Superman For All Seasons
Encyclopedia
Superman for All Seasons was a 4-issue comic book
limited series
written by Jeph Loeb
with art by Tim Sale
, and was originally published by DC Comics
in 1998. This was made hot off the heels from their previous success, Batman: The Long Halloween
, and as that Batman
-story dealt with holidays as the theme, this story's theme dealt with seasons. The artwork contains many influences from that of Norman Rockwell
. The story also parallels the events from Superman's then-origin story John Byrne's The Man of Steel, though it can be read on its own.
/Tim Sale
books from DC Comics
and rival Marvel Comics
, as a stand alone, self-contained story that gave a sense of the character of Superman
and his supporting cast. Not an origin, but picking up on who the character is and how he came to be. The important part of the project, like many others, was to show the hero in a light so that the reader cared about him.
As explained by Loeb, one of the things that he wanted to capture was the grandeur that is Superman, and that was to have double-page spreads with big sky shots. With Sale and Bjarne Hansen
on the art and colors, everyone was speechless once Loeb saw the pages, and those same pages came in the office of DC. One of the biggest examples was the end to the first issue, with Clark Kent
and Pa Kent looking out at a sunset from their farm. The shot was two pages long.
Perhaps the most important, and the key, to the series was the narration. Originally, Loeb never intended to have a narrator, but he knew he didn't want Superman to narrate from his point of view. As he explained; "I didn't feel comfortable being inside the head of an icon." So it was decided to have others narrate and give their point of view on Superman, rather than Superman on himself. Pa Kent gave his life as a father to a super-powered son, while not knowing what lay ahead of Clark, had confidence that his son would be all right. This in turn, came from Loeb himself as the father to his son, Sam Loeb
. Lois Lane
was the impact of Superman's presence and on the idea of Superman in general, Lex Luthor
was about how his rivalry with Superman was like a love story between him and Metropolis
, and Lana Lang
finally gave and explained the heroism of both Clark and Superman.
" or "the Man of Steel", among others, Clark Kent
was a farmer's son. After dinner, Lana Lang
asks Clark what seems to be wrong, he replies it is nothing. Afterwards, the Kents discuss their son, with Pa Kent revealing he is afraid over what Clark could become because of his growing powers. They don't think Clark could hear them, but in his room, Clark hears every word. After school, Lana, Clark, and Pete Ross
go to a store until Clark remembers his haircut appointment. When he is there, he realizes he can see through the wall, and his hair makes a barber's scissors break apart. A tornado strikes Smallville, and Clark helps out by saving a man before the gas station he is in explodes. Afterwards, Clark wonders if he could have done more. Talking to a pastor, the one question he asks him is if one man could do more. After graduation, Clark finally reveals to Lana that he can fly. In talking that he wants to help people with these powers, Lana tells him that he must leave Smallville, and then they kiss. Dressed up, Clark says goodbye to his parents before leaving to go to Metropolis
. Getting a job with the Daily Planet
, having a crush with reporter Lois Lane
, and wearing the costume his mother made, Clark makes headlines as Superman. In his building, Lex Luthor
knows it is going to be a "long, hot summer".
, she makes a point that the rules that made her a newspaperwoman went out the window the day Superman appeared. Superman stops a nuclear missile from hitting the city, then single-handedly delivers the submarine which fired it to the armed forces. He threatened the man whose company manufactured the two: Lex Luthor. Then, Lois is threatened at gunpoint by one of the terrorists of the submarine. Superman quickly ends the situation, and takes Lois back to the Planet. In his apartment, Clark begins to feel lonely, so he goes back to Smallville to have dinner with his parents. Meeting with Pete again, and being congratulated by friends for becoming a reporter in Metropolis, he is disappointed that Lana had left some time before. He feels out of place, and sad that Smallville is different, but Ma Kent points out that it is all part of growing up. Back in Metropolis, a factory explodes and Luthor's "Guardians of the Sky" men in exosuits arrive to stop it. Superman arrives, and notices that the exosuits forgot about a woman trapped inside. He saves the woman and puts out the fire single-handedly. Later, Luthor meets the woman whom Superman saved, Miss Vaughn, who is obsessed with Superman, for his own plans.
