the 1800's it became a thriving community that derived most of its economy from shipping, importing, iron works, supplying tools and other metal products to the other points further west. (Superman: Secret Files 2009) During 1845, the Irish came to the city where they were persecuted by people and a riot emerged from the disenfranchised workers with this being broken up by Edna Luthor. (Superman: Y2K v1 #1) Around this era, a noted adventurer, inventor and science hero emerged named Waldo Glenmorgan whose activities led to the city first becoming a hub for scientific discovery. By 1905, Turner City's nickname for the settlement being 'Metropolis' became the official name of the city with many scientists and inventors coming in to settle on the east side in the part that became known as the Avenue of Tomorrow. (Superman: Secret Files 2009)

In 1916, Luthor Steel Works was doing well as a company when Wallace Luthor learnt of a coming World War and despite his pacifist nature he decided to redirect the work to help building to protect the nation. (Superman: Y2K v1 #1)

In the aftermath, the combined Kryptonian plus Brainiac technology left a residue in the city giving rise to the Tech that altered the landscape as well as the environment which had the added impact of making Luthor even more powerful and wealthy. The technology became sentient and sought purpose where it came to name itself as Lena Luthor. (Superman: Metropolis v1 #1)

Post-Flashpoint

Following the Flashpoint, a new reality was created with a different version of events. Originally, the site was a frontier settlement named New Oberstad that was a rapidly growing area. (Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen v3 #1)

Leviathan then arranged for Superman to be out of the city whilst they began their war against the Invisible Mafia. The Man of Steel came to determine that the true target of Lex Luthor and attempted to intervene but instead battled him alongside his Legion of Doom. (Action Comics v1 #1017)

Overview

Locations in Metropolis included:

• Glenmorgan Square : also known as Metro Square that was a busy crossroad for art and commerce with it being the most trafficked sites in the city as many tourists passed through this location. (Superman: Secret Files 2009)
• Shuster Sports Arena : the playing field of the city's first baseball the Metropolis Meteors. (Superman: Secret Files 2009)
• Valhalla Cemetery : the sole cemetery that was established in 1788 that served as the resting place for civilians and heroes. (Superman: Secret Files 2009)
• Avenue of Tomorrow : Eight Avenue was located between 23rd and 29th but was given the nickname of Avenue of Tomorrow due to it being home to dozens of America's top scientists and research labs along with people funded by corporations. (Superman v1 #650)
• Metropolis Police Precinct #55 : home of the Metropolis MetaCrimes unit headed by Police Inspector Mike Henderson. (Superman: Secret Files 2009)
• Carey Bridge : a bridge at Metropolis with a large tree being located near it. (Action Comics v1 #42)
• Gargan Factory : (Action Comics v1 #41)
• Bleak Rock Prison : an offshore island near Metropolis where notorious criminals were detained. (Superman v1 #239)
• Blue Tuxedo : a well-known nightclub that showcased the act of Miss Telepath. (Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane v1 #56)
• Cloud Nine : a new hot dance club. (Superman v3 #18)
• West-Reeves School : a private school in the city. (Super Sons v1 #13)
• Mount Olympus Correctional Facility : a prison facility designed by Carl Draper for the purpose of holding super-powered criminals that had been plaguing Metropolis. It made use of state-of-the-art technology to hold its prisoners and only required a staff of two. Superman later added an anti-gravity system allowing it to fly with this leading to people informally calling it Superman’s Island with Draper’s resentment of the Man of Steel leading to him becoming the criminal known as the Master Jailer. (Superman v1 #331)
• Ironworks :
• Centennial Park :
• Avenue of Tomorrow :
• Little Africa : a neighbourhood that was home to a black community. (Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane v1 #106)
• Holstan's House of Fashion : a prestigious dress shop that produced high quality women clothing with people modelling in the designs. (Action Comics v1 #451)
• Metro-Narrows Bridge : noted for being the biggest bridge in the world. (Action Comics v1 #451)
• Atlas Club : a strange social club that consisted of strongmen in the city that tested their strength who had regular meetings of its members and had a special handshake along with having their own insignia. (Superman v1 #78)
• Metropolis University :
• Metro-Square Garden :
• Ridge Bay : a noted suburb of Metropolis. (JLA v1 #101)
• Fleischer District : located twenty five miles from downtown Metropolis. (Action Comics v1 #1005)
• Chaneys : a Metropolis-based club for Metahumans that was regarded as the best in all of North America. (Outsiders v3 #28)
• M.A.W. : the Metropolis Armory Ward was a high security prison located within the region of Metropolis. (Superman Unchained v1 #2)
• Neville Island : site of a Metropolis oil refinery run by Lando Oil. (Action Comics v1 #452)
• Oberstad Falls : fresh water from the bay dove down into the valley below from the falls. (Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen v3 #1)

