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Metropolis (comics)
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Metropolis is a fictional city that appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and is the home of Superman. Metropolis first appeared by name in Action Comics #16, in 1939.
Within the DC Universe, Metropolis is portrayed as one of the largest and wealthiest cities on earth. The co-creator and original artist of Superman, Joe Shuster, modeled the Metropolis skyline after Toronto, where he was born and lived until he was ten.
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Encyclopedia
Metropolis is a fictional city that appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and is the home of Superman. Metropolis first appeared by name in Action Comics #16, in 1939.
Within the DC Universe, Metropolis is portrayed as one of the largest and wealthiest cities on earth. The co-creator and original artist of Superman, Joe Shuster, modeled the Metropolis skyline after Toronto, where he was born and lived until he was ten. Since then, Metropolis has become a city inspired by Chicago, Cleveland, Toronto, Vancouver, New York City and Los Angeles.
Location
Like many of DC's other fictional cities, the location of Metropolis has varied greatly over the years. Metropolis is usually portrayed as a major city in the Midwest or on the East Coast.
Frank Miller has said that "Metropolis is New York in the daytime; Gotham City is New York at night." Gotham City is home to Batman, whose activities are more often nocturnal than those of Superman, who usually operates during the day. In terms of atmosphere, Batman writer and editor Dennis O'Neil has said that, figuratively, "Batman's Gotham City is Manhattan below Fourteenth Street at eleven minutes past midnight on the coldest night in November." However, New York City does exist as a separate city from Metropolis and Gotham City within the DC Comics universe; the Justice Society of America, for example, is based in New York as were the Teen Titans.
In a Superman story set in the future (21st century), Metropolis is the literal merging of the Northeast Corridor of cities ranging from Washington, D.C. through New York City to Boston, to form a megalopolis.
In the 1940s Superman cartoons produced by Paramount Pictures and Fleischer Studios, Superman is said to live in New York rather than Metropolis in the seventh cartoon in the series "Electric Earthquake". A Native American mad scientist claims that his people are the rightful owners of Manhattan, thus placing these cartoons in New York City. In the fifth episode in the series "The Bulleteers", however, the city had already been identified as Metropolis, as the Bulleteers address in that cartoon the population of Superman's city as "citizens of Metropolis"; and in the 13th episode "Destruction Inc.", Metropolis is even seen spelled out twice on the Metropolis Munition Works, so it can be assumed that Electric Earthquake is the odd-man-out for plot reasons.
Superman co-creator Joe Shuster was born in Toronto and moved to Cleveland by age ten, where he met co-creator and Ohio native Jerry Siegel. Originally intending to sell the Superman strips to a local newspaper, they set the stories there as well, and when the strips were re-used for the comic books, they changed the location to Metropolis. Action Comics #2, however, mistakenly portrays Clark Kent as a reporter for the Cleveland Evening News, although Metropolis' look is based on Toronto, Ontario (see
).
In a 1970s edition of "Ask the Answer Man", a column that ran occasionally in DC publications, it was stated that Metropolis and Gotham City were adjacent to New York City, across the harbor from each other. That same column stated that Star City (the home of Green Arrow) was in Connecticut, Flash's Central City was in Ohio, and Hawkman's Midway City was in Michigan. However, DC's fanzine, Amazing World of DC Comics, number 14 (March, 1977), clearly stated Metropolis was located in Delaware, while Gotham was placed in New Jersey. A role playing game DC Universe atlas guide published by Mayfair Games also claimed that Metropolis was in Delaware.
In pp.223-225 of his 1978 work, The Great Superman Book, which is an encyclopedia of the first 40 years of the Superman comics, author Michael Fleisher cites many, many examples which demonstrate that Metropolis equates to New York City. The most blatant of these might be the statement he cites from Action Comics # 143, April, 1950, which states that the Statue of Liberty stands in "Metropolis Harbor". The Statue of Liberty, in fact, stands in New York Harbor.
The "Death of Superman" comic depicts Doomsday on a path from Ohio through New York State towards Metropolis, and the 2005 comic Countdown to Infinite Crisis also places Metropolis in the state of New York. The mini-series JLA/Avengers depicts the area corresponding to Metropolis in the Marvel Universe as being along Interstate 95.
