| Metropolis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| First appearance | Action Comics #16 (September 1939) |
| Created by | Jerry Siegel Joe Shuster |
| In-universe information | |
| Locations | Ace o' Clubs Daily Planet Daily Star Galaxy Communications LexCorp Project Cadmus S.T.A.R. Labs |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
Metropolis is afictional city appearing inAmerican comic books published byDC Comics, best known as the home ofSuperman and hisclosest allies and some of hisfoes. First appearing by name inAction Comics #16 (Sept. 1939), Metropolis is depicted as a prosperous and massive city in theNortheastern United States, in close proximity toGotham City. In recent years, it has been stated to be located inNew York.[1]
The co-creator and original artist of Superman,Joe Shuster, modeled the Metropolis skyline afterToronto, where he was born and lived until he was ten.[2] Since then, however, the look and feel of Metropolis has been greatly influenced byNew York City.[3][4][5]
Within theDC Universe, Metropolis is depicted as being one of the largest and wealthiest cities in the world, having a population of 11 million citizens.[6][7][8]
In addition to Superman, the city has also been home to other superheroes, such asBooster Gold andBlack Lightning.
Like many other fictional cities in DC Comics, the location of Metropolis has varied over the years but is usually portrayed as a major city in theNortheast, sharing various qualities withNew York City.[5]Superman co-creatorJoe Shuster moved toCleveland at age ten, where he met co-creator andOhio nativeJerry Siegel.
Originally intending to sell the Superman strips to a Cleveland newspaper, they decided to set the stories there, but when the strips were re-used for the comic books, they changed the location to the fictional Metropolis. Shuster was quoted as having modeled his Metropolis cityscape on that of his hometown,Toronto,[9] and in the early versions of Superman, Clark Kent worked for a newspaper called theDaily Star, modeled after the real-lifeToronto Star.[9][10]Action Comics #2, however, mistakenly portrays Clark Kent as a reporter for theCleveland Evening News.
InSuperman #2 (Fall 1939), Metropolis was actually placed in theU.S. state ofNew York, making it the earliest specific reference to the location of Metropolis.[5] In that issue, Clark Kent (Superman) sends a telegram toGeorge Taylor, the editor of theDaily Star (the antecedent to theDaily Planet), addressed to "Metropolis, N.Y."[5]
In the1940sSuperman cartoons, produced byParamount Pictures,Fleischer Studios andFamous Studios, Superman is said to live on the island ofManhattan. In the seventh cartoon of the series,Electric Earthquake (1942), aNative Americanmad scientist claims that his people are the rightful owners of Manhattan, thus placing these cartoons on the island. In the fifth cartoon in the series,The Bulleteers (1942), the name of the city is identified as Metropolis, as the Bulleteers address in that cartoon the population of Superman's city as "citizens of Metropolis"; and in the thirteenth cartoonDestruction, Inc. (1942), Metropolis is even seen spelled out twice on the Metropolis Munition Works.
In a 1970s edition of "Ask theAnswer Man", a column that ran occasionally in DC publications, it was stated that Metropolis andGotham City were adjacent toNew York City; across the harbor from each other.[11] That same column stated that Green Arrow's home,Star City, was in Connecticut, Flash'sCentral City was in Ohio, and Hawkman's Midway City was in Michigan.[11] An earlier issue of DC's fanzineAmazing World of DC Comics, however, stated that Metropolis was located inDelaware, while Gotham was placed inNew Jersey.[12] The 1990Atlas of the DC Universerole playing game supplement, published byMayfair Games, states that Metropolis is in Delaware.[13]
In June 1976,Superman #300 featured an out-of-canon story about the infantKal-El arriving on Earth in that year, triggering an increase inCold War tensions between the United States and theSoviet Union. In that story's version of the year 2001, passing reference is made to the merging of the eastern seaboard cities from Boston to Washington, D.C., into a "newly incorporated urban center" called "Metropolis".
