The Last Days of Krypton

I’ve always considered Julius Schwartz, or “Julie,” as his friends called him, to be Superman’s “fairy godfather.” He worked for DC Comics for forty-two years and edited the line of Superman comics from 1971 through 1985, and after that he was a fixture at many conventions and gatherings. Years ago he gave me a gold Superman “S” pin at the San Diego Comic Con, and then when he saw me again months later he scolded me severely for not wearing it. I certainly learned my lesson, and I made a point of wearing that gold pin at every convention where our paths crossed (and he made a point of tracking me down to make sure I was). Julie died in 2004. Since I can’t give him a signed copy of
The Last Days of Krypton
, I can at least put his name here. Thanks for everything, Julie!

FOREWORD

Science fiction fandom began in
the 1930s, and two such fans were Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the former a writer, the latter an artist. From their singular passion came the ultimate science fiction creation, Superman,
that strange visitor from another planet who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond…
No reason to continue; you know the rest.
Everyone
knows the rest.

Superman was born out of a love for science fiction, so it should be no surprise that the story of Krypton, Superman’s doomed home planet, would be trusted to Kevin J. Anderson, one of the best science fiction writers working today.

Kevin was given a task as daunting as any of Superman’s legendary deeds. He had to put together a history of a world that over the past sixty-eight years has had countless conflicting stories created for it. Did Krypton die of an earthquake? Or did a comet hit it? Or maybe the sun went nova and destroyed it in its burning wake? What were Krypton’s people like? Were they benevolent, self-indulgent, emotionless, or loving? And what about Brainiac…what about Argo City…what about…what about…?

These are questions that have been asked and answered by millions of fans many, many times.

But now it is time for a new story that brings those diverse histories together, yet forges its own path. We all know Krypton’s outcome, but Kevin gives us a new, thrilling tale unlike any we’ve seen before. It is both familiar and surprising.

Re-creating a rich, real, complex history out of such convoluted lack of continuity is an undertaking I would never have wanted to do. But Kevin did and succeeded, and he has now given us a history of a world most of us grew up knowing and caring for. And somehow, with that same flash of inspiration Siegel and Shuster showed when they created Superman all those years ago, he has put it all together in an extremely fast-paced book that has
something
for every fan of Superman, no matter which era they love, which Krypton they grew up with, which Superman they idolize.

—Marv Wolfman, author of
Crisis on Infinite Earths,
writer/creator of
New Teen Titans
and
Blade the Vampire Hunter

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