- The story? How many times do I have to tell you? There's only one story, Lane. Metropolis. She's the story.
Metropolis is one of the largest and most well-known cities in the United States, owing largely to the fact that it is the adopted hometown of Metropolis' favorite son, Superman.
History
Origins
The history of Metropolis stretches back to the year 1542 when Italian navigator Vincenzo Gnanatti discovered the region while in the employ of the Dutch. Prior to European colonization, the region was occupied by the Algonquin Native American tribe. It wasn't until 1634 however that the first settlement was established by Dutchman Paul De Vries. The settlement was named De Vries Village and occupies the neighborhood now known as "Old City" in the Eastern section of Queensland Park. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, De Vries Village prospered as a thriving seaport and it became an integral strategic location for General George Washington's army during the Revolutionary War.
18th Century
In 1775, it established itself as a host to many book and newspaper publishing houses, the most successful of which would eventually become known as the Daily Planet.[1] During the "Devil's Winter Siege", the city was defended by Tomahawk's rangers, most notably Dan Hunter, in whose honor the settlement was renamed as Fort Hunter, later Hunterville and later still Hunter City. In 1783, P. Randall Jeffries opened the First Metropolitan Bank, which still exists today, though the corporate headquarters has since moved to the Central Business District in New Troy.[2]
19th Century
In 1847, the borough known as Hob's Bay became a bustling merchant center, as well as a hotbed for bigotry and intolerance, particularly against the rising influx of Irish immigrants. Mission worker Edna Luthor became a strong voice among the struggling workers, and she publicly preached a message of tolerance and love. Like many in the Luthor bloodline, Edna was a visionary whose convictions and strong sense of morality would help pave the way for Metropolis' future. These values were passed along to her grandson, Wallace Luthor who operated the Luthor Steel Works during the turn of the century.[3]
20th Century
In 1905 Hunter City became home to a noted adventurer, inventor and science hero: Waldo Glenmorgan. Glenmorgan began a trend of scientific prowess which culminated in the city changing its name to "Metropolis". This name change propelled the city towards its current position as the City of Tomorrow.[4]
Superman's arrival
Main article: Post-Crisis
Over the years, billionare Lex Luthor has affirmed himself as the de facto owner of the city, as his company, LexCorp had interests in virtually every business based in Metropolis, however the status quo began to change with the arrival of Superman, Lex tried to buy Superman with a stunt that endangered everyone on board of his yacht, as a response, the mayor of Metropolis, Franklin Berkowitz had Luthor arrested for reckless endangerment. Ever since that day, Lex Luthor promised to destroy Superman, as he stole the spotlight as the most powerful man in Metropolis.[5]
When Superman died by the hands of Doomsday, it left the city heavily damaged but above all, Metropolis had lost its marvel, the news of Superman's death reached every corner of the world and galaxy. Nearly every superhero in the world attended the funeral, even the president Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Clinton, a memorial statue remembering Superman was erect at Centennial Park.[6]
Following Superman's return Lex Luthor fell gravely ill, at the same time Lois Lane published an exposé of Luthor proving he has been involved in a wide array of criminal activity including attempted mass murder, this culminated with a deranged Luthor who concentrated his entire arsenal for the destruction of Metropolis, this resulted in the city being almost completely destroyed, with the exception of Newstime Magazine.[7] To help with that Zatanna used her magic alongside the memories of the city taken from Superman and Perry White's minds to bring back Metropolis from the ruins.[8]
21st Century
At the turn of the millennium, Brainiac had placed a sleeper virus in Lexcorp's Y2K bug safeguards. This was intended to dramatically boost his abilities. Instead, it allowed Brainiac 13 to arrive from the 64th Century. Brainiac 13 used his incredibly advanced technology to transform the entire planet into a super computer with Metropolis being its motherboard, although Superman succeeded in defeating him with the help of Lex Luthor, the latter sacrificed his daughter Lena Luthor to Brainiac 13 in exchange for the codex to control B13 technology. As a result Luthor registered over a two day period five hundred patents, giving him a monopoly over B13 technology,[9] which made Luthor a "googillions" of dollars in copyrights and patents.[10] And although Brainiac 13 was defeated, Metropolis remained as if it was in the 64th century for a couple of years, until a time storm took the remaining B13 technology left, and Metropolis returned to normal.[11]
Years later, Lex Luthor's reputation massively declined amongst the citizens of Metropolis, he was even attacked while he was leaving a court hearing,[12] as a result Luthor grow resentful of Metropolis, and he started gathering as much Green Kryptonite as possible to power up a battleship controlled by a Sunstone.
