Metropolis (comics)
Metropolis is a
fictional city that appears in
comic books published by
DC Comics, and is the home of
Superman. Metropolis first appeared by name in
Action Comics #16, in 1939.
The co-creator and original artist of
Superman,
Joe Shuster, modeled the Metropolis skyline after
Toronto, Ontario, where he was born and lived until he was ten[
1]. Since then, however, it has become a fictional analogue of
New York City.
The real town of
Metropolis, Illinois, has proclaimed itself the "hometown of Superman," and celebrates its "local hero" in every possible way that it can. Among the ways it celebrates the character include a large Superman statue in the city, a small Superman museum, an annual Superman festival, and its local newspaper
The Metropolis Planet, a name inspired by the major newspaper in fictional Metropolis,
The Daily Planet.
Like many of DC's other fictional cities, the location of Metropolis has varied greatly over the years. Metropolis, however, is usually portrayed as a major city on the east coast of the
United States.
It has been said that, metaphorically, Metropolis is New York during the day, and
Gotham City (home to
Batman) is New York at night; this comparison is usually attributed to
Frank Miller. Longtime Batman writer and editor
Dennis O'Neil also said figuratively that Metropolis is New York above 14th Street, and that Gotham City is New York below 14th Street. However, New York City does exist as a separate city from Metropolis and Gotham City within the comics; the
Justice Society of America, for example, is based out of New York.
A
role playing game DC Universe atlas guide published by
Mayfair Games claimed that Metropolis was in the state of
Delaware, which DC itself has also cited on occasion. See bottom of section.
The 2005 comic
Countdown to Infinite Crisis places Metropolis in the state of
New York. Were Metropolis to be on the coast of the state (without a change in boundaries), it would either take the place of New York City, or be on the rest of
Long Island.
Metropolis is frequently depicted as being within driving distance of
Gotham City, home of
Batman. DC has on occasion cited Gotham as being located in the state of
New Jersey, though, like Metropolis, its location isn't permanent; however, Gotham is usually treated as also being a major east coast city. The distance between the two cities has varied greatly over the years, ranging from being hundreds of miles apart to Gotham and Metropolis being
twin cities on opposite sides of a large
bay. In the
Seven Soldiers of Victory series
Klarion the Witch Boy,
New York City is called the "Cinderella City", referring to nearby Metropolis and Gotham as its "ugly step-sisters."
In the pre-
Crisis on Infinite Earths comics,
Smallville was often shown as being within driving distance of Metropolis, though with no definitive location. Since
John Byrne's revamp of Superman in 1986, however, its location has usually been cited as being in
Kansas.
In the
Smallville television series, Metropolis seems to be located in Kansas or in a neighboring state. In an interview, the creators of
Smallville have stated that Metropolis is approximately 100
miles (160
kilometers) from Smallville. In one episode, a letter is shown with the address "Metropolis, KA," suggesting the city is located in Kansas; however, the
United States postal abbreviation for Kansas is "KS", not "KA." In the series,
Vancouver stands in for Metropolis. The zip code for Metropolis, Kansas is 66632.
Superman creator
Joe Shuster grew up in Toronto and co-creator
Jerry Siegel grew up in
Ohio and worked in Cleveland. Originally intending to sell the Superman strips to a local newspaper, they set the stories there as well, and when the strips were re-used for the comicbooks, they changed the location to Metropolis. Action Comics #2, however, mistakenly portrays Clark Kent as a reporter for the
Cleveland Evening News, although Metropolis is based on
Toronto,
Ontario (see
Superman co-creator has humble Canadian roots).
In 1978's
Superman: The Movie and its sequels, Metropolis is shown as being in (or taking the place of) New York, including depicting such New York landmarks as the
Statue of Liberty and the
World Trade Center.
In the 1990s television series
Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman,
Chicago landmarks such as the
John Hancock Center, the
Tribune Tower and the
Wrigley Building are easily identifiable. However, several repeated references, especially early in the first season, state that Metropolis is located in the same general area as New York City. Later seasons place it in the fictional New Troy State.
2006's
Superman Returns places Metropolis as its own city (or state), unrelated to
New York City or
New York state. Automobles seen in the film have
license plates with the name Metropolis, including taxi cabs & city buses. As in the comics, Metropolis is a fictional city just like
Gotham City from the
Batman franchise; in fact, Bryan Singer pointed out that Metropolis was going to be a cross between 1930's New York and current New York. However, a map onscreen portrays it as possibly near or taking the place of
Dover, Delaware. This contradicts comments made by senior production designer Guy Dyas in
The Art of Superman Returns(Chronicle Books, 2006): "We wiped out, I think, half of New Jersey to put in Metropolis."
Metropolis is traditionally depicted as continuing to survive, thrive and expand well into the 30th and 31st Century timeframes used as the backdrop of the
Legion of Super-Heroes in all that series' varied incarnations to date.
The post-
Infinite Crisis version of the series as published in the
"three-boot" edition has described Metropolis as having expanded over the intervening millenium up the "entire Atlantic seaboard" of North America in one issue. Further corroboration has yet to be undertaken.
|
An outside shot of the Superman Museum. From Superman (volume 1) #271 (January 1974). Art by Curt Swan. |
Over the years, Metropolis' features have greatly changed in the comics; however, Metropolis is always presented as being a
world class city on the same caliber as
New York City or
Chicago, Illinois. It is often referred to as The Big Apricot just as New York City is nicknamed as The Big Apple.
