Reign of the Supermen
Reign of the Supermen continues to follow the four different Supermen in one of the biggest story lines to ever shake the DC Universe since Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Guy Gardner goes to Metropolis to test if the energy-based Superman is the real one. Naturally, the only way he knows how is to start a fight. Guy Gardner becomes this Superman's biggest fan due to his uncharacteristically violent and questionable methods. But while re-energizing himself back at the Fortress of Solitude, this Superman ponders Guy's idolization of him and questions if he should do better than that.
Lois Lane interviews a bank robber in the hospital after hands are crushed by this Superman. Frustrated by the unsolved mysteries of these multiple Superman, she wonders if she could possibly contact Batman to help her. While there, she bumps into Cat Grant, who's distracted by the attention Tana Moon is getting by interviewing Superboy on GBS.
At City Hall, Inspector Henderson becomes the new police commissioner and promotes Maggie Sawyer to inspector.
Now that Superboy is exclusive to GBS, Lex Luthor II wants to sign up one of the new Superman to work for his network too. He also wants to shut down the White Rabbit's criminal competition.
Everybody in Metropolis seems to be picking a favorite who they think is the real Man of Steel, but Lois still isn't convinced that any of them are real. While flying alongside the GBS and Daily Planet helicopters, Superboy attracts gunfire from upgraded weapons of the gangs below. The Daily Planet's helicopter is hit but Lois is rescued from falling by the armored Man of Steel in a scene that reminds her of her first meeting with Superman. She tries to get an interview with him, but he flies off to scold Superboy for recklessly endangering the news crews. Seeing this, she starts to think he's the only one of the Supermen who has Clark's morals and may be the hero Metropolis needs.
Lex Luthor II tells the Man of Steel to look for the White Rabbit at the Spire penthouse and offers him a WLEX exclusive contract, but John Henry Irons angrily refuses, telling Luthor that it's not a popularity contest. Despite the rejection, Lex successfully places a tracking device on his armor. John Henry locates the White Rabbit, who's revealed to be his ex-lover and business partner, Dr. Angora Lapin. Angora tries to rekindle their relationship but he rejects her advances and she shoots him out of the building with one of the guns they designed together and she gets away. At the same time, Lex Luthor II discovers John Henry Irons' identity and also that he's wanted by the feds, information that he thinks he can use to control this Man of Steel.
In an unconventional story, this issue consists almost entirely of narration in the form of a Daily Planet article written by Ron Troupe alongside a scattered collage of images. Ron happened to be in the right place at the right time, trying to track down the Justice League's Maxwell Lord at the White House when it's attacked by Quraci terrorists who are then stopped by the Cyborg Superman. Cyborg Superman integrates with the White House's security system, apparently accessing the world's largest database of information. Cyborg Superman saves Maxwell Lord from an assassination attempt and gives the President a communications device, earning him the official endorsement of the U.S. Government.
GBS acquires Clark Kent's old apartment to house Superboy, but to avoid a conflict of interest they hire a third party, Rex Leech, to be his manager. Lex Luthor II invites Superboy to dinner with him and Supergirl, hoping to lure him away from GBS to his own network. Luthor II tells Superboy they have more in common than he thinks, and Superboy jokingly asks "Are you a clone too?"
Rex Leech and Vinnie Edge hire a hitman named the Stinger to try to kill Superboy to increase their ratings. In the course of their fight, the Stinger destroys the Hobsneck bridge, killing countless people. Tana Moon is horrified as she suspects the network arranged the fight to happen.
Bibbo gets a dog tag made for the stray he adopted, but they cut the name off at "Krypto" instead of Krypton so he just decides to rename his dog Krypto instead.
In deep space near the planet Saturn, an ominous spacecraft is 3 days journey away from Earth.
Tana Moon continues to report on the devastation as Superboy and Supergirl emerge from the rubble. Lex Luthor II is infuriated when he learns Superboy was pressured to sign an exclusive contract with GBS, but then decides given the boy's age his signature probably isn't binding anyway.
At the Fortress of Solitude, a Superman dressed in black breaks out of the regeneration matrix that the Superman in the visor has been seen using the last two issues. He watches the news of the other Supermen on the Fortress monitors and decides he must get back to Metropolis. The reader is led to think this person may be the energy-powered Last Son of Krypton, but we'll learn later this is actually the resurrection of the real Kal El.
The energy-powered Superman in the visor gets back to Metropolis and attacks the armored Man of Steel for using his symbol. Lois Lane interrupts them and gets them to stop fighting by telling them they're both dishonoring the memory of Superman. A process server for GBS serves them both with a cease and desist, claiming their client Superboy has sole rights to the Superman name and insignia. The energy Superman burns the papers, but the Man of Steel has to stop him before he kills the process server too. They go flying into space and crash down to Earth, leaving a huge crater.
Out in space, the ship gets closer and its unseen leader reveals his plan to destroy Superman's adopted planet.