In relation to Gotham City
Metropolis is frequently depicted as being within driving distance of Gotham City, home of Batman. Like Metropolis, Gotham's location has never been definitely established; however, it is usually treated as also being a major city. The distance between the two cities has varied greatly over the years, ranging from being hundreds of miles apart to Gotham and Metropolis being twin cities on opposite sides of Delaware Bay, with Gotham City in New Jersey and Metropolis in Delaware. In the Seven Soldiers of Victory series Klarion the Witch Boy, New York City is called the "Cinderella City", referring to nearby Metropolis and Gotham as its "ugly stepsisters." The film Superman Returns mentions Gotham City, as does Batman in an episode of the Justice League TV series. In Superman: The Animated Series, Clark Kent's mother Martha Kent refers to Batman as "that nut in Gotham City." Similarly, the Batman Forever movie mentions Metropolis, as Bruce Wayne tells Dick Grayson that the circus he and his family performed in has likely moved there. In Lois and Clark, when Lois finds out about Superman's secret identiy and yells at Clark about how he's been hiding his secretly being Superman, he responds, "A little louder Lois -- I don't think they could hear you in Gotham City".
The differences between Metropolis and Gotham City are almost as diverse as the differences between their respected superheroes. In contrast to the dark, gritty, and raw way Gotham City has been portrayed, Metropolis has almost always been depicted as a cleaner, warmer, safer, friendlier, and wealthier city.
According to the Atlas of the DC Universe (which has been disputed by some fans), Metropolis is located on the south end of Delaware Bay near the modern town of Lewes, Delaware. The Atlas shows Gotham city as being on the other side of the bay, near Cape May, New Jersey.
Depictions in Other Media
Adventures of Superman (1952 - 1958)
The 1950s television series Adventures of Superman is silent on the subject of the city's location, but in general, and in a departure from most other media depictions, Metropolis could be equated to Los Angeles, California. In the first episode, "Superman on Earth", there is a quick stock clip of what appears to be the New York City skyline as seen from one of the rivers around Manhattan, labeled "Metropolis". Another early episode mentions that Jimmy is a fan of the Chicago White Sox. However, nearly every exterior shot depicting Metropolis either contains landmarks readily identifiable as being in Los Angeles (such as the Los Angeles City Hall or the Griffith Observatory), or is known to have been filmed in Hollywood back lots. As the show's own credits state, the series was filmed in Hollywood.
Superman: The Movie (1978)
In 1978's Superman and its sequels, Metropolis is shown as being in (or taking the place of) New York, including depicting such New York landmarks as the Statue of Liberty, the World Trade Center, and the New York Daily News offices. In Superman III, some Calgary, Alberta landmarks can be seen, including the Calgary Tower and the St. Louis Hotel, as parts of the film were filmed there.
Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993 - 1997)
In the 1990s television series Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Chicago landmarks such as the John Hancock Center, the Tribune Tower, the Wrigley Building, and Wrigley Field are easily identifiable. A reference is made to the city having the telephone area code 219, which would place it in northwestern Indiana, near Chicago. However, several repeated references, especially early in the first season, state that Metropolis is located in the same general area as New York City. Later seasons place it in the fictional New Troy State.
Smallville (2001 - present)
In the pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths comics, Smallville was often shown as being within driving distance of Metropolis, though with no definitive location. Since John Byrne's revamp of Superman in 1986, however, its location has usually been cited as being in Kansas.
On the popular Smallville television series, Metropolis is located in Kansas. Smallville was also the first Superman TV Show or movie to mention a sports team in Metropolis. In the Pilot episode, Whitney Fordman, Lana's jock boyfriend, mentions that Lionel Luthor is the owner of the Metropolis Sharks football team in which Victor Stone played for during high school. In an interview, the creators of Smallville have stated that Metropolis is approximately 100 miles (160 kilometers) from Smallville, however beginning in the show's fifth season characters are shown routinely travelling back and forth between Smallville and Metropolis for work, such as Chloe Sullivan, who lives in Smallville but works at the Daily Planet in Metropolis. In one episode, a letter is shown with the address "Metropolis, KA", suggesting the city is located in Kansas; however, the United States postal abbreviation for Kansas is "KS", not "KA." In another episode ("Fallout"), a map is shown with "Metropolis, KS" clearly labeled; it's in the southwest quadrant of Kansas, somewhere near the real-world location of Dodge City, while Smallville on the same map (marked with a star) appears to be a couple hundred miles to the east, near real-world Wichita. The zip code for Metropolis, Kansas is given at different times as 66632 or 66624. In another episode, it is shown that the Metropolis skyline can be seen from the top of a windmill in Smallville. Another possibility for Metropolis is Kansas City, which sits on the Kansas/Missouri border (a map shown during season 7 puts Metropolis in the same location as Kansas City). However scenes from Smallville show Metropolis as being near a large body of water (see image above), but in reality no sizable bodies of water exist in Kansas or the nearby areas. In the third season episode, "Phoenix", Lex is given an office with a "river view" implying that Metropolis is situated on a river.
