DC Just Turned Superman Into An Outlaw... Literally

DC has put Superman into some strange new status quo over the years, but turning the Man of Steel – the most noble superhero of all – into a bonafide outlaw? It's wild, and it is definitely happening. 

The new Superman comic series has been building a slow-burn story about secret foes from Lex Luthor's past coming back to haunt him and threaten both Superman and all of Metropolis. That threat has come in the form of Doctor Pharm and his brother Mister Graf, who have been lurking in the shadows using their mad genius intellects and wicked technology to enhance the powers of some of Superman's longtime supervillains, like The Parasite or Silver Banshee, while also unleashing new threats like the psychic-powered foe The Chained. 

In Superman #9, Doctor Pharm finally has a long-awaited showdown with Superman. (SPOILERS) To be fair, Superman is far from peak power when he confronts Pharm: the battle with The Chained left Clark saturated with dangerous levels of Kryptonite poisoning, requiring Clark to be on bed rest getting blasted with solar radiation, courtesy of Luthor's resources in the new Supercorp company. When Superman is finally back on his feet, he has just one thing on his agenda: getting a step ahead of Doctor Pharm but getting to his next target, first. 

The target in question is Marilyn Moonlight, the mysterious and ghostly old western-themed figure that's been spotted haunting Metropolis in the night. The Chained had mentioned to Superman that Marilyn was another person whose life had been tainted by Luthor – making her a perfect recruit for Doctor Pharm's enhancement process. Superman takes a modified suit of Lex Luthor's armor and goes to find Marilyn – unfortunately, he's not the first one on the scene and is forced to stop Marilyn and Pharm from going at each other. A battle ensues, and it ends with Superman beating Pharm – but not before Pharm gets in a last shot, using his Yellow Kryptonite claw to blast Marilyn and set off her mysterious powers, causing an energy explosion that makes both Superman and Marilyn Moonlight disappear. 

An epilogue to the issue has a teaser scene that reveals Superman's new status quo: the scene is set in what looks like a late 19th or early 20th Century Metropolis, during the Old West era. A locomotive train is shown to be carrying an old lady and her two sons, who are supposedly brilliant inventors transporting an invention that will earn Metropolis the nickname "The City of Tomorrow". The lady has hired two guns – DC's Nighthawk and Cinnamon, the Old West reincarnations of Hawkman and Hawkgirl – to protect the train from bandits. However, when the "bandit" hops onto the train, it turns out to be Superman! 

Clark makes an entrance by using his heat vision to overheat the pistols and disarm Nighthawk and Cinnamon, before kindly excusing his impolite act of having to rob the train. 

Needless to say, this kind of Back to the Future III twist is not something that we saw coming for Joshua Williamson's Superman arc. The context of what would make Superman an "outlaw" of the Old West is definitely intriguing – especially since this isn't Superman's first visit to the Old West. The way Joshua Williamson has been putting new spins on old Superman tropes, this Old West adventure has a good chance of being yet another iconic detour from the typical version of Superman we know. 

What Happens Next?

Here's the preview for Superman #10: 

THE MAN OF TOMORROW MEETS THE MAN FROM YESTERDAY! HOWDY, PARDNERS! Welcome to the Wild West of Metropolis, where the Man of Tomorrow meets the Man from Yesterday! Clark Kent is on a rootin'-tootin' rodeo adventure alongside the ghostly Marilyn Moonlight as they get to the bottom of why she haunts the night! Get your posse and join us for a hoedown like you've never seen before. Yee-haw!

LEGACY #853

Superman is on sale from DC. Issue #10 is set for release in March 2024.