AndyC

Absolute Comics - Season Two: The Monster Within

I'm kicking myself for this, but I'm out. Just tried to file my taxes, and the wonderful results of going from a regular w-2 employee to a 1099 means I now have to go get a second job in order to afford to keep working at my first job. Which means my spare time just dropped to less than zero. Sorry guys.

Absolute Comics - Season Two: The Monster Within

Well we're almost a week into the IC and already on our third page so out of curiosity, what are the driving factors and influences in your story?

@Lord Wraith

Well, Kingdom Come is the most obvious influence-- despite my utter loathing of present-day Mark Waid and everything he stands for, his book is still one of my absolute favorite stories. Apart from that, I've wanted to do an "Old Man Logan" sort of take on Clark for a while now, and frankly over the last couple of years I've become pretty bitter and disillusioned toward the state of the cape-and-tights industry and fandom, so I figured I'd take a shot at it while I'm in this particular state of mind. Some of the grumpy-old-man Clint Eastwood movies definitely have some influence on what I've got in mind, especially Gran Torino. And probably the biggest influence once the arc actually gets moving is Grant Morrison's Flex Mentallo: Man of Muscle Mystery.

The parallel-universe angle also means I can do that without overriding what Gowi wants to do with Kara, so I can tell this sort of self-contained story, an ending while everyone else's stories are beginning. I have ideas for if I want Old Clark to stick around past one season, but I'm going into it with the mentality that this'll be a one-shot.

Absolute Comics - Season Two: The Monster Within

"This is wrong," I say to myself, pacing back and forth across the dusty concrete floor of the storm cellar underneath the farmhouse. "This is all wrong."

It's not the first time I've said something along those lines since I woke up in the bed upstairs, in a house I'd apparently just purchased, in a world somewhat familiar but definitely not my own. I'd say to myself watching the news, seeing people I'd known for nearly a century only just starting out, or the successor to a heroic legacy being the originator instead. I'd say it looking at the state of the people who populate this world, the crippled and dying culture that could have made them great now spun into the pursuit of cheap distractions and easy outrage.

Now I'm saying it as I look down on the old metal work bench and the form laid across it....at the bleached, dried bones of another version of myself, left unceremoniously in front of my house while I was out on my morning patrol.

"How could anyone know about me, here?" I ask, staring at the grinning skull, a pair of darkened sockets which used to hold eyes that could see to the farthest ends of the universe, observe quantum-level events, or spew heat that could slice through a planet like a knife through hot butter. "Superman never existed on this world. Kara came to Earth instead of Kal-El. Diana was the first public super-hero, showing up years before even I did in the rea--...in my timeline. Jonathan Kent was killed by a tornado in the late 90s, Martha Clark remarried and moved away to Missouri. The name Clark Kent shouldn't mean anything to anyone on this world, let alone Superman. So for someone to have found me out, to kill one of me and leave it at my door, it's imp--"

Impossible? HAH! Imagine you, of all people, calling something 'impossible.' Ridiculous.

"Be quiet; you're not real," I dismiss that annoying brassy voice. "I'm imagining things, hearing voices to keep myself company, that's all."

Oh, you wound me! And why exactly is the thought that you're cracking up your first guess?

"Because I watched you die, Mxyzptlk!" I shout, my hands curling into fists that could punch through the fabric of reality in my younger days. "Because....because I killed you."

Awww, and so I'm some manifestation of your guilty conscious then, is that it? The ghosts of your pasts, your biggest failures come back to haunt you? Maybe you're right. Maybe after all this time, you've finally gotten a screw loose. Or maybe, juuuuuust maybe, it has something to do with what's under that tarp behind--

"Enough," I cut him off, gripping the edge of the workbench, steel squishing like clay between my fingers. "That's something to deal with later. Right now I've got a murder to solve."

Oh? And since when were you the detective type?

"I was an investigative journalist," I answer. "Now then. I picked the site clean before moving the corpse. No tracks, no fingerprints, no residue from a Boom Tube or trace elements of magic in the air. The bones don't show any signs of damage, no cellular decay or leftover radiation, which rules out Kryptonite."

