"Grounded" is a 2010-2011 comic book story arc that ran through the Superman monthly ongoing series. It was written by J. Michael Straczynski and Chris Roberson, and penciled by Eddy Barrows, with covers by John Cassaday.
Following the year-long New Krypton storyline, the story depicts Superman's return to Earth after residing on New Krypton. Exiting a congressional hearing about the "Hundred Minute War", he is confronted with the notion that he has grown disconnected from everyday Americans he has been committed to watching over, and doesn't truly know what his adopted people are like anymore. Feeling a responsibility to his adopted homeland, he begins a long journey where he will walk across the United States to reconnect with the everyday people he is committed to protecting.
Publication history In June 2010, Superman reached issue #700, and writer J. Michael Straczynski, a Superman fan who felt 'a personal connection to the character', took over writing duties with a short story in the issue, and had his run on the title begin in earnest with issue #701. Artist Eddy Barrows, a previous Action Comics artist and one of the artists on the War of the Supermen limited series, is Straczynski's artistic collaborator.
When discussing writing such an important character to him, Straczynski claimed to know Superman's place in American iconography: "For me, Superman was, is and shall forever be America's hero. Yes, his mandate is to protect the people of the world, he doesn't take sides, he's not overtly political...but like jazz and comic books themselves, he is inexorably tied to our culture and way of life. He stands for all the things we like to believe we stand for, especially when standing is the most difficult, when it would be simpler and easier to turn away". The storyline was noted for bearing striking resemblance to early Captain Marvel stories, which were a trans-American tour of the titular superhero for the purpose of a marketing ploy.Cincinnati Superman issue will land Sept 29
To amplify this, Straczynski felt that the opposite effect of New Krypton should be the new premise of the title: "...When DC's Dan DiDio approached me about re-invigorating Superman, my first thought was, take him back to his roots. Bring him back to the soil that nourished him, literally and figuratively. 'Pin him to the Earth', I said. Let him set out on a journey across America, on foot, so that we can see ourselves in his eyes and he can see himself in ours, and gain a better understanding on both sides as to who we are, who he is, and where we're going".
Contest In order to depict a correct representation of America, DC Comics asked readers to write in and campaign for their towns and residents to be depicted in the series. In an afterword to the prologue story in "Grounded", Straczynski assured readers that the story would not depict an idealist America that most Superman readers would expect: "It should be mentioned that this journey is not intended as a blind paean: as he moves across rich areas and poor ones, though the midwest and the rust belt, through cities on the rise and those on the downward slide, we will be honest in what we show: there will be casual cruelties and drive-by selfishness, as well as problems and difficulties that even he can't solve. Powerful as he is, he cannot defeat poverty, or inequity, or our blind, headlong drive toward self-destruction. But alongside those faults we will feature the charity, the decency, the compassion and the stubborn, noble courage of the human race, and rediscover why he has come to represent the best of us while never shrinking from the worst of us".
Changes in the creative team In November 2010, Straczynski announced to leave the series halfway through the storyline's run. This he did in order to concentrate on other projects as well as a sequel to Superman: Earth One. The storyline was finished by Chris Roberson when he took over as writer for the arc.JMS On Leaving Monthly Comics, SUPERMAN's Future - Newsarama.com - November 12, 2010
In an interview, Roberson noted that:
Plot synopsis
Prologue After exiting a congressional hearing about the "War of the Supermen", Superman is questioned by reporters when he is slapped by a crying woman. Visibly shocked, he encourages the outraged crowd to let her speak. She tells him that while he was off-planet, her husband died of a brain tumor. She tried reaching him to ask for his help in removing the tumor with his vision powers, but was told that he was "doing something important". Superman flies to the JLA Satellite, where Batman assures him that the new Earth defense system will see new threats coming from long distances. Outside a small town, Superman speaks with the Flash, and asks him what he sees when he runs across the country. He says he sees a blur. Superman then flies into orbit, thinks of his father, and lands outside a children's baseball game when he begins his long walk across the United States.
Part 1: Philadelphia Superman walks through Philadelphia and helps a man fixing his car. He meets with Lois Lane and tells her to tell Perry White that Clark is running his story. During his stay in Philadelphia, he helps cleaning a restaurant, defeats a gang of drug dealers, advises a man to go to the doctor to get his heart checked, and convinces a woman not to take her own life.
