Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
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Let's take a look through DC Comics' first alternate universe series Imaginary Stories, and discover the What Ifs of the Comic Silver Age!
Transcript:
Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow is the final title to bear the Imaginary Stories name. And likely the only one the casual reader has even heard of. In the far-off future of 1997, a reporter from the Daily Planet interviews the married Lois Lane for a story to mark the tenth anniversary of Superman's disappearance. She begins her tale saying the years leading up to it were relatively calm, Superman spending most of his time in space on missions for the government. However, upon returning from his latest, he finds a good chunk of Metropolis destroyed, Lois and Jimmy telling him it was the work of Bizarro. He confronts him in a nearby department store, Bizarro telling Superman he realized he wasn't a perfect opposite duplicate of the hero. Thus he destroyed his own world, murdered a large crowd of people, and, as the topper, kills himself with blue Kryptonite, Superman puzzled why this normally harmless being would stoop to all these things. Later, before Clark goes on air at the Galaxy Building, he receives a parcel filled with Superman action figures. Who instantly begin flying around and demonstrating they have similar abilities to the hero, including turning their heat vision on Clark, that melts away his civilian clothes and exposes him as Superman to all his friends. The toys begin gloating, revealing they're the work of the villains Toyman and Prankster, and that they extracted Superman's secret identity from Pete Ross, who they then killed and stuck in another package for Superman to open. Enraged, Superman tracks the radio waves to their hideout, where, after he confronts them, they seem confused why they did what they did. Superman disposes of his Clark Kent identity, and, at Pete's funeral, worries that if his more harmless foes are becoming killers, what does that mean for the major players? Later, we see Luthor exploring, where he unearths the disabled head of Brainiac, intending to study it. However, it reactivates itself and instantly attaches itself to him, taking over his body and announcing they will take revenge on Superman. Meanwhile, the Daily Planet comes under attack by a legion of Metallo robots in revenge for Clark allegedly killing the John Corben Metallo. Superman arrives just in time to save Lois from falling, before using the building's giant globe to create a magnet that attracts all the Metallos which he takes to prison. Realizing his friends are in danger because of him, Superman then takes them all to his Fortress of Solitude where they can be safe, also finding Krypto the superdog has finally returned. Metropolis is then threatened by an older version of Kryptonite Kid now calling himself Kryptonite Man, whom Braniac Luthor abducts as they fly toward the Arctic. At the Fortress, everyone settles in despite the air of uneasiness, when Superman is suddenly visited by the Legion of Superheroes. Including a younger version of Supergirl, whom Superman can't bring himself to tell that her present version had died during Crisis on Infinite Earths. As he lectures the team, they present him with a statuette of him holding something in his hands, simply telling him it's a very special time in his life, before departing back to their year, leaving Superman emotionally destroyed. His story continuing in the pages of Action Comics.
Help Support the Channel: patreon.com/ZCInfinity
Let's take a look through DC Comics' first alternate universe series Imaginary Stories, and discover the What Ifs of the Comic Silver Age!
Transcript:
Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow is the final title to bear the Imaginary Stories name. And likely the only one the casual reader has even heard of. In the far-off future of 1997, a reporter from the Daily Planet interviews the married Lois Lane for a story to mark the tenth anniversary of Superman's disappearance. She begins her tale saying the years leading up to it were relatively calm, Superman spending most of his time in space on missions for the government. However, upon returning from his latest, he finds a good chunk of Metropolis destroyed, Lois and Jimmy telling him it was the work of Bizarro. He confronts him in a nearby department store, Bizarro telling Superman he realized he wasn't a perfect opposite duplicate of the hero. Thus he destroyed his own world, murdered a large crowd of people, and, as the topper, kills himself with blue Kryptonite, Superman puzzled why this normally harmless being would stoop to all these things. Later, before Clark goes on air at the Galaxy Building, he receives a parcel filled with Superman action figures. Who instantly begin flying around and demonstrating they have similar abilities to the hero, including turning their heat vision on Clark, that melts away his civilian clothes and exposes him as Superman to all his friends. The toys begin gloating, revealing they're the work of the villains Toyman and Prankster, and that they extracted Superman's secret identity from Pete Ross, who they then killed and stuck in another package for Superman to open. Enraged, Superman tracks the radio waves to their hideout, where, after he confronts them, they seem confused why they did what they did. Superman disposes of his Clark Kent identity, and, at Pete's funeral, worries that if his more harmless foes are becoming killers, what does that mean for the major players? Later, we see Luthor exploring, where he unearths the disabled head of Brainiac, intending to study it. However, it reactivates itself and instantly attaches itself to him, taking over his body and announcing they will take revenge on Superman. Meanwhile, the Daily Planet comes under attack by a legion of Metallo robots in revenge for Clark allegedly killing the John Corben Metallo. Superman arrives just in time to save Lois from falling, before using the building's giant globe to create a magnet that attracts all the Metallos which he takes to prison. Realizing his friends are in danger because of him, Superman then takes them all to his Fortress of Solitude where they can be safe, also finding Krypto the superdog has finally returned. Metropolis is then threatened by an older version of Kryptonite Kid now calling himself Kryptonite Man, whom Braniac Luthor abducts as they fly toward the Arctic. At the Fortress, everyone settles in despite the air of uneasiness, when Superman is suddenly visited by the Legion of Superheroes. Including a younger version of Supergirl, whom Superman can't bring himself to tell that her present version had died during Crisis on Infinite Earths. As he lectures the team, they present him with a statuette of him holding something in his hands, simply telling him it's a very special time in his life, before departing back to their year, leaving Superman emotionally destroyed. His story continuing in the pages of Action Comics.
