Franklin W. Stern is a fictional character

Fictional character

A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

 in the DC Comics

DC Comics

DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...

 universe. He first appeared in Superman: The Man of Steel #27 (November 1993), and was named after long time DC writer Roger Stern

Roger Stern

Roger Stern is an American comic book author and novelist.-Early career:In the early 1970s, Stern and Bob Layton published the fanzine CPL , one of the first platforms for the work of John Byrne...

.

Fictional character biography

Franklin Stern is the owner and publisher of the Daily Planet

Daily Planet

The Daily Planet is a fictional broadsheet newspaper in the , appearing mostly in the stories of Superman. The building's original features were based upon the AT&T Huron Road Building in Cleveland, Ohio...

newspaper

Newspaper

A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

, taking over from the TransNational Enterprises consortium which itself succeeded the villainous Lex Luthor

Lex Luthor

Lex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and the archenemy of Superman, although given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Created by Jerry Siegel and...

.

Stern is a long-time friend of the editor, Perry White

Perry White

Perry White is a fictional character who appears in the Superman comics. White is the Editor-in-Chief of the Metropolis newspaper the Daily Planet.White maintains very high ethical and journalistic standards...

, although they often disagree about politics. When falling profits force him to sell the newspaper, this allows Luthor to purchase it again, with dire consequences for the Planet and its staff. Shortly thereafter, the Planet is purchased by billionaire Bruce Wayne, who still owns the paper today.

At one point Stern dated the sister of Daily Planet reporter Ron Troupe

Ron Troupe

Ron Troupe is a fictional journalist, a supporting comic book character published by DC Comics. He debuted in Adventures of Superman #480 , and was created by Jerry Ordway and Tom Grummett.-Fictional character biography:...

, however the outcome of this relationship is not known.

Appearances in other media

Franklin Stern appears in the first season episode of the TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman was a live-action American television series based on the Superman comic books...

titled "The House of Luthor", where he buys out the Daily Planet. Stern is played by James Earl Jones

James Earl Jones

James Earl Jones is an American actor. He is well-known for his distinctive bass voice and for his portrayal of characters of substance, gravitas and leadership...

.

Franklin Stern appeared in Smallville

Smallville (TV series)

Smallville is an American television series developed by writers/producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar based on the DC Comics character Superman, originally created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The television series was initially broadcast by The WB Television Network , premiering on October...

's season nine episode "Charade", portrayed by Blu Mankuma

Blu Mankuma

Blu Mankuma is an American actor. He has appeared in numerous Canadian and American productions filmed in Canada.Mankuma was born in Seattle, Washington...

.