The Kryptonite man was a rather major villain pre crisis. But is rarely used these days. I wonder if it has something to do with the ascension of Metallo as a major Superman threat. Having two characters with Kryptonite based abilities might seem redundant.
Metallo being one of the first villains Byrne revamped, hell he debuted in the first issue of Superman proper, probably did help establish him. Given both of them have similar powers and methods (get in close and try to kill Superman with Kryptonite) yeah I expect writers view K-Man as redundant. Which is why I think it’s time to leave Kryptonite behind for Metallo. Either that or change K-Man to a different type of Kryptonite, maybe Red, but still Clay Ramses.
They should change Kryptonite Man to the Superman 2000 proposal version.
A Rocky Monster made of Kryptonite like Ben Grimm the Thing made of Red Kryptonaite.
The current Metallo isn't that interesting honestly, t
hey should stick with the Last Son era design, you know, with different variations of Kryptonite on hands and chest.
There were a few Kryptonite Men and I don't think the Metallo "family" made them redundant, but it's hard enough either getting writers or readers to care about Superman villains.
Like you can totally have several versions of Toyman at play but some people aren't even going to bother with the difference between Schott and Loomis
I think Metallo has more going for him than Kryptonite Man, a man who becomes a machine and is cut off from his own humanity in the process has more pathos than a Kryptonite monster.
Metallo was a one-issue character (he died)--in the same comic that introduced Kara Zor-El by the way. Superman did dream about the man with the Kryptonite heart, but when they finally got around to bringing him back in 1977, Marty Pasko introduced a brother who became the new Metallo. I realize being dead has never stopped a good villain from returning, but I guess there wasn't enough interest in the character before Pesky Pasko breathed life into him.
Kryptonite Kid wasn't really that big of a deal either. He was mainly a Superboy villain and even against Superboy and Krypto he didn't have that many appearances. His returns as Kryptonite Man were very limited--just as someone to fill out the tableau of Superman villains, in two exceptional Superman sagas.
Moore pulled off what had to be the most interesting KM moment. Morrison though, I think should be blamed for bringing the character back in such a weak way. I think his redundancy during Action leads to this way of thinking. His KM really was another Metallo instead of say , an alien
In the New 52 Metallo was powered by Metal 0 instead of Kryptonite though. He had weapons that could pierce Superman’s skin, but didn’t have Kryptonite, so they weren’t really the same. It’s just nobody used [B]either[/B] of them afterwards, which is how it always is with Metallo, Kryptonite Man, and Parasite sadly. If they’re lucky they’ll get a cool moment in a villain team up or a one shot issue. But they never really get any focus.
Metallo has had a number of gimmicks over the years not related to a kryptonite heart. But it had to be a difficult gimmick to separate from him many years ago, before TAS came along to cement what has to be the best known take on the character. And then the Johns story just before the New 52 that gave him Roger's look but provided a story kind of easy to confuse with Morrison's, I think.
Kryptonite Man also becoming a Luthor Lane project with a grudge against Superman from his criminal life? That's way too close to what people are already willing to accept as the definitive Metallo. As opposed to
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