And what about the big question, eh?

"What question would that be?"

The one you're afraid to ask yourself. The one that's literally staring you right in the face right now! Who is the victim?

"That's obvious. It's a Su--"

Of course it's a Superman, you ninny! But whichSuperman is it?"

That stops me in my tracks.

This world doesn't have a Superman, does it? And why would that be? Did Super-gal just swap places with lil' baby Kal at the last second? Or did something else happen to him?

"If that's the case, then--"

Or maybe, it's some rando from another universe, the first in a trail of breadcrumbs to lead you on a merry chase against a multiversal Super-Serial-Killer. After all, it's not like you're a stranger to this kind of thing. Maybe Darkseid or Mandrakk ain't quite as defeated as you thought, an' they're targeting anyone an' everyone with an S on their chest.

"I'm not afraid of Darkseid, or--"

Or maybe, that stiff on the slab isn't just from another set of space, but a different stretch of time. Maybe someone's drawing you out by sending you, well.....you.

I hadn't really considered the possibility, but the thought of it......the thought that someone could be sending me my own bones as some kind of sick message, well......I can't imagine that would sit well with anyone. You stare down death as many times as I have, and the thought of your own mortality starts to lose its meaning. I've survived catastrophes that sundered entire galaxies, been exposed to enough Kryptonite and magical attacks to wipe out my home planet all over again a hundred times over. I lived through my entire universe collapsing. The idea that I could die at all, just doesn't seem possible.

Then again, like he said, the idea of Superman calling something impossible is ridiculous in and of itself.

"All right, then," I say, squaring my shoulders and putting on a brave face. "I may not have access to the Fortress in this universe. I don't have the technology from the Watchtower at my disposal. I don't even have the password to use the Bat-Computer here. But I can think of one way to get an idea of who this Superman is."

I snap my fingers. Then again. And a third time. Each time, I listen to the sound, the sharp click of my fingertip slapping against the meat of my thumb. I focus my hearing, closer and closer, beyond the immediate sound....and I start to hear the deep vibrations.

All matter in the universe is composed of atoms. These atoms are in turn composed of smaller subatomic particles, which are then composed of quarks, gluons, gravitons, et cetera. These break down further and further, until finally reaching one-dimensional 'strings' that vibrate on certain frequencies. At the core level, everything in every potential universe is composed of vibrations, entire timelines and universes separated only by the frequencies at which they vibrate. Barry used to take advantage of that fact to hop between universes. As did Ultraman and the Crime Syndicate. And the Anti-Monitor, who killed Kara....

I tune out the noise of reality around me, and I focus on that sub-quantum, nigh-imperceptible frequency, the starting tone of my old universe. Literally nothing in this world should make that same sound.

I rap my knuckles against the edge of the work bench, and sure enough, the deep vibration of this universe's matter is ever-so-slightly different, just a hair's breadth higher in pitch.

Now for the moment of truth, pal.....

I hold my hand over the skull of the Superman laid out before me......

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

I flinch, so focused on my test that I'm genuinely caught off-guard by the knocking from upstairs. Krypto is barking again. Someone's at my front door.

"Erm, one second!" I call out, frantically searching for something to cover the dead Superman's bones before using the tarp draped over an object in the corner. I'm nearly blinded by the opalescent light the object lets out, but I figure that will be easier to explain than the skeleton on the table.

Draping the tarp over the bones, I head up the stairs, closing the door to the cellar behind me. I undo the dead bolt to the front door and open it, to find.....

"Hi, I'm sorry to bother you," she says, a warm smile brightened by glittering green eyes. "I wasn't sure if there was anyone here, but I'd heard in town that someone had bought the old Kent farm, and since I live in the next one over, I thought, well, I ought to say hello to my new neighbor."

