The Man of Steel! (Literally) (Superman: The Man of Steel #22)
John Henry Irons was trapped under a building during the Doomsday Massacre. Upon realizing that Superman is dead, he seeks to carry on his legacy in a suit of literal steel and protects Suicide Slum, a neglected neighborhood in Metropolis. Suicide Slum is overrun with gangs brandishing highly power “Toastmasters,” guns that Irons himself help develop. Now he’s committed to taking them off the streets!
Back from the Dead? (The Adventures of Superman #500)
I bought into the “Death and Return of Superman” hook, line and sinker. I was stoked for this book to come out and wanted to see how they would handle bringing a character back from the dead, in a time where comics characters didn't return from the dead that often. This book was polybagged in a white bag and came with a trading card. This book set up the “Reign of the Superman” storyline. This issue was also Jerry Ordway’s send off from the Superman books. Ordway had been with The Adventures of Superman since Byrne revamped Superman.
Supergirl: Hellblazer? (Supergirl #9)
The 1980s and 90’s were a rough time for Supergirl and her fans. For starters, she was killed in Crisis on Infinite Earths wiped her from existence. The editorial mandate was with each super-powered cousin, dog, cat etc. Superman loses a bit of his uniqueness. He is no longer the last survivor of a dead world, but one of many and so, the Superman family was shrunk to one.
However, this didn’t stop writers from trying to bring back many of the Super-Family adjusted so that they were not also survivors of Krypton, Superboy was a clone of the Man of Steel, Krypto was a puppy rescued by “Sooperman’s number 1 fan” Bibbo and Supergirl was a shape-shifting alien called the Matrix who dated Lex Luthor Jr. (who was actually the original Lex posing as his own son.)
Doomsday! (Superman #75)
For those too young to remember, “The Death of Superman” was a huge storyline with major mainstream news coverage and it was possibly the first storyline where the main character actually died. Sure, characters died, you lost Uncle Ben, Gwen Stacy and Bucky but you never lost Spider-Man, Captain America and certainly not Superman, the greatest hero of them all!
Superman's Lost Love (Superman #12)
They Stole His Mind. He Wants It Back! (Total Recall: Movie Special #1)
Douglas Quaid wants finds himself dreaming of Mars and wants to travel there but is shot down by his wife. He sets up an appointment with a company called Rekall that implants memories, in order to get the vacation of his dreams. While the memories are being implanted it’s discovered that Quaid has already been to Mars!
