The Life Story of Superman is a Superman story published in Action Comics #500 (October, 1979). It was written by Martin Pasko and penciled by Curt Swan.
Metropolis is hosting the world's fair, and Mayor Harkness has baited Superman into helping prepare an exhibit called "the Superman Pavilion" in exchange for donating one million dollars from the profits to charity.
Superman welcomes the attendees and starts giving the first tour around the pavilion. As he answers the visitors' questions, talks about his family and friends and reminisces about his life (including his most traumatic experiences), though, one of his enemies is taking advantage of the exhibit to set a trap for Superman.
Tropes:
- Complexity Addiction: As Superman is giving a crowd a tour of the exhibit, Luthor manages to abduct and depower him; but instead of just shooting his nemesis, Luthor shoves him into a cage and aims a laser beam at him, stating that it will be triggered when the guests leave the building. However, the attendees take too long to leave, giving Superman time enough to escape.
- Confronting Your Imposter: After escaping from Luthor's death trap, Superman confronts his doppelganger as he is speaking to Lois and Lana.
- Continuity Nod:
- Superboy met Krypto in Adventure Comics #210 "The Super Dog from Krypton".
- Superboy and a young Lex Luthor started their long-lasting feud in How Luthor Met Superboy.
- Superman rescued the Bottle City of Kandor in Action Comics #242: The Super-Duel in Space
- Superman found Supergirl in The Supergirl From Krypton (1959)
- Kara's existence was revealed to the general public in The Unknown Supergirl.
- Superman and Supergirl enlarged Kandor in Superman (1939) #338: Let My People Grow!.
- Copied the Morals, Too: Defied. Lex Luthor grows a Superman clone and transfers Superman's memories into him; though, Luthor alters the memories involving their feud specifically to prevent the clone from turning on him.
- Droste Image: The cover of Action Comics #500 features Superman staring at Supergirl and Lois Lane holding the cover of Action Comics #500 featuring Superman staring at Supergirl and Lois Lane holding the cover of Action Comics #500 featuring Superman staring at Supergirl and Lois Lane holding the cover of Action Comics #500 featuring...
- Finger Poke of Doom: After escaping from his cage, Superman disables Lex Luthor by flicking him across the room.
- Frame-Up: Luthor intends to blow up the Superman's exhibit up -together with Superman, all his friends and all attendees- in such a way that J. Robert Arngrim, the businessmen who runs the place, takes the blame for the disaster.
- "Hey, You!" Haymaker: Luthor is so engrossed in ordering his clone soldier that he does not notice Superman escaping from his cage. He then feels someone tapping on his shoulder, turns around and gets knocked out.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Luthor's plan to replace his nemesis as blowing up a Superman expo fails because Luthor cannot refrain himself from tinkering with the clone's memory to make himself to look good. Thus, the attendees are too astonished at the sight of "Superman" describing Luthor as a misunderstood and innocent genius who was brought down and vilified by Superman's own petty jealousy to think of leaving the building, buying the real Superman enough time to escape from Luthor's trap.Superman: "Once again, his hatred for me clouded his judgment! He overlooked the fact that in altering my recollection of the incident that started our feud...he imprinted his own attitudes on the clone's mind— complete with his own biases, distortions, and paranoia!"
- Hooking the Keys: After locking Superman up, Lex Luthor hangs the cell keys on a peg on the wall, only two meters away from the cage, and then he turns around to watch over a monitor. As Luthor is distracted, Superman removes his belt, ties his suit's tie to an end, and uses his makeshift rope to snag the keys.
- Just Between You and Me: After kidnapping Superman, Luthor cannot stop himself from monologuing before his one-man audience about his brilliant plan to kill him and replace him with an obedient clone.
- Kill and Replace: Lex Luthor swaps Superman with a clone without anybody noticing, but Superman escapes from his trap before Luthor can kill him and beats his doppelganger.
