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    Metropolis

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    The history of Metropolis stretches back to the year 1542 when Italian navigator Vincenzo Gnanatti discovered the region while in the employ of the Dutch. Prior to European colonization, the region was occupied by the Algonquin Native American tribe. It wasn't until 1634 however that the first s

    The story? How many times do I have to tell you? There's only one story, Lane. Metropolis. She's the story.Perry White

    Metropolis is the largest[24] and one of the most well-known cities in the United States, owing largely to the fact that it is the adopted hometown of Metropolis' favorite son, Superman.

    History

    Origins

    The history of Metropolis stretches back to the year 1542 when Italian navigator Vincenzo Gnanatti discovered the region while in the employ of the Dutch. Prior to European colonization, the region was occupied by the Algonquin Native American tribe. It wasn't until 1634 however that the first settlement was established by Dutchman Paul De Vries. The settlement was named De Vries Village and occupies the neighborhood now known as "Old City" in the Eastern section of Queensland Park. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, De Vries Village prospered as a thriving seaport and it became an integral strategic location for General George Washington's army during the Revolutionary War.

    18th Century

    In 1775, it established itself as a host to many book and newspaper publishing houses, the most successful of which would eventually become known as the Daily Planet.[1] During the "Devil's Winter Siege", the city was defended by Tomahawk's rangers, most notably Dan Hunter, in whose honor the settlement was renamed as Fort Hunter, later Hunterville and later still Hunter City. In 1783, P. Randall Jeffries opened the First Metropolitan Bank, which still exists today, though the corporate headquarters has since moved to the Central Business District in New Troy.[2]

    19th Century

    In 1847, the borough known as Hob's Bay became a bustling merchant center, as well as a hotbed for bigotry and intolerance, particularly against the rising influx of Irish immigrants. Mission worker Edna Luthor became a strong voice among the struggling workers, and she publicly preached a message of tolerance and love. Like many in the Luthor bloodline, Edna was a visionary whose convictions and strong sense of morality would help pave the way for Metropolis' future. These values were passed along to her grandson, Wallace Luthor who operated the Luthor Steel Works during the turn of the century.[3]

    20th Century

    In 1905 Hunter City became home to a noted adventurer, inventor and science hero: Waldo Glenmorgan. Glenmorgan began a trend of scientific prowess which culminated in the city changing its name to "Metropolis". This name change propelled the city towards its current position as the City of Tomorrow.[4]

    Superman's arrival

     Main article: Post-Crisis

    Over the years, billionare Lex Luthor has affirmed himself as the de facto owner of the city, as his company, LexCorp had interests in virtually every business based in Metropolis, however the status quo began to change with the arrival of Superman, Lex tried to buy Superman with a stunt that endangered everyone on board of his yacht, as a response, the mayor of Metropolis, Franklin Berkowitz had Luthor arrested for reckless endangerment. Ever since that day, Lex Luthor promised to destroy Superman, as he stole the spotlight as the most powerful man in Metropolis.[5]

     Main article: Superman: Blackout

    Over the years, Franklin Berkowitz had remained a stable mayor of Metropolis. His biggest democratic rival was Collin Thornton, who ran against him for mayor. Metropolis had recently experienced massive blackouts, followed by widespread looting. Berkowitz was livid and afraid of losing his re-election bid, compounding matters, the recent death of Luthor had left Metropolis in a power vacuum, leading to economic turmoil. This changed when Berkowitz received a letter from Luthor II, supposedly Luthor's secret son. Later that evening, Luthor II arrived from Australia and, with Berkowitz's blessing, delivered a speech in which he swore to resolve the situation.[6] Luthor Jr. immediately set to work and managed to resolve the crisis, providing a significant boost in P.R. for Berkowitz, who went on to win re-election.[7]

    When Superman died by the hands of Doomsday, it left the city heavily damaged but above all, Metropolis had lost its marvel, the news of Superman's death reached every corner of the world and galaxy. Nearly every superhero in the world attended the funeral, even the president Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Clinton, a memorial statue remembering Superman was erect at Centennial Park.[8]

     Main article: Fall of Metropolis

    Following Superman's return, Lex Luthor II fell gravely ill, at the same time Lois Lane published an exposé of Luthor II proving he has been involved in a wide array of criminal activity including the attempted killing of Sasha Green, and that he was a clone of Lex Luthor I, a now deranged Luthor concentrated his entire arsenal for the destruction of Metropolis, but at the last second he backed out, as he still loved the city, but his most loyal assistant Sydney Happersen, refused to go out like that, so he launched the attack on Metropolis instead. This resulted in the city being almost completely destroyed, with the exception of Newstime Magazine.[9] To help with that Zatanna used her magic alongside the memories of the city taken from Superman and Perry White to bring back Metropolis from the ruins. Or so they believe, as it's revelead that it was actually thanks to the villain Lord Satanus using his magic to blur his psychic image of the city from Zatanna.[10]

