Greg Cox - Man of Steel

Lois sighed. Like I don’t have enough on my plate right now.

Still, just to be polite, she looked up at the newcomer.

Her eyes bulged. It was all she could to keep her jaw from hitting the floor.

Clark stood before her, wearing a sports jacket, jeans, and glasses. He leaned his bike awkwardly against a cubicle, as though he wasn’t quite sure where to park it. Slouching to de-emphasize his impressive height and build, he didn’t look much like the hunky baggage handler she had first met up north—or the Man of Steel.

“This is Clark Kent,” Perry said.

Slightly flustered, Lois did her best to act as though they had never met before. She rose awkwardly from her seat and offered her hand.

“I’m Lois,” she said. “Welcome to the Planet.”

He smiled back, sharing a private joke between them. He took her hand.

“Glad to be here, Lois.”

Greg Cox is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous novels and short stories. He has written the official novelizations of such films as The Dark Knight Rises, Daredevil, Ghost Rider, and the first three Underworld movies, as well as novelizations of four popular DC Comics miniseries: Infinite Crisis, 52, Countdown, and Final Crisis.

In addition, he has written books and stories based on such popular series as Alias, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Farscape, The 4400, The Green Hornet, Leverage, Riese: Kingdom Falling, Roswell, Star Trek, Terminator, Warehouse 13, Xena: Warrior Princess, and Zorro. He has received two Scribe Awards from the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers. He lives in Oxford, Pennsylvania.

His official website is: www.gregcox-author.com.

Ihonestly can’t remember a time when I wasn’t a Superman fan. I grew up on the comic books, as well as the earlier movies, TV shows, and cartoons, so it was a thrill to be able to adapt his latest big-screen adventure.

I want to thank my editor, Steve Saffel, for giving me this opportunity, and my agent, Russ Galen, for helping to make this possible. I also want to thank Nick Landau, Vivian Cheung, Cath Trechman, Natalie Laverick, Katy Wild, and the rest of the good folks at Titan Books for their valiant efforts behind the scenes.

Thanks to Josh Anderson, Wes Coller, Adam Forman, Shane Thompson, Melissa Jolley, and all the other helpful folks at Warner Bros. for allowing me access to the script and artwork and for graciously hosting me during my visit to the Warner lot and offices. Their hospitality was greatly appreciated.

In addition, I have to thank Zack Snyder, Christopher Nolan, and David S. Goyer for giving me such fantastic stuff to work with. I can’t wait to see the finished movie!

Thanks also to Deborah Snyder, Charles Roven, and Emma Thomas.

Finally, and as always, I could not have written this book without the support of my girlfriend, Karen Palinko, and our various four-legged assistants: Henry, Sophie, and Lyla.

MAN OF STEEL: The Official Movie Novelization

Print edition ISBN: 9781781165997

E-book edition ISBN: 9781781166000

Published by Titan Books

A division of Titan Publishing Group Ltd

144 Southwark Street, London SE1 0UP

First edition: June 2013

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2013 DC Comics.

MAN OF STEEL and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © DC Comics.

WB SHIELD: ™ & © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (s13)

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.