Superman: The Man of Steel #122 is an issue of the series Superman: The Man of Steel (Volume 1) with a cover date of March, 2002. It was published on January 23, 2002.
Synopsis for "Superman V Steel"
Superman watches in mid-air as Steel, remotely operating the Aegis, annihilates an automated Steel suit. Superman indicates that he doesn't like that much power flying around. He wishes that John Henry would destroy the machine, or bury it. Steel gets angry, indicating that Superman had his chance to take care of the Aegis and skipped out.
Superman visits Lois in a far off palace. He kisses her, and they greet one another. She says she feels like she's sneaking around, like she's young again, because her mother is right around the corner. They take off for a flight, and Lois' mother watches, startled, from behind a curtain. Arriving back, she confronts Lois with the issue.
At a building somewhere in Metropolis, a hand pulls down a lever and releases Earthquake. Steel wakes up with the tremors. Earthquake attacks Steelworks, breaching defenses easily. He is attempting to take the Aegis. Steel arrives and bashes him about. Earthquake promises a quick defeat. The battle knocks a train off of its rails, and a building collapses.
Earthquake, still taunting, knocks Steel back into the Steelworks, where he gets the clue and jumps into the Aegis. Earthquake taunts him, and the Aegis takes control of Steel, making him blast Earthquake much harder than he wanted to, nearly killing him. Rage takes over, and Steel moves in for the kill.
A larger blast tears into the sky, and a Superman blur intercepts the explosion at the last moment. Steel attacks Superman, obviously not in control of the armor. Superman, realizing that he's neglected Earthquake, flies off and apparently catches him, still in the air. He lowers Earthquake to the street.
Superman pleads with John to come to his senses, and John collapses, exhausted.
Back at Steelworks, Emil Hamilton talks to his new hand, which has developed an eye, the eye of the Overmind. Emil puts something over Natasha's mouth, knocking her out. The intention is to make her the new queen of the Cybermoths.
Appearing in "Superman V Steel"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Earthquake
- Overmind
- Imperiex Probes (Flashback only)
- Imperiex-Prime (Mentioned only)
- Darkseid (Mentioned only)
Other Characters:
- Lex Luthor (Mentioned only)
- Lois Lane
- Natasha Irons
- Ella Lane
- Cybermoths (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Metropolis
- LexCorp (Mentioned only)
- S.T.A.R. Labs (Mentioned only)
- Suicide Slum
Items:
Vehicles:
Concepts
- Our Worlds at War (Mentioned only)
Notes
- This story is immediately followed after in Superman: The Man of Steel #123
- This issue is reprinted in Steel: A Celebration of 30 Years.
See Also
- Cover gallery for the Superman: The Man of Steel series
- Images from Superman: The Man of Steel Vol 1 122