The Death of Clark Kent

This is the start of my third year of reading the entire post-Crisis Superman.  I've now read through over 8 years and over 350 single issues of comics.  In the next year, we'll see some of the most 90's Superman stories of the 90's, including the Lois and Clark break-up, the wedding, and of course Superman's infamous costume change.  I think it's fitting the kick off the year with Superman #100 and a story that creators hoped would measure up to the Death of Superman.  Unlike its predecessor, the Death of Clark Kent is not literal but it is a great examination into why Clark Kent has a secret identity and what it would mean to him if that secret were threatened.

Superman: The Man of Steel #44

Somebody is starting to target the people around Clark Kent, including his book publisher and his boss, Perry White.

Kieth is accused of shoplifting just because he's black, and his white parents confront racial profiling.  Alice White defends their adoption of Kieth, but once again it kind of reads like it came from a pamphlet.

Lois Lane finds out that Clark's childhood rival now known as the villain Conduit escaped from prison weeks ago but Stryker's Island tried to cover it up.  She tries to alert Clark but he's not home so she leaves a message on his answering machine.  At the day's end, Clark returns to his apartment to find an effigy of Superman hanging on the door by a knife (just like on the cover), and now he figures out on his own that the cryptic messages and attacks have been coming from Kenny Braverman.

Superman #100

Clark Kent hides the Superman effigy wearing glasses before Jimmy Olsen can see it, but that only makes Jimmy suspicious of what Clark is trying to hide.  Superman flies to Smallville to let Ma and Pa Kent know they're in danger, but after Clark leaves Jimmy breaks into his apartment to try to find out what Clark was hiding from him.  Unfortunately, Conduit breaks in at the same time and takes Jimmy hostage.

The attacks on Clark Kent's loved ones are getting more personal, with newlyweds Lana Lang and Pete Ross targeted next.  Superman tracks down Conduit to his hideout, threatening not to pull any punches.  But Conduit reveals the Kent farmhouse is seconds away from being attacked by a small army of henchmen with tanks, forcing Superman to rush back to Smallville to save his parents.  Their home is destroyed but Superman carries them to safety, instructing them that their normal lives are effectively over from this point on.  We're painfully reminded that at the time, the loss of a home usually meant losing all family pictures.

Adventures of Superman #523

Superman and the Kents are being hunted down by other super villains working for Conduit: Warp, Plasmus, and Neutron (in what appears to be his first post-Crisis appearance).  They evade the villains but Conduit can track where they are when Clark tries to call Lois or when the Kent's try to access their bank account at an ATM.  Found again, Superman defeats the villains, seemingly killing Plasmus and Nuetron when they make contact, and traps Warp in between two of his own warp holes (similar to the Boom Tube trap last month).  Leaving his parents with some food and a chance to catch their breath, Superman hurries back to Metropolis but finds Lois' apartment in shambles with a message from Conduit on the answering machine.

This also happens to be the 100th issue of Adventures of Superman, but that didn't receive any recognition at the time.  Several series that had been rebooted after Crisis on Infinite Earths were reaching their 100th issues at this time (Flash, Wonder Woman, Justice League), so they all had similar Centennial Edition covers with partial leaf foil.

Contrary to what was solicited, there's no issue of Action Comics this month.  Action Comics will return next month and will take over the slot of the first book of the month from now on.  Next month will also see an upgrade in paper and color quality, and of course a price increase