Every week, we will be examining comic book stories and ideas that were not only abandoned, but also had the stories/plots specifically "overturned" by a later writer (as if they were a legal precedent). Click here for an archive of all the previous editions of The Abandoned An' Forsaked. Feel free to e-mail me at bcronin@comicbookresources.com if you have any suggestions for future editions of this feature.

Today we look at a rare DOUBLE abandoned an' forsaked, where two independent comic book series both abandoned and forsaked a plot point within a month of each other. The plot point was how Superman's birth was handled from John Byrne's Man of Steel reboot. It lasted one way for over a decade before being abandoned an' forsaked by two different comics....

In Man of Steel #1 by John Byrne and Dick Giordano, we learn that Kal-El was not actually BORN on Krypton. When we are introduced to him, he is still gestating...



As Lara notes, she has never actually even met her son before they send him away to save him...





In Man of Steel #6, Byrne confirms that while Superman was CONCEIVED on Krypton, he was actually BORN on Earth...







This was the status quo for well over a decade. It even played a role in the Action Comics Annual in 1991 that tied in with Armageddon 2001. In the story, Superman (in the future) becomes President of the United States. The Supreme Court rules that Superman WAS born in the United States, making him eligible to be President...



It was not until 2003 that the status quo changed with a pair of #1 issues.

First up, in Mark Waid and Leinil Yu's re-envioning of Superman's origin (I am sure Birthright will pop up in a future Abandoned an' Forsaked, so please don't bother pointing out other examples from the series. I am already aware of them), Superman: Birthright #1...









And a month later, Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness quickly show us Superman's origin, as well, in Superman/Batman #1...







The origin was redone a couple more times during the Post-Crisis continuity before the New 52 rebooted everything again, but the "Superman was born on Krypton" thing was never changed again.