Hamilton County was situated 300 miles north of Metropolis with farms located in that area. (Superman v4 #1) Situated half-way between Metropolis and Gotham was Morrison Bay. (Super Sons v1 #13)

Organizations in Metropolis included the:

• Metropolis Subway, Inc. : a company that managed the subway system. (Superman v1 #17)
• Forrester Chemical Corporation : a business that produced a range of chemicals some of which could be used for medical experiments and for the use in serums. (Action Comics v1 #19)
• Combined Charities of Metropolis Foundation : (Superman v1 #152)
• Lando Oil : an oil company that operated in Metropolis. (Action Comics v1 #452)
• Intergang :
• SKULL : an ultra-secret organization that looked to take over the crime cartel business in the city with it being a rival to Intergang. (Superman v1 #301)
• Invisible Mafia : a criminal organization came to operate in the shadows as an invisible empire to hide from superheroes. Their existence was meant to be a secret which was how they dealt their business in making money through illegal activities. (Action Comics v1 #1005)

Inhabitants

• Lois Lane :
• Sergeant Casey :
• Edna Luthor : a ginger haired woman that lived in the mid-19th century where she was not rich but a powerful woman that helped stop a riot and encouraged acceptance of the Irish immigrants. (Superman: Y2K v1 #1)
• Wallace Luthor : a ginger haired male who was the great grandson of Edna Luthor who lived in the early 20th century where he headed Luthor Steel Works in Metropolis and was a pacifist. (Superman: Y2K v1 #1)
• William Parker : African-American male who lived in the ghettos and decided after seeing the squalor to make himself into a superhero after being inspired by Batman and Superman where he used his engineering skills to make a sound device as his weapon whereupon he operated as Sonik. (World's Finest v1 #310)
• Carl Bransom : a male grey-haired lecturer and scientist who was a prominent citizen in the city. (Action Comics v1 #42)
• Nick Flaherty : a ginger haired male who was a famous writer and a prominent citizen in the city. (Action Comics v1 #42)
• John Standing : a bald male who was a political boss and a prominent citizen in the city. (Action Comics v1 #42)
• Freeman Chase : a grey-haired male who was a capitalist that was part of a corporate board and was a prominent citizen in the city. (Action Comics v1 #42)
• Brett Calhoun : a ginger haired male who was noted for being a young millionaire who Lex Luthor threatened to aid in forcing Superman to acquire the Powerstone for him. (Action Comics v1 #47)
• John Kiley : a rich male who lived at the Wiley Mansion outside of Metropolis with him regularly going to charity drives where he was generous to donate with him meeting Clark Kent leading to the two being friends. Despite his public view, he was secretly the head of the Anti-Superman Gang who sought to bring about the end of the Man of Steel. He hired detectives to find Superman's secret identity and came to believe that Clark Kent was really the superhero. Kiley then faked a fatal illness and requested Kent reveal the truth as he was on his deathbed after stating he was a secret admirer of the Man of Steel with Superman confessing believing that the secret would end with John's death. However, he had taken a special drug to mimic the illness and faked his death whereupon he orchestrated a plot against Superman with the intention of afterwards escaping to South America to live a new life as a millionaire there. (Action Comics v1 #276)
• Lance Fortune : a handsome young blonde haired millionaire noted for being a financier who owned several island estates such as Avalon Island. Superman once masqueraded as him with Fortune later courting Lois Lane after having an interview with her. (Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane v1 #69)
