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50-583: The original Superman-Red/Superman-Blue tale, "The Amazing Story of Superman-Red and Superman-Blue!", is an " Imaginary Story " that first appeared in Superman #162 (July 1963). The script was written by Leo Dorfman , with art by Curt Swan . In the story, Superman is compelled to finish a list of unaccomplished goals, including the enlargement of the Bottle City of Kandor and eliminating crime and evil from Earth. In order to accomplish these goals, Superman invents

100-509: A device he placed on Doomsday. He travels to Apokolips , where he possesses an Apokoliptian trooper. Henshaw and Doomsday take over most of Apokolips before Darkseid imprisons the former. Darkseid later frees Henshaw, who joins an intergalactic council seeking to bring Superman to trial for the crimes of his ancestors. When the council learns of Henshaw's role in the destruction of Coast City, they sentence him to death. As an electronic consciousness, Henshaw cannot be killed by normal means and

150-623: A family, while Blue remains on Earth and retires to devote his life to scientific research and starting a Super-family of his own. Superman-Red and Superman-Blue appeared again in a story written by Bob Rozakis and Paul Kupperberg and illustrated by Adrian Gonzales and Vince Colletta and first published in German in Superman Album #1 in West Germany in 1981. The story was published in English in 1982 in

200-574: A later Elseworlds tale where Tarzan and Superman were switched at birth. Possible present times were shown, such as one story where Jonathan and Martha Kent , touched by pity, adopt a recently orphaned Bruce Wayne and raise him along with their own son, Clark. Thus, the present shows Superman and Batman as brothers, with Clark protecting Gotham and working for the Gotham Gazette instead of living in Metropolis , and Batman inviting his foster parents,

250-402: A machine, powered by various types of Kryptonite , that will increase his intelligence. The machine works, increasing Superman's intelligence a hundredfold, but with the unexpected side effect of splitting Superman into twin beings, one outfitted in an all-red costume (aside from a yellow belt and the yellow areas of the chest emblem) and another in an all-blue costume (excepting a yellow belt and

300-536: A new body. In Reign of Doomsday , Doomsday assimilates Henshaw's technology before being transported to another dimension. In The New 52 continuity reboot, Hank Henshaw is a human doctor working for the Advanced Prosthetic Research Centre and a colleague of Caitlin Fairchild. His role as Cyborg Superman is taken by Zor-El , a cyborg Kryptonian and servant of Brainiac . Following

350-668: A normal human, which was a bit of a surprise to him when he stubbed his toe while answering the phone. In the Superman Red/Superman Blue one-shot (February 1998), a trap created by the Cyborg Superman working with Toyman , caused Superman to split into two beings who represented different aspects of his personality, though each believed himself to be the original. Superman Blue was the more cerebral entity, preferring to think his way out of situations and actually solve problems with his mind as well as his powers. Superman Red

400-600: A part of The New 52 , in Action Comics (vol. 2) #13, the "Electric Blue" suit is shown inside a display case at the Fortress of Solitude . The story arc "Superman Reborn" references Superman Red and Superman Blue by associating the New 52 -era half of Superman with red and the older, other half with blue. The story concludes with the merging of both halves into one complete version of Superman whose history has been arranged from that of

450-513: A series of Superman shorts started showing throughout the U.S.! So, with tongue firmly in cheek, the DC team turned out this story of what might have happened if Lois Lane had decided to see... Superman, Cartoon Hero!" The story opens with Lois determined to learn Superman's secret identity and going to the theater to see the Max Fleischer Superman short " The Mad Scientist " in hopes of seeing

500-564: A serum that cures all known diseases, which the Supermen put into the water supply. Supergirl then releases the Phantom Zone inmates, also reformed by the ray, and they immigrate to New Krypton in a spaceship provided by the Legion of Super-Heroes . With nearly all of the world's problems solved, the two Supermen now have the opportunity to deal with personal matters. The split allows them to resolve

550-578: Is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics , and normally goes by the name Cyborg Superman . Created by writer-artist Dan Jurgens , the character originally appeared primarily as an enemy of Superman , however in recent years he has also been an enemy of the Green Lantern Corps . At times, he is also referred to as The Cyborg (not to be confused with Victor Stone a.k.a. Cyborg ) In 2011, IGN ranked him #33 of

