The Man of Steel Vol 1 3

"One Night in Gotham City"

Cover

One Night in Gotham City

Editors

Andrew Helfer

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Defending a planet and cleaning up a city are two very different things.

— Batman

The Man of Steel #3 is an issue of the series The Man of Steel (Volume 1) with a cover date of November, 1986.

Synopsis for "One Night in Gotham City"

Superman and Batman meet each other for the first time. Batman is on the trail of the criminal known as Magpie. He is interrupted in a lead by Superman who regards him as an outlaw. Rather than risk capture, Batman informs Superman that should the latter attempts to come near him, a signal will be activated that will trigger a bomb and kill an innocent person somewhere in Gotham City. The two are forced to work together and eventually capture Magpie. Afterwards, Batman reveals to Superman that the endangered person is himself (the bomb was in his utility belt all the time). Superman departs, cautioning Batman against crossing any further lines. Batman admits to himself a respect for Superman's innate goodness and wonders if, in a different reality, they could have been friends.

Appearing in "One Night in Gotham City"

Featured Characters:

Superman

Supporting Characters:

Batman

Antagonists:

Magpie (First appearance)
- Bull Carter (Only appearance; dies)
- Carling (Single appearance)
- Gruenbach (Single appearance)

Other Characters:

Henry Jarrell (Dies in flashback)

Locations:

Gotham City
- Gotham Museum of Antiquities (First appearance)

Items:

Batarangs

Vehicles:

Notes

This issue is reprinted in The Man of Steel 1986 and Batman vs. Superman: The Greatest Battles.
This issue re-imagines the first meeting between Batman and Superman, first depicted in Superman #76 (1952) and World's Finest #94 (1958). DC Comics has since retroactively re-imagined their first encounter with one another in Superman/Batman Secret Files & Origins 2003 and Superman/Batman Annual #1 (2006). In Prime Earth continuity, the first encounter of the two heroes is again reimagined in Batman/Superman #1 (2013).
This story appears to take place early in Batman's career, as the Dark Knight is mentioned as working outside the law. Batman also has no Batmobile at this point, driving instead a two-door dark blue sedan which has a portable crime lab installed in the trunk ("One of the most advanced such labs in the state").

Trivia

Magpie kills one of her henchmen using a re-enactment of the "Happy Birthday" gag from the Looney Tunes cartoon "It's Hummer Time!" in which she puts a dynamite right in the henchman's mouth.

Links and References

Post-Crisis Reboot

After the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a 1985–1986 maxiseries which completely reset the continuity of the entire DC Universe, all of DC's major characters and franchises needed to be updated to reflect the changes in the events of their lives. Multiple story arcs were put out to explain these rebooted versions of popular characters.

Superman: The Man of Steel

The Man of Steel #1 • The Man of Steel #2 • The Man of Steel #3 • The Man of Steel #4 • The Man of Steel #5 • The Man of Steel #6

Batman: Year One

Batman #404 • Batman #405 • Batman #406 • Batman #407

Wonder Woman: Gods and Mortals

Wonder Woman #1 • Wonder Woman #2 • Wonder Woman #3 • Wonder Woman #4 • Wonder Woman #5 • Wonder Woman #6 • Wonder Woman #7

Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn I and II