• Cyril Madison : a dark haired older man famously known as the Doll King who was an inventor that could make replica doll models which were capable of operating on their own. He was actually a devious criminal imposter who led an anti-Superman gang and created an explosive doll intended to explode at his Fortress of Solitude. (Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane v1 #21)
• Rock Stirling : a blonde haired moustached male who was confined to a wheel chair with him being a well-known science fiction writer that authored the book 'Interstellar Tales' and hosted the TV show 'Unknown Worlds'. (Superman v1 #145)
• Henry Meecher : a male human who lived in the modern age who was a descendant of the Native American tribe that inhabited the land that became Metropolis who contested ownership of the area. (Action Comics v1 #148)
• John Bates : dark haired adult male who was the host of 'The Eyes of Metropolis' that was a television show where the host interviewed famous people. (Action Comics v1 #250)
• K. Russell Abernathy : male scientist who was looking into the scientific applications of Kryptonite as a power source. (Superman v1 #650)
• Gus Fleming : a male from the Metropolis Iron and Steel Foundry who was a member of the Atlas Club. (Superman v1 #78)
• Rebecca Muldoon : a young woman who recently moved to Metropolis and worked as a journalist for the other newspaper. (Superman: Metropolis v1 #2)
• Charles Corlin : male scientist who worked at Metropolis University where his stargazing led to him discovering Krypton whose environment could provide human beings superhuman abilities. However, Dr. Corlin had embezzled money from the Graham Manufacturing Company to fund his experiments leading to his arrest and imprisonment. The experience made him bitter and upon his release he vowed to get revenge on the world where he raised his son Vance Corlin on an island off the coast that had been made as an artificial replica of Krypton thus giving him superpowers. Dr. Corlin died but had raised his son to think that the world had treated him unfairly and intended for Vance to get his revenge. (World's Finest v1 #57)
• Vance Corlin : blonde haired son of Dr. Charles Corlin who was raised under the belief that the world had treated his father unfairly and thus needed to be punished for its actions. Vance was raised on an island off the coast whose environment was made as a replica of Krypton where it provided him superhuman abilities. After his father died, Vance intended to get his revenge against the Metropolis University had had abilities similar to Superman for a brief period after leaving the island. He was stopped by Superman who showed Vance the confession his father Dr. Corlin had made to the court thus showing that it was not wrongful imprisonment and that his father was indeed guilty of the crime he had made many years ago. Feeling guilt over his actions, he fixed the places damaged in his rampage and then destroyed the artificial Kryptonian environment of his island home as his powers left him making him an ordinary human where he became a citizen of Metropolis. (World's Finest v1 #57)
• Barbara Johnson : an elderly black woman who was deeply religious and lived in Suicide Slum where she came to believe that Superman was an Angel of the Lord leading to her galvanising the community to fight the gangsters that resided in the area. (Superman v1 #659)
• Melody Moore : red headed female who was from Coast City but moved to Metropolis where she became the Deputy Chief of the Metropolis Fire Department. (The Man of Steel v2 #1)
• Herman Hoskins : a dark haired male who was a Superman admirer and wore a costume where he called himself Herman the Heroic in the hope of fighting alongside the Man of Steel only for him to typically be trapped in embarrassing situations but he helped the hero capture the criminal known as the Leopard. (Superman v1 #20)
• Sam Kennedy : a male publicist for the Cosmos Circus who secretly operated as the masked criminal mastermind called the Leopard and unleashed wild animals to distract law enforcement which he engaged in his illegal endeavours. (Superman v1 #20)