She's older than the one I knew, probably in her early to mid fifties. Her striking red hair has faded to a strawberry blonde, her eyes lined with crow's feet, skin starting to wrinkle and sag. Her smile, though, is every bit as infectious as the one I'd spent all those days and nights with so long ago.

"I, erm.....well, hello," I stammer for a moment. "Sorry, I was in the middle of--"

"Oh! Well, I can just come back later if you--"

"No no, it's not a problem," I say, "I just...haven't had a visitor since I came here."

What are you doing, Clark? This isn't your world. This isn't your timeline. She isn't--

"Well, I'm glad I could be the first to welcome you to Smallville, Mister...."

For a moment, I juggle all of the different aliases I've used through the years-- Smith, White, Clayton, Ellis--

"Kent," I blurt out the truth. "Clark Kent."

She smiles and extends her hand.

"Lana Lang," she introduces herself. "Nice to meet you, Clark Kent."

Absolute Comics - Season Two: The Monster Within

--AND WHO, DISGUISED AS MILD-MANNERED REPORTER CLARK KENT, FIGHTS A NEVER-ENDING--

"--ill has been unclear about whether he will resume the role, or if rumors of the studio recasting and replacing him are--"

"--right and there is wrong in the universe, and the distinction between the two is not hard to--"

"--show will be concluding after its tenth season, citing low ratings for the network to finally--"

"--little guy needs a name. How about Jonath--"

"--suffered a massive spinal injury, leaving the actor paralyzed from the neck d--"

"--could have changed the world. Now look at us. I'm a political liability. And you....you're a--"

"--restarting their line of comic books from the ground up, streamlining the company's infamously complicated--"

--CAME TO EARTH WITH POWERS AND ABILITIES FAR BEYOND THOSE OF MORTAL--

"--hope this experience hasn't put you off flying. Statistically speaking, it's still--"

"--upstart company, with their own hip and off-beat brand of amazing and uncanny superheroes, has replaced the stodgy old super-friends of yesterday from--"

"--a girl, flying, dressed in a super-costume! It must be--"

"--actor's death has been deemed a suicide, though many still suspect foul--"

--THAN A SPEEDING BULLET, MORE POWERFUL THAN--

"--blames the violent content of 'super-hero' adventure comic books for delinquent beha--"

"--see how I destroy the mighty Man of Steel! No one can stand in Luthor's--"

"--went from a simple children's comic strip character to a genuine cultural--"

LOOK! UP IN THE SKY!

IT'S A BIRD!

IT'S A PLANE!

IT'S--

*BBBRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNGGGGG--

The first great test of self-control every morning, being able to tap the alarm clock next to my bed without smashing it to pieces. I sit up and yawn, eyes bleary, my back and neck stiff, then climb out of bed and stretch out the dozen little aches and pains up and down my body.

I rub the sleep out of my eyes and look out the window, the sky still a deep black, only tinged at the horizon line with a barely perceptible glow of red. Dawn is still an hour away, but the first rays of sunlight have begun their work of brightening the day ahead. I should start doing the same.

Walk over to the bathroom and do my business. A mouthful of minty foam and sharp-tasting tonic as I brush my teeth and gargle some mouthwash. A whiff of burnt hair as reflected lasers clear my neck and chin of stubble. I pause for a moment at the upper lip, pondering the possibility of letting it grow out, then decide against it-- somehow I don't think me with a moustache would quite work. A cold splash of water from the sink across my face. I throw on a T-shirt, button up a worn red flannel over that, followed by some overalls, work boots, and finally, my glasses.

They say it's important to establish a morning routine. It builds discipline, and gives you a measure of control.

And control is something you haven't had in quite some time, ain't that right?

I ignore that remark.

Down to the kitchen for breakfast. Flour, baking powder, salt and sugar, milk, butter, eggs. Mix it all together, pour the batter onto the skillet. Allow to heat for two minutes, until it becomes golden brown on one side.

That gives me time to check on a few things. Leaving the batter to warm up, I unlock the back door to the farmhouse and step outside. Krypto stirs, but quickly goes back to sleep once he sees it's just me, and I head out into the pre-dawn sky, reaching high orbit in a few fractions of a second.