In filming the series, Vancouver and Surrey, British Columbia stand in for Metropolis, For example the Marine Building in Vancouver stands in as the Daily Planet Building and the Central City Building in Surrey stands in as the LuthorCorp. Other episodes do show other cities as Metropolis, such as Downtown Los Angeles, Minneapolis (in the Season Four episode "Recruit"), and New York City, either way, the city is shown as a clean and modern city.
Superman Returns (2006)
Superman Returns director Bryan Singer intended his version of Metropolis to be a stylistic cross between 1930s New York and current New York. The many shots of Superman flying high above the city establish that although Metropolis has a rectangular park reminiscent of Central Park, the city overall has a slightly different shape from New York City. Several New York City landmarks, such as the American International Building, Battery Park, the MetLife Building, the Woolworth Building, World Financial Center, 7 World Trade Center and the Brooklyn Bridge, were clearly shown, as was the street grid of lower Manhattan, with a fictional bridge inserted north of Battery Park City and a fictional pier in the middle of Battery Park. The map of Metropolis shown in this article, however, tries to make the city's form as different as possible from New York City's, given the scenery shown.) Photographs of some automobiles used in filming show license plates bearing the phrase "New York State" along the bottom, although the featured vehicles (including Lois Lane's car) are shown in the film to have license plates reading "The First State" Lex Luthor's map onscreen portrays the city as directly in the location of New York City. Senior production designer Guy Dyas said in The Art of Superman Returns (Chronicle Books, 2006): "We wiped out, I think, half of New Jersey to put in Metropolis." The map showed Metropolis clearly being in place for New York City but in New York State. Long Island was not shown.
Midtown Manhattan was only shown twice, both in brief high aerial shots of the city at night. The first had the Empire State Building and Chrysler Building obstructed by clouds while the GE Building was visible. The second, all theree buildings would appear but very briefly. License Plates show the Daily Planet Building as the main symbol for Metropolis. With no World Trade Center, the real life Empire State Building, or Emperor Building as named in the comics, would be the tallest in Metropolis.
In past Superman movies, Metropolis was suggested as New York City itself. Several landmarks like the World Trade Center and Statue of Liberty were seen. It should be noted that Metropolis is, if not, New York City with minor changes. The movie only focused on Lower Manhattan with Midtown Manhattan only shown twice in the distance. 17 State Street a recognizable glass tower at the tip of the island was replaced by an older looking tower and the tops of the World Financial Center Towers were removed. A small cluster of tall Art-Deco Towers along with the Daily Planet building were added to the skyline near the Civic Center. The Lexcorp Tower never appeared in the movie; comics suggest LexCorp had a Twin Towered Headquarters (changed after 9/11) probably suggesting that the World Trade Center towers were the LexCorp Towers, but being 2006, Unlike the older Superman movies, the World Trade Center's Twin Towers, did not appear, being after 9/11. It is implied that 9/11 happened shortly after Superman's 5 year departure from Earth, as in 2006, 5 years ago it was 2001 where the world was in no major wars until the events of 9/11. Despite this, one aerial shot showed several small buildings over the site, probably suggesting that they never existed, yet a quick scene showed footage of the War on Terror on television news.
Parts of Superman Returns was filmed in Sydney, and some minor landmarks in Sydney can be identified such as Martin Place, when Superman catches the car. License plates on cars that state the first state may also refer to NSW license plates.
History
The founding of Metropolis mimics that of New York City in the way that Swedish settlers bought it as a bargain from some natives on New Troy Island. The island was exchanged for a few trinkets.
Legion-Era Metropolis
Metropolis is traditionally depicted as continuing to survive, thrive and expand well into the 30th and 31st Century timeframes used as the backdrop of the Legion of Super-Heroes in all that series' varied incarnations to date.
