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"Pantheon, Part One: The Call Up": Lois finishes writing a note for Clark and stands up at her desk. As she leaves the Daily Planet, she thinks about her husband. He is literally the greatest man on Earth. She may be married to him, but she still doesn't understand why he does what he does. She

Superman: The Man of Steel #126 is an issue of the series Superman: Man of Steel (Volume 1) with a cover date of July, 2002. It was published on May 15, 2002.

Synopsis for "Pantheon, Part One: The Call Up"

Lois finishes writing a note for Clark and stands up at her desk. As she leaves the Daily Planet, she thinks about her husband. He is literally the greatest man on Earth. She may be married to him, but she still doesn't understand why he does what he does. She has a feeling that she could accept it better if she could just experience it for herself.

Across Metropolis, Superman stands proudly as the mayor presents the Man of Steel with a giant medal. Across the room, four people in suits watch from the shadows, commenting on the respect and admiration that Superman receives. As Superman begins to thank the mayor, he is suddenly interrupted by the appearance of a golden giant rising out of the harbor. Removing the medal, Superman takes off toward the docks.

In the harbor, the giant, claiming himself to be Midas, turns objects and people alike into gold. Arriving on the scene, Superman swoops in but avoids the golden touch at the last minute, wary that the effect might transmute him as well. After attempting to draw the creature out of the city by creating a vacuum, Superman resorts to melt the creature with his heat vision. This doesn't stop him though, as Midas simply continues his rampage as molten gold. As Superman frantically tries to come up with a solution, the four suited people from the ceremony suddenly appear on the scene. One of them steps forward and begins to mutter incantations as his hands crackle with energy. Midas screams out in terror as his body begins to twist and bend of its own accord. As Midas vanishes back to the depths of Hell, Superman demands to know who these people are. They do not answer him, but instead they return everything that was transformed to gold with a gesture.

Downtown, Lois waits inside a coffeehouse for her interviewer to arrive. A girl comes through the door and introduces herself as Kiki Bones, a journalism student. Kiki thanks Lois for giving her the opportunity to interview her, and then sits down to begin. Kiki warns Lois that she will be asking some deep, probing questions, but Lois encourages her to fire away. Kiki begins by commenting on the close relationship between Lois and Superman. She then asks, when her father was killed in the Imperiex War and Superman wasn't there to save him, what did she think about that? Lois looks on speechless.

Inside the Steelworks, Superman apologizes to Natasha for bringing the four mysterious people there, but he wanted them in a secluded place in case they turn dangerous. Turning to the visitors, Superman apologizes for the wait and then gives them the floor. One of the men goes around the table and introduces everyone as Ms. Battle, Mr. Caza, Mr. Rider, and Mr. Malik. Superman acknowledges this, but then again asks who they really are. They apologize for the seeming absurdity of it, but they are representing the gods, more specifically the Interfaith Deity Council Of Active Polytheistics. Superman looks on without comment. Believing that a demonstration may help, Mr. Rider steps forward and invites Superman to partake in an arm wrestling competition. As Superman and the god both hold each other steady, neither losing any ground, another tells Superman that over the past centuries there have been fewer and fewer believers. In one last hope, they all allied with each other and formed the council in order to find better ways to promote themselves.

Suddenly, one of the gods teleports them all outdoors as the contest ends in a stalemate. As Ms. Battle expresses her disbelief at his power, another of the gods makes their proposition. They want to learn from Clark so that they may once again hold the power they once did, and in order to do that, they wish to offer him the chance to become a god.

Meanwhile, Lois continues the interview. Kiki asks Lois that if she could be a goddess, what would she want to be the goddess of? Lois responds vaguely, but Kiki proceeds to dig deeper.

Superman brushes the I.D.C.A.P.'s offer aside, telling them that he is a mortal and his world is one of mortals. He does offer them some advice though: if they want more trust, then they should loose the suits; people seem to trust skintight primary colors much better. The gods counter that this new power would let him serve them better. And it is, after all, what Rao would have wanted.

Kiki digs deeper, looking for a more specific answer from Lois. Lois finally tells her that she would want to be the goddess of integrity. With a triumphant hiss, Kiki suddenly transforms into a scarlet creature, before they both vanish in a puff of smoke.

Superman immediately questions the I.D.C.A.P. how they know of Rao. Mr. Malik tells him that they all know of Rao, the sun god of Krypton. Rao, who left Krypton ages ago, was responsible for having fathered the gods of Earth, which he also gave birth to the planet, and then millennia later Superman came to Earth as well. Confused, Superman tries to sort everything out in his head as suddenly Lois appears in the sky. With a gesture she reveals the four gods in their true forms as malevolent demons. Joining them, Kiki, now in her true form as lord of the underworld, celebrates their victory. Superman cannot possibly refuse their offer now because they have his wife, and they have made her a goddess.

Appearing in "Pantheon, Part One: The Call Up"

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