"Let's see....." I say to myself as I look and listen to the swirling blue planet below. "I think we'll start by heading east today...."

A highway overpass in South Carolina is dangerously neglected, ready to collapse and endanger hundreds of lives. This early hour, wthout a driver in sight, gives me ample time to work. Crushing concrete into dust, melting down steel supports and rebar, reforging the metal and mixing the concrete all over again, rebuilding the bridge from the ground up, all of that isn't the hard part. The hard part is painting and weathering it so it doesn't look like it was suddenly and suspiciously rebuilt from the ground up. Some men in their old age take up building complex and realistic train sets or model airplanes. I guess this could be seen as the same, only the models I build are to replace crumbling infrastructure.

Next is a quick trip across the Atlantic to the island of La Palma, off the coast of Morocco. The Cumbre Vieja volcano has been building pressure, threatening an eruption that could cause a massive landslide into the ocean. The resulting wave will cause an enormous wall of water to travel across the Atlantic, a mega-tsunami that will devastate the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. Or at least, it would. I've been drilling channels through the volcano, pressure release tunnels that will keep the worst-case scenario from happening. Many scientists have already discredited the mega-tsunami theory as completely farfetched, not realizing how accurate their first predictions may have been.

It's best to take care of things like this while they're still little problems, before they get the chance to become big ones. An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure, they say. On top of that, it's the best way for me to save lives and do some good while keeping a low profile.

I make a few more quick stops-- filling potentially lethal pot-holes in roads, triggering small landslides and avalanches while no one's around to be endangered by them, and using wide but low-intensity blasts of Heat Vision to equalize air pressure in a storm system to prevent a tornado from forming-- before heading back to the farmhouse to flip my pancakes.

As I approach, I hear Krypto barking. He's normally not up and about for another two or three hours, let alone making a racket. Slowing down to a manageable speed, I swoop down to the old oak tree about fifty paces from the front of the house, where my dog is growling at a shape on the ground.

"What's the matter, boy?" I say, scratching him behind the ears to calm him down. He looks up at me and whimpers, confused. "It's okay, buddy, I'm here. Now what's--"

That's when I see what Krypto was barking at. A form left in the dirt, a thin coat of dust dulling the colors of a bright red cape and blue suit.

"Great Scott...."

This isn't any sort of coincidence. This is deliberate. A message. Maybe a warning, maybe a threat. But a message nonetheless.

Someone knows.

But how? This isn't my world. Kara switched places with Kal-El in this world, arriving on Earth first. There's no recorded precedent of interaction with parallel universes, alternate timelines, or any other form of other-Earths in this reality.....myself excluded. I've made absolutely certain that none of my actions have shown up on satellite photos, and that any written accounts have either been discredited or purged from the internet. As far as this world is concerned, there is no Superman, and there never was. Nobody could possibly know who or what I am, let alone that I'm here.

And yet, someone knows.

Lying in the dirt in front of me is a pile of bones, dressed in an unmistakable uniform.

Someone has sent me a dead man.....

Worse than that, actually......

......a dead Superman.

Absolute Comics - Season Two: The Monster Within

<Snipped quote by AndyC>
Something tells me that your Superman is going to have a hard time trusting my Wonder Woman.

@Star Lord

Clark's gonna have a pretty hard time getting along with just about everybody.

Absolute Comics - Season Two: The Monster Within

Sample post has been added to the Superman CS.

Absolute Comics - Season Two: The Monster Within

I have a feeling that I'm not ever going to really get away from this sort of game, and that I'll be playing characters like this from now...