The Sunstone is a kryptonian artifact infinitely programmable to do whatever its user want, it was originally used by the Phantom Zoners to colonize several nearby planets, Luthor wanted to use it to completely destroy Metropolis, but he was eventually stopped by Superman after a long fight.[13]
Points of Interest
The Six Boroughs
Neighborhoods
- Chinatown
- Hypersector
- Lafayette
- Little Africa
- Midvale
- Mount Royal
- New Town
- Oak Town
- Southside/Suicide Slum
Waterways
- Hobb's River
- Metropolis Bay
- West River
Parks and Recreational areas
- Centennial Park
- Metropolis Park
- Outlook Park
- Shuster Arena
Businesses
- Blaze Comics
- Goldstar, Inc.
- Lexcorp
- Chaney's
Museums
- Jules Verne Extra-Terrestrial Museum
- Lena Luthor Science Explorarium
- Metropolis Museum of Art
- Metropolis Museum of History
- Superman Museum (30th century)
Laboratories
- Hamilton Technologies
- Project Cadmus
- Stagg Enterprises
- S.T.A.R. Labs
- Ivo Labs
- WayneTech
Media
News, television and radio
- Bridwell Communications
- Action Bulletin News
- Black Beacon
- Daily Planet
- Daily Star
- Galaxy Communications
- Metropolis Daily News
- Metropolis Eagle
- Metropolis Today
- Newstime Magazine
- Metropolitan.com
- Whisper, The
- WJAB-TV
- WLEX-TV
- WMET-TV
- WGBS-TV
- UBC
Other Locations
- 1938 Sullivan Place
- 344 Clinton Street
- 8th Precinct (Metropolis Special Crimes Unit)
- Ace o' Clubs
- Avenue of Tomorrow
- Bessolo Boulevard
- Constitution Plaza
- Ellsworth Memorial Hospital
- Garfield High School
- Hobb's Ferry Naval Base
- Metro Square
- Metropolis City Hospital
- Metropolis General Hospital
- Metropolis International Airport
- Metropolis University
- Midvale Orphanage (Pre-Crisis only)
- Plaza of the two Truths
- S.A.I. Dam
- Science Spire
- Shuster Hall
- Solar Tower
- Steelworks
- Stryker's Island Penitentiary
- Sullivan Place
- Super Hero High School
- Superboy Memorial Statue
- Superman Memorial Statue
- Sweet Justice
- Topaz Lane
- Union Station
- Weisinger Square
- Werner Building
Sports Teams
Metropolis has had many pro and amateur sports teams, treated with little continuity.
Baseball
- Metropolis Blue Stockings
- Metropolis Meteors (National League)
- Metropolis Metros
- Metropolis Mets
- Metropolis Monarchs
- Metropolis Twins
Basketball
American football
- Metropolis Spartans
- Metropolis Meteors (National Conference)
- Metropolis Metros
- Metropolis Sharks
- Metropolis Tigers
- Metropolis University Bulldogs
Ice hockey
- Metropolis Mammoths - (Wales Conference)
- Metropolis Marauders
Residents
Heroes
The following is a list of super-heroes known to have either lived and/or operated out of Metropolis at some point in their lives. This list includes characters who are germane to both Pre-Crisis and Post-Crisis versions of Metropolis.
