Ever since his introduction in the early ’90s, Cyborg Superman has been one of the Man of Steel’s most powerful and maniacal foes. Though he debuted in this persona in the popular Death of Superman storyline, Cyborg Superman’s alter ego had actually appeared before then. Formerly an astronaut named Hank Henshaw, Cyborg Superman’s official start began three years before Superman met his untimely end.
Henshaw’s origin oddly mirrored a much more warped version of Marvel’s Fantastic Four, albeit ending in a much more tragic way. Featuring a team of scientists exposed to harmful radiation, the story essentially put Henshaw in the role of a later traumatized version of Reed Richards. Here’s how one of Superman’s fiercest foes failed his version of Marvel’s First Family.
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Hank Henshaw
Henshaw first appeared in a major capacity Adventures of Superman #465 and was created by early ’90s Superman scribe Dan Jurgens. He was a crew member of the Space Shuttle Excalibur along with his wife Terri and two other astronauts. Unfortunately, things would quickly begin to take a turn for their worst in Henshaw’s life when his crew embarked on a radiation experiment for LexCorp. The radiation exposure destroyed two members’ bodies, though they were subsequently able to reconfigure themselves with bodies composed of radiation and nearby matter. For the time being, however, the Henshaws were unaffected beyond Hank’s now white hair.
The team hoped that Luthor would use his resources to restore them to health, but this didn’t come to pass. The experience drove one crew member into madness, making him come to blows with Superman before he drove himself into the sun. The other affected member committed suicide from the ordeal, though Superman and Hank were able to use LexCorp’s resources to save Terri from permanently phasing into another dimension.
Unfortunately, that wouldn’t be the end of the ordeal, as Hank’s body eventually gave out from sickness. Prior to this, though, he had developed the power to control machines and transferred his consciousness to LexCorp machinery. Creating a robotic body for himself, he presents this new form to his wife, only for her to also commit suicide out of shock. Henshaw would then jump in between technology before eventually possessing the craft that brought Superman to Earth as a baby.
Reign of the Cyborg Superman
Traveling throughout the cosmos, Henshaw’s consciousness eventually became paranoid and insane, believing that Superman’s throwing the Eradicator drone into the sun weeks before caused the unstable radiation that doomed his crew’s lives. Hoping for revenge against Superman, Henshaw teamed up with Mongul as part of a plan that would destroy the Man of Steel’s reputation. He posed as a “Cyborg Superman,” which was supposedly a reborn Superman brought back via technological means. Later, Cyborg Superman allows Mongul’s ship to arrive on Earth, where the villain promptly destroys Hal Jordan’s home of Coast City.
While it’s this story that he’s most known for, Henshaw’s original spotlight was notable for much he and his crew resembled the Fantastic Four. Henshaw was in the role of Reed Richards, with his white hair even resembling Richards’ grey temples. Likewise, his later transformation into a technological being evokes the monstrous Thing, especially given how becoming so scares Terri Henshaw.
The crew members also resemble the F4, including Terri. Her power to phase in between dimensions is reminiscent of Sue Storm being able to turn invisible. The other crew members also consisted of a glowing person made out of radiation and a huge monster made out of dirt and matter, which made them mirrors of the Human Torch and the Thing, though with twice the tragedy of the latter and none of the happy-go-lucky attitude of the former. It’s incredibly strange how uncanny this resemblance is, especially given how little it factors into Henshaw’s role as the Cyborg Superman. His combination of mechanical armor and the outward clothing of a Superman costume, however, may be meant to evoke the Fantastic Four’s greatest villain, Doctor Doom. Regardless, Cyborg Superman is definitely one of the biggest bad guys in the DC Universe, and he didn’t inherit any of the positive traits of Marvel’s First Family.