# Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow by Alan Moore? Worth getting? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 22, 2003, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-man-of-tomorrow-by-alan-moore-worth-getting/183587 "2003-06-22T16:17:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2003, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-man-of-tomorrow-by-alan-moore-worth-getting/183587/1 "2003-06-22T16:17:52Z")
Never even knew this story existed. Seems like a classic. Has anyone read it? [Superman: Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow?](http://www.411mania.com/comics/reviews/article.php?reviews_id=905) ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2003, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-man-of-tomorrow-by-alan-moore-worth-getting/183587/2 "2003-06-22T18:11:45Z")
It is the last pre-Crisis issues of Action Comics and Adventures of Superman. The end of an era of dreams and hopes. And this is how it starts: This is an imaginary story (which may never happen, but then again may) about a perfect man who came from the sky and did only good. It tells of his twilight, when the great battles were over and the great miracles long since performed; of how his enemies conspired against him and of that final war in the snowblind wastes beneath the Northern Lights; of the two women he loved and of the choice he made between them; and how finally all the things he had were taken from him save one. It ends with a wink. It begins in a quiet midwestern town, one summer afternoon in the quiet midwestern future. Away in the big city, people still sometimes glance up hopefully from the sidewalks, glimpsing a distant speck in the sky… but no: it’s only a bird, only a plane. Superman died ten years ago. This is an imaginary story… Aren’t they all? ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2003, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-man-of-tomorrow-by-alan-moore-worth-getting/183587/3 "2003-06-22T18:38:15Z")
Yes! Get it, get it now! It’s my favorite Superman story ever - great art and an insightful, touching story. If you can find it, there was a squarebound edition of it just a few years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2003, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-man-of-tomorrow-by-alan-moore-worth-getting/183587/4 "2003-06-22T19:10:01Z")
It’s the best-written Superman story ever. EVER. ---
**Author:** ![Muldoon\_s\_Squishiness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Muldoon\_s\_Squishiness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muldoon_s_Squishiness)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2003, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-man-of-tomorrow-by-alan-moore-worth-getting/183587/5 "2003-06-22T19:14:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Krokodil \* > \*\*It’s the best-written Superman story ever. EVER. \*\* I don’t know that I’d go quite **that** far, but it is quite good. I think it is going to be in a TP of Alan Moore’s non- Swamp Thing superhero stories for DC that is due to be published in August. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2003, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-man-of-tomorrow-by-alan-moore-worth-getting/183587/6 "2003-06-22T20:49:17Z")
Pretty freakin’ good. I’d buy the slim squarebound edition if possible, but the originals were Superman (now Adventures of Superman) #423 and Action Comics #583. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-man-of-tomorrow-by-alan-moore-worth-getting/183587/7 "2003-06-23T00:46:45Z")
If you have any affection for the Silver Age Superman, you need to buy this story. It gives a perfect closure to that incarnation of the hero. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-man-of-tomorrow-by-alan-moore-worth-getting/183587/8 "2003-06-23T01:48:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BogieBlanca \* > \*\*I don’t know that I’d go quite **that** far, but it is quite good. I think it is going to be in a TP of Alan Moore’s non- Swamp Thing superhero stories for DC that is due to be published in August. \*\* I don’t think it will be included in that volume. It is in its own self-contained mini TPB (I think they will do a new printing soon). It is incredible though. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-man-of-tomorrow-by-alan-moore-worth-getting/183587/9 "2003-06-23T01:50:53Z")
It’s a great story with art by Curt Swan, who is probably the _best_ Superman artist of the Silver and Bronze eras. ---
**Author:** ![MusicJunkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@MusicJunkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MusicJunkie)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-man-of-tomorrow-by-alan-moore-worth-getting/183587/10 "2003-06-23T03:43:57Z")
It’s great! The second best Superman story I ever read. Only loses to To The Man Who Had Everything that is also by Moore. ---
**Author:** ![cletus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@cletus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cletus)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-man-of-tomorrow-by-alan-moore-worth-getting/183587/11 "2003-06-23T07:33:15Z")
Could someone tell me more about ‘For the Man Who Had Everything’? It was alluded to in the link above too and I was curious about the storyline. A general synopsis or link would be much appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-man-of-tomorrow-by-alan-moore-worth-getting/183587/12 "2003-06-23T12:33:00Z")
I own it. It is the best treatment of Superman I ever read. ---
**Author:** ![Fibber\_McGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a6a055/32.png) [@Fibber\_McGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fibber_McGee)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-man-of-tomorrow-by-alan-moore-worth-getting/183587/13 "2003-06-23T13:10:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cletus \* > \*\*Could someone tell me more about ‘For the Man Who Had Everything’? It was alluded to in the link above too and I was curious about the storyline. A general synopsis or link would be much appreciated. \*\* This story is included in the really sweet TPB collection _The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told._ Sadly I cannot seem to locate my copy of it or _Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow_, both of which this thread has inspired me to reread. As I remember it, _For the Man Who Has Everything_ starts out on a note of pure pre-Crisis goofiness, with Supes in the Fortress of Solitude on his birthday, opening presents from fellow heroes. Things really get interesting when Supes opens a present from an old enemy. That’s all I’ll reveal about the story, save to say that it features one of the single coolest Superman moments in the history of comics. We so rarely see Superman get really angry and just let loose that when it happens it’s an event, with this story probably featuring the single finest example. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-man-of-tomorrow-by-alan-moore-worth-getting/183587/14 "2003-06-23T13:27:12Z")
For the Man Who Has Everything WILL be in the Moore volume that comes out this summer. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-man-of-tomorrow-by-alan-moore-worth-getting/183587/15 "2003-06-23T16:26:22Z")
I just got it myself about a month ago. I recommend almost everything by Alan Moore, and though this is no exception, it has the same flaw as most stories of its type. Too many events crammed into too short of a space. What If stories have great intentions but the sotries suffer when you can’t take the time to expand on your ideas. Still I recommend it, but only if you can find it for $5 or so like I did.