Superman: Birthright

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Priest: The infection in your grandson's mind is deep. The only way to free his mind from the evil that has allowed to take hold is with a sacrifice. The Unmasqued World: In Issue 26, the Five and their secrets have already spilled out into the public with one person seeing the news about a dragon from Sameal's hideout free. Rya notes that Earth is starting to catch up in magic to Terrenos. By Issue 41, Terrenos has began a fullblown invasion of Earth with the military fighting a quasi- Hopeless War against magical abominations. Clark whispered that he would do anything to save his wife and was suddenly confronted by Monitor Zillo Valla, who insisted that Superman had to depart Earth immediately if he was to save his wife's life. [176] Zillo stopped time around Lois, allowing Superman to leave her side for a while, but warned him that while they should have all the time they would need, after time returned to normal Lois' heart would beat only once without Superman's help. Zillo promised a drop of Bleed, the extradimensional substance in which the Multiverse used to grow, to heal Lois should their mission succeed.

Power Girl: Power Girl arrived in Earth long before Supergirl, making Superman happy to find a long-lost relative. However, alterations done to the timeline made Kara believe she was daughter of an Atlantean sorcerer. She kept her distance from the Kents for a while, [254] although Superman kept being nice to her, [255] until another Crisis proved she was truly his relative from another reality. [256] Since then, Clark treated her like his cousin. Convicted by Public Opinion: While Mikey was in Terrenos, Aaron was accused of having murdered him because of the sketchy circumstances of his son's disappearance. Even Wands thought he was guilty. Later, Superman's first meeting with Lois was slightly altered. Once again, their first meeting was when Superman saved her from a failed space shuttle, but Clark was already working at the Daily Planet before they met. Clark and Lois begin to date after that, with the former hiding his identity as Superman. [26] Superman discovered that the Justice League Watchtower had been destroyed, and the Justice League was in disarray. The League was on edge with each other after the events with Lord, with Batman saying the last time Superman inspired anything was when he died. With hurt feelings all around, the heroes parted ways indefinitely.Obliviously Evil: While they have no sense of collateral damage and tend to cause more damage than its worth, diviners are still spirits of good and the one summoned on Earth heals Brennan after he was fatally wounded, despite being there in the first place to kill his brother.

One day, having discovered a Brainiac drone outside of the Daily Planet, Superman learned from the robot that he had never truly fought Brainiac before, and all the earlier encounters Superman had ever had with the villain had been with one of his probes. [170] Torquasm Rao: Allows him to tap into his instincts and separate himself from his body. [416] [417] Makes him able to prevent others from manipulating his mind and allows him to fight on the astral plane. [416] [413] This discipline not only empowers Superman, but also allows him to heal both his body and spirit from any harmful threats. [418] When entering the astral plane also known as the Rao State, [417] Superman can enter different dimensions when using this technique like Lois Lane did, regarding the use of his astral form, if he so chooses to. [417] [419] Superman can use this technique to however he wants, even in a dream, giving him full control in that state of consciousness. Such as when he created super static electricity with super friction, just by rubbing his hands together, while he was dreaming. [420]

Issue #20 was designed by the creators to be the biggest whammer as noted in the credits since they were taking a temporary break and aimed to drop as many bombshells as they could: Sameal is forced to kill Enoch to protect Aaron, now two out of the five mages protecting Earth from Lore are dead and the barriers between worlds is further weakening; Mikey is seemingly captured by Kylen though it's revealed he allowed himself to be taken prisoner so he could have the chance to kill two more mages in one stroke; Mastema reveals that the prophecy is false and Mikey is not The Chosen One, but rather Lore himself who has already saved Terrenos, but turned into an ruthless tyrant, and she knows all of this because she is his daughter. While abroad covering the dangerous war in Umec, Lois and the squad she was with took fire from enemy combatants. In the crossfire, Lois was shot in the chest by an enemy sniper. Superman was there a moment later—to catch her as she fell and immediately flew her to the nearest medical encampment, where he waited while she underwent hours of surgery. Once Lois was stabilized, the JLA teleported her to the Watchtower where Doctor Mid-Nite worked on her further. Clark stayed at his wife's side the entire duration. Lois survived and recovered at home for a couple of months, surrounded by friends and family. Mysterious Past: Sameal was the only one of the five mages not born on Terrenos. It's implied he was born on Earth. How he developed his mage powers and got there is not explained.

