Superman: The Man of Steel #130 is an issue of the series Superman: The Man of Steel (Volume 1) with a cover date of November, 2002. It was published on September 18, 2002.
Synopsis for "In the Dark of the Noon Day Sun"
Superman rushes with all of the speed that he can muster to the Daily Planet. The skyscraper is belching smoke out of a blown out window. Someone has been going after everyone he knows in his private life, and now they have come for his wife. Crashing into the newsroom, Superman finds Evil Star and yells him to stop his rampage. Across the room, Daily Planet employees fight using whatever objects they can get their hands on to battle the Starling creatures back. Superman slams into the Evil Star's back, sending him careening across the room, and demands to know why he is trying to kill these people. Evil Star recovers almost immediately and blasts Superman across the face with a burst of energy. He responds that they simply must die. Grabbing a section of the building, Superman forces Evil Star away and then proceeds to dispatch the Starlings with his heat vision; however, each Starling he destroys only to produce two more to take its place.
Across town, Natasha Irons takes a taxi home from school when suddenly the front of the car is smashed into unrecognizable scrap by Rock. Rock removes his fist from the remains of the car's engine and reaches into the cab for Natasha. Struggling to keep from panicking, Natasha fumbles in her backpack and pulls out a mechanical glove, she rushes to put it on as Rock lifts her up and drags her from the car. Getting the gauntlet on, she waits until she sees an opening, and then slaps it against Rock's chest. Bolts of electricity arc around Rock's body and he collapses motionless on the ground. Natasha gives thanks for the "Anti-Ion Blowback Equalizer" that her uncle made for her, when suddenly she is scooped up from behind by S.T.R.I.P.E. He tells Natasha who her attacker was, and then carries her back to the Steelworks. The structure however, is completely covered with giant plants.
Inside the Steelworks, Terra-Man moves about the gigantic vines. He explains that the plant was one he found in Hob's River Canyon. He doesn't know why he wanted to control, be he does know that he is going to use it to kill all of them. Rising up behind him, Steel asks why a brilliant scientist would do this. Terra-Man responds by raising his guns at him. Inside the control room, Natasha and S.T.R.I.P.E. log into the computers. Natasha cannot help but wonder why the SCU hasn't shown up yet.
At the SCU headquarters, Dan Turpin and his men fight to repel the advances of Thaddeus Killgrave and his robotic spiders. Dozens of the robots continue to charge at the building, barely giving the SCU a moment to think.
Back at the Daily Planet, Evil Star hits Superman with a very intense blast. Recovering quickly, Superman sends an office chair flying at Evil Star's head. As the villain falls, momentarily stunned, Superman grabs Lois and rushes her out of the building at full speed. Superman touches down elsewhere in the Planet and quickly explains to Lois that someone has learned who he is, and that she needs to start calling people they have talked about or close to them. As Superman soars back out of the window, Lois begins her calls with Alice White. She tells the her that she is Superman's Security Coordinator and both her and her son Keith White need to seek safety at the Steelworks immediately.
Back at the Steelworks, Steel is caught in a tangle of vines launched at him by Terra-Man. Cutting through the vines with blades in his gloves, Steel and Terra-Man continue to spar. At the base of the building, Rock suddenly returns to the scene. Without giving him a second thought, Steel hurls his hammer at him and knocks him out cold. Then, activating his microphone, he tells S.T.R.I.P.E. to engage the microwave degenerator. The entire building crackles with lightning.
Lois continues to make her calls and Superman gets knocked around by Evil Star. Superman is shocked to find Perry still there and attempting to type up a story on a typewriter in the midst of the fight. Perry doesn't understand how Superman can still be fighting, but Superman explains that he has actually been growing stronger. Evil Star has been unwittingly blasting him with sunlight, the very source of Superman's powers. Using all of that excess energy, Superman blasts Evil Star with his heat vision, sending a bolt of red streaming across the Metropolis skyline. The villain drops to the ground. As the Starlings vanish around them, Superman flies out to help the rest of his friends.
At the SCU headquarters, Turpin and his men have successfully repel Killgrave's attack. At the Steelworks, the plant is destroyed by the microwave degenerator and Steel knocks out Terra-Man. Steel then turns to find Superman dragging Rock behind him. Superman explains to Steel what the situation is, and then tells him about Lois putting the emergency plan into action. The two men turn to see dozens of people coming to the Steelworks for protection.
Inside, Superman tells the assembled people that Clark Kent is in serious danger and because of that so are all of them. For protection, they all need to remain at the Steelworks until the danger has passed. Jimmy Olsen and Ron Troupe both argue this. They can't just let the fear drive them into hiding. Superman begs them to stay, when suddenly Lois steps forward. She tells them that there is nowhere she would rather be than helping her husband, but if Superman says they need to stay there, then they should. One by one, the crowd agrees with her. As they gather together, S.T.R.I.P.E. triggers a switch and a huge dome descends around everyone.
As the chamber seals, Superman states to Steel that with everyone safe, he can go on offense now. Steel promises to watch over Metropolis as Superman hunts down his attacker. As Steel takes to the sky, he tells Natasha and S.T.R.I.P.E. to man the Steelworks. Suddenly, a disembodied voice sounds in his head. The voice says that they can't have someone subbing for Superman. Steel grabs at his head and then crashes earthward, screaming in agony. At the city limits, Superman flies at top speed. The disembodied voice thinks to itself that Superman may have a momentary advantage in Steel, but now it has been cancelled. Now he will fly, to Lex Luthor.
Appearing in "In the Dark of the Noon Day Sun"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Evil Star
- Manchester Black (Behind the scenes)
- Professor Killgrave
- Rock
- Terra-Man
Other Characters:
- Mrs. White (Phone call only)
- Keith White (Mentioned only)
- Bibbo Bibbowski
- Cat Grant (Cameo)
- Ella Lane (Cameo)
- Franklin Stern
- Jonathan Kent (Cameo)
- Lucy Lane (Cameo)
- Martha Kent (Cameo)
- Metropolis Special Crimes Unit
- Dan Turpin
- Maggie Sawyer (Mentioned only)
- Ron Troupe (Cameo)
- Sam Troupe (Cameo)
- Green Lantern (Mentioned only)
Locations:
Items:
- Shining Armor
- Anti-Ion Blowback Equalizer
- S.T.R.I.P.E. Armor
- Star-Band
- Promethium
Vehicles:
Notes
- Chapter Three of the "Ending Battle" story-arc. Superman appears next in Action Comics #795.
See Also