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600-517: Is transported beyond the event horizon of a black hole . Henshaw encounters Hal Jordan / Parallax at the Source Wall . Parallax uses his powers to generate representations of the victims of Coast City, which tear the Cyborg's body apart. Jordan then disperses Henshaw's consciousness, and the Cyborg is seemingly destroyed once again. Superman later encounters Henshaw on New Genesis , where he has used

650-460: Is trying to fuse the many alternate Supermen. The second incarnation of Superman Red and Superman Blue began in a 1998 storyline. While temporarily deprived of the solar energy required to give him powers, Superman had developed energy-based abilities, which eventually forced him to adopt a blue and white containment suit to prevent the energy dispersing. While retaining most of his abilities, he could now also sense different kinds of energy, including

700-585: The DC Rebirth relaunch, Henshaw's role as Cyborg Superman is restored. Hank Henshaw is a "technomorph". Unlike a simple technopath which can physically manipulate technology with their mind, Henshaw can extend his consciousness into any machine. Through his technomorphic abilities, Henshaw also gained Kryptonian powers similar to Superman, while editing out weaknesses, such as his vulnerability to kryptonite . He could even commandeer complex alien technology, including power rings, controlling and assimilating

750-506: The DC Universe canon . Elseworlds publications are set in alternate realities that deviate from the established continuity of DC's regular comics. The "Elseworlds" name was trademarked in 1989, the same year as the first Elseworlds publication. The title page of "Superman, Cartoon Hero!" (a slightly retooled reprint of 1942's "Superman, Matinee Idol"), stated that the story was "Our first imaginary story", and continued to say: "In 1942,

800-510: The Imaginary Stories concept. Alan Moore 's " Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow ?" two-part story in Superman #423 and Action Comics #583 in 1986 was the last Pre- Crisis story to use the Imaginary Stories label. The first Elseworlds title was Gotham by Gaslight (1989), written by Brian Augustyn and drawn by Mike Mignola , which featured a Victorian Age version of

850-503: The superhero Batman hunting Jack the Ripper , who had come to Gotham City . The title was not originally published as an Elseworlds comic, but its success led to the creation of the Elseworlds imprint and this title was retroactively declared the first Elseworlds story. The first book to feature the Elseworlds logo was Batman: Holy Terror in 1991. In 1994, the Elseworlds imprint

900-604: The "Top 100 Comic Book Villains". Hank Henshaw first appeared in The Adventures of Superman #466 (May 1990), and was created by Dan Jurgens . He first appears as Cyborg Superman in the Reign of the Supermen storyline. Hank and the other three members of the Excalibur crew, including his wife Terri, are exposed to radiation from a solar flare during a LexCorp experiment. Hank and Terri survive, but suffer adverse effects from

950-399: The 1996 Kingdom Come miniseries into DC continuity as part of a series of alternate timelines known as Hypertime , which included some of the alternate worlds depicted in various Elseworlds titles. A new Multiverse was introduced at the conclusion of the 52 weekly series that includes alternate worlds that were previously seen in various Elseworlds titles. " Elseworlds " was

1000-648: The Anti-Monitor. However, he is recovered by the Manhunters. In Brightest Day crossover, Henshaw allies with the Alpha Lanterns. He forces Ganthet to work on reversing the augments that turned the Green Lanterns into Alpha Lanterns, hoping that he can use the resulting information to restore his original body. Henshaw is killed by Boodikka , but his consciousness survives inside Doomsday and eventually forms

1050-519: The Eradicator, allowing Mongul to destroy the city. Henshaw also murders a family of vacationers trying to escape the devastated area. He then convinces the White House and the public that the Eradicator was responsible. After tricking and defeating Superboy, Henshaw prepares to launch a nuclear warhead to convert Metropolis into a second Engine City. Superboy escapes and warns Steel, Supergirl , and

