Superman’s 1950s’ archenemy Metallo echoed both the 1940s’ cyborg superhero Robotman and the 1940s’ Superman villain Metalo (with one “L”).
But the immediate inspiration for Metallo may have been the science fiction film The Colossus of New York, which was released in June 1958, six months before Metallo made his first appearance in the Superman newspaper comic strip.
In that somber, hauntingly scored story, Ross Martin played Jeremy Spensser, the “brilliant young son of a New York family of scientists and humanitarians,” who is killed by a truck while chasing his son’s toy airplane.
But his brain survives.
It is “…transplanted by his scientist father into the huge body of an unattractive, frightening cyborg, to save his brilliant son’s mind so that it can continue to serve mankind,” Wikipedia notes. “Soon, his son’s brain becomes transformed by the experimental procedure, losing key attributes that make him human and define his personality.”
In addition to super-strength, the cyborg is able to exert mind control over others and project a death ray from his eyes.
A menace fairly made for Superman, editors might well have thought.
Six months after the film’s release, in December 1958, Metallo appeared in the Superman daily newspaper strip.
“A five-month daily series started in December when a car crashed in the hills outside of Metropolis,” Steve Carper noted. “The victim, named John Corben, is near death. No ordinary surgery can save him. He’s found by no ordinary doctor. The kindly Professor Vale puts his brain into a superstrong metallic body.
Corben, nicknamed Metallo, is a conscienceless crook; when he learns that the uranium capsule powering his mechanical heart needs constant replacement (apparently a unique isotope with a half-life of a day), he has no qualms about stealing all he requires. “He even takes a science reporter job at the Daily Planet so he can legitimately scout out sources. And when his metal body blocks bullets meant for Lois Lane, the starry-eyed girl reporter immediately assumes that he is Superman and lets her long-standing love for Supe pour all over Metallo, who now can do no wrong in her eyes.”
Meanwhile, in March 1959, Action Comics 252 appeared on newsstands, featuring the comic book debuts of both Metallo and Supergirl. This story parallels the newspaper version. In both cases, Corben attempts to use fake kryptonite to power himself, sealing his doom.
But the concept proved too good to remain sidelined by a mere inconvenience like death. In The Man with the Kryptonite Heart (Superman 310, April 1977), Martin Pasko and Curt Swan introduced Roger Corben, John’s cyborg brother.
“This Metallo was created by a secret organization that transferred Roger’s brain into a new robotic body, so that Roger could get revenge on Superman for his brother’s death,” noted the Superman Super Site. “Like the previous Metallo, this one was also powered by kryptonite.”
And after the Superman feature was rebooted, in Heart of Stone (Superman 1, Jan. 1987), John Byrne reintroduced John Corben, Metallo.
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