Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow by Alan Moore (author of Watchmenand V for Vendetta) marks the end of an era (literally in this case). DC Comics had decided to reboot Superman and hired John Byrne to helm it. But they decided that the Silver Age Superman needed a sendoff and brought on wunderkind Alan Moore to script it and Curt Swan (the definitive Silver Age Superman artist) to illustrate it. What they did was so amazing, that it almost overshadowed the reboot.

The story starts in the future with a reporter coming to interview Lois Lane about final days of Superman. This is the framing sequence for the story. Lois tells us of Superman’s final days. How his greatest enemies started becoming more powerful and more deadly. How the death of a friend (combined with the loss of his secret identity) pushed Superman and his friends to hide out in the Fortress of Solitude. And the last final battle against his deadliest of enemies, including a surprise villainous twist that you don’t see coming, but make perfect sense in retrospect. Superman is backed into a corner and forced to make a decision that could end his life.

Moore, always a wonderful storyteller, brings out all of Superman’s history, from the Legion of Super Heroes to Krypto to Lana and Jimmy gaining superpowers. And he does it in a way that shows respect and love for the old silly stories. And when it ends, ready to be rebooted, we know it never happened and won’t have any consequences (due to the reboot), but as Alan Moore puts into the beginning of the story:

“This is an Imaginary Story… Aren’t they all?“

Included in the collected edition are two additional stories. One is a Superman/Swamp Thing story from DC Comics Presents about Superman, an alien virus and Swamp Thing’s elemental powers helping out. It was done during Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing run and is a well told story.

The other story is For the Man Who Has Everything from Superman Annual #11. This story was very close to making my top 5 list and is an amazing adventure with a villain worthy of Superman. The story starts off with Batman, Robin and Wonder Woman arriving at the Fortress of Solitude to give Superman his birthday present. But, when they arrive, they find someone already had given him one. Mongul has given Superman a Black Mercy plant. The Black Mercy plant attaches itself to a person and feeds off their brain by making their heart’s desire come true (in a dream).  And Superman’s dream is that Krypton never exploded and he never left. It’s a heartbreaking vision of Superman dreaming of living with a family on Krypton, while Batman and Wonder Woman try to defeat Mongul. The entire Krypton sequence, while just a dream, is presenting Superman with a huge dilemma. Does he stay with his dream of Krypton and family or accept that it is a dream and leave it all behind. This is a true masterpiece and is wonderfully drawn by Dave Gibbons (who worked with Alan Moore again later).