1930:
Philip Wylie's Gladiator is published. The protagonist is granted super human powers as a newborn by the experiment of his amoral yet hopeful scientist father, giving him super strength, speed, and bulletproof skin. He is described as having "the proportionate strength of an ant and the leaping ability of the grasshopper" and bends the bars of his crib. Jerry and Joe have just turned 16 years old.
1931:
The mysterious element
"K-Metal" ("the metal that energizes") and the phrase "The Secret of theK-Metal " first appear in the novella, The Copper-Clad World, by Harl Vincent; published in the September, 1931 issue of Astounding Stories magazine. The villains of the copper-clad world have incredible mental powers that allow them to control the thoughts and actions of others; the story ends with the lone survivor of the doomed world escaping to planet Earth.
Jerry Siegel is about to turn 17 years old when this issue hits the stands.
1932:
Jerry Siegel reads Gladiator and writes a review for the second issue of his Science Fiction fanzine:
Issue #2 Cover by Joe Shuster featuring Hugo Danner
1933:
Jerry Siegel creates the villainous "Superman" for his pulp tale, The Reign of the Superman, illustrated by Joe Shuster and published in Science Fiction magazine #3.
Issue #3 Cover by Joe Shuster1934:
Jerry and Joe create the heroic Superman comic strips:
1938:
Action Comics #1 is published and a legend is born.
1940:
Jerry Siegel writes the K-Metal script and submits it to DC Comics; the Shuster Studio completes the finished artwork. DC responds with a list of requested editorial changes. A revised version is never created or submitted. The story remains unpublished for 75 years.
1988:
Buried deep within the secret archives, Professor Mark Waid unearths the lost script:
1994-1998:
DC Comics considers publishing the K-Metal story, creating new artwork working from the rediscovered K-Metal script. DC ultimately decides against it.
2003:
The restoration project begins.
2025—
After more than two decades of effort, using a combination of recovered original artwork alongside contemporary pages, the restoration project reveals a complete, full color comic book version of the story:
The The K-Metal from Krypton trilogy, adding a prequel and a sequel to the original Secret of the K-Metal story, begins.
— Audrey Kinlok, 2025-2026
