Superman and Robots

*Originally published on 9/22/09



Comic book crossovers are hit or miss. You have great ones like JLA/Avengers and bombs like Superman vs. Terminator. That particular mini-series didn't make a whole lot of sense for a variety of reasons. While the idea of Superman fighting an unstoppable android is cool in it's own right, you don't need to cross over with Terminator in order to do that. Superman has a whole plethora of "unstoppable android" villains in his rogues gallery to choose from.

The first one is Brainiac. He's an alien artificial intelligence from the planet Colu. His shtick is to go from planet to planet, gather all the information a planet has to offer, and then destroy it. He's gone through a multitude of incarnations over the years. He was the focus of a recent arc in Geoff Johns' run on Action Comics. When done right, he can be a great and pretty creepy villain. I consider him to be Superman's second greatest enemy behind Lex Luthor. If another Superman movie ever gets made, I hope that Brainiac is the villain. There were times when he could've made an appearance, but never did. Superman III was supposed to involve Brainiac, instead just going with a big computer. Before Superman Returns came out, many of the scripts written involved Brainiac. One of these days, he'll get to make his big screen debut.

Another robot villain is the Cyborg Superman. This was a character who emerged shortly after Superman died at the hands of Doomsday back in the early 90's. He claimed to be Superman for a while, but that cover was blown soon after. Cyborg Superman was originally a man named Hank Henshaw. Hank was an astronaut who was exposed to radiation from a solar flare. He's able to transfer his consciousness to a robot body. He blames Superman for this and vows revenge. Oddly enough, he's become more of a Green Lantern villain then a Superman villain, joining the Sinestro Corps and commanding his own army of Manhunters.

The Terminator crossover makes even less sense considering that Cyborg Superman actually appears in that comic. He sends information about Superman to the future so that they can adapt and fight Superman, essentially making them generic androids. Cyborg Superman could've fought Superman himself and gotten the same result.

Yet another robot villain is Metallo. The real name of Metallo is John Corben. Lex Luthor hires him to undergo a procedure that would make him more machine than man. What makes him such a deadly opponent is his kryptonite heart. Metallo puts it to good use and frequently weakens Superman with it.

There is yet another android character called the Eradicator. Like Cyborg Superman, this character appeared after Superman died. Unlike the others, Eradicator sometimes acts in a positive capacity. His programming dictates he preserve the Kryptonian way, mostly be eradicating others. He is also responsible for the creation of the Daxamites, beings similar to Kryptonians, only fatally allergic to lead.

Why fight one robot villain when you can fight four? OK, most of these act in very different capacities and the stories between villains are never the same, but at the same time, four android antagonists seems like it's a bit much. With this many robot enemies, you don't really need for Superman to battle the Terminator.