388 MAN OF STEEL, THE
Th e third Manhunter series, created by writer Marc Andreyko, ran from October
2004 to January 2009. Th is popular series features Kate Spencer as a prosecuting
attorney who, fed up with the acquittal of various supervillains, pieces together various
superhuman devices to take on the Manhunter persona. Th e series would fi nd Spencer
taking on established villains and interacting with DC heroes while struggling to be a
single parent. Even with fan support to save the series, it was canceled with issue #38 in
January 2009. Th e Spencer Manhunter also appears in Birds of Prey and later becomes
the District Attorney of Gotham City in the 2009 Batman: Streets of Gotham series.
D. R. Hammontree
MAN OF STEEL, THE. A six-issue miniseries published by DC Comics in 1986 that
retells the origin story of Superman , Th e Man of Steel was written and penciled by
John Byrne. Th e fi rst issue is set initially on Krypton, a coldly scientifi c world where
even skin-to-skin contact has been prohibited between Kryptonians. Th ere, Jor-El and
Lara remove their infant son from his gestation chamber to send him rocketing towards
Earth, escaping the destruction of his native planet. Th rough a fl ashback of scenes from
Superman’s childhood we learn how Jonathan and Martha Kent found the infant sent
from Krypton and raised him as their own, and how gradually, throughout puberty,
Superman developed his amazing powers. Th e issue ends with Superman publicly
saving a crashing experimental space-plane, which prompts him to create a costumed
persona with which to operate as a superhero.
Th e remaining issues are highly episodic and are used to establish various
aspects and characters from the Superman mythos. While Lois Lane does appear
as a reporter covering the test fl ight of the experimental plane in the fi rst issue, the
remaining supporting cast from the Daily Planet —Perry White and Jimmy Olsen—is
introduced in the second issue along with Lex Luthor (though he is little more than
a shadowy fi gure inside a limousine). Th e third installment shows the fi rst meet-
ing between Superman and another costumed hero, Batman , who enlists his help
in tracking down a Gotham City jewel thief. Th e fourth and fi fth issues focus on
Superman’s rivalry with Lex Luthor, he at fi rst trying to place Superman on retainer
in issue four, then cloning him in issue #5 after realizing Superman cannot be
bought. Luthor inadvertently unleashes the clone (a pale white copy of Superman
without his high regard for justice or life—Byrne’s updated version of Bizarro) and
later in the same issue Superman is forced to stop the rampage of his alter ego. To
end the series Byrne has Superman return to Smallville and explore his origins, both
as an immigrant to Earth and as a Kryptonian through confronting a holographic
projection of his father from his spacecraft.
Byrne’s miniseries was the most extensive retcon of Superman up to its publication.
Previous stories had changed details involved in Superman’s origin—1948’s “Th e Origin
of Superman!” changed the design of Kryptonian clothing, placing emblems reminiscent
of superhero costumes on the inhabitants, and 1961’s “Th e Story of Superman’s Life”
added the expanded cast of characters, such as Krypto and Supergirl’s Father, Zor-El,
