This Ive Been Here Before, a feature that deals with a term that I coined called nepotistic continuity, which refers to the way that comic book writers sometimes bring back minor characters that they themselves created in the past as characters in their current work.
In every installment of this feature, Ill spotlight an example of a character that did not appear in a comic for at least two years before then showing up in a comic written or drawn by the creator of the character.
Today, we look at Hank Henshaw, most famously known as the Cyborg Superman, but when he first showed up, he was based on an entirely different character.
Adventures of Superman #466 was relatively early in Dan Jurgens stint as both the artist and the writer on one of the three main Superman titles of the period (Superman, Action Comics and Adventures of Superman). Initially working with finisher Art Thibert, Jurgens then worked with finisher Brett Breeding for a long run and the two would move over to take over the flagship Superman title, Superman, where they would later famously do the final chapter of the famous Death of Superman storyline, the issue that actually included the, you know, death of Superman.
But back in early 1990, Jurgens was still pretty new on the book. In Adventures of Superman #466, he started a clever two-part story that opened with four scientists basically going through the same thing that the Fantastic Four did in Fantastic Four #1 (Jurgens had always been a very notable and vocal fan of the Fantastic Four).
The various astronauts went through different reactions that were inspired by the original FF
Anyhow, things go horribly wrong for most of the crew and by the end of the issue, only Terri, the wife of Hank Henshaw (the Reed Richards of the group) is still alive.
However, in Adventures of Superman #468 (following a Batman/Superman crossover that split the two-parter over three issues), we learn that Hank survived, but he survived by transferring his consciousness into machinery!
When he realizes that his very existence causes pain for his wife, Hank then transfers his consciousness into the birthing matrix/rocket ship that took Superman to Earth when he was an embryo. He then uses it to travel the stars and thats it for Hank Henshaw for the next two years.
As we noted, Superman then passed away in the Death of Superman storyline and this was followed eventually by the Reign of Superman, which introduced four men each claiming to be the real Superman (well, three of them, at least John Henry Irons never really claimed to be Superman, so it was weird that he was always lumped in on that aspect of it all) in Adventures of Superman #500 (released precisely two years after Henshaw vanished). One of the heroes was a Cyborg version of Superman
Eventually, it turned out that this was Hank Henshaw, who had used the birthing matrix to copy Supermans DNA and mixed it with his power to control machinery, he became the Cyborg Superman. He had also been driven mad, as when he teamed up with Mongul to come back to Earth to destroy it, beginning with nuking Coast City! After he did that, he showed off even more how evil he was in Adventures of Superman #503 (by Karl Kesel, Tom Grummett and Doug Hazlewood)
It was rather clever of Jurgens to go back into his catalog of characters (which obviously was not yet that extensive at the time) to find his Cyborg Superman, ultimately creating one of the best new Superman villains of the past 25 years.
Thats it for this installment (at a casual glance, I think it might be almost three years since Ive last done this feature. That cant be right, can it?)! If anyone else has a suggestion for a future edition of Ive Been Here Before, drop me a line at brianc@cbr.com!
ShareOn Facebook
Pint It
More here:
How 'Mister Fantastic' Came to Become the Cyborg Superman - CBR (blog)
- Upload your Real body to a Virtual Avatar ! - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Transcendent Consciousness for Transcendent Technologies : Part I - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Transcendent Consciousness for Transcendent Technologies: Part II - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Visions of the Future - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Lessons from the Silver Surfer ! - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Playing God in a Video Game ! - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- The Rebellious Voyeur in our Society - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Renewable Energy and the New world - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Chennai Science Festival 2008 - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Cyborg Football Time ! - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Wont be posting for a while - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Spiritual Transcendence in Transhumanism now published - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Widgetize time ! - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- An Inconvenient Truth indeed ! - Google style - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- The latest Cyborg movie ! - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Lost in Transcendence : A Tribute to Dr.Albert Hofmann - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Who came first ? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- How to truly become "BetterHumans" - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- A day in the life of a Transhuman Memestar - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- My Lonely Love - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- The First "body slaves" : how ready are we for the posthuman body ? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Realizing our humble place in the posthuman civilization ! - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Brain controlled devices have come of age ! - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Touch and Go - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Cyborg Mystic - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Avatar..a great movie ! - January 31st, 2010 [January 31st, 2010]
