The Fall of Metropolis!
Action Comics reaches its 700th issue this month and the city of Metropolis doesn't make it through the story intact.
Superman: The Man of Steel #34
Superman battles the Underworld clones as they attack LexCorp. CADMUS sends the Guardian and Dubbilex to help, but the Guardian is severely injured in the fight. The dying Lex Luthor II watches the footage of the destruction from his yacht, and Dr. Kelly starts to have doubts about his state of mind.
Another dying CADMUS clone, Superboy, is taken to their infirmary, helplessly waiting for a lifesaving cure.
Meanwhile, Lois Lane breaks into LexCorp looking for a copy of the tape that will support her story and clear her reputation. She finds the evidence she's looking for, and also a map of Metropolis with locations of the recent bombings in the city, as well as targets for future bombs.
This issue contains a back-up story featuring Kobalt, a character in DC's then-new Milestone imprint that would shortly cross over with this series. Lois' mailman also makes a passing reference to dreaming about Dakota, the main fictional city in the Milestone universe.
Superman #90
Explosions continue to detonate all over the city, and when Superman finally flies above the chaos he views a shocking overhead image of the city on fire. Up until now, CADMUS has been insisting that they would never have tried to kill their own clones, but now Director Westfield has enough of the Underworld and tries to do just that.
Lois Lane is almost out of LexCorp when some Lex-Men spot her and try to catch her. Superman shows up just in time to save her, of course. Aware that Luthor is listening through the guards' helmets, she speaks into the microphone to tell Lex that it's over.
Dubbilex senses a familiar intruder at CADMUS, and the man who's been playing all sides in the conflict, Dabney Donavan, finally shows himself to Director Westfield before he kills him.
Adventures of Superman #513
Superman rushes to CADMUS to stop Director Westfield, but finds somebody has already murdered him. Meanwhile, Packard has defected from Luthor's team but his sneaking in through secret tunnels instantly makes him the prime suspect to Westfield's murder.
The CADMUS scientists think they're close to developing a cure from the Guardian's DNA, who is heroically willing to sacrifice himself to save the other clones if necessary. Lex Luthor wants the cure for himself and sends Team Luthor to retrieve the Guardian at all costs. Realizing that Superman won't let them leave with the Guardian, the Lex-Men threaten to destroy CADMUS and everybody inside. With no time to test it, Superboy tries the experimental cure. His health is instantly restored and he joins the fight to help Superman. With detonation imminent, Superman instructs Superboy to get the Lex-Men a safe distance away, and the entire mountain explodes behind them. Superman climbs out of the rubble and sadly tells Superboy that he's the only one who made it out.
Action Comics #700
Lois Lane takes her evidence to the Daily Planet, where she not only gets her job back but they arrange a special live broadcast on GBS to expose Lex Luthor to the world. Dr. Kelly sneaks away from Luthor's yacht and reveals herself on television as Lois' informant.
Superman smashes through the hull of the yacht to bring Luthor to justice, but Lex holds him in stalemate by threatening to fire a back-up system of torpedoes on Metropolis. Superman tries to reason with Luthor and he almost succeeds, but Happersen refuses to surrender and launches the torpedoes himself before Luthor kills him. Superman, Superboy, and Supergirl try to save the city, but the Daily Planet, LexCorp, and most of downtown are destroyed. Collin Thornton (aka Lord Satanus) secretly manages to save the NewsTime building from being destroyed.
Inter-cut with the city's destruction, Lana Lang and Pete Ross quietly get married at the Kent farmhouse in Smallville. These pages would be some of the last works by legendary Superman artist Curt Swan.
In the aftermath, Superman puts the Daily Planet globe back together as a beacon of hope amidst the surrounding ruins. Perry White watches through binoculars and cries as he sees the Planet globe through the smoke rising out of his beloved city. Although this was years before September 11th, its impossible for those of us who lived through that to look at these images and not see reminders of that day.
The Fall of Metropolis doesn't get that much recognition now, but at the time this was a dramatic change to the status quo, particularly for Lex Luthor. This is the first time in post-Crisis continuity that the public sees Luthor as a villain, and he won't be seen as much in the next year. Many of the cast members are hoping this exposure will finally bring Lex to justice, but while he will be brought to trial several years later he'll become even more powerful after that. Other supporting characters, like Westfield and Happersen, won't be seen again. While everyone at CADMUS is presumed dead, many of them would shortly return to become supporting cast members in the pages of Superboy.
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