...til Kingdom Come

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T P R O P O S A L

S U P E R M A N

---

^{_{Kal-L / Clark Joseph Kent ♦ Farmer; Formerly the World's Greatest Hero ♦ Smallville, Kansas, United States (Earth Prime) ♦ Former Founder of the Justice Society of America and Justice League (Earth 2)}}

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T:

---

^{"I used to be a lot of things. These days, I'm just a farmer."}

1913: A mysterious rocket-ship crashes in a field on the outskirts of Smallville, Kansas. Much to the surprise of the kindly Jonathan and Martha Kent, inside this mystery ship is a newborn baby boy. Believing the child to be a miracle, the Kents adopt him, naming him Clark.

1930: Clark begins to exhibit extraordinary powers, able to lift his father's tractor over his head with one hand and leap over a quarter of a mile. Those around him begin to treat him with suspicion, even fear, and for their protection and his own, Clark leaves Smallville.

1931-1937: Clark travels the country, searching for a place to fit in while the United States suffers through the Great Depression. Seeing the widespread suffering, misery, and injustice that affect so many, he determines to use his powers to help the helpless. Returning home to Smallville, he unearths his buried rocket-ship and learns of his true origins: he was born Kal-L, the last survivor of the doomed planet Krypton, a utopian world that destroyed itself through generations of decadence and moral decay. Seeing the suffering around him and fearful Earth might meet the same fate as Krypton, Clark fashions a costume styled after his lost home world and determines to fight evil wherever it may come.

1938: Clark, now in full costume, rescues the fearless reporter Lois Lane from the clutches of the gangster Bruno Mannheim. Seeing his incredible powers and garish 'S' symbol on his chest, Lois gives him the moniker 'Superman.' Clark takes up residence in the bustling city of Metropolis, and becomes a colleague and rival reporter to Lois. Superman becomes a regular fixture in the city, ransacking the criminal underworld, punching out wife-beaters, exposing and apprehending corrupt politicians, and inspiring the people of Metropolis to do great things.

1940: Superman is joined by other cape-clad mystery men: the Bat-Man of Gotham City, Wonder Woman of Paradise Island, the super-sonic Flash, the magic ring-wielding Green Lantern, the winged Hawk-Man and Hawk-Girl, Star Man, the Atom Smasher, Hour-Man, Doctor Mid-Nite, the Sandman, and the Black Canary. At first working only in loose confederation, these heroes agree that by working together, they can affect great change on a global scale and fight back against the rising power of the Axis. Naming themselves the Justice Society of America, Superman and his compatriots set out to cure the ills affecting their country, and prevent the outbreak of war.

The same year, Superman first encounters Lex Luthor, the mad scientist who would in time become his lifelong arch-nemesis. Luthor terrorizes Metropolis with death rays, earthquake machines, armies of mechanical monsters and more, only to be thwarted by Superman every time. Meanwhile, Clark begins to struggle with his affection for Lois Lane, who sees the mild-mannered Clark Kent as a coward and a milquetoast, but pines for the rugged and daring Superman.

1941-1945: The Justice Society is brought into the Second World War when Hitler and Hirohito add Lex Luthor and the immortal Vandal Savage to their unholy alliance. Superman himself is nearly killed when Luthor unveils the discovery of Kryptonite, a radioactive meteor fragment from Superman's homeworld that can poison the Man of Tomorrow. As Clark recuperates, Green Lantern assumes leadership of the Justice Society, storming Hitler's bunker and bringing the evil dictator in to be tried by the United Nations. Luthor, however, escapes to his hidden lair on the dark side of the moon.

1950: Clark's complicated romance with Lois Lane grows more complex when his old flame Lana Lang returns into his life. In addition, his role as Metropolis's protector grows more and more difficult as other super-powered threats menace the City of Tomorrow. In short order, Superman tangles with the radioactive Atomic Skull, the power-stealing Parasite, and the colossal ape Titano-- all of which are creations of Lex Luthor.

1951: The Justice Society disbands after being brought before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Superman, still wishing to repair relations between the government and his fellow vigilante crime-fighters, begins working extensively with the Army and the Office of Strategic Services, while the rest of the former Society either retire or go rogue. This culminates in a dramatic battle with Bat-Man, where the Gotham vigilante poisons Superman again with Kryptonite, causing the Man of Steel to refrain from entering Gotham City ever again (unbeknownst to the government, however, this 'fight' is a ruse, as Superman and Bat-Man continue to work together in secret).