In his 1978 work,The Great Superman Book, an encyclopedia of the first forty years of the Superman comics, authorMichael Fleisher cites many examples which demonstrate that Metropolis equates withNew York City. The most blatant of these might be the statement he cites fromAction Comics #143 (April 1950), which states that theStatue of Liberty stands in "Metropolis Harbor".[3] The Statue of Liberty, in fact, stands inNew York Harbor.
In the pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths comics,Smallville was often shown as being within driving distance of Metropolis,[14][15] although with no definitive location.John Byrne's 1986 revamp of Superman cited the city as being inKansas.
The 1992 "Death of Superman" storyline depictsDoomsday on a path from Ohio through the state of New York, ending in Metropolis, and the 2005 comicCountdown to Infinite Crisis also places Metropolis in the state ofNew York.
The 2003 DC Comics/Marvel Comicscrossover mini-seriesJLA/Avengers depicts the city as along the multi-stateInterstate 95, which is the main highway on theEast Coast of the United States,[16] and portrays the corresponding location in theMarvel Universe as forests and fields, explaining that Marvel's Earth and DC's Earth have different surface areas to account for their different geography (no Metropolis on Marvel's Earth, noLatveria on DC's Earth, and so on).[17]
On the television seriesSuperman: The Animated Series, the second part of the episode titled "Little Girl Lost" depicts Darkseid's minion using a machine hidden in or around Metropolis to attempt to pull a comet into the earth. The beam from that machine is depicted originating from the area of the mid-western United States where Kansas is located. In the second part of the episode "Last Son of Krypton" when Lois is introduced to Clark Kent, she is told he is from Smallville, she replies "Smallville? Never heard of it", prompting Clark Kent to ask her if she had ever been to Kansas. Lois replies "God No!" while turning her head in a sign of visible disgust.
Frank Miller has said that "Metropolis isNew York in the daytime;Gotham City isNew York at night."[4][18] Gotham City is home toBatman, whose activities are more often nocturnal, while Metropolis is home to Superman, who usually operates during the day. In terms of atmosphere,Batman writer and editorDennis O'Neil has said that, figuratively, "Batman's Gotham City isManhattan below14th Street at eleven minutes past midnight on the coldest night in November, and Metropolis is Manhattan between14th and110th Streets on the brightest, sunniest July day of the year".[18][19] New York City has been more recently used as a locale in the DC Universe, like the Marvel Universe, in which it exists as a separate city from Metropolis and Gotham City. TheJustice Society of America, for example, is based in New York, as were theTeen Titans.
Metropolis is frequently depicted as being within driving distance ofGotham City, home ofBatman. This happens, for example, in the three-issue 1990 mini-series ofWorld's Finest Comics byDave Gibbons,Steve Rude, andKarl Kesel. The distance between the two cities has varied greatly over the years, ranging from being hundreds of miles apart to Gotham and Metropolis beingtwin cities on opposite sides ofDelaware Bay, with Metropolis in Delaware[13][20] and Gotham City being inNew Jersey.[21][22][23][24][25][26]
InBronze Age stories that depicted Metropolis and Gotham City as twin cities, the Metro-Narrows Bridge was said to be the main route connecting Metropolis to Gotham City.[14][27] Stated as being the longest suspension bridge in the world,[28] the Metro-Narrows Bridge is likely based on theVerrazano-Narrows Bridge, which stretches betweenStaten Island andBrooklyn in New York City.
InThe World's Greatest Superheroesnewspapercomic strip, a 1978 Sunday strip shows a map of the east coast of the United States; the map places Metropolis in Delaware and Gotham City across Delaware Bay in New Jersey, with the Metro-Narrows Bridge linking the two cities.[29] A similar map appeared inThe New Adventures of Superboy #22 (October 1981), withSmallville shown within driving distance of both cities (inpost-Crisis comics, Smallville was officially relocated toKansas). 1990'sThe Atlas of the DC Universe also places Metropolis in Delaware and Gotham City in New Jersey.[21]
However, the exact location of the two cities has varied. A map of the United States in the Secret Files & Origins Guide to the DC Universe 2000 depicts Metropolis and Gotham City (alongsideBlüdhaven) as being somewhere in thetri-state area.[30]
In the TV seriesLois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, when Lois finds out about Superman's secret identity and yells at Clark about how he's been hiding his secretly being Superman, he responds, "A little louder, Lois. I don't think they could hear you in Gotham City." In the TV seriesSmallville, Linda Lake, a columnist for theDaily Planet, once boasted that she could see Gotham City from her new office.[31] InSuperman: The Animated Series, Bruce Wayne is shown taking his privatejet aircraft to Metropolis, indicating that the two cities have at least some distance between them.
