Metropolis (Earth-1)

## Appearances

**Metropolis** is a major city on Earth in America. Among its most prominent inhabitants is the alien superhero known as Superman.

## History

### Arrival of the Flying Man

After having grown up in the farming town of Smallville, Clark Kent, one of the sole survivors of his planet's destruction, decided to move to Metropolis in order to take an internship at the Daily Planet, the biggest newspaper in the city. There, he was assigned as an assistance to the reporters covering the S.T.A.R. Labs rocket launch, financed by the tech company LexCorp. The launch however was unsuccessful and the rocket threatened to land on the city, which would have cost thousands of lives. Thankfully, Clark, using the powers he gained from the Sun's yellow radiation, was able to prevent the craft from destroying the city and was dubbed the 'Flying Man', with many wondering about his mysterious origins. Additionally, the CEO of Lexcorp, Lex Luthor, was arrested, due to reporter Lois Lane presenting evidence that he knew about the technical problems causing the rocket to malfunction and did nothing against it.

### Attacked by Parasite

Following Clark's first public appearance, the alien bounty hunter Lobo was sent to Earth in order to apprehend the supposed last Kryptonian. Clark and he fought, with their fight ranging throughout the whole city, until they reached the S.T.A.R. Labs Metropolis Facility, where the Czarnian bounty hunter was able to beat Clark, by using a ring forged from the last remains of Clarks long lost homeworld, Kryptonite. Unfortunately for him though, an unforeseen ally of Clark presented himself in the form of one of the last Martians, who distracted Lobo long enough for Clark to beat him unconscious, before disappearing again. During their battle, a janitor of S.T.A.R. Labs named Rudy Jones was infected with alien parasites from a grenade of Lobo. This caused him to mutate into the monster known as Parasite, who escaped from the hospital he was kept in and absorbed the life energy of everyone in his way. Clark, now calling himself Superman, together with J‘onn J'onzz, the martian who had helped him earlier, battled the Parasite, but quickly lost and Martian Manhunter was seemingly killed. Superman then went to Lex Luthor and asked him for help against the monster. Together, and with the help of a semi-reformed Lobo, they tried to fight the Parasite, though Lobo died and Lex betrayed Clark. Only the Martian Manhunter, who had previously faked his death, could save Superman, who then opened up to the world about his alien origins. This inspired the little bit of Human left in Parasite and he sacrificed himself by saving the city from breach in the nuclear power plant. The Manhunter and Lobo then left Metropolis and Earth, leaving Clark to watch over it as the new hero Superman.

### Threatened by Brainiac and Grundy

Over the next years, Superman was successful in defending the city from further threats, though there came a time when even he needed help. The Coluan cyborg Brainiac attacked the city and overpowered the Kryptonian. Luckily, another superhero, the Flash was also in town and together with his help, Superman was able to beat Brainiac. After the fight, the two heroes came to the conclusion, mainly caused by the Flash's adventures in another universe shortly before, that the world was in need of a group of heroes, who would answer to threats all over the planet. This was the formation of the Justice League, who went on to become the main protectors of Earth. Sometime after that, the cousin of Superman, Kara Zor-El arrived on Earth and Clark helped her try to blend in like he did, though unsuccessfully. When the Zombie Solomon Grundy attacked Metropolis, Kara, now acting as Supergirl, fought against him, but they left a path of destruction and mayhem. After Grundy was taken out by Superman and the Gotham based vigilante Batman, they discussed Kara's actions very critically, which caused her to fly away. After she was sent into the 31st Century by Superman, because he thought she would fit in better with a more futuristic civilization like the one she had lost, a group named the Dark Circle attacked the S.T.A.R. Labs facility in the city in an effort to steal Brainiac's head, but was stopped by Batman. Later, he and Superman were talking to Supergirl and her new boyfriend Brainiac 5 through a time portal, before being transported away from Metropolis somewhere into space by a Zeta-Beam.

## Notable Locations

S.T.A.R. Labs FacilityPower Plant
* Clark Kent's Apartment
* Daily Planet Building
* Lexcorp Tower
* Metropolis Hospital
* Metropolis Prison
* Rudy Jones' Apartment

## Notable Inhabitants

* Clark Kent
* Kara Zor-El (Formerly)
* Kaylie Jones
* Lex Luthor
* Lobo (Formerly)
* Lois Lane
* J'onn J'onzz (Formerly)
* Maya Jones
* Mayor
* Mercy Graves
* Rudy Jones (Formerly, Deceased)
* Perry White
* Ron Troupe

## Trivia

* **Metropolis** was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and first appeared in DC comics in Action Comics #16 in September 1939.