Happy birthday, Kryptonian. I give you oblivion. 
- — Mongul
Superman Annual #11 is an issue of the series Superman Annual (Volume 1) with a cover date of September, 1985. It was published on June 30, 1985.
Synopsis for "For the Man Who Has Everything..."
Batman, Robin, and Wonder Woman pay Superman a visit at his Fortress of Solitude, with Batman and Wonder Woman bearing gifts for the Man of Steel's birthday. However, upon their initial entry, they see Superman standing rather still with a strange alien plant attached to his chest and wrapping its tendrils around him. They call out to him, but Superman doesn't respond. His mind is entranced by a vision he sees...
- ...a vision of him being on a Krypton that never exploded, living out the normal life of an average Kryptonian, being married to Lyla Lerrol and having a son and a daughter. He comes home from work and is greeted by a surprise firstday party which most of his family, except for his father Jor-El, attends. His father has become angry and bitter over being the laughingstock of the Science Council for predicting the end of Krypton which never happened, and is now joining with an extreme political sect called the Sword of Rao in the hopes of restoring Krypton to the way it used to be.
As the three heroes try to determine where the plant came from and what it's doing to Superman, a gigantic yellow-skinned muscular humanoid male named Mongul shows up, telling them that the plant is a Black Mercy, which gives its victims the desire of their hearts, trapping them in a dreamworld that they cannot escape from. He challenges the three heroes to take him on one-on-one to find one among the Earth beings worthy enough to kill. Wonder Woman steps up to the challenge, nearly breaking her hand when she gave Mongul a punch. Mongul throws her through a wall, where she enters the weapons room of the Fortress, and uses one of the more powerful energy blasters to take on Mongul. Meanwhile, Batman tries to reach out to Superman to get him to snap out of his dream world as he attempts to unwrap Black Mercy's tendrils from the Man of Steel.
- On Krypton, Kal-El meets his aunt Allura in the hospital to comfort her when his cousin Kara fell victim to a violent protester demanding the release of the Phantom Zone criminals. He calls Lyla and tells her to go someplace safe with their daughter and that he and their son will meet her there. Along the way Kal-El finds a gathering of Sword of Rao loyalists hearing Jor-El's charged speech about the current state of affairs on Krypton. Finally he takes his son to the site where the city Kandor used to be, and tells him that he has a feeling that nothing he has experienced is even real. Soon he starts to see his son and all Krypton vanish before his eyes...
Batman succeeds in pulling Black Mercy off Superman's body, only for it to now latch onto him and give him a fantasy based on the desires of his heart. In Batman's fantasy, he sees that his father, on the night that his parents were murdered by a low-life criminal on the street, succeeds in overpowering the criminal and thus preventing the murder from ever happening. Bruce grows up happily, marries Kathy Kane, and they have a teenaged daughter.
Superman, now freed from the Black Mercy's thrall, attacks Mongul in a rage, angry that he had been pulled from his fantasy of being on a Krypton that was never destroyed and losing everything that was so dear in the process. During this fight, Robin uses the gauntlets that Mongul pulled off his hands and grabs Black Mercy, pulling it off Batman and carrying it to where he would hope to dump it on Mongul.
The fight between Superman and Mongul, with neither side prevailing, carries over into a room where the Kryptonian is distracted by the statue of his parents holding up a globe representing the lost world of Krypton, and Mongul uses it to pummel Superman. However, Mongul is distracted by Robin calling to him and sees him through a hole in the ceiling one floor up. Robin then drops Black Mercy right on Mongul, and instantly it wraps itself around Mongul, giving him a fantasy of his own heart's desire. In that fantasy, he kills Robin as well as Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman and then takes over as the leader of a new Warworld. In reality, Mongul simply drops to the ground, with the heroes now relieved that the fight is over.
Batman and Wonder Woman finally present their birthday gifts to Superman. Wonder Woman shows him a perfect replica of the Bottle City of Kandor made by the Paradise Island Gemsmiths. He quickly goes to hide the replica he already has before taking the one from Wonder Woman and kissing her. The two think about a romantic relationship, but concede it will be too predictable. Batman shows him a new species of a plant blossom called the Krypton -- a blossom that ended up being crushed during the fight. Superman nonetheless is pleased that his friends and allies have even thought of bringing him gifts and then offers them coffee.
Appearing in "For the Man Who Has Everything..."