• Cal Johnson : male director of the Metropolis zoo. (Superman v1 #20)
• Lorraine Lewis : a female with short red hair who was a scientist that fell in love with Superman but felt her path to gain his affection was blocked by three other women who had similar L.L. initials thus leading her to become a villain to take revenge on the Man of Steel herself. She took on the identity of reporter Lorraine Delon with her attempting to use Q-Energy against Superman but was accidently killed in the attempt. (Superman v1 #204)
• Albert Caldwel : male president of the Metropolis Subway, Inc. company who was secretly a fascist Fifth Columnist sympathiser who operated secretly as a crime lord called the Talon. (Superman v1 #17)
• Henry Travers : a young male scientist who during a time when Metropolis was stricken with the Purple Plague came to realise the disease had affected the world in the Middle Ages and sought to find a cure. (Action Comics v1 #19)
• Marty Kaye : a male proprietor of the Dixie Club gambling establishment. (Action Comics v1 #16)
• Slash Sabre : a male psychopathic killer sentenced to Metropolis prison until he escaped and hid on the space cruiser of Zigi and Zagi when they returned to Alpha Centauri. (Action Comics v1 #316)
• Jeremiah Galloway : man noted for being the founder of Metropolis with a statue made in recognition of him. (World's Finest v1 #67)
• Curtis Galloway : modern day descendant of Metropolis founder Jeremiah Galloway with the bald Curtis being the city’s richest and most disliked citizen noted for being a miser who hated everything about the city. (World's Finest v1 #67)
• John Hector : an older grey-haired man who was noted as the crime chief of modern day Metropolis. (World's Finest v1 #67)
• Stefan Andriessen an older male explorer and adventure who went on many expeditions to Africa with him eventually establishing the Superman Museum when he returned to Metropolis. (Action Comics v1 #164)
• Ben Aldain : a seemingly male human who was in fact an alien Galadorian who was placed in a valley outside Metropolis as part of a trial to determine his worth as being a leader for his planet. (Action Comics v1 #451)
• Howard Carson : male head of Lando Oil that operated in Metropolis. (Action Comics v1 #452)
• Rick Lawrence : a male criminal who volunteered for an experiment by Sunder who exposed him to radiation and injected him with hyper-enzyme which artificially mutated his DNA molecules to duplicate in the face of a superior opponent thus increasing his strength and copying their abilities. Lawrence had been hired to win a boxing match against Bull Storski but his powers did not manifest until afterwards where he engaged in a life of crime and vowed revenge against Sunder. (Action Comics v1 #452)
• Joachim Olsson : male inhabitant of the region when it was New Oberstad who was the great-great-grand relation of Jimmy Olsen. (Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen v3 #1)
• Jonas Olsson : a male who lived in 1790 that was a prominent milliner and tailor. (Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen v3 #1)
• Terri Cross : a young woman who was infatuated with Clark Kent and considered herself his biggest fan. (Superman v1 #301)
• Mister Xavier : seemingly a male human, Xviar was an alien being sent to infiltrate Earth to destroy the planet and orchestrated plots against Superman where he delivered regular reports to his superiors off-world. (Superman v1 #296)
• Solarman : a male supervillain who was a human that developed a suit powered by solar receptors based on Superman's powers that empowered him with superhuman strength, endurance, flight and similar such capabilities where he embarked on a crime spree in Metropolis until he was stopped by the Man of Steel. (Superman v1 #298)
• Mr. Blob : (Action Comics v1 #29)
• Butch Matson : (Action Comics v1 #1)

