- For other uses see Daily Planet (disambiguation)
In the Superman comics, television series and movies, the Daily Planet is a fictional newspaper of Metropolis that employs Clark Kent, Lois Lane, and Jimmy Olsen. Its chief editor is Perry White. Daily Planet is one of the oldest national broadsheet newspapers (and clearly modeled on the New York Times). In current comic book continuity its owner is Bruce Wayne who is really Batman.
When Superman first appeared, its hero, Clark Kent, worked for the Daily Star newspaper under editor George Taylor, the newspaper being named by Superman co-creator Joe Shuster after the Evening Star newspaper
in Toronto, Ontario, Canada which had been the newspaper which Joe's parents received and for which Shuster had worked as a newsboy. It is still published as the Toronto Star. When the newspaper Superman comic strip appeared, the fictional newspaper's name was permanently changed to the Daily Planet to avoid a name conflict with real newspapers which had Star in their name.
Post Crisis History
The Daily Planet is as synonymous with Metropolis as Superman himself. Located at the corner of Fifth Street and Concord Lane, the Daily Planet is considered one of the foremost newspapers in the world. It began publication in 1775; George Washington wrote a guest editorial for the first daily edition. The enormous globe at the top marks the building as one of the most famous of the Metropolis skyline.
Lex Luthor once owned the Planet. When Luthor began taking bids for the business, Perry White convinced an international conglomerate, TransNational Enterprises, to buy the paper. They agreed to this venture with only one stipulation, Perry White would become Editor-In-Chief. White served as a news editor ever since, barring the few times he was absent. During those times people such as Sam Foswell, and Clark Kent looked after the paper. Franklin Stern, an old friend of White's, became Publisher.
The Planet has seen its fair share of tough times. Worker strikes, totally destroyed during the fall of Metropolis, heavy damages sustained after Doomsday's rampage, and possibly its darkest hour, Franklin Stern's decision to put the paper up for sale. Lex Luthor, who had the distinct pleasure of closing the paper's doors for good, purchased the Daily Planet. Luthor fired every employee of the newspaper save four; Simone D'Neige, Dirk Armstrong, Jimmy Olsen, and Lois Lane. The Planet's globe was unceremoniously dumped in the city landfill.
In the Planet's place emerged LexCom. Devoted entirely to the Internet, LexCom was run on information gathered from across the world and distributed on the net. Gone was traditional reporting, in its place was Luthor's answer to what he thought Metropolis needed, a paper that agreed with his decisions instead of attacking him day after day.
Luthor sold the paper back to Perry White for the miniscule sum of one dollar after Lois Lane made a deal with him. The paper was quickly reinstated, re-hiring the old staff including Perry White, Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane, and Clark Kent.
During the Y2K series, the Daily Planet building was upgraded along with the rest of Metropolis, and a holographic globe replaced the physical one. Thanks to the upgrade, the Daily Planet's staff now enjoys larger workstations and vastly updated equipment for newsgathering. While offered online to subscribers, the paper is also available in its classic paper form. Indeed now definitely providing the most accurate news from around the world and about its fair city, the once failing newspaper now fiercely competes with LexCom and has forced NewsTime to merge with MegaCom to stay in the game.
Recently, with Metropolis being restored to its former state, the Planet was restored along with it.
(excerpt from: The Superman Homepage at
http://www.supermanhomepage.com/comics/who/who-intro.php?topic=daily-planet)
External link
- "Superman at the Star" (http://members.tripod.com/~davidschutz/superman3.html) (An interview with Superman co-creator Joe Shuster from the Toronto Star, April 26, 1992, about Shuster's memories of Toronto and the Evening Star newspaper.)
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