In the 2016 filmBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, directorZack Snyder confirmed that Metropolis and Gotham City would be portrayed as geographically situated right next to each other, on the opposite sides of abay, similar toJersey City andManhattan.[32]
ANative American tribe sold Metropolis Island to the first European settlers in 1644,[33] similar to the history of New York City, in which Native Americans soldManhattan Island to Dutch settlers in 1626.[34]
Over the years, Metropolis' features have greatly changed in the comics; however, Metropolis is always presented as being aglobal city. It is often referred to as "The Big Apricot" just as New York City is nicknamed "The Big Apple".[35] It is commonly portrayed as having anArt Deco style of architecture, much like New York City. The skyline and many of the notable landmarks in Metropolis are based on real-life landmarks inNew York City.[3]Frank Miller has said that "Metropolis is New York in the daytime;Gotham City is New York at night."[18]
Metropolis' features became more defined and more obviously based on New York following both 1985'sCrisis on Infinite Earths miniseries andJohn Byrne's subsequent revamping of Superman, including the late 1980s comic specialThe World of Metropolis.
According toAction Comics #143 (April 1950), theStatue of Liberty is said to stand in "Metropolis Harbor", while the real-life Statue of Liberty stands inNew York Harbor.[3] However, most stories indicate the Statue of Liberty is actually in New York City, which also exists in theDC Universe as a separate city from Metropolis.
The map of Metropolis designed for Mayfair Games' first edition of theDC Heroes Role-Playing Game resembled that ofManhattan.
Metropolis is made up of six boroughs, the largest being New Troy. Each of the boroughs has its own distinct character and feel, which resemble and mimicNew York City's boroughs.
New Troy is the largest borough in Metropolis. ResemblingManhattan, New Troy is a skyscraper island bustling with commerce and business. The concrete and steel canyons of the city rise to dizzying heights. "1930s architecture stretched like a rubber band" as cited in theArt of Superman Returns book.
TheDaily Planet Building is the most recognizable landmark in the Metropolis skyline, much like theEmpire State Building forNew York City. Located in "Planet Square", it is particularly known for theDaily Planet globe atop the building. Other prominent skyscrapers include the Emperor Building (a reference to the Empire State Building), the Newstime Building (home of the nationalNewstime magazine, a reference to and combination ofNewsweek andTime) which is secretly owned for several years byLord Satanus posing as "Colin Thornton", and the Twin ToweredLexCorp Tower, (a reference to the former twin towers of theWorld Trade Center), headquarters for Lex Luthor's company.
Besides the Financial District, notable areas of New Troy include:
Famous streets in New Troy includeFifth Avenue, Bessolo Boulevard, and Topaz Lane. The latter two are Metropolis' versions ofBroadway in New York City. Bessolo Boulevard's name is derived fromAdventures of Superman lead actorGeorge Reeves' legal name before entering films. Other Metropolis boulevards in the New Troy borough are similarly named for other actors from that series and from itsradio predecessor of the same name, such asCoates,Larson, andCollyer.
Centennial Park (sometimes labeled asMetropolis Park) is Metropolis' largest city park and is based on real lifeCentral Park of New York City. Its most noteworthy feature is astatue of Superman with anAmerican bald eagle erected after his apparent death fighting Doomsday. A statue ofSuperboy (Conner Kent) was built next to it after the events ofInfinite Crisis.
