- Something happening on the other side of Smallville, Ma - something that looks like a job for Superman!
- — Superman
Superman (Volume 2) #8 is an issue of the series Superman (Volume 2) with a cover date of August, 1987.
Synopsis for "Future Shock"
Clark has volunteered to help Lana Lang put up a fence at her home, and he gets the job done in no time, thanks to super-speed and heat vision. Martha and Jonathan come up with a picnic basket, and the four have lunch together.
Suddenly, Superman perceives a disturbance at the nearby Limestone rock quarry and flies off to investigate. Upon arriving, he finds four super-heroes from the future known as Brainiac 5, Sun Boy, Invisible Kid and Blok. Superman's powers go out of control suddenly and he begins firing heat vision at this futuristic Legion of super-heroes. The Legion meanwhile, believes that Superman is actually Superboy, a time traveling hero that has teamed up with them in the 30th century.
Everybody gets into a big fight, but before long cooler heads prevail, and Brainiac 5 attempts to explain his presence in this era. Originally, they tried to use the Time Trapper's time bubble to travel backwards in time to Superboy's native era. However, they wound up in a strange pocket dimension instead. Superboy turned out to be a traitor and tried to kill them. Other members of the Legion of Super-Heroes escaped and tried to return through the time stream, however, they ended up here in this parallel universe. Superman tries to explain to them, that in this reality, he never became Superboy and he has no idea who the Legion of Super-Heroes even are.
At that moment, Superboy appears above them and threatens to end their lives.
Appearing in "Future Shock"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Legion of Super-Heroes
- Blok
- Brainiac 5
- Invisible Kid
- Mon-El (Flashback only)
- Sun Boy
- Jonathan Kent
- Lana Lang
- Martha Kent
Antagonists:
- Time Trapper (Flashback only)
Other Characters:
- Pete Ross (Pocket Universe) (First appearance) (Flashback only)
- Superboy (Pocket Universe)
- Chief Parker (Pocket Universe) (Flashback only) (Single appearance)
- Superboy (Earth-Prime) (Flashback only)
Locations:
- Kansas
- Small County
- Smallville
- Kent Farm
- Lang Farm
- Simonson Limestone Quarry
Items:
Vehicles:
Notes
- This issue is reprinted in Superman: The Man of Steel Vol. 4 and in Superman: The Man of Steel Vol. 2 (2021 Edition).
- This story was originally published out of sequence and is intended to take place between pages 22 and 23 of Superman (Volume 2) #7.
- This issue contains a revised retelling of the origin of Superboy's first team-up with the Legion of Super-Heroes from Adventure Comics #247.
- Superman appeared last in Superman (Volume 2) #7. He appears next in Action Comics #591.
- This is the first time Post-Crisis that the Legion of Super-Heroes as a whole group have traveled backwards in time to the 20th century. Though prior to the story, members of the team have traveled back the following times after the Crisis:
- Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy and Ultra Boy in Booster Gold #8 and 9.
- Cosmic Boy and Night Girl in the Cosmic Boy miniseries. Rokk also appeared in the present during #1 and 2 of Legends.
- There are several flashbacks chronicling Superboy's first meeting with the Legion of Super-Heroes. The continuity of the Time Trapper's pocket dimension is the same as the continuity shown for the Earth-One Superboy and Legion of Super-Heroes. Included in the flashback are Superboy, the Legion of Super-Heroes, the Legion of Super-Villains, the Fatal Five, the Time Trapper, Pete Ross, Lana Lang, Martha Kent and Jonathan Kent (of the pocket universe).
- Superman remembers meeting the Superboy of Earth-Prime. At the time, this could be viewed as a chronological error; the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths erased the memories of the population about the existence of a number of characters, including such Superboy.
- The Superboy that appears in this issue is actually a chronal variant from the Time Trapper's pocket dimension. He shares nothing in common with either the Pre-Crisis Superboy, or the Superboy of Earth-Prime.
Trivia
- This issue is dedicated to the memory of Edmond Hamilton, a provincial Superman writer during the Golden Age era who passed away on February 1st, 1977.
- Superman utters a paraphrased version of the classic line, "This looks like a job for Superman!"
- The cover is very similar to the cover of Fantastic Four 249.
See Also
Recommended Reading
- Superman Recommended Reading
- Action Comics (Volume 1)
- Action Comics (Volume 2)
- Adventures of Superman (Volume 1)
- Batman/Superman (Volume 1)
- Batman/Superman (Volume 2)
- Batman/Superman: World's Finest (Volume 1)
- DC Comics Presents (Volume 1)
- Superman (Volume 1)
- Superman (Volume 2)
- Superman (Volume 3)
- Superman (Volume 4)
- Superman (Volume 5)
- Superman (Volume 6)
- Superman/Batman (Volume 1)
- Superman Confidential (Volume 1)
- Superman: Son of Kal-El (Volume 1)
- Superman: The Man of Steel (Volume 1)
- Superman: The Man of Tomorrow (Volume 1)
- Superman/Wonder Woman (Volume 1)
- World's Finest (Volume 1)
- Legion of Super-Heroes Recommended Reading
- Adventure Comics (Volume 1)
- Adventure Comics (Volume 2)
- The Legion (Volume 1)
- Legion Lost (Volume 2)
- Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 2)
- Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 3)
- Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 4)
- Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 5)
- Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 6)
- Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 7)
- Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 8)
- Legionnaires (Volume 1)
- Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 1)
- Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 1)
Links and References
Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes (1987) | ||
---|---|---|
Part I: Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 3) #37 | Part II: Superman (Volume 2) #8 | |
Part III: Action Comics #591 | Part IV: Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 3) #38 |