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1100-702: The Kents, to live with him in Wayne Manor. In keeping with the fact that imaginary stories allowed for much grimmer stories than usual, the story ended with Lex Luthor killing the Kents and Batman trying to murder him in revenge. This Super-Wedding is REAL! The marriage is not a HOAX! The bride and groom are not ROBOTS! This romance is not a DREAM of LOIS LANE or SUPERMAN! Possible futures that "could very well happen" were explored, such as Clark Kent revealing to Lois Lane his secret identity and marrying her . Futures that "perhaps never will" happen were also examined, such as

1150-500: The Source Wall's power to create a small world from his memories. After being defeated, Henshaw escapes, constructs a new body, and becomes an art teacher. He eventually returns to villainy and allies with Toyman , creating a machine that splits Superman into Superman Blue and Superman Red . Henshaw later attempts to take over Kandor , but fails when he is defeated by Superman and sent to the Phantom Zone . He later returns and becomes

1200-669: The Statue of Liberty. By the end, Henshaw has Superman in a choke hold, thinking that the victory is near. He is later seen briefly in Tales of the Sinestro Corps Presents: Superman-Prime , having presumably been beaten back by the combined strength of Superman, Supergirl , and Power Girl . Hank Henshaw's body is destroyed when the Green Lantern Corps detonate New Warworld and Sinestro Corps power battery to destroy

1250-486: The animated Man of Steel reveal his secret identity. In addition to other things, when the opening credits roll and state that the cartoons are based on DC Comics, Lois Lane states that she has never heard of DC Comics. Clark Kent then wonders if the people there are clairvoyant. In the final panel, Clark Kent exchanges a knowing wink with the image of himself as Superman on the movie screen. In Action Comics #60 (May 1943), "Lois Lane – Superwoman!" told

1300-419: The attack and he successfully tampers with the mechanics of the satellite core. As the satellite is thrown out of orbit, Superman appears and engages Henshaw in battle. Their fight continues on Earth, while Sinestro transports his crew and his ship from the anti-matter universe. At first Superman seems to have the upper hand; however after two punches, Henshaw strikes with great power and rage, punching him through

1350-675: The characters' regular stories, imaginary stories could show things like people dying and the victory of evil. In the optimistic and hopeful Silver Age of Comics, such stories usually would not be told; this was hinted with writers telling readers how such an Imaginary Story often reassured the readers that it did not really happen. Most of these Imaginary Stories featured alternate histories of characters, such as " The Amazing Story of Superman-Red and Superman Blue! ". There, readers saw possible pasts that could have happened, but did not happen. One such story has Superman being raised by apes in imitation of Tarzan , an idea that would be recycled into

1400-455: The chest emblem which is the normal red and yellow). The twins name themselves Superman-Red and Superman-Blue. The Supermen, using their enhanced intellects, first repair Brainiac 's "enlarging ray". They then create a means to bring all the fragments of Krypton together, creating a "New Krypton" (eliminating all existing kryptonite in the process), and successfully enlarge Kandor on its surface, freeing its citizens from their bottle prison. At

1450-535: The halves. Superman Blue appears in Dark Nights: Metal as a nightmare Superman hailing from the Dark Multiverse. He and two other nightmare Supermen attempt to stop Batman from rescuing the normal Superman but are unsuccessful in doing so. Elseworlds#Imaginary Stories Elseworlds is the publication imprint for American comic books produced by DC Comics for stories that take place outside

1500-413: The house until they could figure out how to unite. Perplexed, both Red and Blue flew to Antarctica to see if Kryptonian technology could solve the issue, but were met by a woman named Obsession , who had previously shown an incredible level of romantic lust for Superman. Then Maxima , another superpowered female admirer of Superman's (only this one was far more volatile), stepped in. While Obsession liked

1550-592: The idea of two Supermen, Maxima found the existence of two utterly unacceptable. A fight broke out between the women when Obsession offered to share them with the Amazon from Almerac, insulting Maxima's royal sensibilities. Superman Red and Superman Blue separated and reprimanded the combatants. Following a battle with the Millennium Giants (Cabraca, Cerne and Sekhmet), the two Supermen merged and Superman returned to his normal powers and original costume. The new status quo

