Soul Search: Conclusion

Soul Search ends tragically with the death of a supporting character that's been building for the last 4 years.

Superman #47

Soul Search: Chapter Two

Superman battles blaze in her domain of hellfire for the souls of Jimmy Olsen and Jerry White.  Blaze summons the dead villain Skyhook, who like the black Racer was a plot thread from over a year ago.  It turns out her nightclub is the once abandoned church that was Skyhook's last hideout (Superman #34).

On Earth, Jose Delgado follows Jerry's ex-girlfriend Tammy to her cousins apartment, who it turns out is really the paralyzed Will Walker, also known as the Black Racer.  The Racer shows himself to Jose, and then transports him in his Gangbuster costume to an Intergang hideout, where he overhears their plot to burn down Blazes.  Intergang starts a fire in the nightclub but they end up mystically locked inside and Gangbuster has to break in to save everyone.  As the DC Universe's avatar of death, the Black Racer shows up to send the last standing Intergang agent to hell.

Lex Luthor goes to the hospital and reveals to Perry White that Jerry is really his own son from an affair with Alice.  While the three of them fight (actually physically fight, I might add), Jerry's condition worsens and the name "Blaze" bleeds through his shirt.

Adventures of Superman #470

Soul Search: Chapter Three

Blaze uses Jerry to magically attack Superman and Jimmy.  Jerry tries to resist her control to save Jimmy, but she devours his soul and his body at the hospital goes into cardiac arrest.  Superman flies Jimmy out of Blaze's realm and bursts out of a dormant volcano in the South Pacific.  Blaze's defeat is sensed in cameos by Dr. Fate and Raven.  Jimmy Olsen has a complete recovery in the hospital and the Whites mourn Jerry's death in a church.  Lex Luthor gets word of Jerry's passing and sheds a tear.  The Black Racer summons Jerry's soul from his corps and escorts him to the afterlife, one where apparently he's been deemed "worthy."  He has stayed dead ever since, something that almost never happens in comics.

In Smallville, Lana Lang sells her farm and finds out that Pete Ross had always wanted to ask her out but Clark was in the way.  Deciding to move on, she agrees to go out for pizza.

Action Comics #657

The Toyman is kidnapping the neglected children of Lexcorp employees as part of his twisted revenge against Luthor.  Intergang doesn't like that their new associate is attracting attention, and for good reason when Superman tracks the Toyman down to his hideout at an abandoned amusement park.  The Toyman has bribed the children with toys and games, but when their real parents show up they still choose their own parents over him and he surrenders.

Aside from the Intergang involvement, this story almost doesn't fit here and it feels like filler.  Lex Luthor almost heroically helps his employees find or protect their children, but it strangely doesn't mention Jerry's recent death even though that would have offered a plausible motive for this selfless behavio.  As written here, the villains seem out of character from their usual post-Crisis interpretations.  Roger Stern wants the reader to think that Toyman isn't a child-murdering monster, but that's exactly what this character will become in just a few years.