, he considers his story to be a love story, between a man and his city. His revenge starts after a night in jail. Miss Vaughn is part of his plan; drugging her so she can see nonstop images of Superman. Lois checks around Clark's desk and finds his notes with "L.L." on them. She wonders if they mean "Lois Lane", but Clark comes up behind her and reveals "Lana Lang". The Daily Planet is so gassed, with Lois and many others experiencing rapid pulse and high fever. Changing into Superman, he finds a train about to have an accident and he stops it. Then, he tells Prof. Crosby that the only person who could help is Luthor. Confronting him, he asks Luthor for help, when he reveals his "hope" in the form of Toxin; Miss Vaughn. With no choice, he helps Toxin with the antidote by spreading it into the clouds so it can pass on through the rain; everyone is cured. But Toxin dies unexpectedly when they return to LexCorp
. Through his words, Luthor makes Superman believe that it is him who caused Toxin's death and Clark returns home to Smallville.
, she reveals she wanted to marry the boy next door, and become Mrs. Lana Lang Kent. But it was when she found out what he could do, that it felt like her dreams crashed down. In Metropolis, Lex feels that Superman being gone is exactly "what it should be", while Lois starts to think of something that becomes dismissed because it is stupid: Clark IS Superman. Clark and Lana have a good time together and meeting back with Pete, who mentions to Clark and Lana how wrong it is that they are not moving on. The Kents and Lana have dinner when news comes in of a flood. When Lana mentions how they still have a man who can "change the course of mighty rivers", Ma and Pa Kent are shocked to learn that she "knows". Over a father-son talk, Clark mentions that he thought he could but that he can't do anything, but Pa Kent has him learn that he has limits and that he has to live with that. The next day, Pa and Clark Kent (wearing his Superman costume) go out to help the town against the flood. Before leaving, Lana makes it clear that even though her dreams were "yanked away", the boy she knew is still under Superman's costume. As townspeople watch, Superman saves the day for all places of Smallville such as fixing a damaged dam with just trees and boulders. Lana and the Kents get themselves into an accident, and almost drown, until Superman arrives. He goes out again to save his father, and once more to save their family dog. The night later, the words of Smallville's pastor, that the seasons may be grim but help us with the future, makes the townspeople happy, including Clark. Back in Metropolis with his article on the front page, Superman wants one of Luthor's exosuits to send Luthor a message: he's back. He saves a kid he had saved before, who introduces himself as Trevor, though people call him "Trev". Superman replies that "folks call me Superman".
:
took the best elements from Richard Donner
's Superman: The Movie onto the modern Superman mythos (this was before DC's One Year Later
Superman stories that would contain all the elements from the Richard Donner/Bryan Singer
Superman films such as Up, Up & Away!
and Last Son
) was done in a very good way. Comic Geek Speak, a comic book and any fan-related fan podcast
site, had Superman For All Seasons as one of their Book of the Month episodes.
/Superman
from For All Seasons has reappeared three times after the series ended. The first time was in a Tim Sale
-focused issue of the short-lived Solo comic book
series. The story titled "Prom Night", which returned Sale with writer Jeph Loeb
, focused on Clark picking up Lana Lang
as his prom date. The second time, also with Loeb & Sale, was a short story from Superman/Batman
: Secret Files & Origins 2003 titled "When Clark Met Bruce", depicting the first meeting of Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent
as young boys in Smallville
. The third was in a short story found in the twenty-sixth issue of Superman/Batman
titled "Sam's Story", where Superman recounts his friend from high school who died of cancer when he was very young. The "Sam" character is based on Jeph Loeb's son, also named Sam
, who died from the same illness.
