My God. Metropolis. What have I done? 
Future State: Superman of Metropolis #1 is an issue of the series Future State: Superman of Metropolis (Volume 1) with a cover date of March, 2021. It was published on January 5, 2021.
Synopsis for "Superman of Metropolis, Part 1"
The Metropolis of Tomorrow
Metropolis is at war: entrepreneur and inventor Andrej Trojan kicked Lex Luthor out of the city, then created a new technology, called Brain Cells, and started to control people with nanotechnology. He started the Free Republic of Metropolis, and with his zealots he raised war inside the city. When the United States Army came to fight back, Trojan left, with his followers, and the mess, remaining to collide with soldiers. The city is a battlefield, and in this battlefield a child screams in terror. This sound is something that will always make Superman come, no matter who Superman right now is.
And so Jon Kent, Superman of Metropolis, comes in aid of the child, stopping both the zealots and the Army, not siding with anyone but with peace. But he is questioned by the Army general standing there: why he still refuses to destroy Brain Cells, the dangerous technology that is ruling Metropolis right now? The answer the Army does not know is that this creature has a bond with both Jon and Kara Zor-El, Supergirl. In his first adventure as the new Superman, he and Kara fought against Brainiac, in what was his final performance. As they defeated him, Trojan got some of Brainiac genetic material: his skin. And with it, he created this mysterious creature, who lives and thinks and acts of her own will.
Jon does not want to destroy Brain Cells also because he has a plan: he will bring it out of Metropolis, so that its control on several people in the city will wane. Dragging it away, it will make also the Army leave Metropolis: all they want is to put their hands on Brain Cells, to turn him into a resource for the government. While he escapes with Brain Cells, the creature asks him why they don't just expel the Army from the city: they have the power to do so. But then he tells Jon he knows why: he's just a human with a bit of Kryptonian blood inside. He will never be able to defend Metropolis like his father, or Kara, did. They are, after all, full-blooded Kryptonians.
With a surprising move though, Jon activates Operation Glass Houses: a flock of Kelexes appears, shrinking and bottling the whole city of Metropolis thanks to revived Kandor tech. Superman hopes the others will understand why he did this.
The Fortress of Solitude
While he's in the Fortress of Solitude, Brain Cells questions him: would the original Superman bottle his city? Would he leave his citizens without explanations? Jon will never be his father. But Superman does not care about Brain Cells' opinion: he turned Metropolis into a circuit, depriving humans of their humanity by installing in their body nanotech to control them.
The machine tells him he does not want to control, but to give people confidence, something Jon lacks. Then, Supergirl comes inside the fortress: she found out Metropolis disappeared, and she went on a rampage, destroying all of Trojan's bases around the world. Only to speak with the Us Army and find out Superman was the one who moved the city away, bottling it. She really wants to teach Jon some lessons, and she also tells him he will hand Brain Cells over to the Army once they arrive here. Kara's attitude is strange: she is aggressive, far mor aggressive than usual. And she starts talking about her being superior, given she is a full-blooded Kryptonian.
It's too late: Brain Cells uses Nirodhium inside his living chips, installed inside other beings. This material, just like Kryptonite, has particular effects on Kryptonian with a pure genetic heritage. And now Kara is controlled by Brain Cells, and on full-assault mode. As they move out of the Fortress, the Army sent a flock of Kryptonite-shooting drones, so things got even worse. The battle starts, and while he fights Jon tries to explain him why he did this: Metropolis was in crisis. The people could not trust the government, could not trust the zealots of Trojan and, suddenly, weren't able to trust Jon and Kara as well. And after seeing a child in the middle of a conflict between the Army and Brain Cells, he had to do something to buy enough time.
But deep inside himself, Jon understood he made a wrong choice: taking freedom away from innocents is never the right solution. As an invisible ship of the Army appears, Jon and Kara stop from battling, and go to secure Metropolis, but once inside, Brain Cells absorbed the city unto himself. He is a descendant of Brainiac after all. And after striking Kara down with Nirodhium, he reveals Jon he manipulated him into shrinking Metropolis down, to take it as warranty for survival. And the ship was not of the Army, but something Brain Cells built for himself. He now contains Metropolis and all the people inside him, and can thank Jon for it.
Appearing in "Superman of Metropolis, Part 1"
Featured Characters:
- Superman (Jon Kent) (Flashback and main story)
Supporting Characters:
- Supergirl (Flashback and main story) (First appearance)
Antagonists:
- Brain Cells (First appearance)
- Trojan zealots (Single appearance)
- United States Army
- Captain Trell (Voice)
Other Characters:
- Brainiac (Dies in flashback) (Single appearance)
- Five Empires (Flashback only) (Single appearance)
- Golden Gods of Creon (Flashback only) (Single appearance)
- Kelex (First appearance)
- Time Luchadores (Flashback only) (Single appearance)
- Jor-El (Statue only)
- Lara Lor-Van (Statue only)
- Andrej Trojan (Mentioned only)
- LexCorp (Mentioned only)
- Kryptonians (Mentioned only)
- Lex Luthor (Mentioned only)
- Superman (Clark Kent) (Mentioned only)
- Trojan Solutions (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Arctic Circle
- Metropolis (Flashback and main story)
- Daily Planet
- Steelworks (Flashback only)
- Gotham City (Mentioned only)
- Kandor (Mentioned only)
Items:
- Kryptonite (Mentioned only)
- Nirodhium (First appearance)
Synopsis for "The Metropolis Menagerie, Part One"
Appearing in "The Metropolis Menagerie, Part One"
Featured Characters:
- Mister Miracle (Shilo Norman) (First appearance)
Antagonists:
- Kryptonian sentinels (First appearance)
Other Characters:
- Jimmy Olsen (First appearance; unnamed)
- Mister Miracle (Scott Free) (Mentioned only)
- Mister Miracle (Thaddeus Brown) (Mentioned only)
- Superman (Jon Kent) (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Metropolis
- Daily Planet
- Daily Star (Mentioned only)
- S.T.A.R. Labs (Mentioned only)
- New Genesis (Mentioned only)
Items:
- Aero-Discs
- Mother Box (Behind the scenes)
Synopsis for The Guardian in "Future State"
Appearing in The Guardian in "Future State"
Featured Characters:
- The Guardian (Flashback and main story) (Apparent Death) (First appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- Jimmy Olsen (Flashback and main story) (First full appearance)
- Rosa (Flashback only) (First appearance)
Antagonists:
- Honest Mary (Flashback and main story) (First appearance)
Other Characters:
- Black Lightning (On a TV or computer screen)
- Honest Mary's mom (Flashback only) (Single appearance)
- Larry (Flashback only) (Single appearance)
- Newsboy Legion (Flashback only) (Single appearance)
- Trojan Solutions (First appearance) (Flashback only)
- Andrej Trojan (Flashback only) (First appearance)
- Brain Cells (Mentioned only)
- Steel (Mentioned only)
- Superman (Clark Kent) (Mentioned only)
- Superman (Jon Kent) (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Metropolis (Flashback and main story)
- Bakerline (Flashback and main story)
- Daily Planet
- Hell's Gate (Flashback only)
- Hell's Gate Estates (Single appearance)
- Little Bohemia
- Metropolis University (Flashback only)
- Queensland Park
- Suicide Slum (Flashback only)
Items:
- Guardian's Shield (Flashback and main story)
See Also
- Cover gallery for the Future State: Superman of Metropolis series
- Images from Future State: Superman of Metropolis Vol 1 1