Superman Red/Superman Blue - Misplaced Pages Continue

1600-655: The leader of the Manhunters before being destroyed and reduced to a disembodied head when the Manhunters' home world of Biot explodes. Henshaw is later rescued by the Sinestro Corps, reconstitutes his body, and joins their ranks. During this time, he revisits his past and desecrates his wife's corpse. Meanwhile, the Manhunters begin an assault on the JLA satellite. Hawkgirl , Black Lightning , and Red Arrow retaliate; however, all three are neutralized when Henshaw assists in

1650-442: The love triangle between Superman, Lois Lane , and Lana Lang . Superman-Red proposes to Lois, while Superman-Blue asks Lana to marry him. Each woman claims her own Superman, and they have a triple wedding: Superman-Blue and Lana, Superman-Red and Lois, and Lucy Lane marrying Jimmy Olsen (since Lucy need no longer wait for Lois to marry before she does). Red decides to live on New Krypton with Lois, renouncing his powers and raising

1700-575: The oversized Superman Spectacular (an unnumbered one-shot in the United States but published as No. 1 in a series in the United Kingdom). In this story, red kryptonite causes Superman to be temporarily split into Superman-Red and Superman-Blue and the two Supermen battle Lex Luthor and Terra-Man. Superman-Red and Superman-Blue appear in a panel in Infinite Crisis #5, when Alexander Luthor, Jr.

1750-470: The permanent death of Superman. Imaginary Stories appeared often enough that some comics – such as Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #15 (February 1960), the cover of which appears to depict Superman marrying Lois Lane – had to assure readers that their contents were not "imaginary". The cover of Lois Lane #59 (August 1965), by contrast, promised that its depiction of Lois as the romantic rival of Lara , Jor-El 's girlfriend and future mother of Superman,

1800-525: The radiation: Hank's body begins to decompose and Terri begins phasing into another dimension before being rescued. After Henshaw's physical body is destroyed, he transfers his consciousness into the LexCorp mainframe. He appears to Terri, but she is driven insane and commits suicide. Using NASA communications equipment, Henshaw possesses the ship that carried Superman from Krypton as an infant and uses it to explore space. Henshaw believes that Superman caused

1850-429: The resurrected Superman of Henshaw's plans. The four confront Mongul and Henshaw while Superboy stops the missile from hitting Metropolis. Henshaw attempts to kill Superman with kryptonite , but the Eradicator sacrifices himself to save Superman, altering the kryptonite and causing it to restore his powers. Superman kills Henshaw, who claims that he will eventually return. Henshaw returns by transferring his mind into

1900-447: The same principle. There, Wonder Woman appeared along with her younger selves, Wonder Girl and Wonder Tot . However, the majority of Imaginary Stories were published in various Superman comics under the guidance of Superman editor Mort Weisinger , the "King of Imaginary Stories". This was in part because, according to Shutt, Weisinger aimed for younger readers instead of older ones. Later editors such as Julius Schwartz rarely used

1950-609: The ship accident after throwing the Eradicator into the Sun and plots revenge on him. After Doomsday kills Superman, Henshaw poses as him to destroy his reputation and claims to be him resurrected as a cyborg. He rescues Bill Clinton from an assassination attempt, after which he endorses him as the "true" Superman. During this time, rival cults worshiping Henshaw and the Eradicator are established. When Mongul 's spaceship appears over Coast City , Henshaw attacks and severely injures

2000-631: The story of Lois gaining superpowers from a transfusion of Superman's blood; while this is explicitly a dream sequence, it has been called "a forerunner of what would be known as 'Imaginary Stories'". Craig Shutt , author of the Comics Buyer's Guide column Ask Mr. Silver Age , states that true imaginary stories differed from stories that were dreams and hoaxes. Dreams and hoaxes were "gyps" on account of "not having happened", whilst true imaginary stories were canonical at least unto themselves. Also, since they were "just" imaginary and thus had no bearing on

2050-461: The story of baby Kal-El reaching Earth with his mother and father and how the world handles the emergence of a superpowered family. After a 14-year absence, DC relaunched the imprint in 2024 with six titles confirmed: Although the Elseworlds imprint was created to feature stories separate from DC continuity, concepts from various Elseworlds stories were incorporated into DC continuity at various times. The Kingdom miniseries in 1999 brought

