Review by Win Wiacek

Endgame continues the refreshing of The Man of Tomorrow via new creative teams at the turn of the millennium introduced in No Limits. This, though, is a multi-part epic to which multiple creators contribute.

Tension-wracked doom days begin with the ‘The End’ crafted by scripter Joe Casey and artist Butch Guice, tracing the history of the Luthor family in Metropolis from the first settlers to the present when Lex practically owns the entire place, as a counterpoint to the ongoing action. That has Clark Kent facing a shocking crisis: new wife Lois and his own mother want to elbow the sacrosanct seasonal tradition of a quiet New Year’s on the Smallville farm for a (non-catering) vacation in the Big City. Bowing to the inevitable, the Husband of Steel ferries the family to a Metropolis gripped with terror that all the computers in the world will imminently expire prompting the end of civilisation as the millennium closes. Kids – this was genuine abiding fear at the time!

When the millennium countdown concludes everybody’s fears are completely justified as an alien entity overwhelms the world’s computer systems, triggering a wave of destruction affecting every electronic device on Earth.

The tension intensifies in ‘Whatever Happened to the City of Tomorrow?’ by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuiness as the alien begins the process of reformatting the world, converting matter into materials and designs analogous to its own time. That’s very bad news for the billions of human beings inside buildings, vehicles and vessels undergoing those transformations. Even Luthor is helpless, locked out of his own corporate tower.

The hostile planetary hacking continues in ‘AnarchY2Knowledge’ by Mark Millar and Stuart Immonen, wherein the Man of Energy hopelessly tackles Brainiac 13 and tries to quell the rising body count of helpless humans. Then Mark Schultz and Doug Mahnke pick up with ‘Thirty Minutes to Oblivion’, which requires some background.

After a lengthy period of self-impose banishment in deep space (for which see Superman: Exile) the Man of Tomorrow returned to Earth with an incredibly powerful Kryptonian artefact able to reshape matter. It was programmed to preserve, or indeed, resurrect and restore the heritage and influence of the lost civilisation at all costs. After a number of close calls Superman realised the device was too dangerous, so he buried it in an Antarctic crevasse and foolishly assumed that ended the affair. Such was not the case and when Superman died it created a new body and sought to carry on Kal-El’s legacy. Eventually it failed once more and fell into the hands of dying scientist David Connor who merged with the manufactured body to produce a phenomenally powerful – if morally and emotionally conflicted – new hero.

Superman’s understandable anxiety is assuaged as Eradicator assures him he is there to help and proves it by pointing out a weakness in the invader’s tech assimilation as Superman’s Fortress of Solitude becomes the invader’s primary target.

The epic comes to a startling conclusion in ‘Sacrifice for Tomorrow’ from Kelly, Germán Garcia and Kano as Superman heads back to Metropolis armed with the knowledge of B13’s Achilles heel.

Much is resolved, but for some inexplicable reason planetary remission halts outside Metropolis. The city remains an incomprehensible artefact of a far future with Luthor in control, frantically patenting thousands of incredible technological advances.

This staggering compilation introduces a whole new world – and a wealth of fresh problems – as it builds upon the scintillating re-casting of the greatest of all superheroes, and it continues in ‘Til Death Do Us Part.