In 1990s and 2000s stories, the married Clark Kent andLois Lane live in an apartment in New Troy, at 1938 Sullivan Lane, which is a tribute to the year Superman first appeared. The apartment was a wedding gift to the couple byBruce Wayne, who owned the building.[36] Clark Kent's traditional address of 344 Clinton Street, Apartment 3D, was usually described as being located in midtown Metropolis.[37]
In northwestern New Troy is the impoverished and crime-infested neighborhood ofSuicide Slum, best known for the 1940s adventures of theGuardian and his street urchin companions theNewsboy Legion and in more contemporary times withGangbuster. Although the northwestern location is similar to the relationship ofHarlem to midtown Manhattan, the neighborhood bears more physical and cultural resemblance to Manhattan'sLower East Side. The Ace o' Clubs is a bar owned byBibbo Bibbowski in Suicide Slum.
Other notable places and their NYC inspirations in New Troy include:
New Troy is separated from thesuburban boroughs by theWest River andHobb's River, based on New York'sEast River andHudson River, respectively.
Midvale is a suburb of Metropolis, more well known as the home ofSupergirl and the site of the Midvale Orphanage prior to the events ofCrisis on Infinite Earths.[38] It is located 60 miles northwest of Metropolis.[39]
Bakerline is anotherborough of Metropolis. Located north of New Troy, Bakerline is the home of newspaper reporterJimmy Olsen and appears to be based onThe Bronx in New York City.
Other boroughs andsuburban areas, almost all of which are based on real places in New York City, includeQueensland Park (a reference toQueens),Hell's Gate (a reference toHell Gate Bridge),St. Martin's Island (a reference toStaten Island),Park Ridge (a reference toPark Slope), Metrodale, and Highville.
In theSilver Age andBronze Age comics, a major Metropolis landmark is the Superman Museum.[40] The Superman Museum features various exhibits dedicated to Metropolis' favorite superhero, similar to theFlash Museum inCentral City.[41] The Museum's exhibits were responsible for the origin of theComposite Superman.[42] Members of the criminal organizationthe 100 at one point secretly used the Superman Museum as their base of operations, which was discovered by the superheroBlack Lightning and his nemesisthe Whale.[43] Superman, under the effects of hypnosis, once went on a rampage and wrecked several pieces at the museum.[44] The Superman Museum, like the Flash Museum, is also usually shown as existing well into theLegion of Super-Heroes' era, as shown in various stories[45] and the 2000s television seriesLegion of Super Heroes.
The central branch ofS.T.A.R. Labs, a major scientific research institution, is also located in Metropolis.[46]
The Metropolis Museum of Natural History was featured in the filmSuperman Returns.
Metropolis University, Clark Kent'salma mater, is located in the city of Metropolis; Clark graduated with a degree in journalism.[47][48] The college has a floating aquarium anchored just offshore called the "Ark".[8]
LexCorp, founded byLex Luthor, is interested in all aspects of technology, communication, medical science, technical science, architectural engineering, future technology, and more.[8]
Steelworks is the laboratory ofDr. John Henry Irons and inpost-Crisis, it came to rival LexCorp as its reach expanded into many different industries. John Henry renamed Steelworks Ironworks to further himself from his superhero life asSteel.[8]
At least fourmayors are considered part of Metropolis' history:
The MetropolisPolice Department headed by CommissionerDavid Corporon possesses a Special Crimes Unit dedicated to defending the city against superhuman menaces in case Superman is absent. The unit is headed byMaggie Sawyer andDan Turpin, both of whom maintain frequent contact with the Man of Steel. Another of Superman's police contacts over the years has beenInspector William Henderson, who is currently the Metropolis police commissioner. The police unit is featured in a 1994–1995 limited series,Metropolis SCU. At some point during the missing year following Infinite Crisis, the division of the Metropolis Police Department dedicated to superhuman crime was renamed the Science Police, seemingly a reference to the similarly named group in the Legion of Super-Heroes' 31st Century.
Stryker's Island Penitentiary (based on New York'sRiker's Island) is the name of Metropolis' largest prison facility, as well as the name of the island on which it sits; it is located in Metropolis' West River south of New Troy (the real-life Riker's Island sits in theEast River, connected by a foot and vehicle bridge to the nearby borough ofQueens, although the island itself and its jail complex are technically and officially part ofThe Bronx).
