Episode 150 – Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?

The Comics Canon

In 1986, after decades of sneering supervillains, mad scientists and interplanetary despots, the Man of Steel was finally confronted with a foe even he couldn’t defeat—an editorially mandated reboot!

But before he could fly off into the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths sunset, he’d have to deal with deadly new versions of some of his classic foes in the two-part farewell Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?, courtesy of superstar writer Alan Moore, quintessential Superman artist Curt Swan and legendary editor Julius Schwartz! (Content warning: Things get a bit dark.)

And as if that weren’t enough story for our landmark 150th episode, we also crack open The Superman Super-Spectacular from 1963’s Action Comics #309, featuring a guest appearance by none other than President John F. Kennedy!

Can 60s Superman protect his secret identity from Lois Lane and Lana Lang for the umpteenth time? Can 80s Superman protect his friends—and himself—when his rogues gallery gets a lethal upgrade? And can these stories survive a trip to that Bottle City of Comic-Book Candor known as ... The Comics Canon?

Discussed in This Episode!

• The unfortunate timing of Action Comics #309
• The bottle city of Kandor’s greatest foe!
• Let’s just say we briefly mention the website Does the Dog Die?, if you catch our drift
• Lloyd Llewellyn
• Don Rickles and Goody Rickels in Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen
• Superman Breaks Loose from Superman (Vol. 1) #233

Join us in two weeks, when we hope to welcome a very special guest!

Until then: Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Twitter or Facebook!

And as always, thanks for listening!