1957: Superman is tormented by the reality-warping imp Mr. Mxyzptlk, who introduces the Man of Steel to the concepts of higher and lower dimensions, alternate realities, multiverses, metafiction, and hypertime. This mind-bending odyssey ends with Superman sending Mxyzptlk back to his home dimension, but he is left with a monstrous duplicate as a 'memento' from his nigh-omnipotent tormentor. This monster, known simply as Bizarro, becomes one of Superman's most unpredictable and dangerous enemies.

1958: A flying saucer shrinks the entire city of Metropolis, prompting Superman to chase the alien spaceship halfway across the galaxy to rescue the city. Inside he encounters the hyper-intelligent alien robot Brainiac, who also keeps as its prized possession the lost Kryptonian city of Kandor. While Superman is able to rescue Metropolis and return it to its normal size, he cannot do the same for Kandor, a failure which continues to haunt him, even as Brainiac attempts to destroy Superman and the Earth time and time again.

1959: A second Kryptonian rocket, lured by beacons from within the Bottle City of Kandor, lands on Earth and is intercepted by Superman. Inside is a young woman who identifies herself as Kal-L's long lost cousin, Kara Zor-L, who had been stranded in space and stuck in suspended animation following Krypton's destruction. Kara becomes Kal's protégée, debuting to the world as Supergirl within months of her arrival.

1960: A new generation of heroes bands together to fight a massive entity known as "The Center," an ancient being from primordial times intent on wiping out all life on Earth. This new team, calling themselves the Justice League after the old JSA, inducts Superman as a founding member, but because he cannot focus his time towards the team, he declines the offer of leadership and instead defers to the new Flash.

1964: Earth is invaded by the Crime Syndicate, an evil counterpart to the Justice League from a universe where moral alignments are reversed. Led by the villainous Ultraman, the Crime Syndicate overwhelms and undermines the Justice League at every turn. Superman, joining forces with Bizarro and Captain Marvel (whom he suspects to be a Superman from a smaller universe absorbed by their own), lures the Syndicate out into bleed-space between universes, capturing them in a negative-dimensional tesseract prison. Before being pulled into the tesseract, Ultraman warns Superman and his compatriots of a coming doom far worse than anything they had faced before, that this universe would destroy itself in a final crisis.

1968: After years of flirtatious games and unrequited romance, Clark Kent marries Lois Lane. Soon after, they have a son, whom they name Jonathan Kent.

1970: Superman encounters Darkseid, the despotic ruler of Apokolips and self-proclaimed God of All Evil. Believing this to be the reality-threatening crisis Ultraman had warned him about, Clark puts more and more of his efforts towards fighting Darkseid and his demonic forces, leaving much of the everyday heroics to Supergirl.

1973: Lex Luthor joins forces with over a dozen other supervillains to form the Legion of Doom, with the express intent of destroying the Justice League. Their battles tip the balance of global power far beyond any acceptable limit, and President Nixon cracks down on superhuman activity. Unlike the Justice Society, the League refuses to disband, and are designated a rogue power by the US government. Organizations like Cadmus emerge, with the intent of creating methods to control or destroy superhumans should they become a threat to mankind.

1978: Jonathan Kent's powers begin to manifest. He soon debuts to the world as Superboy, tagging along with Superman and Supergirl in training missions, or alongside the Teen Titans.

1980: Earth is invaded by a faction of rogue Kryptonian criminals, led by the fascistic General Zod. Zod and his minions attempt to transform Earth into a New Krypton, which would destroy all native life in the process. After a costly battle, Superman and Supergirl subdue Zod, sending him into the void of the Phantom Zone. However, the fear of unchecked Kryptonian power starts to erode people's trust in Superman, and an arms race begins to recover Zod's weapons and technology.