. Jeph Loeb even served as the writer and executive producer on the show.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
limited series
Limited series
A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
written by Jeph Loeb
Jeph Loeb
Joseph "Jeph" Loeb III is an American film and television writer, producer and award-winning comic book writer. Loeb was a producer/writer on the TV series Smallville and Lost, writer for the films Commando and Teen Wolf and was a writer and Co-Executive Producer on the NBC TV show Heroes from its...
with art by Tim Sale
Tim Sale (artist)
Tim Sale is an American Eisner Award-winning comic book artist. He is primarily known for his collaborations with writer Jeph Loeb.-Early life:...
, and was originally published by 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...
in 1998. This was made hot off the heels from their previous success, Batman: The Long Halloween
Batman: The Long Halloween
Batman: The Long Halloween is a 13-issue comic book limited series written by Jeph Loeb with art by Tim Sale. It was originally published by DC Comics in 1996 and 1997. It was inspired by the three Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Specials by the same creative team...
, and as that Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
-story dealt with holidays as the theme, this story's theme dealt with seasons. The artwork contains many influences from that of Norman Rockwell
Norman Rockwell
Norman Percevel Rockwell was a 20th-century American painter and illustrator. His works enjoy a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of American culture. Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening...
. The story also parallels the events from Superman's then-origin story John Byrne's The Man of Steel, though it can be read on its own.
Publication history
Superman For All Seasons was conceived, like all of the Jeph LoebJeph Loeb
Joseph "Jeph" Loeb III is an American film and television writer, producer and award-winning comic book writer. Loeb was a producer/writer on the TV series Smallville and Lost, writer for the films Commando and Teen Wolf and was a writer and Co-Executive Producer on the NBC TV show Heroes from its...
/Tim Sale
Tim Sale (artist)
Tim Sale is an American Eisner Award-winning comic book artist. He is primarily known for his collaborations with writer Jeph Loeb.-Early life:...
books from 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...
and rival Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
, as a stand alone, self-contained story that gave a sense of the character of Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
and his supporting cast. Not an origin, but picking up on who the character is and how he came to be. The important part of the project, like many others, was to show the hero in a light so that the reader cared about him.
As explained by Loeb, one of the things that he wanted to capture was the grandeur that is Superman, and that was to have double-page spreads with big sky shots. With Sale and Bjarne Hansen
Bjarne Hansen
Bjarne Hansen is an artist who has worked as a colorist in the comics industry. He was the colorist for Superman for All Seasons, and was nominated for a Wizard Fan Award in 1998.-Bibliography:Comics work includes:...
on the art and colors, everyone was speechless once Loeb saw the pages, and those same pages came in the office of DC. One of the biggest examples was the end to the first issue, with Clark Kent
Clark Kent
Clark Kent is a fictional character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Appearing regularly in stories published by DC Comics, he debuted in Action Comics #1 and serves as the civilian and secret identity of the superhero Superman....
and Pa Kent looking out at a sunset from their farm. The shot was two pages long.
Perhaps the most important, and the key, to the series was the narration. Originally, Loeb never intended to have a narrator, but he knew he didn't want Superman to narrate from his point of view. As he explained; "I didn't feel comfortable being inside the head of an icon." So it was decided to have others narrate and give their point of view on Superman, rather than Superman on himself. Pa Kent gave his life as a father to a super-powered son, while not knowing what lay ahead of Clark, had confidence that his son would be all right. This in turn, came from Loeb himself as the father to his son, Sam Loeb
Sam Loeb
Sam Loeb, born Joseph Loeb IV, was the son of comic book writer Jeph Loeb.His first and only completely written work was Tales of the Vampires: Some Like it Hot for Dark Horse Comics which was drawn by Tim Sale....
. Lois Lane
Lois Lane
Lois Lane is a fictional character, the primary love interest of Superman in the comic books of DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in Action Comics #1 ....
was the impact of Superman's presence and on the idea of Superman in general, 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...
was about how his rivalry with Superman was like a love story between him and Metropolis
Metropolis (comics)
Metropolis is a fictional city that appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and is the home of Superman. Metropolis first appeared by name in Action Comics #16 ....