    A couple of months later, Luthor come up with a plan to blame an erratic clone of himself for all wrongdoing, genetic results confirmed Luthor's thesis, and he was consequently cleared of all charges.[11] Now Luthor began his plan to take over the city again, his target was the long-standing mayor Berkowitz, under the facade of revitalizing Suicide Slum, he donated 10 million dollars. At the opening of the project, Berkowitz was assassinated by an hitman hired by Luthor.[12] In his place, Bradford Sackett was elected, having been heavily championed by Daily Planet columnist Dirk Armstrong. Upon taking office, he immediately mobilized the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit, Burton "Hunter" Thompson, and Superman to hunt down Ripper, a creature secretly created by S.T.A.R. Labs that had been terrorizing the city by killing people and hiding in the sewers. They succeeded.[13] Sackett also launched the downtown rejuvenation program known as "Hypersector", sponsored by Luthor. Combined with his reputation for action over words, he was viewed favorably by Perry White.[14][15] The Hypersector project faced multiple setbacks: a Bizarro clone had the site's centerpiece destroyed,[16] and a parcel of land not yet acquired, as it was occupied by a farmhouse. Despite Luthor's involvement, it was decleared historical land.[17] The project was ultimately completed.

    21st Century

    Metropolis b13
    B13 Metropolis

    At the turn of the millennium, Brainiac had placed a sleeper virus in Lexcorp's Y2K bug safeguards. This was intended to dramatically boost his abilities. Instead, it allowed Brainiac 13 to arrive from the 64th Century. Brainiac 13 used his incredibly advanced technology to transform the entire planet into a super computer with Metropolis being its motherboard, although Superman succeeded in defeating him with the help of Lex Luthor, the latter sacrificed his daughter Lena Luthor to Brainiac 13 in exchange for the codex to control B13 technology. As a result Luthor registered over a two day period five hundred patents, giving him a monopoly over B13 technology,[18] which made Luthor a "googillions" of dollars in copyrights and patents.[19] And although Brainiac 13 was defeated, Metropolis remained as if it was in the 64th century for a couple of years, until a time storm took the remaining B13 technology left, and Metropolis returned to normal.[20]

    Years later, Lex Luthor's reputation massively declined amongst the citizens of Metropolis, he was even attacked while he was leaving a court hearing,[21] as a result Luthor grow resentful of Metropolis, and he started gathering as much Green Kryptonite as possible to power up a battleship controlled by a Sunstone. The Sunstone is a kryptonian artifact infinitely programmable to do whatever its user want, it was originally used by the Phantom Zoners to colonize several nearby planets, Luthor wanted to use it to completely destroy Metropolis, but he was eventually stopped by Superman after a long fight.[22]

    Points of Interest

    The Six Boroughs

    Neighborhoods

    Waterways

    Parks and Recreational areas

    Businesses

    Museums

    • Jules Verne Extra-Terrestrial Museum
    • Lena Luthor Science Explorarium
    • Metropolis Museum of Art
    • Metropolis Museum of History
    • Superman Museum (30th century)

    Laboratories

    Media

    News, television and radio

    Other Locations

    Sports Teams

    Metropolis has had many pro and amateur sports teams, treated with little continuity.

    Baseball

    Basketball

    American football

    Ice hockey

    Residents

    Heroes

    The following is a list of super-heroes known to have either lived and/or operated out of Metropolis at some point in their lives. This list includes characters who are germane to both Pre-Crisis and Post-Crisis versions of Metropolis.

    Villains

    The following is a list of super-villains known to have either lived and/or operated out of Metropolis at some point in their lives. This list includes characters who are germane to both Pre-Crisis and Post-Crisis versions of Metropolis.

    Other People

    The following is a list of civilians known to have either lived and/or operated out of Metropolis at some point in their lives. This list includes characters who are germane to both Pre-Crisis and Post-Crisis versions of Metropolis.

    Notes

    Trivia

    • Metropolis population grew by nearly 1 million people since it become known as Superman's city, due to the perceived security the Man of Steel brought to it.[28]

    See Also

    1. ↑ Zero Hour: Crisis in Time #0 (timeline)
    2. ↑ DC Atlas
    3. ↑ Superman: Y2K #1
    4. ↑ Superman: Secret Files 2009 #1
    5. ↑ The Man of Steel #4
    6. ↑ Action Comics #671
    7. ↑ Superman (Volume 2) #62-Superman (Volume 2) #63
    8. ↑ Superman: The Man of Steel #20
    9. ↑ Action Comics #700
    10. ↑ Adventures of Superman #522
    11. ↑ Action Comics #737
    12. ↑ Superman (Volume 2) #131
    13. ↑ Adventures of Superman #554
    14. ↑ Superman Red/Superman Blue #1
    15. ↑ Superman (Volume 2) #132
    16. ↑ Superman Forever #1
    17. ↑ Adventures of Superman #573
    18. ↑ Action Comics #763
    19. ↑ Superman: Metropolis #1
    20. ↑ Superman (Volume 2) #201
    21. ↑ Superman #650
    22. ↑ Superman #653
    23. ↑ The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries (Volume 2) #12
    24. ↑ Adventures of Superman #516
    25. ↑ Action Comics #653
    26. ↑ Superboy (Volume 2) #22
    27. ↑ World's Finest #67
    28. ↑ Newstime: The Life and Death of the Man of Steel #1

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