- Agent Liberty
- Argent (Formerly)
- Atom (w/the Teen Titans)
- Black Lightning
- Booster Gold
- Gangbuster
- Guardian (Jim Harper)
- Joto
- Legion of Super-Heroes (30th-31st century)
- Prysm
- Risk (Formerly)
- Superboy (Kon-El)
- Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)
- Supergirl (Matrix) (Formerly)
- Supergirl (Earth-One) (20th and 30th century) (Deceased)
- Superman
- Superman (Earth-One)
- Superman (Earth-Two) (Deceased)
- Thorn (Earth-One)
- Thorn (New Earth)
Villains
The following is a list of super-villains known to have either lived and/or operated out of Metropolis at some point in their lives. This list includes characters who are germane to both Pre-Crisis and Post-Crisis versions of Metropolis.
- Bizarro
- Brainiac
- Brainiac 13
- Bruno Mannheim
- Director, The
- Doomsday
- Kryptonite Man
- Lex Luthor
- Metallo
- Prankster
- Rampage
- Talia Head
- Tobias Whale
- Toyman (Winslow Schott)
Other People
The following is a list of civilians known to have either lived and/or operated out of Metropolis at some point in their lives. This list includes characters who are germane to both Pre-Crisis and Post-Crisis versions of Metropolis.
- Alice
- Anthony Gallo
- Bibbo Bibbowski
- Bill Henderson
- Bobby "The Don" Gazzo
- Cat Grant
- Dirk Davis
- Dan Turpin
- Emil Hamilton
- Frank Jackson
- Gretchen Kelley
- Henry Ballard
- Hope Taya
- Jimmy Olsen
- Joshua Coyle
- Justin Moore
- Kevin Whitney
- Lana Lang
- Lola Barnett
- Lois Lane
- Loren Jupiter
- Lucy Lane
- Maggie Sawyer
- Mercy
- Morgan Edge
- Oscar Asherman
- Perry White
- Ron Troupe
- Superman Cult
- Steve Lombard
- Sydney Happersen
- Toby Raynes
- Trixie Collins
- Vincent Edge
- Whit
Notes
- Metropolis' state and location has changed over the years.
- The first mention of a state was in a telegram in Superman #2, which placed it in New York.
- In Amazing World of DC Comics #14, it is placed in Delaware.
- On a newspaper comic map from 1978, it is placed in Delaware. A similar map was used in 1981.[15] Metropolis and Gotham City are located on either side of the Delaware Bay.
- The Atlas of the DC Universe also uses Delaware, though the connection to Gotham is removed. It is placed further south, below the mouth of the bay.
- Black Orchid #1 gives Bakerline a ZIP code of 11605. Codes starting with 1 are in Delaware, New York and Pennsylvania. 11605 itself is not in use, but other codes around that number belong to Queens and Nassau, New York.
- Countdown to Infinite Crisis #1 places it in New York.
- JSA vs. Kobra #4 places it around Delaware, east of Opal City, which is in Maryland.
- Doomsday Clock #7 reveals its full address for correspondences: The Daily Planet, 2525 Broadway, Metropolis, NY 10025
- A satellite map in Superman: Son of Kal-El #7 shows Metropolis in Delaware, with Gotham City on the opposite side of Delaware Bay, in New Jersey.
- On Earth-Two, the founder of Metropolis is Jeremiah Galloway.[16]
- Convergence #0 states that The Flash #123 is the first appearance of the "Pre-Crisis Earth-Two Metropolis" even though the city of Metropolis does not appear in that issue, only Keystone City does. It is the first named appearance of Earth-Two.
See Also
- ↑ Zero Hour: Crisis in Time #0 (timeline)
- ↑ DC Atlas
- ↑ Superman: Y2K #1
- ↑ Superman: Secret Files 2009 #1
- ↑ The Man of Steel #4
- ↑ Superman: The Man of Steel #20
- ↑ Fall of Metropolis
- ↑ Adventures of Superman #522
- ↑ Action Comics #763
- ↑ Superman: Metropolis #1
- ↑ Superman (Volume 2) #201
- ↑ Superman #650
- ↑ Superman #653
- ↑ The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries (Volume 2) #12
- ↑ Superboy (Volume 2) #22
- ↑ World's Finest #67