The first map of Metropolis designed for Mayfair Games' first edition of the
DC Heroes Role-Playing Game resembled that of the city of
Montreal.
Metropolis' features became more defined (and more obviously based on New York) following both 1985's
Crisis on Infinite Earths miniseries and
John Byrne's subsequent revamping of Superman, including the late 1980s comic special
The World of Metropolis. Metropolis is presently divided into six regions or "boroughs", centered around "New Troy", an island
borough based on
Manhattan. The
Daily Planet Building, the most recognizable landmark in Metropolis, is located here (in "Planet Square"), as was
Lex Luthor's corporate headquarters, the
Lexcorp Tower. The now-married
Clark Kent and
Lois Lane currently live in an apartment in New Troy, at 1938 Sullivan Lane (a tribute to the year Superman first appeared); Clark Kent's traditional apartment address of 344 Clinton St., Apt. #3B, was usually described as being located in midtown Metropolis.
New Troy is separated from the
suburban boroughs by the West River and Hobb's River.
Jimmy Olsen lives in the borough of Bakerline, north of downtown. There is also an economically-depressed area in northwestern New Troy called
Suicide Slum, best known for the 1940s adventures of the
Guardian and his street urchin companions, the
Newsboy Legion. Although the northwestern location is similar to the relationship of
Harlem to midtown Manhattan, the neighborhood bears more physical and cultural resemblance to Manhattan's
Lower East Side.
A
statue of Superman can be found in Centennial Park, Metropolis' largest park, based on New York's
Central Park. The statue was erected after Superman's death. A second statue, of
Superboy Conner Kent was built next to it after
Infinite Crisis. Topaz Lane stands in for
Broadway in Metroplolis.
Other major media located in Metropolis include WGBS-TV, flagship station of the Galaxy Broadcasting System (GBS)
television network, both subsidiaries of media conglomerate Galaxy Communications. Popular shows included
The Midnight Show Starring Johnny Nevada (a fictional version of
The Tonight Show, with Johnny Nevada being an
analogue of
Johnny Carson). During the 1970s, both Clark Kent and Lois Lane worked for WGBS (after Galaxy Communications purchased
The Daily Planet in a 1971 storyline), with Clark as the
anchorman for the WGBS evening news (he was eventually joined by
Lana Lang as a co-anchor). After John Byrne's revamp of Superman's origins, though, Clark and Lois were reverted to working at
The Daily Planet once again.
In the
Silver Age comics, another major Metropolis landmark was the Superman Museum, which featured various exhibits dedicated to Metropolis' favorite superhero.
The central branch of
S.T.A.R. Labs, a major scientific research institution, is located in Metropolis.
Metropolis'
police department also possesses a special crimes unit dedicated to defending the city against superhuman menaces in case Superman is absent. The unit is headed by
Maggie Sawyer and
Dan Turpin, with both maintaining frequent contact with the Man of Steel. Another of Superman's police contacts over the years has been
Inspector William Henderson, who in the current comics is the Metropolis police commissioner.
Around 2000, the city was given a futuristic makeover by the time-traveling
Brainiac 13, a villainous descendant of Superman foe Brainiac. The transformation of Metropolis was covered in greater depth by the 2003 miniseries
Superman: Metropolis. The city has since reverted to its former state.
The people of Metropolis are depicted as a diverse group of large city-dwellers, befitting Metropolis being (within the comics) one of the country's largest and most important cities outside of New York.
At least two mayors are known to be considered part of Metropolis' history:
* Frank Berkowitz, whose term began prior to Superman's first known public meeting with Lex Luthor as depicted in the
Man of Steel mini-series by John Byrne. Berkowitz was killed by a sniper hired by Luthor years later.
* "Buck" Sackett, elected as Berkowitz's successor, and covertly Luthor's "puppet".
Major facets of Metropolis as seen in the Superman comics include:
*
Ace o' Clubs: a bar owned by
Bibbo Bibbowski in Suicide Slum.
*
Bessolo Boulevard: Metropolis' version of [[Broadway (New York City)|Broadway]] in New York City (its counterpart in Gotham City is called Grand Avenue). The name is derived from
The Adventures of Superman lead actor
George Reeves' middle name. Other Metropolis boulevards in the New Troy borough are similarly named for other actors from that series and from its
radio predecessor of the same name(e.g.:
Coates,
Larson,
Collyer, etc.).
*
Centennial Park: Metropolis' largest city park; its most noteworthy feature is a
statue of Superman, erected after his death fighting Doomsday. A statue of
Superboy has been added in the wake of the events of
Infinite Crisis.
* The
Daily Planet Building: the most recognizable landmark in the Metropolis skyline, particularly for the
Daily Planet globe atop the building.
The Daily Planet is one of the most renowned news organizations in the DC Universe.
*
Glenmorgan Square: one of a number of New Troy's counterparts to New York's
Times Square.
*
LexCorp headquarters: the main base of operations for Lex Luthor's company.
*
Suicide Slum: an impoverished and crime-infested neighborhood in Metropolis.
*
WGBS-TV: the flagship television station of the Galaxy Broadcasting System television network.
*
Metropolis Meteors: a
MLB baseball team, first mentioned in
52, which at the time of mention had a rivalry with the
St. Louis Cardinals, possibly placing the Meteors in the
National League's Central Division.
*
Supermanica: Metropolis Supermanica entry on the Pre-Crisis Metropolis
