The Day the Cheering Stopped is a Superman storyline published in Superman (1939) Annual #10 (November 1984). It was one of the last stories crafted by Superman's legendary creative team Elliot S! Maggin and Curt Swan.
In the dawn of Creation, a strange sword-like object was forged. Since then, it has soared through the galaxy aimlessly. Countless alien cultures have told legends about it, and billions of treasure-hunters have tried and failed to claim it.
In the present day, King Kosmos, an old Superman's enemy, takes over the body of rich industrialist Oswald Mandias. Quickly, King Kosmos uses his mental powers to make people see Superman as an alien monster, simultaneously using Mandias' money and influence to rally the Earth people against the alien threat.
Superman cannot effectively fight King Kosmos while defending himself of the people whom he sworn to protect. Nonetheless, an unexpected and surprising ally comes to his aid as the Sword of Superman claims its rightful wielder at last.
Tropes:
- Aliens Speaking English: Subverted in the epilogue, which shows a royal banquet in a faraway alien world. The narrator specifically states the aliens are speaking a language no Earth person has ever heard.
- Alliterative Name: The main villain is called King Kosmos.
- Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Defied. After beating King Kosmos, Superman feels the Sword's power seeping into him and changing him into a god. Unwilling to lose his humanity, Superman halts the transformation and releases the Sword back into the cosmos.
- Big Bad: King Kosmos uses his mental powers to make people forget about Superman.
- Body Horror: When the power of the Sword begins flooding Superman, his skin starts cracking, making him look like a human jigsaw.
- Bound and Gagged: Superman finds Jimmy Olsen tied to a chair and gagged in Oswald Mandias' private boat.
- Bring It: When Superman ruins his master plan, King Kosmos grumbles that he only intended to humiliate Kal-El, but now he is going to kill him. Superman unflappably challenges him to try.Superman: "You want to be rid of me, Kosmos? Come and get me!"
- Brought to You by the Letter "S": According to this story, Superman's "S"-symbol is very ancient. Jonathan Kent believed he came up with it in a weird dream, but it is nearly as old as the universe itself.
- Complexity Addiction: Industrialist Oswald Mandias reveals Jimmy Olsen that he intends to stow himself away in a shuttle, in order to make some sort of grand announcement about his television empire. Then he kidnaps the young reporter so Jimmy cannot tell anybody about his ploy before it is all over... a goal he could have accomplished by making Jimmy sign some sort of temporary non-disclosure agreement prior to their interview.
- Cool Sword: The Sword of Superman is a short double-edged orange broadsword forged at the dawn of the universe. It can grant its wielder godlike knowledge and power.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Downplayed. Industrialist Oswald Mandias certainly seems to think he can get away with breaking several laws in a public way, what with kidnapping a journalist for two days and stowing himself away in a government shuttle. However, holding Jimmy against his will for one couple of days is the most objectionable thing Oswald does, Jimmy is apparently not hurt during his kidnapping, and he himself claims Oswald fully intended to release him unharmed.
- Cruel Mercy: King Kosmos intended to leave Superman alive to see Earth people forgetting his memory and starting to hate aliens. Since his plan fails, Kosmos decides to simply kill him.King Kosmos: "I would only have destroyed morally, Kryptonian... But now I will kill you!"
- Curb-Stomp Battle: When two mooks try to stop Superman from rescuing Jimmy Olsen, Superman simply ignores their guns and tosses both men off the boat and into the waters.
- Deader than Dead: After King Kosmos' energy body is removed from his host, his essence is dispersed in the atmosphere.
- Demonic Possession: King Kosmos, turned into an energy being, takes over an industrialist called Oswald Mandias and uses his host's money and influence to turn the Earth people against Superman.
- Empathic Weapon: The Sword of Superman avoids every attempt to capture it during billions of years until it is needed by Superman; whereupon it heads towards Earth and leaps into his right hand.
- Forged by the Gods: One of the theories regarding the origin of the Sword of Superman is that it was forged by divine will.
- Friendship Moment: No one seems overly worried about Jimmy Olsen being missing for two days…except for Superman, who sets out to find his buddy as soon as he hears about his disappearance.
- Hate Plague: King Kosmos brainwashes Earth people into fearing and hating aliens, including heroes like Superman or Supergirl.
