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Cyborg Superman

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Cyborg Superman
Hank Henshaw as the original Cyborg Superman on a variant cover of Action Comics #1055 (May 2023).
Art by Sebastian Fiumara.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceAs Hank Henshaw:
The Adventures of Superman #465 (May 1990)
As Cyborg Superman:
The Adventures of Superman #500 (June 1993)
Created byDan Jurgens
In-story information
Alter egoHenry "Hank" Henshaw
SpeciesCyborg
Team affiliationsNASA
Sinestro Corps
Manhunters
Warworld
Alpha Lanterns
Notable aliasesSuperman
Grandmaster
Cyborg
Abilities
List
    • Genius-level intellect
    • Technomorphing
    • Mechanical body derived from Kryptonian technology and organic parts genetically similar to Superman grants the following:
      • Kryptonian-like physiology; superhuman strength, stamina, durability, speed, agility, reflexes, and hearing
      • Flight, ice and wind breath, and heat vision
      • Enhanced visions; ultraviolet vision, microscopic vision, x-ray vision, telescopic vision, and infrared vision

Cyborg Superman (Hank Henshaw) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer-artist Dan Jurgens, the character appears as both a primary enemy of Superman and an adversary of the Green Lantern Corps. Hank Henshaw was originally an astronaut whose tragic exposure to radiation deteriorates his body and transformed him into a energy being and kills his wife, a fellow crew member. A former fan of Superman, he irrationally blames him for the incident and sought to defame him, creating a robotic body derived from Kryptonian technology and genetic material of Superman. Over time, the character evolved into an enemy of the Green Lantern Corps, primarily due to leading the Manhunters.

Cyborg Superman has been adapted in several forms of media since his publication. He first appeared in the 2015 series Supergirl, portrayed by David Harewood. He also appears in My Adventures with Superman, voiced by Max Mittelman.

Publication history

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The Hank Henshaw version of Superman first appeared in The Adventures of Superman #465 (April 1990), and was created by Dan Jurgens.[1][2][3] The story was a dark pastiche of the Fantastic Four, with astronauts being mutated by cosmic rays, only for in Jurgens' words, "a tragic, rather than heroic, result". This was later referenced in the 1999 crossover Superman/Fantastic Four, where Henshaw notes the similarities and serves as a replacement for Mister Fantastic during his absence. Originally intended as a one-shot, once the story was finished Jurgens "thought there might be more to play with — that there was an interesting character we shouldn't let go of yet",[4] leading to his reinvention as Cyborg Superman in the Reign of the Supermen storyline.[5] In 2015, as DC started a new continuity with The New 52, Jurgens tried to give a new origin for Henshaw and his subsequent transformation into the Cyborg, considering that the Fantastic Four parallels were better off as "a single event, never referred to again", and that "it's much more fair to the everyone—including all the characters involved—if the stories are distanced."[4]

Fictional character biography

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Left: Hank Henshaw and the Excalibur crew after being exposed to the radiation. Right: Henshaw as his body decays, art by Dan Jurgens.

Astronaut Hank Henshaw and members of his Excalibur crew, including his wife Terri, were exposed to radiation from a solar flare and crash landed. With his body deteriorating but becoming a being of energy, he attempts to visit his wife (who seemed unharmed) in a different form, but is rejected.[6] Blaming Superman for the ordeal, Henshaw recreates himself in Superman's image after his death by Doomsday by using the birthing matrix that carried Superman as an infant, granting him organic parts genetically resembling Superman and impersonated him.[7][8][9]

First among the various Supermen to replace the Man of Steel following his death (alongside Steel, Superboy, and Eradicator), Henshaw works with Mongul to destroy Coast City and frame Superman.[10][11] Eventually, he is defeated by the genuine Superman, who has returned from the dead.[6][11]

Henshaw re-emerges as a galactic threat after becoming the new Grandmaster of the Manhunters, upgrading them with Kryptonian technology and organic material. Allowing them to rebuild for unknown reasons as part of his plan, Henshaw is defeated when Biot, the Manhunters' home planet, explodes. His head remains and is brought to Oa, where he is interrogated for knowledge of the Manhunters and the multiverse.[12][13] After their invasion of Oa, Henshaw's head is taken by the Sinestro Corps to Qward. Henshaw reconstructs his cyborg body and joins the Sinestro Corps, hoping that the Anti-Monitor can kill him and allow him to rest in peace.[14][15] When the Green Lantern Corps detonate Warworld and the central power battery of the Sinestro Corps to destroy the Anti-Monitor, Henshaw allows himself to be trapped behind a shield and is grievously injured in the explosion. His head is recovered by the Manhunters, who reactivate him.[16]