Part 2: Detroit Superman reaches Detroit and sees some people playing basketball. The players are bullying one of their friends, Markey G. Superman plays with them without using his powers. Markey G gets a basket on Superman and earns the approval of his friends. Superman hears a vibration and approaches a seemingly normal looking man at his house. The man is revealed to be an alien, and when he leads Superman into the house a large, black creature attacks Superman. Superman dismantles the creature and the aliens reveal that they came from the planet Natalla to escape from an unknown tragedy. They plead with Superman not to reveal them, given how hard their life is back home. They point out that he too is an alien. Superman points out that it is a bad time to immigrate illegally in the United States. The alien says that their race is self-sufficient and they are not making an impact in their society. Superman asks them what they're giving back to their community. He decides to think for a while before making his decision. Superman encounters an old shut down factory, and meets an elderly man who provides security. He describes the plant as it used to be, and asks to see Superman fly. Superman obliges, then leaves. As he's leaving, the man collapses. Superman takes him to the aliens, who heal him. The aliens buy the factory and use their technology to rebuild it and hire the people who used to work there. Clark Kent, on assignment to cover Superman's walk, writes an article on the whole thing. Lois talks with Superman on the phone about this as he keeps walking. He is being watched at a distance by Batman.
Part 3: Ohio Superman holds an ex-convict in mid-air, forcing him to stop stalking a waitress. Later, Batman meets Superman and the two talk in a rooftop. Batman believes Superman is endangering innocent lives in his journey. The two go separate ways. In the Daily Planet, Lois Lane finds an article that states that debris of New Krypton reached Earth. Superman flies to Danville, Ohio, where he finds one of the impact sites. As he searches the impact site, some children have already found one of the debris pieces. They present it to their teacher, Lisa Jennings, who is blasted with some energy from the piece. The teacher finds Willy Trask, a town drunk, in a bar and touches him, giving Trask powers. Superman talks with a police officer, but Trask attacks him. After a short fight, Superman subdues him, and Trask's powers disappear. However, the city has been left devastated during their fight. Although Superman rebuilds it, this leads the public to make negative comments against him, including Ms. Jennings. The news is heard by Batman in the Watchtower.
Interlude: Rushmark Lois goes to Rushmark, Indiana, a fictional town Superman is expected to go to in his walk across the United States. There, Lois meets Brian, an old college friend. Brian tells Lois that he is married and has two children. He invites her to his house for dinner, and Lois accepts. At Brian's home, Lois meets Huong, Brian's wife. After dinner, Lois talks with Huong and admits that she has doubts about her current life. Huong tells Lois that she should not be thinking about the life she might have had, or she will be miserable. Later, Lois catches Brian and Huong having an argument over work-life issues. Lois leaves and walks across the neighborhood. But as soon as she crosses a bridge, Superman appears and carries her up to the sky. The two kiss and Lois asks Superman if he needs her. Superman tells Lois that one of the things that make him human is her. With her spirit rekindled, Lois kisses Superman again, and he takes her to Chicago.
Part 4: Chicago Superman walks across Chicago, and he sees that people are uneasy about his stay in the city, due to the incident in Ohio. He is also aware that Jennings is spying on him. Superman then meets with Lois in a park, and they go to an apartment to spend the night together. He then dreams about a three-headed creature destroying Chicago, and of Jennings mocking him with his failure to protect the people. Superman wakes up and sees that his face has real injuries from his fight against the three-headed creature in his dreams. Lois covers his injuries and Superman leaves the apartment without being seen. Later, Superman walks across a neighborhood and sees a boy and his mother being brutally beaten by his father. Superman captures the father and takes him to the police station. There, he is informed that mother and son will be taken by child protective services to a safe places and the police will file charges against the father. Superman gives a phone number to the boy, telling him to call him every day. Superman then leaves Chicago, but not before telling the police that the only thing needed to stop the violence was "someone, anyone, with a pair of eyes, a voice, a phone and ten cents' worth of compassion".
Interlude: Daily Planet The Daily Planet is facing problems. According to Ron Troupe, a blog called Urbanitis has posted an article that accuses the Daily Planet of bribing Superman into giving them exclusives, due to Superman's relationship with Lois Lane. To solve this, Perry White fires photographer Sandeep and tasks him with talking with Jack Hoffman, the creator of Urbanitis, so that he can reveal what he knows. According to Perry, Sandeep cannot go to Urbanitis as a Daily Planet employee, since it would look like intimidation. Perry tells Sandeep that if he succeeds, he can have his old job back.
Jack meets with Perry and shows him a report showing that $20,000 of unaccounted for funding going into the Planet's expense account every quarter for the past five years and vanishing again about a week after deposit. Perry replies that the deposits come from his personal account and that they have been the difference between keeping the summer internship program and cutting it.
Jack then shows him the picture a fangirl sent to him. The picture shows Superman and Lois kissing, but Sandeep comes in and says that the woman in the picture is not Lois. This reveals Sandeep's status as a mole to Jack. Sandeep then takes out a poster for a party that shows a boy dressed as Superman kissing a red-headed girl. Sandeep says that someone must have edited Lois and Superman's faces into the picture. This effectively makes Jack's evidence invalid.
Perry tells Jack to post a public apology and retraction from his website, and gives him a summer internship. Perry says that Sandeep can be of great use for the Planet and gives Sandeep his old job back.
Part 5: Des Moines