, and Lana Lang
Lana Lang
Lana Lang is a fictional supporting character in DC Comics' Superman series. Created by writer Bill Finger and artist John Sikela, the character first appears in Superboy #10...
finally gave and explained the heroism of both Clark and Superman.
Spring
Narrated by Clark's father, Jonathan Kent, he makes a point that before he was "SupermanSuperman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
" or "the Man of Steel", among others, Clark Kent
Clark Kent
Clark Kent is a fictional character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Appearing regularly in stories published by DC Comics, he debuted in Action Comics #1 and serves as the civilian and secret identity of the superhero Superman....
was a farmer's son. After dinner, Lana Lang
Lana Lang
Lana Lang is a fictional supporting character in DC Comics' Superman series. Created by writer Bill Finger and artist John Sikela, the character first appears in Superboy #10...
asks Clark what seems to be wrong, he replies it is nothing. Afterwards, the Kents discuss their son, with Pa Kent revealing he is afraid over what Clark could become because of his growing powers. They don't think Clark could hear them, but in his room, Clark hears every word. After school, Lana, Clark, and Pete Ross
Pete Ross
Peter Joseph "Pete" Ross is a fictional character who appears in the Superman comic books published by DC Comics. He was introduced in Superboy #86 .-Pre-Crisis:...
go to a store until Clark remembers his haircut appointment. When he is there, he realizes he can see through the wall, and his hair makes a barber's scissors break apart. A tornado strikes Smallville, and Clark helps out by saving a man before the gas station he is in explodes. Afterwards, Clark wonders if he could have done more. Talking to a pastor, the one question he asks him is if one man could do more. After graduation, Clark finally reveals to Lana that he can fly. In talking that he wants to help people with these powers, Lana tells him that he must leave Smallville, and then they kiss. Dressed up, Clark says goodbye to his parents before leaving to go to Metropolis
Metropolis (comics)
Metropolis is a fictional city that appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and is the home of Superman. Metropolis first appeared by name in Action Comics #16 ....
. Getting a job with 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...
, having a crush with reporter Lois Lane
Lois Lane
Lois Lane is a fictional character, the primary love interest of Superman in the comic books of DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in Action Comics #1 ....
, and wearing the costume his mother made, Clark makes headlines as Superman. In his building, 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...
knows it is going to be a "long, hot summer".
Summer
Narrated by Lois LaneLois Lane
Lois Lane is a fictional character, the primary love interest of Superman in the comic books of DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in Action Comics #1 ....
, she makes a point that the rules that made her a newspaperwoman went out the window the day Superman appeared. Superman stops a nuclear missile from hitting the city, then single-handedly delivers the submarine which fired it to the armed forces. He threatened the man whose company manufactured the two: Lex Luthor. Then, Lois is threatened at gunpoint by one of the terrorists of the submarine. Superman quickly ends the situation, and takes Lois back to the Planet. In his apartment, Clark begins to feel lonely, so he goes back to Smallville to have dinner with his parents. Meeting with Pete again, and being congratulated by friends for becoming a reporter in Metropolis, he is disappointed that Lana had left some time before. He feels out of place, and sad that Smallville is different, but Ma Kent points out that it is all part of growing up. Back in Metropolis, a factory explodes and Luthor's "Guardians of the Sky" men in exosuits arrive to stop it. Superman arrives, and notices that the exosuits forgot about a woman trapped inside. He saves the woman and puts out the fire single-handedly. Later, Luthor meets the woman whom Superman saved, Miss Vaughn, who is obsessed with Superman, for his own plans.
Fall
Narrated by Lex LuthorLex 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...