1985: The multiverse is threatened not by Darkseid, but by the nihilistic Anti-Monitor. The resulting crisis claims many of Superman's closest friends and allies, including Supergirl, who dies in his arms after battling the Anti-Monitor in single combat. Eventually the combined forces of the multiverse's heroes and villains are able to subdue the Anti-Monitor and save reality, but the world is fundamentally changed nonetheless.

1986: Lex Luthor merges with Brainiac, manipulating several of Superman's enemies in an attempt to engineer a final confrontation with the Man of Steel. Bizarro goes on a rampage in Metropolis, killing thousands before committing suicide with blue Kryptonite. The Daily Planet is gassed by the Joker, killing many of Clark's personal friends. A final battle between the Justice League and the Legion of Doom rages at the gates of Superman's Fortress of Solitude. Luthor and Brainiac, as well as several lesser villains and heroes, are killed in the fray. Ultimately, Superman learns that his two greatest enemies had themselves been manipulated by Mr. Mxyzptlk, who had changed by the Crisis from mischievous to fully malevolent. Superman traps Mxyzptlk in a portal to the Phantom Zone, and the imp attempts to escape to the Fifth Dimension, splitting his essence between realities and destroying him utterly. It is the first time Superman deliberately ends an enemy's life, and the act sends shockwaves through the heroic community.

This only raises tensions between the Justice League and the global Super-Powers, culminating in a second confrontation with Batman. Unlike their battle thirty years previous, this is no friendly ruse, and after Batman leaves Superman near-dead from Kryptonite poisoning, the two remain bitter enemies. Weakened and disillusioned, Superman withdraws from public life and retires to the Kent Farm in Smallville.

1988: Superboy, now fully of age, takes up his father's mantle and becomes the new Superman. Jonathan Kent battles a new generation of threats, such as Livewire, Conduit, Bloodsport, the Eradicator, and the intergalactic bounty hunter Lobo.

1993: Lois Lane, age 80, dies peacefully in her sleep. A month later, Jonathan Kent is killed while saving the world from the monster Doomsday, Lex Luthor's final creation and attempt at revenge from beyond the grave.

1996: Smallville, as well as the rest of Kansas, is destroyed when Captain Atom is split open during a battle with the Parasite. The resulting explosion kills over one million people, and shocks the world into action. The Justice League, now led by Wonder Woman, begins rounding up villains and anti-heroes in order to re-educate them. Batman leads a team of freedom-fighting Outsiders to oppose this new draconian stance. And the reconstituted Legion of Doom seeks to bring it all down. Meanwhile, the US government and Cadmus, working with the remains of Brainiac, develops the ultimate weapon to undo the damage done by the superhumans: a tachyon warhead, a literal Time-Bomb that can erase those hit by it from the timeline completely.

Superman finally comes out of retirement just as this battle reaches its climax, flying the Time Bomb out beyond the Source Wall as it detonates. Cause and effect unravel. Time and space and the fundamental forces lose all meaning. Reality implodes upon itself. In the last nano-instant, the final Planck-length of existence, Superman speaks the name of every god backwards, and existence freezes and shrinks down to the point where it can be captured and kept in a bottle.

.

.

.

.

.

2019: Clark Kent wakes up in a field on the outskirts of Smallville, Kansas. He lives in a tumble-down farmhouse that most people assume was abandoned decades ago. He owns a white dog named Krypto, and most of his neighbors don't pay him any mind. The world is populated with heroes he doesn't recognize, or versions of his old friends and enemies that, while familiar, aren't the same. No one has ever heard the name 'Superman' before.

C H A R A C T E R M O T I V A T I O N S & G O A L S:

---

I've played Superman a ton of times, and while it would be really easy to revisit my origin-story ideas and pick up concepts from UOU I didn't get to use, I wanted to instead take the opposite approach, a Superman whose glory days are long gone instead of just beginning. Making him Kal-L rather than the prime universe Superman should allow me to play with a seasoned and saddened Clark without stepping on Gowi's concept of making Kara the 'original' S-wearer in this continuity. More to the point, I want to play with the really crazy aspects of Superman's franchise, rather than just beat up Metallo and have a "we're on the same side, but I've got my eye on you" encounter with Batman for the billionth time. The stories I want to tell are going to be along the lines of Superman Beyond by way of Old Man Logan.