During the original incarnation of the series, Metropolis would be depicted as covering anything ranging from the entire Atlantic American coast to a more narrowed jurisdiction - according to one map officially published during Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen's initial partnership on the series, in Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 2 #313 (July, 1984) - covering most of Massachusetts, all of Rhode Island and Connecticut, New York State from Long Island's eastern tip up into the Catskills, and a large portion of northern New Jersey. In one imaginary Superman tale set in the future, Metropolis is the megalopolis of the Eastern seaboard corridor, having literally merged the cities of Washington, D.C., New York and Boston and all the territory in between.
Whatever version was used, it was generally viewed as given that the original city, as well as Gotham City, were considered within Legion-era Metropolis' boundaries, from the mid-1960s until the events of Zero Hour.
The post-Infinite Crisis version of the series as published in the "three-boot" edition has described Metropolis as having expanded over the intervening millennium up the "entire Atlantic seaboard" of North America in one issue (reminiscent of New York's future expansion in Isaac Asimov's The Caves of Steel and in Poul Anderson's The Corridors of Time, and to an extent Mega City One of the Judge Dredd comics). Further corroboration has yet to be undertaken.
Features
Over the years, Metropolis' features have greatly changed in the comics; however, Metropolis is always presented as being a world class city on the same caliber as New York City, Los Angeles or Chicago. It is often referred to as The Big Apricot just as New York City is nicknamed as The Big Apple.
The first map of Metropolis designed for Mayfair Games' first edition of the DC Heroes Role-Playing Game resembled that of the city of Montreal.
Metropolis' features became more defined (and more obviously based on New York) following both 1985's Crisis on Infinite Earths miniseries and John Byrne's subsequent revamping of Superman, including the late 1980s comic special The World of Metropolis.
Districts and boroughs
Similar to New York City, Metropolis is made up of six boroughs, the largest being New Troy. Each of the boroughs has its own distinct character and feel though all resemble and mimic some part of New York.
New Troy
New Troy is the largest borough in Metropolis. Resembling Manhattan, New Troy is a skyscraper island bustling with commerce and business. The concrete and steel canyons of the city rise to dizzying heights. "1930s architecture stretched like a rubber band" as said in the Art of Superman Returns book.
The Daily Planet Building is the most recognizable landmark in the Metropolis skyline. Located in "Planet Square", it is particularly known for the Daily Planet globe atop the building. Other prominent skyscrapers include the Emperor Building (a reference to the Empire State Building), the Newstime Building (home of the national Newstime magazine, an obvious reference to Newsweek and Time) which is secretly owned for several years by Lord Satanus posing as "Colin Thornton", and the Twin Towered LexCorp Tower, (a reference to the former twin towers of the World Trade Center), headquarters for Lex Luthor's company.
Besides the Financial District, notable areas of New Troy include Chinatown, Little Bohemia (the arts capital of Metropolis), and Glenmorgan Square (one of a number of New Troy's counterparts to New York's Times Square).
Famous streets in New Troy include Fifth Avenue, Bessolo Boulevard, and Topaz Lane. The latter two are Metropolis' versions of Broadway in New York City. Bessolo Boulevard's name is derived from Adventures of Superman lead actor George Reeves' middle name. Other Metropolis boulevards in the New Troy borough are similarly named for other actors from that series and from its radio predecessor of the same name (e.g.: Coates, Larson, Collyer, etc.).
Centennial Park (sometimes labeled as Metropolis Park) is Metropolis' largest city park. Based on New York's Central Park, its most noteworthy feature is a statue of Superman, erected after his death fighting Doomsday. A statue of Superboy Conner Kent was built next to it after the events of Infinite Crisis.
Other notable places (and their NYC inspirations) include Wireless City Movie Theater (Radio City Music Hall), the Halldorf Hotel (Waldorf Astoria), Lacey's Department Store (Macy's), Stacey's Department Store, and Spiffany's Jewelry Store (Tiffany's).
In northwestern New Troy is the impoverished and crime-infested neighborhood of Suicide Slum, best known for the 1940s adventures of the Guardian and his street urchin companions, the Newsboy Legion. Although the northwestern location is similar to the relationship of Harlem to midtown Manhattan, the neighborhood bears more physical and cultural resemblance to Manhattan's Lower East Side. The Ace o' Clubs is a bar owned by Bibbo Bibbowski in Suicide Slum.