The Dreaded: Rook warns Mikey that in time he will be trained to fight and kill nearly everything, but should he ever encounter a Diviner, he must run. Having lost his home world of Krypton, Superman is very protective of Earth, and especially of his family and friends. This same loss, combined with the pressure of using his powers responsibly, has caused Superman to feel lonely on Earth, despite his many friends, his wife and his parents. Previous encounters with people he thought to be fellow Kryptonians, Power Girl [235] (who is, in fact, from the Krypton of the Earth-Two universe) and Mon-El, [236] have led to disappointment. The arrival of Supergirl, who has been confirmed to be not only from Krypton but also his cousin, has relieved this loneliness somewhat. [237] Relationship with allies Face Death with Dignity: In spite of his previous actions and behavior, Kylen has more grace in death than he did in life, not pleading when Mikey is about to kill him and telling him he understands why he would want to do it. That sums up the Clark Kent envisioned by writer Grant Morrison and artist Rags Morales. He’s a bruiser in a homemade costume who fights hard for the ordinary men and women of Metropolis, both as a superhero and as a rookie journalist. Even though Clark slowly comes to grips with his heritage and grows into a more traditional version of Superman by the end, the creators take pains to paint him as a humble guy who just doesn’t tolerate bullies, be they criminals or extra-dimensional imps.Energy Matrix: The radical mutation that had taken over Superman had turned him into an energy-based life form that didn't normally exist wholly within this plane of reality. Superman's origins were heavily revised in the Superman: Secret Origin mini-series written by Geoff Johns in 2009; this made the history established by Mark Waid in his 2003 mini-series Superman: Birthright non-canon following Infinite Crisis in 2006. It would remain the definitive origin until 2011 when Flashpoint established the DCnU and Grant Morrison's Action Comics updated the story. Metropolis would lay in ruins for several weeks, having to contend with several "safeguards" left in place by Lex Luthor (giant robots, hallucinogenic gases, etc.) as well as Luthor himself, having escaped the police, wielding Superman's own discarded Kryptonian war suit. Luthor was captured again, and his condition worsened to the point he was left in a vegetative state. [74] [75]

While passing through Chicago, Clark was asked to leave because his mission seemed like a threat to the children. Despite this, Superman rescued a young boy from an abusive father and tried to reinforce that powers are not required to be a hero. [206] His morals were challenged again in Iowa, when Lois Lane tried to shut down a environmentally unsafe factory that the local community depended upon. Forced to choose a side, Superman asked his wife not to publish the article because it would hurt too many people. [207]

Superman: Secret Origin - A Holistic Man of Steel

It's revealed that Lore also was considered the chosen one that would save Terrenos, but this trope gets played with when it turns out a trio of evil witches forced him to play "hero" by conquering all of Terrenos by force. Thanks to Zatanna magic and Superman's might, Metropolis was restored to its former glory. [76] Conduit and the Mystery of the Tomb When Superman recovered, he finally was face to face with the true Brainiac, who had been studying, shrinking, bottling and collecting civilizations throughout the galaxy in his quest for knowledge. [172] Brainiac planned to bottle the Earth, but his invasion was stopped by Superman and Supergirl. Superman restored Metropolis and the stolen bottled city of Kandor to their normal sizes, with the latter being placed in the arctic away from civilization. Secret Identity is unusually grounded for a Superman story, as Clark struggles more with keeping his identity safe from prying journalists and military operatives than battling supervillains. But that low-key approach allows Busiek and Immonen to hone in on the character’s humanity and his desire to do good with the gifts he’s been given.