This Is the Story of Superman's Clone...

In the mood for secrets and intrigue?

Here's someone's theory about how the Superman that fans have been reading about for the past 14 years is a clone:

"The theory starts with the modern re-telling of the "Sand Superman" story written and drawn by Walt Simonson. Walt's story was originally meant to be a Superman Annual back in 1989; but the work was shelved due to an editorial decision to focus on the "event annuals" or some such. However, Walt's story was a linch pin in a larger Superman story; and the foundation for that greater story was still set up in the regular Superman titles even though Walt's Annual was not published.

"In 1993, Walt's "Sand Superman" story was finally published as a Superman Special to be released one week before Superman #75 (The Death of Superman). Why such timing? Why release the story as a Special that was severely under-ordered (only around 10,000 ever published)? It was the "Vengeance of Bane" strategy; garner attention and fan recognition by under-publicizing and under-printing the key-stone story to the next big event. Of course, this background is getting a bit ahead of things; let's just examine the story for a second.

"The Walt Simonson "Sand Superman" story was set in 1989 even when published as the "Superman Special" in 1993. The timeline is clear because "fat" Luthor is still walking around with his black-gloved hand; Lois and Clark were not yet dating as shown by their dialogue; etc. The story? Lex Luthor attempts to create artificial kryptonite with disastrous results. Superman arrives on the scene only to be caught in a massive explosion in the artificial kryptonite lab. Superman is thrown a great distance and lands in a sand bank leaving a clear impression of his body in the sand. Superman leaves the sand bank, and the impression in the sand begins to rise and glow. A sand being of some kind has been created as a result of the explosive artifical kryptonite detonation.

"As the story continues, the sand being begins to stalk Superman. With each encounter, the sand being leeches away one of Superman's powers; and with each power leeched, the sand being begins to look more and more like Superman. At first, the colors on the sand creature's costume are very faint; but with each power gained, the colors become darker and more in focus.

"By the end of the story, a powerless Superman has lured the Sand Superman to the Fortress of Solitude. In one last desperate bid, Superman lunges at the Sand Superman and the direct contact causes a massive explosion that collapses the Fortress on them both. The fate of the two Supermen is left in question.

"At the end of the story, Superman flies up to Luthor's office. Luthor asks which Superman this is; and Superman explains that he defeated the sand creature. In a strange bit of wording, Superman reveals that he defeated the sand creature by finally understanding what the creature sought. Superman explains that the sand creature was not trying to take Superman's place; the sand creature was trying to *become* Superman. Superman tells Luthor that this realization is what defeated the sand creature; Superman just gave the creature what it wanted and Superman re-gained his powers as a result. Superman flies away from Luthor with no further explanations; and we're all left to scratch our heads a little.

"However, it becomes interesting when you notice the 1989 time frame and re-read the Superman comics from that period. In one story, Superman falls ill and gains a strange "sandy" appearance; but Superman suddenly rises to his feet and returns to normal when kryptonite is brought into the room to weaken Superman's skin for surgery. The reasoning is chalked up to some kind of "virus" Superman had that the kryptonite killed. The doctors are puzzled by it; no further explanations given.

"In the cross-over story "Time and Time Again", Superman is caught in a massive explosion caused by the temporal equipment of the Linear Men. Superman in turn *absorbs* the temporal power due to the explosion; Superman's costume turns jet black as a result of absorbing this power. Superman finishes out the adventure by traveling from time period to time period by using explosions as a catalyst.

"In another story, Superman faces Blaze and Satanus in hell. Blaze uses a magic axe as a sure way to kill Superman; the axe inexplicably breaks on Superman's chest (his body now seemingly invulnerable to even magic). Superman offers no explanation; he just quips that the axe must not have been as magic as Blaze thought.

"Stories continue where Superman seems to get a power boost after an explosion where his enemies weaken at the same time; Superman is able to fight kryptonite menaces such as Conduit without losing his powers or facing any apparent ill effect (beyond psychological); and then there is John Henry Irons who would become Steel.

"During the original Doomsday story, Superman is desperately trying to stop the engine of destruction as it marches toward Metropolis. Part of that battle occurs under-ground when a gas main is ruptured causing a *massive* explosion with Superman at ground zero. The same explosion shakes the construction sight where John Henry Irons works, and John Henry begins to fall to his death after losing his balance. Superman bursts from the explosive cloud to save John Henry's life; and the panel depicting the rescue shows a strange artistic effect surrounding the arms of Superman and John Henry as they connect.