- Heroes Prefer Swords: Subverted. After using the Sword to defeat King Kosmos, Superman throws it away, afraid of losing his humanity by claiming its power. Ironically, by doing so, he proved he was its rightful owner.
- Human Aliens: The alien world shown in the distant epilogue is inhabited by a sapient race visually indistinguishable from Earth humans.
- Kirby Dots: In the cover illustrated by Eduardo Barreto, masses of large black dots burst out of the Sword of Superman to show off its power.
- Legendary Weapon: The Sword of Superman is an inconceivably old, sentient weapon which has zipped across the galaxy for eons, waiting for its rightful wielder calling it and claiming its power. Countless alien races have told stories about the Sword from time immemorial, and countless treasure-hunters have failed to catch it.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Although the Sword of Superman seems mystical, the nature of its origin is kept deliberately ambiguous. Nobody knows whether its creation was by divine design or strange happenstance....And one piece of primeval matter formed in the Great Creation that through some quirk of blind chance— or some miraculous circumstance...took a shape that one day became not that of an undefined piece of molten sludge... But through the foundry of space and the temperance of time— untouched by living hands— took the form of a sword...and came to be known— through that selfsame quirk or miracle— in millions of languages across the stars as... the Sword of Superman!
- My God, What Have I Done?: When King Kosmos' mental manipulations are broken, Jimmy Olsen becomes horrified upon realizing that they have been manipulated into turning on Superman.
- No Man Should Have This Power: After beating King Kosmos, Superman feels the sword's incredible power and realizes that it will make him an all-powerful protector. However, he decides he doesn't want so much power and throws it into space. A voice (implied to be the voice of God) tells him he did the right thing.
- Only the Chosen May Wield: Billions of treasure-hunters attempted to seize the Sword of Superman throughout eons, but neither of them managed to even touch it. However, when Superman was in trouble, the Sword came to him and granted him its power. In the aftermath of the battle, Superman throws the Sword back into space, and there it will remain until the Man of Steel needs it again.
- Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: Before dumping Mandias' guards into the sea, Superman makes clear he does not care for whatever they have to say.Superman: "I could ask you toadies where my friend is— but my X-Ray vision already told me that! And I could ask you where your boss is, but I don't much care... So why don't you just blow off—?"
- Secret Test of Character: Unwilling to lose his humanity, Superman casts the Sword back into space. Then he is said he has made the right choice, and he has proved he is the Sword's rightful bearer.Storyteller: "So now, rather than a sword, a sword's hilt tumbles among the stars— untouched by any living thing... until the one who earned it, by not using it, chooses to retrieve it— or join it on its flight to eternity!"
- Shooting Superman: Oswald Mandias' guards shoot Superman when he barges into his employer's boat to rescue Jimmy.
- Shout-Out: At one point, Superman reads a book on legends of the King Arthur.
- Spanner in the Works: King Kosmos spends months planning how to take Superman down, and his plan fails because he did not count on a sentient, empathic weapon showing up and strengthening Superman.Superman: (thinking) "There's one factor Kosmos didn't figure into his little equation when he sent the force of his spirit to meet me here and plotted to rule the Earth! And that factor was— THIS!"
- Sword of Plot Advancement: Superman is given a legendary, ancient sword so he can defeat King Kosmos for good.
- Talk to the Fist: While King Kosmos is complaining that his calculations did not account for a mysterious alien weapon strengthening Superman, the Man of Steel cracks his jaw.
- There Was a Door: Superman does not waste time when his X-Ray Vision locates Jimmy Olsen tied up and gagged inside a private yacht. Instead of going down an entryway swiftly, he smashes his way through the ship's hull.
- Thou Shalt Not Kill: Superman is worried about using the Sword to fight King Kosmos because it would surely kill his host.
- Translation Convention: In the final scene, the narration explicitly states the aliens are not speaking English, and their speech is translated by the reader's benefit.
- We Need a Distraction: Superman waves his sword in front of King Kosmos until it has completely drawn his attention, whereupon he punches the villain.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Superman is worried about hurting Oswald Mandias when fighting King Kosmos, but he does not seem to care about dispelling the villain's energy body.