Henshaw returns to work with the Alpha Lanterns as they attempt to augment every Green Lantern into an Alpha and coerces Ganthet to aid in reversing them, hoping to restore his original body.[17][18] Henshaw is seemingly killed when the Lanterns separate his life force from his body. His subsequent attempt to possess Alpha Lantern Boodikka fails after she overpowers him. When Boodikka is attacked by Doomsday while investigating the remains of New Krypton, Henshaw is revealed to still be alive inside Boodikka, forming a new body out of her internal circuitry to fight Doomsday.[19] Doomsday absorbs the nanotechnology from Henshaw's body and heals himself, becoming a new being dubbed "Cyborg Doomsday".[20]

In 2011, "The New 52" rebooted the DC universe. Henshaw is a human doctor working for the Advanced Prosthetic Research Centre and a colleague of Caitlin Fairchild, with his role as Cyborg Superman being taken by Zor-El.[21]

In 2016, DC Comics implemented a relaunch called "DC Rebirth", which restored its continuity to a form much as it was prior to "The New 52". Henshaw's role and prior history as Cyborg Superman is restored aside from the fact that his wife Terri committed suicide following the conflict with Superman, with the other crew members using an MRI booth to commit suicide as well.[22]

Powers and abilities

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The Hank Henshaw version of Cyborg Superman is a "technomorph". Unlike a simple technopath, who can physically manipulate technology with their mind, Henshaw can extend his consciousness into any machine, including power rings and the batteries that fuel them. While occupying a cybernetic body composed of Superman's genetic material, he gains similar powers while editing out his weaknesses.[23][24]

Other characters named Cyborg Superman

[edit]

Zor-El

[edit]

The second incarnation of Cyborg Superman is Zor-El, the younger brother of Jor-El, husband of Alura, father of Supergirl, and paternal uncle of Superman. Originally, he escaped from Krypton's destruction along with the other inhabitants of Argo City. In The New 52 reboot, Supergirl discovers an amnesiac Cyborg Superman living on the planet I'noxia.[25] This turns out to be Zor-El, who was rescued from Krypton's destruction by Brainiac and reconfigured as a cyborg to serve as his scout.[26]

Other versions

[edit]
  • Hank Henshaw appears in JLA: Act of God.[27]
  • Hank Henshaw appears in the DC/Marvel crossover Green Lantern/Silver Surfer: Unholy Alliances. In this story, he is brought to the Marvel Comics universe by Thanos, who sought to test a multiversal rift created during Oa's destruction. After destroying a planet due to the tidal stresses generated when he tried to convert it into a new Warworld, Henshaw battles the Silver Surfer until they are interrupted by Hal Jordan / Parallax, who seeks revenge on the former for destroying Coast City. Henshaw also appears in the crossover Superman/Fantastic Four: The Infinite Destruction, where he is transformed into an inanimate metal rod by Galactus after attempting to become his herald.
  • In the crossover story Superman vs. The Terminator: Death to the Future, Henshaw learns of the existence of Skynet and uses a salvaged Terminator skull to provide Skynet with information on Superman's weaknesses. Henshaw fuses with the T-X to battle Superman, but is forced to withdraw when Supergirl infects him with a computer virus that irreparably damages the T-X.

In other media

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Television

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Film

[edit]
  • Elements of Hank Henshaw are incorporated in a Superman clone who appears in Superman: Doomsday.[32]
  • Hank Henshaw appears in the DC Animated Movie Universe (DCAMU) film The Death of Superman, voiced by Patrick Fabian.[33][34][31] This version's shuttle was destroyed by Doomsday, after which Henshaw refused to evacuate under the belief that Superman would save him and his crew, leading to their deaths.
  • Hank Henshaw / Cyborg Superman appears in the DCAMU film Reign of the Supermen, voiced by Patrick Fabian in his normal voice while Jerry O'Connell voiced his voice modulator.[35][31] Prior to the film, Darkseid transferred his consciousness into a cyborg body and brainwashed Henshaw into serving him, indoctrinating him to resent Superman's failure to save the shuttle. Henshaw tricks the residents of Metropolis into letting him create a group of cyborgs loyal to him so he can create a Boom Tube and allow Darkseid's forces to invade Earth. Steel, Superboy, and the Eradicator join forces to revive Superman, who battles Henshaw and eventually kills him.