The now-married Clark Kent and Lois Lane currently live in an apartment in New Troy, at 1938 Sullivan Lane (a tribute to the year Superman first appeared); Clark Kent's traditional address of 344 Clinton Street, Apartment 3D, was usually described as being located in midtown Metropolis.
Other boroughs and suburbs
New Troy is separated from the suburban boroughs by the West River and Hobb's River. Midvale is a suburb of Metropolis, more well-known as the home of Supergirl and the site of the Midvale Orphanage prior to the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths. Bakerline is another borough of Metropolis. Located north of New Troy, Bakerline is the home of newspaper reporter Jimmy Olsen.
Other boroughs and suburban areas include Queensland Park, Hell's Gate, St. Martin's Island, Park Ridge, Metrodale, and Highville.
Law and government
Mayors
At least two mayors are known to be considered part of Metropolis' history:
- Frank Berkowitz, whose term began prior to Superman's first known public meeting with Lex Luthor as depicted in the Man of Steel mini-series by John Byrne. Berkowitz was killed by a sniper hired by Luthor years later.
- "Buck" Sackett, elected as Berkowitz's successor, and covertly Luthor's "puppet".
Metropolis Police Department
The Metropolis Police Department possesses a Special Crimes Unit dedicated to defending the city against superhuman menaces in case Superman is absent. The unit is headed by Maggie Sawyer and Dan Turpin, with both maintaining frequent contact with the Man of Steel. Another of Superman's police contacts over the years has been Inspector William Henderson, who in the current comics is the Metropolis police commissioner.
People and culture
The people of Metropolis are depicted as a diverse group of large city-dwellers, befitting Metropolis being (within the comics) one of the country's largest and most important cities outside of New York.
Media
Metropolis' premier newspaper is the The Daily Planet, one of the most renowned news organizations in the DC Universe. The city is also home to the national Newstime magazine.
Other major media located in Metropolis include WGBS-TV, flagship station of the Galaxy Broadcasting System (GBS) television network, both subsidiaries of media conglomerate Galaxy Communications. Popular shows included The Midnight Show Starring Johnny Nevada (a fictional version of NBC's The Tonight Show, with Johnny Nevada being an analogue of Johnny Carson). During the 1970s, both Clark Kent and Lois Lane worked for WGBS (after Galaxy Communications purchased The Daily Planet in a 1971 storyline), with Clark as the anchorman for the WGBS evening news (he was eventually joined by Lana Lang as a co-anchor). After John Byrne's revamp of Superman's origins, though, Clark and Lois were reverted to working at The Daily Planet once again. Galaxy Broadcasting and WGBS-TV still exist post-crisis, however. The station is usually used in any story where a television station is needed or shown. Post-Crisis, Clark, Lois and Lana never worked for the station. During the 1990s however, both Jimmy Olsen and Cat Grant did work there.
Cultural, educational, and research institutions
The Metropolis Museum of Natural History was featured in the film Superman Returns.
In the Silver Age comics, another major Metropolis landmark was the Superman Museum, which featured various exhibits dedicated to Metropolis' favorite superhero, Superman.
Metropolis is home to Metropolis University, of which Clark Kent is a graduate with a journalism degree. The central branch of S.T.A.R. Labs, a major scientific research institution, is also located in Metropolis.
The Daily Planet building is a widely-recognized icon for the city, much like the Empire State Building for New York City.
Sports
As befitting any world city, Metropolis is represented by teams in all major-league sports. Like New York City, it is home to two teams in baseball and football. Of the two baseball teams, the Metropolis Monarchs are Clark Kent's favorite, while the other team, the Metropolis Meteors, is mentioned in 52 as having a rivalry with the St. Louis Cardinals.
In football, Metropolis is home to a team called the Metropolis Sharks (on the show Smallville) as well as the Metropolis Metros and Metropolis Meteors.
The city is also home to the Metropolis Generals basketball team and the Metropolis Mammoths hockey team.
Metropolis, Illinois
The real town of Metropolis, Illinois, has proclaimed itself the "hometown of Superman," and celebrates its "local hero" in every possible way that it can. Among the ways it celebrates the character include a large Superman statue in the city, a small Superman museum, an annual Superman festival, and its local newspaper The Metropolis Planet, a name inspired by the major newspaper in fictional Metropolis, The Daily Planet.
The city has a fictional counterpart; in terms of the comic books, it honors Superman as a living hero.
External links
- Supermanica entry on the Pre-Crisis Metropolis
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