, he considers his story to be a love story, between a man and his city. His revenge starts after a night in jail. Miss Vaughn is part of his plan; drugging her so she can see nonstop images of Superman. Lois checks around Clark's desk and finds his notes with "L.L." on them. She wonders if they mean "Lois Lane", but Clark comes up behind her and reveals "Lana Lang". The Daily Planet is so gassed, with Lois and many others experiencing rapid pulse and high fever. Changing into Superman, he finds a train about to have an accident and he stops it. Then, he tells Prof. Crosby that the only person who could help is Luthor. Confronting him, he asks Luthor for help, when he reveals his "hope" in the form of Toxin; Miss Vaughn. With no choice, he helps Toxin with the antidote by spreading it into the clouds so it can pass on through the rain; everyone is cured. But Toxin dies unexpectedly when they return to LexCorp
LexCorp
LexCorp is the fictional company founded by Lex Luthor in the popular DC Comics Superman series. It made its first proper appearance in John Byrne's The Man of Steel miniseries, which established the post-Crisis Superman setting...
. Through his words, Luthor makes Superman believe that it is him who caused Toxin's death and Clark returns home to Smallville.
Winter
Narrated by Lana LangLana Lang
Lana Lang is a fictional supporting character in DC Comics' Superman series. Created by writer Bill Finger and artist John Sikela, the character first appears in Superboy #10...
, she reveals she wanted to marry the boy next door, and become Mrs. Lana Lang Kent. But it was when she found out what he could do, that it felt like her dreams crashed down. In Metropolis, Lex feels that Superman being gone is exactly "what it should be", while Lois starts to think of something that becomes dismissed because it is stupid: Clark IS Superman. Clark and Lana have a good time together and meeting back with Pete, who mentions to Clark and Lana how wrong it is that they are not moving on. The Kents and Lana have dinner when news comes in of a flood. When Lana mentions how they still have a man who can "change the course of mighty rivers", Ma and Pa Kent are shocked to learn that she "knows". Over a father-son talk, Clark mentions that he thought he could but that he can't do anything, but Pa Kent has him learn that he has limits and that he has to live with that. The next day, Pa and Clark Kent (wearing his Superman costume) go out to help the town against the flood. Before leaving, Lana makes it clear that even though her dreams were "yanked away", the boy she knew is still under Superman's costume. As townspeople watch, Superman saves the day for all places of Smallville such as fixing a damaged dam with just trees and boulders. Lana and the Kents get themselves into an accident, and almost drown, until Superman arrives. He goes out again to save his father, and once more to save their family dog. The night later, the words of Smallville's pastor, that the seasons may be grim but help us with the future, makes the townspeople happy, including Clark. Back in Metropolis with his article on the front page, Superman wants one of Luthor's exosuits to send Luthor a message: he's back. He saves a kid he had saved before, who introduces himself as Trevor, though people call him "Trev". Superman replies that "folks call me Superman".
Collected editions
The series has been collected into an individual volumeTrade paperback (comics)
In comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...
:
- Superman for All Seasons (206 pages, hardcover, ISBN 1-56389-528-5, softcover, ISBN 1-56389-529-3)
Reception
Superman For All Seasons was highly praised by fans and critics. Readers found that it was the themes and messages from the writing and art that really hit it home. One of its examples was its great metaphor for the coming-of-age, the end of childhood and the acceptance of your place in the world. People also found how Jeph LoebJeph Loeb
Joseph "Jeph" Loeb III is an American film and television writer, producer and award-winning comic book writer. Loeb was a producer/writer on the TV series Smallville and Lost, writer for the films Commando and Teen Wolf and was a writer and Co-Executive Producer on the NBC TV show Heroes from its...
took the best elements from Richard Donner
Richard Donner
Richard Donner is an American film director, film producer, and comic book writer.The production company The Donners' Company is owned by Donner and his wife, producer Lauren Shuler Donner. After directing the horror film The Omen, Donner became famous for the hailed creation of the first modern...
's Superman: The Movie onto the modern Superman mythos (this was before DC's One Year Later
One Year Later
"One Year Later" was a 2006 storyline event running through the DC Universe. As the title suggests, it involves a narrative jump exactly one year into the future of the DC Comics Universe following the events of the Infinite Crisis event, to explore major changes within the continuities of the many...