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Mongul (Final appearance)
Other Characters:
- Paradise Island Gemsmiths (Mentioned only)
- In Superman's fantasy
- House of El (In dream sequence only)
- Zor-El (Mentioned only) (In dream sequence only)
- Jor-El (In dream sequence only)
- Orna Kal-El (Kal-El's Daughter) (Single appearance) (In dream sequence only)
- Van-El (Kal-El's Son) (Single appearance) (In dream sequence only)
- Kara Zor-El (In dream sequence only)
- Krypto (In dream sequence only)
- Kryptonian Science Council (Mentioned only) (In dream sequence only)
- Kryptonians (In dream sequence only)
- Nightwing (on the Holofactor) (Mentioned only) (In dream sequence only)
- Flamebird (on the Holofactor) (Mentioned only) (In dream sequence only)
- Allura In-Ze (In dream sequence only)
- His Reverence Lor-Em (Single appearance) (In dream sequence only)
- Major Dax-Ar (Single appearance) (In dream sequence only)
- Jax-Ur (In a photograph only) (In dream sequence only)
- Lara Lor-Van (Unnamed) (Mentioned only) (In dream sequence only)
- Lyla Ler-Rol (In dream sequence only)
- Doctor (Unnamed) (Single appearance) (In dream sequence only)
- Nurse Ansula (Single appearance) (In dream sequence only)
- Ler-Rol (Lyla's parents) (Mentioned only) (In dream sequence only)
- Maris (Lyla's parents) (Mentioned only) (In dream sequence only)
- Rek (Single appearance) (In dream sequence only)
- Justice Officer (Unnamed) (Single appearance) (In dream sequence only)
- Sword of Rao Group (Single appearance) (In dream sequence only)
- Anti-Phantom Zone Campaigners (Mentioned only) (In dream sequence only)
- Rao (Mentioned only) (In dream sequence only)
- House of El (In dream sequence only)
- In Batman's fantasy
- Wayne Family (In dream sequence only)
- Thomas Wayne (In dream sequence only)
- Martha Wayne (In dream sequence only)
- Joe Chill (In dream sequence only)
- Gotham City Police Department (In dream sequence only)
- Kathy Kane (Mentioned only) (In dream sequence only)
- Daughter (Unnamed) (Mentioned only) (In dream sequence only)
- Wayne Family (In dream sequence only)
- In Mongul's fantasy
- Hawkman (In dream sequence only)
- Hawkwoman (In dream sequence only)
- Brainiac (In dream sequence only)
- Bolphunga the Unrelenting (In dream sequence only)
- Adam Strange (In dream sequence only)
- Oan Guardian (In dream sequence only)
- Hyathis (In dream sequence only)
- Martian Manhunter (In dream sequence only)
Locations:
- Earth-One, 1984[1], February 29th
- Arctic Circle
- Fortress of Solitude (In ruins)
- Hell (Mentioned only)
- Minraud IV (Mentioned only)
- Milky Way Galaxy (Mentioned only)
- Western Spiral Arm (Mentioned only)
- Black Hole (Mentioned only)
- Western Spiral Arm (Mentioned only)
- Arctic Circle
- In Superman's fantasy
- Krypton (In dream sequence only)
- Kryptonopolis (Unnamed) (In dream sequence only)
- Institute of Geology (In dream sequence only)
- Kal El's Residence (In dream sequence only)
- Jor-El's Residence (In dream sequence only)
- Hospital (Unnamed) (In dream sequence only)
- Little Vathlo (Mentioned only) (In dream sequence only)
- Fort Rozz Plaza (Mentioned only) (In dream sequence only)
- Kandor Crater (In dream sequence only)
- Scarlet Jungle (Mentioned only) (In dream sequence only) (Final appearance)
- Erkol (Mentioned only) (In dream sequence only)
- Vathlo Island (Mentioned only) (In dream sequence only)
- Atomic Town (Mentioned only) (In dream sequence only)
- Gold Volcano (In dream sequence only)
- Kryptonopolis (Unnamed) (In dream sequence only)
- Phantom Zone (Mentioned only) (In dream sequence only)
- Krypton (In dream sequence only)
- In Batman's fantasy
- Gotham City (In dream sequence only)
- Crime Alley (In dream sequence only)
- Gotham City (In dream sequence only)
- In Mongul's fantasy
- Space (In dream sequence only)
- Planet (Unnamed) (In dream sequence only)
- Warworld (In dream sequence only)
- Space (In dream sequence only)
Items:
- The Krypton (new breed of Rose) (gift from Batman)
- Black Mercy (First appearance)
- Ro-butlers (In dream sequence only)
- Kryptonian Illegal Drugs
- Glamor-Salts (Mentioned only) (In dream sequence only)
- Hellblossom (Mentioned only) (In dream sequence only)
- Neural Impacter
- Plasma Disrupter (Mentioned only)
- Mongul's Gauntlets
- Batrope
- Jor-El (Statue only)
- Lara Lor-Van (Statue only)
- Bottle City of Kandor (gift from Wonder Woman)
- Bottle City of Kandor (model)
- Drils, Kryptonian currency (Mentioned only)
Vehicles:
- Wonder Woman's Invisible Plane
- Batplane
- Paragondola (Mentioned only) (In dream sequence only)
- Kryptonian Floaters (cars) (In dream sequence only)
Concepts:
- Telepathy
- Old Krypton Movement (In dream sequence only)
- Thermal-Blast
Notes
- Already well-received upon release, this issue became particularly renowned among Superman stories as Alan Moore himself grew to prominence, and is reprinted in the following:
- Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, this story was removed from continuity. However, a flashback in Green Lantern Corps (Volume 2) #24 showed this scenario, implying that a version of it was restored following the Infinite Crisis. In 2017, this story was directly referenced by Jason Todd in Red Hood and the Outlaws (Volume 2) #14.
- In 2004, this story was adapted into a Justice League Unlimited episode of the same name, featuring a few alterations (such as the exclusion of Robin) but faithful in most respects.
- In 2016, it saw a much looser adaptation in the form of the Supergirl episode "For the Girl Who Has Everything".
Trivia
- The elements featured in Superman's fantasy of living on Krypton include Lyla Ler-Rol, a Kryptonian actress whom Superman met through time travel, and a mention of Nightwing and Flamebird, the Kryptonian version of Batman and Robin that Superman and Jimmy Olsen created during a visit to the bottled city of Kandor.
- Lyla Ler-Rol was an adult woman when Superman was rocketed from Krypton, then she would be at least 20 years older than Kal-El; but the dream apparently solved this situation.
- In "Alan Moore's Writing for Comics!" essay, Alan Moore revealed the story was supposed to feature Supergirl in Wonder Woman's role, but he wasn't allowed to use the former due to her impending death: "...I originally wanted to use Supergirl but then Julie Schwartz informed me that she'd be popping her bright red clogs during Crisis on Infinite Earths and suggested that I use Wonder Woman instead."
See Also
Recommended Reading
Links and References
- ↑ The story was published in September 1985, but February 29th only falls in leap years. As Crisis on Infinite Earths erased Earth-One in 1986, and Jason Todd debuted in 1983, 1984 could be the only applicable year.