- Mind Probe: Luthor plants several mind-reading devices (concealed as projectors and floor plates) around a Superman exhibit to subtly probe Superman's mind and create a copy of his memories as his nemesis gives a tour of the building.
- Mirror Match: At the climax, Superman and his Luthor-controlled clone fight each other.
- Origins Episode: One of the main subplots revolves around Superman retelling his story since his birth.
- People Jars: Luthor grows a Superman clone inside a transparent vat filled with a greenish substance.
- Photographic Memory: Subverted. Some kids ask Superman if he can tell them about Krypton using his total recall, but Superman explains that, even though he has an eidetic memory, repeated exposure to Kryptonite over the years has caused gaps in his memory.
- Please, Don't Leave Me: When Pa Kent dies, Clark cries and begs him to not leave him (again, since he was losing his second father).
- Powerful and Helpless: When the Kents fall sick and die, Clark cries over the fact that his parents are dying and there is absolutely nothing he can do.Clark Kent: "Oh, yeah, I'm a Superman all right...I've saved millions all over Earth...But now the people I love most in the world...are slipping away from me...and I can't do a thing to stop it! [...] Dad!"
- Pride: Luthor's plan is foiled by his inability to admit he might be wrong. When copying Superman's memories into his clone, he tweaks the accident which started his feud because under no circumstances Luthor can admit he was to blame and not Superboy. Hence, the Superman clone gives himself away when he starts ranting about Luthor being victim of his jealousy.
- Rapid Aging: After getting a sample of Superman's skin, Luthor grows one clone to adulthood within one hour.Lex Luthor: "I've also perfected a hyper-accelerated growth-process for my clone! It took a mere handful of minutes for the clone to mature one year...so in the single hour the tour lasted...my clone grew to adulthood— and your exact age now!"
- Relative Error: When Superman tells how he met his cousin, a fangirl blurts out: "I never knew Supergirl was your cousin — I guess I always thought she was your girlfriend!"
- Rule of Three: Superman's origin story is divided into three chapters: "Planet On The Edge Of Oblivion!" (Which narrates Krypton's destruction), "A Legend Is Born" (Superman's childhood and adolescence) and "Call Me Superman" (his adult career).
- Spotting the Thread: When Luthor replaces Superman with a clone, Lois and Lana start suspecting something is wrong with their old friend/love interest when he starts rambling about poor, misunderstood Lex Luthor, who was fated become the world's most renowned genius but was ruined by Superman's petty jealousy. When the Superman duplicate tells the origin of his feud with Luthor -according to Luthor himself-, Lana confronts him by pointing out that she was around back then and that was not what happened.
- Sympathy for the Devil: Subverted. When Lex Luthor's ego inevitably foils his latest scheme, Superman states he could almost pity his nemesis...but Luthor is too dangerous and mad to waste compassion on him.
- There Is Another: As telling his life's story, Superman reveals he always felt lonely until Krypto arrived, and he found out he was not the only Kryptonian being in the universe. And then Supergirl arrived, and he had a family again (since Pa and Ma had died several years before).Lois Lane: "Lonely? You had your adoptive parents! I'm sure they loved you..."
Lana Lang: "And what about your friends—Like me? Didn't we count?"
Superman: "Of course, Lana...Lois...But I'm talking about something else— a different kind of loneliness. The loneliness that comes from thinking you're the only one of your kind in the entire universe! But when Krypto's rocket landed, all that changed!" - There Was a Door: When Superman frees himself from Luthor's trap, he is in a hurry to defuse a bomb before it explodes, so he smashes his way through the underground lair's ceiling rather than looking for the exit.
- Third-Person Flashback: As telling his life's story, Superman's flashbacks include Jor-El's failed meetings with Krypton Science Council, Argo City's being hurled into space when Krypton exploded, and Supergirl facing a common criminal. Neither of those events were witnessed by Superman himself.
- Whole Episode Flashback: Most of the issue revolves around Superman having flashbacks while telling his life's story.