"During a QVC special at the start of "Reign of the Supermen" (the follow-up to Doomsday and the introduction of Steel), Walt and Louise Simonson specifically showed the above panel to the camera. Walt explained to the host that the effect around the arms was intentional and would be very, very important in future stories; yet we never saw anything else about it. The only thing we saw was a brief glimpse of something strange in John Henry's early appearances. During a gang shooting, John Henry actually chases down a speeding car and rips the roof from the car. It was almost like John Henry had "Superman-like" powers out of nowhere; powers that could have been transferred after an explosion.

"At the end of "Reign of the Supermen", the true Superman returns in his black and silver suit. The true, resurrected Superman is powerless despite being in sun-light; but that is corrected by the end of the story. What happens? The true Superman is blasted with pure kryptonite with the Eradicator acting as a body shield; and Superman regains his powers because of that one act. It was as if the Eradicator had transferred his powers...or as if Superman absorbed them. When Green Lantern arrives on the scene, his ring tells him that massive amounts of kryptonite radiation are present; Lantern even encases the other heroes in a protective bubble to keep the radiation out. What's Superman doing in that room? Superman is flying around enjoying his returned powers; he never notices that the room has kryptonite radiation in it. No explanation ever given.

"At this point, the reveal of the Sand Superman seemed to be racing toward its day as the follow-up to "Reign of the Supermen"; a story so massive and so long in the planning that it would have fans digging through the past five years of back issues to find the clues that had been there all along. So what shelved the story? Marvel Comics.

"It is hard to say how Marvel learned of DC's Superman plans; I often wonder if my unprinted letter to Wizard Magazine outling the above may have been used to tip Marvel off. However, Marvel (as in most cases) wanted to beat DC to the punch; and the Spider-man Clone Saga was half-baked overnight to be rushed to the printers. With the Clone Saga in full swing (and fan reaction very mixed), the Sand Superman reveal was shelved...but not killed.

"A few years later, the big DC event "Final Night" hit stands as our sun was eaten thus leaving the earth to freeze to death. During this small time without sunlight, Superman even lost his powers completely; but Superman's powers did not return when the sun came back. Why? Well, what happens to a car battery that's drained...you need to jump start it. Brainiac 5 tries using intense yellow sunlight as the logical thing to jump start the Man of Steel; the sunlight has absolutely no effect. Superman needs some other source of power to jump start him.

"Superman's quest to regain his powers led to a battle with an alien electrical being in the arctic; the electrical being was killed in a massive explosion with Superman present. Superman miraculously survived the explosion without having his powers back. Shortly afterward, Superman began having powers again...electrical powers. The same electrical powers the alien had before the explosion.

"Superman's traditional powers eventually return through some kind of magic hoo-doo at the end of the Millenium Giants story; and things rock on again as normal. Then comes DC One Million. In DC One Million, Grant Morrison presents a future in which Superman wanders the universe for a number of centuries. Superman returns to earth having absorbed over a dozen new powers...his costume now darkened...sound familiar?

"The fact is that DC has never killed the hidden Sand Superman angle; clues continue to be planted. Even in the wake of Infinite Crisis, we had the exact same situation as "Final Night". Superman has "the sun knocked out of him" and loses his powers for a year due to lack of something to jump start him. Yellow sun-light is tried; yellow sun-light has no effect. It is not clear what catalyst gave Superman back his powers One Year Later; but Luthor was collecting a massive amount of kryptonite in the city...

"So there you have it; food for thought. I see the Sand Superman as needing two catalysts. Explosions (such as what created the Sand Superman) ignite the power absorption process; Kryptonite (a key ingredient in the Sand Superman) amps up the power held inside the Sand Superman creature (much like feeding a spark into a flame). All of the clues still fit even today; and DC could split the Sand Superman story wide open any time they want.

"But where is the real Superman who hasn't been seen since 1989? His body is where we last saw it...perfectly preserved in the frozen remains of Superman's original Fortress of Solitude. The interesting thing is to remember the timing, though. The Superman frozen in the arctic was from before Lois and Clark began dating. The true Superman never married Lois Lane...only the Sand Superman did."

I of course do not believe this person's theory for a second. Still, it's fun to think about in the same way a conspiracy theory is. "What if..." And the idea that Superman all this time has been some freakish sand abomination does has an appealing creepiness to it, doesn't it?

And hey! Speaking of freakish abominations.... Worst school librarian ever:

"As an elementary librarian in a public school, I would not choose to spend my limited funds on Goosebumps. The kids do love them. I have read them and find them uninteresting, not at all engaging. When I took this job in the fall, there were a total of 6 copies of Goosebumps in the inventory. They are always checked out and I keep hoping that they will be lost. One has been...hooray! I will not replace them, nor do I intend to buy more."

Laura Manthey. Kindly go and find another job.

Assuming they haven't already fired you.

Image taken from www.comics.org.