In fact, he's a robot controlled by our third-world friends, still looking to rule the world. As the crowd cheers him on, Moka demands total allegiance and worship from the people of the Earth. With that, he flies off, and the world has a new hero. A child asks Clark Kent if Superman will be back, and Clark answers that, if the need arises, he certainly will. My Thoughts Lots of fun stuff in this one.
Messianic imagery abounds, sometimes in uncomfortably obvious ways.
When the issue came out, what made it work for me was the concept of a Superman who could grow up at the same time I did, and face the future with me. But as the story makes clear, underlying the optimism back in 1976 was a deep-rooted sense of fear and unease. Perhaps we no longer saw the Russians as a godless hoarde, but at the same time we all knew that the wrong combination of events, or even a single slip-up by an inept leader on either side could end life as we knew it. Somewhere along the way we seem to have forgotten that detail. Superman' and 'Supermen of America' are TM DC Comics, 'Superman' DC Comics, Joanne Siegel, and Laura Siegel Larson.