Notes

• Metropolis was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster where it made its first appearance in Action Comics v1 #16 (September, 1939).
• On Den of Geeks, writer Brian Michael Bendis commented on the criminal underworld of Metropolis who operated as the Invisible Mafia, "Yeah, people get focused on Superman’s level of power; they could miss ways in which to deal with him. This invisible Mafia is based on some real research and real behaviors the Mafia has had. You know the Mafia, the original Mafia, was a secret. People didn’t know about them for years. Until an informant walked off the street and told the FBI that there’s a Mafia. That’s how it was found out. Historically, this secret can go for a while. Here you have the people that are thriving around Superman’s life. And in a few issues we’re going to find out who is running the Metropolis mafia."

Alternate Versions

• In Batman Beyond Unlimited v1 #3 (2012), Metropolis was shown in the setting that was based on Batman Beyond. The company GNX entered into a joint program with law enforcement creating an advanced officer program to form the Supercops. These consisted of special officers that were given superhuman abilities provided by nanotechnology and advanced battle armor.

In other media

Television

• In the DC Animated Universe, Metropolis made a number of appearances in the animated setting.
  • In Superman: The Animated Series, Metropolis in the animated series where it made its first appearance in the episode "The Last Son of Krypton". Clark Kent moved to the city after leaving Smallville and began operating as the superhero known as Superman. Locations in Metropolis included Hob's Bay, S.T.A.R. Labs and Centennial Park.
  • In Justice League, Metropolis made a number of further appearances in the animated series.
• In Legion of Super-Heroes, the city of Metropolis was referenced in the setting of the animated television series. It was shown that in the 21st century that a young Clark Kent got a job in the city as a copyboy and was preparing to move when he was taken to the 31st century by members of the Legion of Super-Heroes.
• In Supergirl, Metropolis made an appearance in the shows second season of the live-action television series in the episode "The Last Children of Krypton". Cadmus dispatched an agent to cause destruction in Metropolis where he attacked Krypton Park.

Films

• In Batman: Year One, Metropolis was referenced in the animated film with it being one of the connecting flight locations to Gotham City.
• In the DC Extended Universe, Metropolis made a number of appearances in the shared continuity setting.
  • In Man of Steel, Metropolis made its first appearance in the live-action film.
  • In Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Metropolis made a return appearance in the live-action film.
• In The Death of Superman, Metropolis featured in the setting of the 2018 animated film. Doomsday upon arriving at Earth headed slowly towards in the city where he killed anyone that confronted him until he was finally defeated by Superman.
• In Reign of the Supermen, Metropolis featured in the setting of the 2019 animated film sequel. In the wake of Superman's death, the city mourned his death which was when five individuals emerged wearing variations of his costume with the people seeking to find out which one would be his successor. It later came under attack from Parademons during the launch of the Watchtower with the Justice League seemingly being lost in the attack. The Cyborg Superman stepped in claiming to be the true Superman where he offered to transform citizens into members of his Cyber Corps so that they would gain the power to protect Metropolis from harm. However, this turned out to be a trick as the Cyborg Superman was actually an agent of Darkseid sent to open a portal for his invasion forces. The Cyborg Superman broke his programming and later sought to raze Metropolis in an act of revenge against the resurrected Superman but was defeated.
• In Justice League vs. the Fatal Five, Metropolis appeared in the setting of the 2019 animated film. In an effort to capture Green Lantern Jessica Cruz, the Fatal Five had Tharok plant dozens of bombs around Metropolis where they threatened to destroy the city unless she gave herself up to them. This led to the Justice League moving to defuse the bombs with them being unaware of Cruz secretly surrendering herself to the Fatal Five in an effort to spare further destruction to Metropolis. Despite that, Tharok kept the bombs active in order to ensure her compliance though the Justice League eventually managed to remove them all.

Video games

• In Superman: Shadow of Apokolips, Metropolis featured as the setting in the video game that was based on the DC Animated Universe.
• In Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, Metropolis appeared in both the story setting and as an arena stage in the fighting video game.
• In DC Universe Online, Metropolis appeared in the setting of the MMORPG video game.
• In Injustice: Gods Among Us, Metropolis appeared in both the story setting and as a arena stage in the fighting video game.

Appearances

• Superman v1:
• Action Comics v1:
• The Man of Steel v1:
• Superman: Metropolis v1:
• JLA v1:
• Superman/Batman v1:
• Action Comics v2:
• Superman:
• Superman Unchained v1:
• The Man of Steel v2:
• Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen v3:
• Action Comics v1:

External Links

• Wikipedia Entry

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