C H A R A C T E R N O T E S:

---

Kal-L knows that this isn't his world, and that acting out in the open could have dire effects on this timeline. As a result, he's going to try and keep a low profile, going after threats that are out of the current heroes' league until they're ready to face them on their own. Also, while his old world may no longer exist, he'll be frequented by 'ghosts' of his past. Whether these ghosts are all in his head, or if there's something literal behind them, is something that remains to be seen.

S A M P L E P O S T:

---

The Kent Farm
Smallville, Kansas

"Is it just me," I say, squinting and shielding my eyes a bit with my right hand, "or does the sun not shine as brightly as it used to?"

Krypto leans his head to one side, as if contemplating the question, then brushes against my leg and nudges my hand to get me to start scratching behind his ears. Of course, any 'contemplating' on his behalf is purely in my imagination-- he's just a dog, and I never did learn how to communicate with animals. That's something Diana could do. Sometimes. Depending on the iteration.

A warm, dry wind sends ripples across the acres of wheat sprawling out in front of the old farm house, the stalks and seeds reflecting the sunlight in a golden shimmer. I can't help but think, however, that shimmer doesn't quite have the same luster, the same shine. Everything about this world is just a bit....dimmer.

I run my hand across the railing of my front porch, feeling the wood splinter as I put just a bit too much pressure on it. Everything here is so much more fragile. I have trouble even lifting the old tractor over my head-- not because I lack the strength to move it, but because it buckles under its own weight. And it's not just objects that break more easily, but people, too. Every day, I see people ground down by anxiety or depression, their sense of self eroded by an onslaught of frightening news, pretentious but ultimately empty post-modern junk philosophy, cheap and insipid entertainment, quick hits of dopamine from getting that 'like' on their social media platform of choice. They're angry, afraid, and alone, easy to manipulate, easy to break completely.

The more time I spend in this world, the more I think about how wrong everything is. Muted colors, faded beliefs, everything and everyone reduced to oversimplified pseudo-concepts that can be dismissed the instant they become inconvenient, offensive, or boring. The sun doesn't shine as brightly as it used to.

I've often considered putting on the suit again, giving this world and these people something to believe in, something true. Every time I go into the cellar, though, every time I open that dusty old chest and pull out my red cape and boots, I hesitate.

This isn't my world.

This isn't my fight.

But it can be, y'know.

And that isn't my voice.

Krypto lets out a whine and licks at my fingers. Finally obliging, I scratch behind his ears, and he wags his tail in enjoyment. I shake my head, pulling myself out of my reverie.

Somewhere in this world, Kara is saving lives and fighting the good fight, just like I used to. Bruce, Diana, and the rest of my friends-- or at least, other versions of them-- are taking up their own battles against the darkness, as well as dozens of other heroes completely new to me. Jimmy Olsen is snapping photographs, and Perry White is bellowing over the din of the Planet newsroom.

Lois is getting into who knows what kind of trouble.

"C'mon, boy," I say, patting his head as I step off the porch and onto the worn dirt trail headed towards the barn. "The back forty aren't going to till themselves."

I look back up to the sky, and I feel myself smile just a bit. The sun doesn't shine as brightly as it used to.

But that doesn't mean the sun isn't shining at all.

P O S T C A T L O G:

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(Coming Soon, assuming I get approved)

Absolute Comics - Season Two: The Monster Within

EDIT: Wrong thread

Absolute Comics - Season Two: The Monster Within

<Snipped quote by HenryJonesJr>

@Inkarnate

.....*sigh*.......(starts working on a Superman CS to set things straight)

Ultimate One Universe: Season Two

All right, well, it only took entirely too damn long, but Superman's finally back in action.