Post-Crisis,Fireman Farrell is shown to be a member of the Metropolis fire department.[66] As ofBatman & Superman: World's Finest #4 (July 1999), Farrell is now a captain in the Metropolis FD.
Metropolis' premiernewspaper is theDaily Planet, one of the most renowned news organizations in the DC Universe. The city is also home to the nationalNewstime magazine, where Clark Kent held the position of editor during theEradicator story arc until he was fired by his superior, Collin Thornton, inThe Adventures of Superman #465, for his increasingly strange behavior due to the Eradicator (including firing of some employees).
Other major media located in Metropolis include WGBS-TV, flagship station of theGalaxy Broadcasting System (GBS)television network, both subsidiaries of media conglomerateGalaxy Communications.[67] Popular shows includedThe Midnight Show Starring Johnny Nevada (a fictional version ofNBC'sThe Tonight Show, with Johnny Nevada being ananalogue ofJohnny Carson).[68]
Between the early 1970s and mid-1980s, both Clark Kent and Lois Lane worked for WGBS after Galaxy Communications purchased theDaily Planet in a 1971 storyline, with Clark as theanchorman for the WGBS evening news.[69] He was eventually joined byLana Lang as a co-anchor.[69] After John Byrne's revamp of Superman's origins, though, Clark and Lois were reverted to working at theDaily Planet once again. Galaxy Broadcasting and WGBS-TV still existpost-Crisis, however, and are usually used in any story where a television station or network is needed or shown. Post-Crisis, Clark, Lois and Lana never worked for the station. During the 1990s however, bothJimmy Olsen andCat Grant did work there.
The people of Metropolis are depicted as a diverse group of large city-dwellers within the comics. They live in one of the world's largest, wealthiest, and most important cities.
As befitting any world city, Metropolis is represented by teams in all major-league sports.[70] Like New York City, it is home to two teams in baseball and football. Of the twobaseball teams, the Metropolis Monarchs are Clark Kent's favorite,[71] while the other team, the Metropolis Meteors, is mentioned in52 as having a rivalry with theSt. Louis Cardinals.
InAmerican football, Metropolis is home to the Metropolis Metros and the Metropolis Meteors. The latter football team (sharing the same name as the above baseball team) once featuredSteve Lombard as its star quarterback.[72] On the TV showSmallville, there is a football team called the Metropolis Sharks.
The city is also home to the Metropolis Generalsbasketball team, who play in Shuster Sports Arena,[73] presumably named for Superman co-creator Joe Shuster.
Professionalice hockey is also present in Metropolis; itsNHL team is the Metropolis Mammoths.[13]
Several sports stadiums have been mentioned over the years. One such stadium is Metropolis Stadium, which was built in 1940. (Pre-Crisis, Metropolis Stadium had anEarth-Two counterpart, which was named "Sportsman's Stadium".)[74] This was perhaps influenced by the real-lifeSportsman's Park in St. Louis, for many years the shared home of baseball's St. Louis Cardinals andSt. Louis Browns.
Metropolis is traditionally depicted as continuing to survive, thrive and expand well into the 30th- and 31st-century timeframes used as the backdrop of theLegion of Super-Heroes in all that series' varied incarnations to date.
During the original incarnation of the series, Metropolis would be depicted as covering anything ranging from the entire Atlantic American coast to a more narrowed jurisdiction – according to one map officially published duringPaul Levitz andKeith Giffen's initial partnership on the series, inLegion of Super-Heroes (vol. 2) #313 (July 1984) – covering most ofMassachusetts, all ofRhode Island andConnecticut,New York State fromLong Island's eastern tip up into theCatskills, and a large portion of northernNew Jersey. In one imaginarySuperman tale published in 1976 and partly set in then-futuristic 2001, "Metropolis" is the name of the newmegalopolis of the Eastern seaboard corridor, comprising the cities ofWashington, D.C.,Philadelphia, New York andBoston and all the territory in between (Superman #300, June 1976).
Whatever version was used, it was generally viewed as given that the original city, as well as Gotham City, were considered within Legion-era Metropolis' boundaries, from the mid-1960s until the events ofZero Hour.
