In the mid-1980s, DC decided to reboot Superman.

DC Comics handed its flagship character over to John Byrne, the premier superstar comic book creator of the time. Byrne revamped Superman and his supporting cast by reaching back to traditional aspects (Clark Kent had moved from a newspaper newsroom to a TV newsroom in the 1970s; Byrne put him back with The Daily Planet newspaper) while creating new traits (Clark Kent was no longer a clumsy nerd but a dynamic personality on his own).

Almost 40 years later, the Byrne era remains influential on the character.

But it broke away from decades of previous continuity in the “Superman” comics. Then, Lois Lane wasn’t married to Clark/Superman … she still didn’t even know they were the same person. 

So, in the last issues of the “Superman” comics prior to the Byrne reboot, DC editors let writer Alan Moore and artist Curt Swan tell one last tale of the “old” Superman.

Moore is the writer of “Watchmen,” “V for Vendetta,” had revamped “Swamp Thing” from being a man turned into a human-shaped plant to a plant that thought it had been a man, “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen,” etc. 

Swan had been the primary “Superman” artist for years and years.

In 1986, they created “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” With the long-time Superman coming to an end, Moore and Swan imagined a world 10 years after Superman “died.” “The Man of Tomorrow” is a now little used nickname for Superman.

They were allowed to conclude the Superman iteration that readers had known for decades. Moore was set loose to let his imagination run free. Coupled with the familiar Swan images, “Whatever Happened” became an almost instant classic.

Still, then, it was overshadowed by the Byrne reboot and the reason for the reboot – sales for the old Superman had fallen. So, a lot of readers missed “Whatever Happened” at the time of its publication. 

Through the years, “Whatever Happened” became a much discussed and much sought after comic. 

DC has released a special edition that features “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” as well as other Moore-written Superman stories – a Swamp Thing team-up and a Superman annual.

“Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” is a must-read for old-school Superman fans. A fun and nostalgic trip back to the yesterday of the Man of Tomorrow.