History ComicBook / SupermanAtEarthsEnd

-->-- '''Franchise/{{Superman}}''', while [[TalkToTheFist punching Ben Boxer in the gut with enough force to smash a hole through Ben]]

''Superman: At Earth's End'' is an Creator/{{Elseworlds}} one-shot from 1995, written by Tom Veitch and drawn by Frank Gomez.

It's the 22nd century. Earth has passed through ''two'' [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt apocalypses]] (one occurring in the predecessor, ''ComicBook/{{Kamandi}}: At Earth's End'' [[note]]a [[DarkerAndEdgier gritty reboot]] of a Creator/JackKirby character who lived in [[AfterTheEnd a post-apocalyptic Earth]][[/note]]). A group of [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul emotionless, logical]] {{cyborg}}s named the Biomech Sevens are overseeing Earth's return to greatness. For the last year, [[InNameOnly Superman]] has been regaining his lost strength in a hovering city, where he is able to receive the benefits of the sun's rays. While recuperating, he learns that [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Gotham City]] is next in line to be "cleansed", [[NukeEm via a nuclear bomb]]. It has been overrun with mutants and other such degenerates.

* BrokenAesop: Franchise/{{Superman}} loses (most of) his powers and has to rely on a gigantic machine gun to solve his problems. After using his gun to kill two Hitlers and a Batman zombie ([[ItMakesSenseInContext don't ask]]), he tells his allies (some little kids with guns) that he's dying. The little kids then bawl and say that guns killed Superman before throwing all of their guns into a bonfire. Of course, no one bothers to point out that guns also saved the kids from two Hitlers and a Batman zombie! Worse is the fact that Superman himself admitted that the only thing keeping all these kids alive in this AfterTheEnd [[CrapsackWorld GOTHAM]] was those guns.

* ApocalypseHitler: Superman blames the Hitlers for everything bad related to mankind. Though at a stretch, his wording seems to suggest he blames them for [[ForWantOfANail forcing the countries of the world to arm themselves to stop him, indirectly leading to the Cold War and eventually, the subsequent nuclear Holocaust]].

%% * AfterTheEnd: Two of them, in fact.

* ArtisticLicenceHistory: So there was no war before UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler became chancellor? Guess we can write out [[UsefulNotes/WarOf1812 the War of 1812]], [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution the Revolutionary War]], [[UsefulNotes/HundredYearsWar the Hundred Years War]], UsefulNotes/TheCrusades, [[UsefulNotes/PunicWars the Punic Wars]], UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne (in which he himself fought in the trenches before becoming Fuhrer), and countless others waged ''before'' 1933.[[YourMileageMayVary In all fairness, while there was war and bloodshed prior to WWII, each war afterwards ended up bloodier and bloodier (Korea, Vietnam and Bosnia come to mind.]]

* ArtisticLicenceHistory: So there was no war before UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler became chancellor? Guess we can write out [[UsefulNotes/WarOf1812 the War of 1812]], [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution the Revolutionary War]], [[UsefulNotes/HundredYearsWar the Hundred Years War]], UsefulNotes/TheCrusades, [[UsefulNotes/PunicWars the Punic Wars]], UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne (in which he himself fought in the trenches before becoming Fuhrer), and countless others waged ''before'' 1933.

->''"Of course! Don't you know anything about science?"''

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: In the scene where the twin Hitlers are revealed, we can see tubes bearing nameplates like "[[UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy J. Kennedy]]", "[[Music/ElvisPresley E. Presley]]", and "[[UsefulNotes/Albert Einstein A. Einstein]]"...and they passed all those guys over in favor of cloning Adolf Hitler... twice.

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: In the scene where the twin Hitlers are revealed, we can see tubes bearing nameplates like "[[UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy J. Kennedy]]", "[[Music/ElvisPresley E. Presley]]", and "[[ComicBook/LexLuthor L. Luthor]]"...and they passed all those guys over in favor of cloning Adolf Hitler... twice.

* BrokenAesop: Franchise/{{Superman}} loses (most of) his powers and has to rely on a gigantic machine gun to solve his problems. After using his gun to kill two Hitlers and a Batman zombie ([[ItMakesSenseInContext don't ask]]) he tells his allies (some little kids with guns) that he's dying. The little kids then bawl and say that guns killed Superman before throwing all of their guns into a bonfire. Of course, no one bothers to point out that guns also saved the kids from two Hitlers and a Batman zombie! Worse is the fact that Superman himself admitted that the only thing keeping all these kids alive in this AfterTheEnd [[CrapsackWorld GOTHAM]] was those guns.

* StealthParody: Possibly. The entire comic may be a TakeThat to those who thought Superman was lame because he didn't follow the [[NinetiesAntiHero '90s fashion]], something like "You wanted a thoughtless, gun-toting, psychotic and needlessly brutal Superman? Here it is! Ridiculous, isn't it?". Though that theory doesn't explain its "predecessor", ''ComicBook/{{Kamandi}}: At Earth's End''.

''Superman: At Earth's End'' is an {{Elseworld}}s one-shot from 1995, written by Tom Veitch and drawn by Frank Gomez.

* BadassBeard: Gomez attempts to invoke this by giving Superman a huge white beard. Instead of looking badass, however, it makes Supes look like a Santa Claus clone. This resulted in the [[FanNickname Fan Nicknames]] of "Super Santa Claus" and [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall "Bearded Idiot"]].

* StealthParody: Possibly. The entire comic may be a TakeThat to those who thought Superman was lame because he didn't follow the [[NinetiesAntiHero '90s fashion]], something like "You wanted a thoughtless, gun-toting, psychotic and needlessly brutal Superman? Here it is!". Though that theory doesn't explain its "predecessor", ''ComicBook/{{Kamandi}}: At Earth's End''.

* InMediaRes: The very first panel shows an elderly Superman aboard an aircraft, being restrained by armed soldiers as he shouts, "You can't nuke Gotham City!". Well, you can't say they wasted time setting the tone.

* BadassBeard: Gomez attempts to invoke this by giving Superman a huge white beard. Instead of looking badass, however, it makes Supes look like a Santa Claus clone. This resulted in the FanNickname of "Super Santa Claus" and [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall "Bearded Idiot"]].

* BadassBeard: Gomez attempts to invoke this by giving Superman a huge white beard. Instead of looking badass, however, it makes Supes look like a Santa Claus clone. This resulted in the FanNickname of "Super Santa Claus".

%% * CrapsackWorld: The world has already gone through two apocalypses. It's not a very nice place to live.

%%* ElaborateUndergroundBase
%% * EliteZombie: The Zombie Batman which is unleashed upon Superman.

%% * GoodIsOldFashioned: Ben Boxer's thoughts.

%%* GunPorn
%% * HalfHumanHybrids: [[BatOutOfHell Batclones.]]
%% * HollywoodScience: "Of course, don't you know anything about science?"

%% * MoreDakka: The Expunger is a massive fully automatic weapon.