Reign of the Superman is the ultimate template for 90's long-form storytelling. I would say Marvel Comics imitated it two times in the Spider-Man books (which like Superman in the 90's, had a continuous story running weekly through 4 titles), first in the Clone Saga and then on another occasion where Peter Park adopted 4 new secret identities. They should have called it "Reign of the Spider-Men" but they probably would have been sued.
Following the overwhelming success of the Death of Superman, DC had similar shocking changes coming for many of their heroes. This same month in the Batman books, Bane breaks Bruce Wayne's back in a story that would rival the Death of Superman. The look of the 90's was starting to take shape with new faces, new costumes, and new identities. Although not a line-wide crossover, Reign of the Supermen would have far-reaching effects and change the course of several characters for the rest of the decade.
Action Comics #688
Lois Lane interviews a bank robber in the hospital after hands are crushed by this Superman. Frustrated by the unsolved mysteries of these multiple Superman, she wonders if she could possibly contact Batman to help her. While there, she bumps into Cat Grant, who's distracted by the attention Tana Moon is getting by interviewing Superboy on GBS.
At City Hall, Inspector Henderson becomes the new police commissioner and promotes Maggie Sawyer to inspector.
Superman: The Man of Steel #23
Everybody in Metropolis seems to be picking a favorite who they think is the real Man of Steel, but Lois still isn't convinced that any of them are real. While flying alongside the GBS and Daily Planet helicopters, Superboy attracts gunfire from upgraded weapons of the gangs below. The Daily Planet's helicopter is hit but Lois is rescued from falling by the armored Man of Steel in a scene that reminds her of her first meeting with Superman. She tries to get an interview with him, but he flies off to scold Superboy for recklessly endangering the news crews. Seeing this, she starts to think he's the only one of the Supermen who has Clark's morals and may be the hero Metropolis needs.
Lex Luthor II tells the Man of Steel to look for the White Rabbit at the Spire penthouse and offers him a WLEX exclusive contract, but John Henry Irons angrily refuses, telling Luthor that it's not a popularity contest. Despite the rejection, Lex successfully places a tracking device on his armor. John Henry locates the White Rabbit, who's revealed to be his ex-lover and business partner, Dr. Angora Lapin. Angora tries to rekindle their relationship but he rejects her advances and she shoots him out of the building with one of the guns they designed together and she gets away. At the same time, Lex Luthor II discovers John Henry Irons' identity and also that he's wanted by the feds, information that he thinks he can use to control this Man of Steel.
Superman #79
Adventures of Superman #502
GBS acquires Clark Kent's old apartment to house Superboy, but to avoid a conflict of interest they hire a third party, Rex Leech, to be his manager. Lex Luthor II invites Superboy to dinner with him and Supergirl, hoping to lure him away from GBS to his own network. Luthor II tells Superboy they have more in common than he thinks, and Superboy jokingly asks "Are you a clone too?" Rex Leech and Vinnie Edge hire a hitman named the Stinger to try to kill Superboy to increase their ratings. In the course of their fight, the Stinger destroys the Hobsneck bridge, killing countless people. Tana Moon is horrified as she suspects the network arranged the fight to happen.
Bibbo gets a dog tag made for the stray he adopted, but they cut the name off at "Krypto" instead of Krypton so he just decides to rename his dog Krypto instead.
In deep space near the planet Saturn, an ominous spacecraft is 3 days journey away from Earth.
Action Comics #689
At the Fortress of Solitude, a Superman dressed in black breaks out of the regeneration matrix that the Superman in the visor has been seen using the last two issues. He watches the news of the other Supermen on the Fortress monitors and decides he must get back to Metropolis. The reader is led to think this person may be the energy-powered Last Son of Krypton, but we'll learn later this is actually the resurrection of the real Kal El.
The energy-powered Superman in the visor gets back to Metropolis and attacks the armored Man of Steel for using his symbol. Lois Lane interrupts them and gets them to stop fighting by telling them they're both dishonoring the memory of Superman. A process server for GBS serves them both with a cease and desist, claiming their client Superboy has sole rights to the Superman name and insignia. The energy Superman burns the papers, but the Man of Steel has to stop him before he kills the process server too. They go flying into space and crash down to Earth, leaving a huge crater.
Out in space, the ship gets closer and its unseen leader reveals his plan to destroy Superman's adopted planet.
Reign of the Superman is the ultimate template for 90's long-form storytelling. I would say Marvel Comics imitated it two times in the Spider-Man books (which like Superman in the 90's, had a continuous story running weekly through 4 titles), first in the Clone Saga and then on another occasion where Peter Park adopted 4 new secret identities. They should have called it "Reign of the Spider-Men" but they probably would have been sued.
Following the overwhelming success of the Death of Superman, DC had similar shocking changes coming for many of their heroes. This same month in the Batman books, Bane breaks Bruce Wayne's back in a story that would rival the Death of Superman. The look of the 90's was starting to take shape with new faces, new costumes, and new identities. Although not a line-wide crossover, Reign of the Supermen would have far-reaching effects and change the course of several characters for the rest of the decade.
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