Video games

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Miscellaneous

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Hank Henshaw / Cyborg Superman appears in Batman: The Brave and the Bold #19.[37]

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 229. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  2. ↑ Superman (vol. 2) #42 (April 1990)
  3. ↑ The Adventures of Superman #465 (April 1990)
  4. 1 2 Burlingame, Russ (February 28, 2018). "Dan Jurgens Talks DC Comics's Tragic Fantastic Four, Hank Henshaw and The Crew of the Excalibur". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on September 11, 2020.
  5. ↑ Greenberger, Robert; Pasko, Martin (2010). The Essential Superman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. pp. 64–65. ISBN 978-0-345-50108-0.
  6. 1 2 The Adventures of Superman #466 (May 1990)
  7. ↑ The Adventures of Superman #468 (July 1990)
  8. ↑ Superman (vol. 2) #81 (September 1993)
  9. ↑ Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Cyborg Superman one-shot (December 2007)
  10. ↑ Superman (vol. 2) #80 (August 1993)
  11. 1 2 Wallace, Dan (2008). "Cyborg Superman". In Dougall, Alastair (ed.). The DC Comics Encyclopedia. New York: Dorling Kindersley. p. 91. ISBN 978-0-7566-4119-1. OCLC 213309017.
  12. ↑ Green Lantern (vol. 4) #11 (June 2006)
  13. ↑ Green Lantern (vol. 4) #15 (December 2006)
  14. ↑ Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps Special #1 (August 2007)
  15. ↑ Green Lantern (vol. 4) #22 (October 2007)
  16. ↑ Green Lantern (vol. 4) #25 (January 2008)
  17. ↑ Green Lantern Corps (vol. 2) #48 (May 2010)
  18. ↑ Green Lantern Corps (vol. 2) #49 (June 2010)
  19. ↑ Justice League of America (vol. 3) #55 (March 2011)
  20. ↑ Superman/Batman Annual #5 (April 2011)
  21. ↑ Supergirl (vol. 6) #21 (August 2013)
  22. ↑ Action Comics #980 (July 2017)
  23. ↑ Green Lantern Corps (vol. 2) #52 (September 2010)
  24. ↑ Green Lanterns #54 (November 2018)
  25. ↑ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 77. ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0.
  26. ↑ Supergirl (vol. 6) #22 (September 2013)
  27. ↑ JLA: Act of God #1 (November 2000)
  28. ↑ Goldberg, Lesley (February 26, 2015). "CBS' 'Supergirl' Enlists Chyler Leigh, David Harewood". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on February 27, 2015.
  29. ↑ Jayson, Jay (May 11, 2015). "Supergirl's David Harewood Teases Becoming Cyborg Superman". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on May 14, 2015.
  30. ↑ Flook, Ray (April 30, 2026). "My Adventures with Superman Season 3 Key Art Poster, Overview Released". Bleeding Cool.
  31. 1 2 3 4 "Cyborg Superman / Hank Henshaw Voices (Superman)". Behind The Voice Actors. Archived from the original on May 27, 2024. Retrieved May 27, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  32. ↑ "DVD Talk Review: Superman - Doomsday". Dvdtalk.com. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
  33. ↑ Holbrook, Damian (March 26, 2018). "'The Office,' 'The Librarians' & More TV Faves Join 'The Death of Superman'". TV Insider. Archived from the original on March 27, 2018. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
  34. ↑ Narcisse, Evan (July 22, 2018). "The Death of Superman Movie Changes Up a Classic DC Comics Story Just Enough to Work". io9. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  35. ↑ Scott, Ryan (October 24, 2018). "Reign of the Supermen Blu-ray Release Date, Cover Art & Details Unveiled". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on October 25, 2018. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
  36. ↑ "DC Universe Online". DC Universe Online. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  37. ↑ "Batman: The Brave and the Bold #19 - Emerald Knight (Issue)". Comic Vine. Archived from the original on June 15, 2021. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
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