Who's Who in the Superman Comics

The General

Throughout his career as an officer in the United States Air Force, Wade Eiling made it a habit to control and manipulate others. During the Cold War, then-Major Eiling orchestrated the court-martialing of Captain Nathaniel Adam - a man found guilty of treason. In charge of an ongoing project to create a superhuman agent for the U.S. government, Major Eiling exposed Nathaniel Adam and Clifford Zmeck to dangerous, yet highly advanced quantum energy experiments. At first, the two procedures appeared to have failed; and both Adam and Zmeck were listed as deceased. But years later, the two men resurfaced, their bodies fused with the sophisticated alien material found by Air Force operatives.

Upon the return of Nathaniel Adam, he was given the codename of "Captain Atom", and placed among the members of the Justice League. However, as heroic as Captain Atom truly was, his ultimate loyalty was to the U.S., and primarily, Major Wade Eiling. In time, despite all of Eiling's manipulations, Captain Atom rebelled, and became a true super-hero. Clifford Zmeck prove far more unstable, as the result of his experiment. And his persona of Major Force was that of a monster incarnate; a malicious deviant whom few could battle against.

Nevertheless, masterminding the creation of two superhumans was not enough for General Eiling. He attempted to create a small cadre of superagents - which was ultimately defeated by the Justice League of America. And when he discovered that his body was dying due to a terminal illness, Eiling somehow managed to procure a body of the classic JLA enemy The Shaggy Man. Now seemingly immortal, Eiling recreated himself as "The General", a massive, super-powered being, whose immense strength is matched by his will for destruction and war. As The General, Eiling was opposed by the JLA, and especially Superman. The Man of Steel would become Eiling's archfoe, and when Lex Luthor reformed the Injustice Gang, The General was one of its members. As part of the Injustice Gang, The General again challenged Superman.

Unfortunately for the Injustice Gang, the collective egos of Lex Luthor, The General, The Queen Bee, and Prometheus were too huge for the foursome to overcome, and their branching agendas managed to not only unhinge their group, but the world as well. It took the combined efforts of the JLA, the New Gods, the JSA, and nearly every hero in existence to help good triumph over evil. Although imprisoned after his stint with the Injustice Gang, The General has proven himself a major menace to The Man of Steel. Indeed... The General continues to plot and plan for the ultimate destruction of the JLA... with Superman as his prime target!

First Appearance: Captain Atom #1



Who's Who in the Superman Comics

Introduction

This is a listing of many of the notable characters and a few places that have appeared in the Superman comics from the 1986 revamp up until around 2008.

NOTE: A new, and more current version of the Who's Who is currently being worked on and can be accessed by clicking here.

Although Superman often appears in other DC Comics, this text's information is limited mainly to what has occurred in the regular Superman comics.

Many thanks to Scotty V, Derrick Lyle Coleman, Dean Vanek, Genevieve Clemens and Benjamin Grose who all helped out at one time or another with writing and updating these Who's Who descriptions.

The listings are displayed as follows:

  • Surname, Firstname - Text describing the character, place, object, etc...

Relevant issues of the Superman comics are listed as such:
  • SUP = Superman
  • MOS = Man of Steel
  • AOS = Adventures of Superman
  • ACT = Action Comics
  • MOT = Man of Tomorrow

The Issue Number for each of these titles is written in this manner: “#000”. (e.g. SUP #123)

“First Appearance” refers to the issue since 1986 unless otherwise noted.



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