Superman Robot - Modern Age Versions

Modern Age Versions

The notion of Superman robots was reintroduced for post-Crisis comic continuity in a late 1990s storyline. During the period where Superman (under the control of Dominus) felt he must police the entire earth, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week he built an army of Superman robots (created in his own image, all wearing the famous "S" shield but wearing variations of the Red, Blue and Yellow costume). However, unlike the pre-Crisis Superman robots, these automata were not realistic androids capable of passing for the real Superman, but instead were obviously mechanical, with metallic bodies that possessed no artificial skin. These modern Superman robot's powers included super-strength, flight, and heat vision, but were inferior to Superman's own powers. The Superman robots were also given a small degree of sentience, making each one an autonomous agent of the Man of Steel. Their job was to protect mankind (aggressively if necessary) and attend to crises beyond Superman's reach.

Once Dominus had been defeated, Superman had most of the robots destroyed. One particular robot (programmed to protect Lois) was particularly difficult to get rid of.

In Superman (vol. 2) #170, Jeph Loeb wrote a very controversial story where, in defending Lois Lane from certain death, Krypto almost killed Mongul by ripping his throat out. Where a normal dog would have been rewarded for protecting their owner in this way, Superman erroneously assumed that Krypto was too dangerous to have around, and confined him to the Fortress of Solitude. A Superman robot nicknamed "Ned", presumably the same one programmed to protect Lois, was employed as Krypto's caretaker. The robot was programmed to give off Superman's scent every now and again to keep Krypto happy.

In a later storyline, Brainiac 8 revived and increased the power to a forgotten Superman robot. The robot attacked the Teen Titans, killing Troia and Omen before it was defeated.