The first post-Infinite Crisis version of the series as published in the"three-boot" edition has described Metropolis as having expanded over the intervening millennium up the "entire Atlantic seaboard" of North America in one issue (reminiscent of New York's future expansion inIsaac Asimov'sThe Caves of Steel and inPoul Anderson'sThe Corridors of Time, and to an extentMega-City One of theJudge Dredd comics). InFinal Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds, it is revealed that this version of Metropolis belongs to the newly restoredEarth-Prime's 31st Century.
InAdventure Comics (vol. 2) #12, Metropolis during the Legion's first year is described byBrainiac 5 as having a population of "78 million sentient inhabitants in the urban zone before you reach the greenbelt".
Metropolis appears in several video games, includingSuperman,Superman: Shadow of Apokolips,Superman: The Man of Steel,Superman Returns,Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, where it is shown partially in ruins following the Justice League's fight with Darkseid, and it appears inDC Universe Online.
Metropolis appears in the gameInjustice: Gods Among Us, in two different forms- a Prime Earth version, in whichthe Joker attempts and fails to destroy the city with anatomic bomb, and analternate universe Earth version, which occurs as a result of the Joker succeeding in his plot, which also involved the death of Lois Lane and Superman's unborn son. The alternate universe, or "Regime" Metropolis is used as a playable fighting stage. Here, it has been rebuilt into a moredystopian city, which is where the "prime" Batman and Joker end up when they are accidentally transported there. The Prime Earth version, however, is not a playable stage in the game, and is only shown as a cameo in the game's story mode. One notable feature in each version of Metropolis is a statue depicting Superman with aglobe. In the Prime universe, the statue depicts Superman standing below the globe, carrying it above his head, symbolizing that he follows the world's rules. On the other hand, in the Regime universe, the statue depicts Superman standing above the globe with his arms folded, symbolizing that the world follows his rules, as he has become atyrant following the destruction of the original Metropolis and the deaths of Lois Lane and their unborn son. Metropolis is the only stage in the game to have three sections: the city streets, the top of the Daily Planet, and a museum featuring past superhero costumes and weapons.
Metropolis appears inLego Dimensions, where it is taken over bySauron fromThe Lord of the Rings franchise, With Superman being sucked into analternate dimension,Batman,Gandalf, andWyldstyle oppose Sauron.
Metropolis appears as a playable stage inInjustice 2. The two sections consist of Memorial Station (which contains statues of Superman and his downfall and Lex Luthor's opposition) and the Ace O' Clubs bar. In the story mode, Metropolis is one of the cities Superman fails to restore on Brainiac's ship.
InLego DC Super-Villains, part of the open world is Metropolis.LexCorp Tower, TheDaily Planet, andS.T.A.R. Labs are featured.
An open-world Metropolis is the main setting ofSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, withBrainiac taking over the Justice League through mind control and having them capture and destroy the city, so he can rebuild it new.
Metropolis appears in theJustice League: Alien Invasion 3D dark ride designed and created bySally Corporation for Warner Bros. Movie World in Gold Coast, Australia. The city also appears in theJustice League: Battle for Metropolis dark ride created bySally Corporation and is located at severalSix Flags theme parks. A section ofWarner Bros. World Abu Dhabi is themed after Metropolis, with major landmarks serving as entrances to attractions such as the Daily Planet for a Superman attraction, theHall of Justice for a Justice League ride, and the Metropolis Observatory for aGreen Lantern attraction. Patrons can also eat at a restaurant themed afterBig Belly Burger.
The real town ofMetropolis, Illinois, has been proclaimed the "hometown of Superman" by the Illinois State Legislature, and the town celebrates its "local hero". Among the ways it celebrates the character include a large Superman statue in the city, a Superman museum, an annual Superman festival, and its local newspaperThe Metropolis Planet, a name inspired by the major newspaper in fictional Metropolis, theDaily Planet. A version of the town has appeared in the comics itself, as a city whose citizens idolize the hero who lives in their 'sister' city.[84]
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