Ever since 1940, Superman has constantly been under attack from the machinations of Lex Luthor. Though he's nowadays written as mostly a corrupt businessman, Luthor's roots cast him in the vein of a mad scientist engaging in all manner of evil schemes. These have included Superman himself, with attempts to clone him resulting in creatures such as Bizarro. One forgotten story, however, essentially made Luthor Superman's father.
The Superman Monster (by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Anthony Williams, Tom Plamer, Lee Loughridge, and Willie Schubert) is a Frankenstein-inspired Elseworlds story, had Luthor use unholy science to create a zombie Kryptonian monster out of a corpse. This twisted take on classic literature was one of many inversions of Superman's classic origin, but it's the first to cast Luthor as a modern Prometheus. Here's a look at how DC's brightest hero was turned into an undead monster in this chilling tale of horror.
Viktor Luthor and the Superman Monster
In the story, Peregrine White informs his Gotham City friend James Gordon of a most frightful set of events involving a beleaguered scientist named Luthor. Viktor Luthor (given this first name in honor of Victor Frankenstein instead of the typical Alexander Luthor) is a scientist whose inhumane studies and experiments are deemed unholy by the local council, leaving him to put them on the shelf. His plans of marrying a woman named Eloise and securing a hefty dowry out of her father fail as well, leaving his research unfunded. A change of fate occurs one night when a spaceship crashes before him, containing an informative hologram of a spaceman named Jor-El and the deceased skeleton of what remained of his son Kal-El.
Using cadavers and science derived from the hologram, Luthor created a "Superman Monster" that had powers derived from the alien DNA of the skeleton. The creature is quickly rejected by Luthor himself as well as the locals, who call it a monster due to his disfigured appearance. The creature finds solace, however, with an elderly couple who take him in as their son, though Luthor elsewhere plots to turn Eloise into another monster. Though things turn out badly for Luthor, Superman and Eloise seemingly live happily ever after. James Gordon is quick to rebuff the ludicrous tale, though Peregrine White reminds him of his own tall tales of the Bat.
How The Superman Monster Upends Superman's Mythos
As in most Elseworlds, The Superman Monster takes familiar tropes of a character and remixes them in another time period or premise. In this case, the Superman mythos is juxtaposed with that of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, with the former mainly being based on John Byrne's reboot of the character.
The Superman Monster, in being a Frankenstein Monster clone of a Kryptonian, namely one made by Lex Luthor, is as much Bizarro as he is Superman. This is seen in his craggy, scarred appearance, though like the literary Frankenstein Monster, he's far more eloquent than the lumbering dumb zombie of Boris Karloff's version. The black "costume" that he wears is similar to Superman's iconic Recovery Suit, further emphasizing his being "undead."
Eloise is very much Lois Lane (later mixed with Universal's Bride of Frankenstein), though her surname is Edge, suggesting that her father in this continuity isn't Sam Lane, but instead Morgan Edge. Peregrine White is obviously Perry White, with versions of Jimmy Olsen and Emil Hamilton also showing up. Superman's adoptive family are the Kants, and he later takes the name of their deceased son, Klaus. Of course, the ubiquitous crystalline Kryptonite shows up, as well. In the end, the story wraps up on a much happier note than Shelley's novel, at least for Superman, who as far as readers know went on to fight for Truth, Justice, and the Victorian Way.