Superman Red/Superman Blue - Misplaced Pages Continue

2100-747: The title for the fifth crossover in the Arrowverse franchise, which aired from December 9 to 11, 2018, on The CW . The crossover was told across episodes of The Flash , Arrow and Supergirl and introduced Batwoman , Gotham City , Nora Fries , and Lois Lane to the Arrowverse. In Elseworlds, heroes are taken from their usual settings and put into strange times and places—some that have existed, or might have existed, and others that can't, couldn't or shouldn't exist. The result: stories that make characters who are as familiar as yesterday seem as fresh as tomorrow. Hank Henshaw Henry " Hank " Henshaw

2150-400: The trail of radioactivity from a passing van, bolts of electricity and magnetic tractor beams rather than his original heat vision. He was also able to absorb the radiation, although this was incredibly painful. He also gained the ability to turn his powers "off", though this took time to control as he inadvertently fried a toaster at home. This switch to Clark Kent also left him as vulnerable as

2200-559: The urging of Lori Lemaris , the Supermen create an underwater world for the citizens of Atlantis and arrange an interstellar voyage to transport them to their new home. The two Supermen go on to create an "anti-evil" ray which can cure criminal tendencies in anyone. They place the ray into satellites in orbit around the Earth, curing not only villains such as Lex Luthor and Mr. Mxyzptlk , but reforming Communists such as Nikita Khrushchev and Fidel Castro . The reformed Luthor goes on to invent

2250-574: Was "real-- not imaginary!". A few Imaginary Stories appeared in other DC publications. Batman editor Jack Schiff supervised stories in which the Dark Knight starts a family or loses his identity, though these were revealed at the end of the story to be stories written by Alfred . Schiff's stories were notable for the first appearance of the original Bruce Wayne Junior . Writer/editor Robert Kanigher supervised Wonder Woman 's own series of Imaginary Stories called Impossible Tales which featured

2300-495: Was established in a special one-shot, Superman: Forever , in June 1998. The explanation is vague; Superman felt he was "rewarded" for saving the world, although he later claimed that he returned to normal when his electromagnetic energy dispersed. Although Superman briefly returned to his electric-blue form when facing Brainiac-13 after he was apparently absorbed by Brainiac's energy conduits while trying to disrupt his power supply, this

2350-561: Was more rash, but also more decisive, preferring action over taking the time to think. Over time, these two personalities grew more and more polarized and individual, to the point that neither entity wanted to become one Superman again. Both Supermen deeply loved Lois Lane; unlike in the earlier Red/Blue story, there was not another love interest for one of the Supermen to pair up with. Instead, they fought over Lois' affections, each with almost no consideration for her feelings; Lois lost her tolerance for this and essentially kicked them both out of

2400-588: Was released in January 2008 as the Teen Titans Lost Annual . In September 2009, Dan DiDio revealed the return of the Elseworlds imprint as a series of Prestige Format books, with the approach of taking the basic concepts and origins of DC characters and twisting them in various ways. The only Elseworlds story released under the initiative was the three-issue miniseries Superman: The Last Family of Krypton , published from August to October 2010, which told

2450-622: Was revealed to be the result of Brainiac 2.5–Brainiac-13's past self, hiding in Lena Luthor to avoid being deleted by his future self–creating the electric Superman based on scans taken of Superman in that form, intercepting B-13's attempt to absorb Superman and uploading Superman's mind into the electric body to keep Brainiac-13 occupied while Superman's true body was restored in a LexCorp facility. Superman Red appears in Superman/Batman #25 alongside an army of alternate Supermen and Batmen. As

2500-521: Was used as the theme for the annual edition comic books of that summer. DC sporadically published various Elseworlds titles from 1989 to 2003. In August 2003, editor Mike Carlin mentioned that DC had scaled back the production of Elseworlds books in order to "put the luster back on them". Several titles that were announced as Elseworlds books prior to this, such as Superman & Batman: Generations IV and The Teen Titans Swingin' Elseworlds Special , were cancelled. The planned Teen Titans tale

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