Franklin W. Stern is a fictional character in the

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

universe. He first appeared in ''Superman: The Man of Steel'' #27 (November 1993), and was named after long time DC writer

Roger Stern Roger Stern (born September 17, 1950) is an American comic book author and novelist. Biography Early career In the early 1970s, Stern and Bob Layton published the fanzine ''CPL'' (''Contemporary Pictorial Literature''), one of the first platfo ...

Fictional character biography

Franklin Stern is the owner and

publisher Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

of the ''

Daily Planet The ''Daily Planet'' is a fictional newspaper appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Superman. The newspaper was first mentioned in ''Action Comics'' #9 (November 13, 1939) – Underworld Politics ...

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

, taking over from the TransNational Enterprises consortium which itself succeeded the villainous

Lex Luthor Alexander "Lex" Joseph Luthor () is a supervillain in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the character first appeared in ''Action Comics'' #23 (published on February 22, 1940, with a cover d ...

. Stern is a long-time friend of the editor,

Perry White Perry White is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is the editor-in-chief of the Metropolis newspaper the '' Daily Planet''. The character maintains very high ethical and journalistic standards and i ...

, although they often disagree about politics. When falling profits force him to sell the newspaper, this allows Luthor to purchase it again, with dire consequences for the ''Planet'' and its staff. Shortly afterwards, the ''Planet'' is purchased by

Bruce Wayne Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on March 30, 1939. In t ...

. In

The New 52 The New 52 was the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire Line (comics), line of ongoing monthly superhero American comic books, comic books. Following the conclusion of the "Flashpoint (comics), Flashpoint" Fictional crossover, cros ...

reboot continuity, the ''Daily Planet'' was bought by

Morgan Edge Morgan Edge is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Originally a supporting character, he is a media mogul who acquires '' The Daily Planet'' and employs Clark Kent as a television journalist for his WGBS ...

and merged with his Galaxy Broadcasting System. At one point Stern dated the sister of ''Daily Planet'' reporter

Ron Troupe Ron Troupe is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Ron Troupe has appeared in several DC Comics media, as such as television series and films. He will appear in the DC Universe (franchise), DC Universe fi ...

, but the outcome of this relationship is not known.

In other media

* Franklin Stern appears in the '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'' episode "The House of Luthor", portrayed by

James Earl Jones James Earl Jones (January 17, 1931 – September 9, 2024) was an American actor. A pioneer for black actors in the entertainment industry, Jones is known for his extensive and acclaimed roles on stage and screen. Jones is one of the few perfor ...

. * Franklin Stern appears in the ''

Smallville ''Smallville'' is an American superhero fiction, superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produce ...

'' episode "Charade", portrayed by Blu Mankuma.

Footnotes

References

Franklin Stern at the Unofficial Guide to the DC Universe
Fictional newspaper publishers (people) African-American characters in comics Comics characters introduced in 1993 African-American characters in television {{DC-char-stub