Zero Month
The same month that Zero Hour #0 comes out, every DC book this month has a #0 issue. All of them had eye-catching silver ink-enhanced covers like Zero Hour #4 did the previous month, although most of them really have nothing to do with Zero Hour at all. Rather than use their #0 issues to re-tell the Man of Steel's origin or something, the Superman books spend the month introducing a childhood friend of Clark Kent who would become a dangerous new villain named Conduit.
Like a now-typical zero issue, Man of Steel #0 opens up with Superman's origin from the destruction of Krypton to the baby Kal El's crashed ship being discovered by the Kents. It adds one new detail never before shown: another Smallville couple, the Bravermans, are stranded in the same blizzard and their boy is born in his parents' car the same night.
Metropolis has already been rebuilt and Superman is back to fighting street crime. Clark Kent is starting to receive mysterious letters in the mail that have pictures from his childhood with his face removed, prompting him to tell Lois stories in flashback about his heretofore unmentioned childhood friend, Kenny Braverman. A mysterious assassin makes several attempts on Clark's life, which he's able to discretely foil. When the villain burns down an orphanage and leaves a picture to remind Clark of a time they nearly burned down a forest, Lois and Clark figure out that the childhood pictures are a signature to tell them who's behind the murder attempts.
Lois helps Clark move back into his old apartment and unpacking some childhood trophies reminds Clark of how much he always used to beat Kenny Braverman at sports and at love. Kenny had asked Lana Lang to the prom but she turns him down and asks Clark herself.
Lois and Clark attend the Baldy Awards (which was actually a real "no-prize" awarded to readers in the letters columns of this period). Clark is in the middle of an acceptance speech when a bomb detonates at the podium, but when the smoke clears it appears Superman has saved him and Cat Grant from harm. Conduit's assassins burst through a window but Superman easily stops them. Watching remotely, Conduit self-destructs his own men's helmets, causing them to burn to death. That night Clark Kent returns to his apartment to find a picture of himself stuck to the door with a knife. At a secret supervillain base somewhere, Conduit takes off his mask and his face is revealed to be Kenny Braverman.
Conduit stands on the rooftop opposite Clark's apartment with a giant gun pointed at the window waiting for a shot. Inside, Lois helps Clark paint the apartment while Clark tells the story of a time he and Kenny were in Paris. Kenny is working on a secret government mission while Clark is trying to get a big break as a journalist. At the top of each page, we see Clark's recollection of the events but at the bottom we see what really happened behind the scenes from Kenny's point of view. Once again, Clark gets the girl but this time a jealous Kenny tries to make Clark collateral damage in a terrorist attack. Not yet Superman at this point in time, Clark discretely uses his powers to save the day but loses the girl and his job opportunity.
Back in the present, Conduit takes his shot and misses. Clark changes to Superman and flies to confront the assassin, and with his X-ray vision recognizes that Conduit is his childhood friend. Conduit shoots Superman with a blast of Kryptonite and the Man of Steel falls unconscious into the bay.
Regaining consciousness, Superman bursts out of the water and races back to his apartment, where Conduit has fled the scene. Conduit has gone back to his headquarters, an impossibly spacious multi-story supervillain lair with dozens of personnel operating giant computers. Conduit flashes back to his origin story of how he became a secret weapon that the government tried and failed to get rid of when he became too powerful.
Conduit makes another assassination attempt on Clark Kent and once again Superman conveniently happens to be in the area to save the day. Kenny is already starting to seem like more of a joke than a serious villain after each failure. By this point Conduit must be suspicious of how Superman is always around Clark Kent, right?
The SCU takes Conduit into custody kicking and screaming, vowing to kill both Clark Kent and Superman. After everybody leaves, a clean-up crew arrives to repair Superman's tomb that sustained damage from the fight. But inside the supposedly empty tomb, the workers find a casket with the corpse of Superman!
Superman: The Man of Steel #0
Metropolis has already been rebuilt and Superman is back to fighting street crime. Clark Kent is starting to receive mysterious letters in the mail that have pictures from his childhood with his face removed, prompting him to tell Lois stories in flashback about his heretofore unmentioned childhood friend, Kenny Braverman. A mysterious assassin makes several attempts on Clark's life, which he's able to discretely foil. When the villain burns down an orphanage and leaves a picture to remind Clark of a time they nearly burned down a forest, Lois and Clark figure out that the childhood pictures are a signature to tell them who's behind the murder attempts.
Superman #0
Lois and Clark attend the Baldy Awards (which was actually a real "no-prize" awarded to readers in the letters columns of this period). Clark is in the middle of an acceptance speech when a bomb detonates at the podium, but when the smoke clears it appears Superman has saved him and Cat Grant from harm. Conduit's assassins burst through a window but Superman easily stops them. Watching remotely, Conduit self-destructs his own men's helmets, causing them to burn to death. That night Clark Kent returns to his apartment to find a picture of himself stuck to the door with a knife. At a secret supervillain base somewhere, Conduit takes off his mask and his face is revealed to be Kenny Braverman.
Adventures of Superman #0
Back in the present, Conduit takes his shot and misses. Clark changes to Superman and flies to confront the assassin, and with his X-ray vision recognizes that Conduit is his childhood friend. Conduit shoots Superman with a blast of Kryptonite and the Man of Steel falls unconscious into the bay.
Action Comics #0
Conduit makes another assassination attempt on Clark Kent and once again Superman conveniently happens to be in the area to save the day. Kenny is already starting to seem like more of a joke than a serious villain after each failure. By this point Conduit must be suspicious of how Superman is always around Clark Kent, right?
The SCU takes Conduit into custody kicking and screaming, vowing to kill both Clark Kent and Superman. After everybody leaves, a clean-up crew arrives to repair Superman's tomb that sustained damage from the fight. But inside the supposedly empty tomb, the workers find a casket with the corpse of Superman!
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