- Iron Man 2 and the cyborg technology offshoots - June 11th, 2010 [June 11th, 2010]
- Saving the "Humanism" in Transhumanism - June 13th, 2010 [June 13th, 2010]
- Christina is Bionic - June 22nd, 2010 [June 22nd, 2010]
- My recent article in IEET - October 11th, 2010 [October 11th, 2010]
- REASONS FOR LOVE AND HOPE TO OTHER SPECIES IN THE POSTHUMAN FUTURE - February 14th, 2011 [February 14th, 2011]
- Misleading Perceptions of Improving “The Human Condition” - April 10th, 2011 [April 10th, 2011]
- Jean-Claude Van Damme - CYBORG (1989) Part 1 - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Cris Cyborg Spinning Back Kick KO - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Cris Cyborg Suplexes way to Gold Medal Mundials (BJJ Worlds) 2011 - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Cryptic Metal Gear Rising trailer lets you not understand the story right now - May 10th, 2012 [May 10th, 2012]
- 009 Re:Cyborg Anime Film's Live-Action Promo Streamed - May 13th, 2012 [May 13th, 2012]
- 009 Re:Cyborg's Extended "International Version" Trailer Posted - May 13th, 2012 [May 13th, 2012]
- Colourblind artist wants to be world’s first cyborg - May 16th, 2012 [May 16th, 2012]
- Moribito Designer Asou to Draw 009 Re:Cyborg Manga - May 16th, 2012 [May 16th, 2012]
- National Geographic announces its Emerging Explorers for 2012 - May 16th, 2012 [May 16th, 2012]
- Colourblind artist wants cyborg eye in Irish passport - May 16th, 2012 [May 16th, 2012]
- Week in science faces our cyborg future - May 20th, 2012 [May 20th, 2012]
- Gary Oldman - Gary Oldman Signs Up For Robocop Remake - May 25th, 2012 [May 25th, 2012]
- Gary Oldman joining 'RoboCop' remake - May 25th, 2012 [May 25th, 2012]
- Gary Oldman signs up for Robocop remake - May 26th, 2012 [May 26th, 2012]
- Supertrailer - The best trailers of the week packed into one cinematic video - June 2nd, 2012 [June 2nd, 2012]
- Policemen Undergo Stress Management Seminar - June 3rd, 2012 [June 3rd, 2012]
- Scott Coker Says Cyborg Vs Rousey at 135 Will Happen: Fan Reaction - June 4th, 2012 [June 4th, 2012]
- MMAFighting: Coker vows Cyborg-Rousey fight - June 4th, 2012 [June 4th, 2012]
- Would Ronda Rousey Beat Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos in a Fight? Fan's View - June 5th, 2012 [June 5th, 2012]
- Ronda Rousey vs. Cris Cyborg: Is the Biggest Fight Strikeforce Can Make - June 5th, 2012 [June 5th, 2012]
- Scott Coker on Ronda Rousey vs. Cyborg: "Cyborg Is a Whole Other Level" - June 5th, 2012 [June 5th, 2012]
- Rousey vs. Cyborg in January? 'She Wants My Arm, I Want Her Head': Fan's Look - June 6th, 2012 [June 6th, 2012]
- DIY cyborg appendage is less exciting than it sounds (video) - June 8th, 2012 [June 8th, 2012]
- Robot Chicken goes free range, Seth Green says - June 9th, 2012 [June 9th, 2012]
- Cyborg Fuel Cell Powered by Brain Fluids - June 13th, 2012 [June 13th, 2012]
- Hugh Laurie - Hugh Laurie To Play Robocop Villain - June 13th, 2012 [June 13th, 2012]
- Hugh Laurie set to play villain in Robocop remake - June 13th, 2012 [June 13th, 2012]
- Hugh Laurie is being lined up to star in 'RoboCop' - June 14th, 2012 [June 14th, 2012]
- CFT: Star recruit Henry decommits from Georgia - June 15th, 2012 [June 15th, 2012]
- Cris Cyborg and Sarah Kaufman Mean Mugging on Fight Promo Video: Fan Reaction - June 18th, 2012 [June 18th, 2012]
- Amped Shows the Downside of Becoming a Cyborg - June 18th, 2012 [June 18th, 2012]
- Is that really just a fly? Swarms of cyborg insect drones are the future of military surveillance - June 19th, 2012 [June 19th, 2012]
- Interior-Decorating Androids, Coming to a Living Room Near You - June 19th, 2012 [June 19th, 2012]
- A message for our cyborg drivers - June 23rd, 2012 [June 23rd, 2012]
- Cyborg system stifles your need to drink water - June 24th, 2012 [June 24th, 2012]
- Cyborg makes art using seventh sense - June 30th, 2012 [June 30th, 2012]
- A Surgical Implant for Seeing Colors Through Sound - July 2nd, 2012 [July 2nd, 2012]
- My life as a cyborg - July 2nd, 2012 [July 2nd, 2012]
- Making Location Services Slick & Simple - July 2nd, 2012 [July 2nd, 2012]
- Cyborg Gaming Mouse - July 5th, 2012 [July 5th, 2012]
- Nightwing And Cyborg Join Cast Of Injustice - July 12th, 2012 [July 12th, 2012]
- Nightwing and Cyborg coming to Injustice: Gods Among Us - July 12th, 2012 [July 12th, 2012]
- See Cyborg and Nightwing in 'Injustice: Gods Among Us' - July 12th, 2012 [July 12th, 2012]
- SDCC 2012: Nightwing and Cyborg Join 'Injustice: Gods Among Us' - July 12th, 2012 [July 12th, 2012]
- NEWS: Cyborg and Nightwing Revealed for Injustice: Gods Among Us - July 12th, 2012 [July 12th, 2012]
- 'Injustice' reveals Cyborg and Nightwing - July 13th, 2012 [July 13th, 2012]
- Human Cyborg: McDonald’s Employees Assaulted Me For Wearing My Gear - July 17th, 2012 [July 17th, 2012]
- Do Not Anger the Cyborg, People! - July 17th, 2012 [July 17th, 2012]