Superman stories that would contain all the elements from the Richard Donner/Bryan Singer
Bryan Singer
Bryan Singer is an American film director and film producer. Singer won critical acclaim for his work on The Usual Suspects, and is especially well-known among fans of the science fiction and superhero genres for his work on the X-Men films and Superman Returns.-Early life:Singer was born in New...
Superman films such as Up, Up & Away!
Superman: Up, Up and Away!
"Up, Up and Away!" is an eight-issue Superman story arc written by Geoff Johns and Kurt Busiek with art by Pete Woods.It was originally published in Action Comics #837-840 and Superman #650-653 by DC Comics from May through August 2006...
and Last Son
Superman: Last Son
"Last Son" is a five-issue comic book story arc featuring Superman in the monthly Action Comics. It is written by Geoff Johns and Richard Donner, the director of the well-known 1978 film Superman: The Movie and a portion of Superman II, with pencils by Adam Kubert...
) was done in a very good way. Comic Geek Speak, a comic book and any fan-related fan podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
site, had Superman For All Seasons as one of their Book of the Month episodes.
Continuations
The Clark KentClark Kent
Clark Kent is a fictional character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Appearing regularly in stories published by DC Comics, he debuted in Action Comics #1 and serves as the civilian and secret identity of the superhero Superman....
/Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
from For All Seasons has reappeared three times after the series ended. The first time was in a Tim Sale
Tim Sale (artist)
Tim Sale is an American Eisner Award-winning comic book artist. He is primarily known for his collaborations with writer Jeph Loeb.-Early life:...
-focused issue of the short-lived Solo comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series. The story titled "Prom Night", which returned Sale with writer Jeph Loeb
Jeph Loeb
Joseph "Jeph" Loeb III is an American film and television writer, producer and award-winning comic book writer. Loeb was a producer/writer on the TV series Smallville and Lost, writer for the films Commando and Teen Wolf and was a writer and Co-Executive Producer on the NBC TV show Heroes from its...
, focused on Clark picking up Lana Lang
Lana Lang
Lana Lang is a fictional supporting character in DC Comics' Superman series. Created by writer Bill Finger and artist John Sikela, the character first appears in Superboy #10...
as his prom date. The second time, also with Loeb & Sale, was a short story from Superman/Batman
Superman/Batman
Superman/Batman was a monthly comic book series published by DC Comics that features the publisher's two most popular characters: Batman and Superman...
: Secret Files & Origins 2003 titled "When Clark Met Bruce", depicting the first meeting of Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent
Clark Kent
Clark Kent is a fictional character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Appearing regularly in stories published by DC Comics, he debuted in Action Comics #1 and serves as the civilian and secret identity of the superhero Superman....
as young boys in Smallville
Smallville
Smallville is the hometown of Superman in comic books published by DC Comics. While growing up in Smallville, the young Clark Kent attended Smallville High with best friends Lana Lang, Chloe Sullivan and Pete Ross...
. The third was in a short story found in the twenty-sixth issue of Superman/Batman
Superman/Batman
Superman/Batman was a monthly comic book series published by DC Comics that features the publisher's two most popular characters: Batman and Superman...
titled "Sam's Story", where Superman recounts his friend from high school who died of cancer when he was very young. The "Sam" character is based on Jeph Loeb's son, also named Sam
Sam Loeb
Sam Loeb, born Joseph Loeb IV, was the son of comic book writer Jeph Loeb.His first and only completely written work was Tales of the Vampires: Some Like it Hot for Dark Horse Comics which was drawn by Tim Sale....
, who died from the same illness.
In other media
Described as the catalyst by DC Comics; the mini-series was even used as the inspiration for the television series SmallvilleSmallville
Smallville is the hometown of Superman in comic books published by DC Comics. While growing up in Smallville, the young Clark Kent attended Smallville High with best friends Lana Lang, Chloe Sullivan and Pete Ross...
. Jeph Loeb even served as the writer and executive producer on the show.