Underworld Unleashed
The Trial of Superman continues and also ties into DC's next company-wide crossover, Underworld Unleashed.
The Trial of Superman part 4
The pillbug-like alien Smitty (whose actual name is unpronounceable) leads the fugitive Superman and rest of the chain gang to a safe haven and betrays them by having his alien race invade it. Superman and the fugitive Leeya stop the invasion and the grateful planet gives them transportation off their world, while condemning Smitty to live their among "inferiors" as his punishment.
Elsewhere, the Tribunal enlists a one-eyed bounty hunter to bring Superman back alive, if possible.
Searching for the Man of Steel with Alpha Centurion in his ship (the Pax Romana), Superboy, Steel, and Supergirl are reunited with the Eradicator. Alpha Centurion says something that reminds Superboy of the Cyborg, and he starts to suspect the Centurion is not who he appears to be.
The Trial of Superman part 5
Of all things, Superman and the other fugitives encounter a pirate ship in outer space, captained by Freelance, the pirate-themed bounty hunter hired by the Tribunal. Freelance forces Superman to a sword fight on the plank (just as depicted on the cover), but Superman realizes Freelance isn't going to let a valuable reward fall into a black hole, and he makes them both fall onto the ship's invisible "safety net." Freelance concedes that Superman outsmarted him and helps the Man of Steel and his friends escape from the Tribunal's forces.
Somewhere else in space, Alpha Centurion sends Team Superman into an asteroid belt to investigate a distress signal, but they're attacked by aliens who recognize the Superman "S" from wanted posters and see an opportunity to get rich. Alpha Centurion flies away in the Pax Romana and Superboy is convinced he was really the Cyborg in disguise.
The Trial of Superman part 6
This issue isn't an Underworld Unleashed tie-in, although it really should have been. We see Desaad on Apokolips sitting in the throne after the apparent death of Darkseid, musing for some strange reason that Superman is about to collide with a being named Tolos. Lex Luthor and the Joker walk through Metropolis when they suddenly walk into a glass wall, and discover Neron has trapped them in a snow globe.
Stranded in space, Steel converts Superboy's space cycle into an engine to power an asteroid to transport Team Superman. They find the empty Pax Romana adrift, and then they're attacked by none other than the Cyborg.
Freelance takes the fugitives back to Haven. Feeling responsible Mope who was injured in the fight, Superman desperately seeks a mysterious sorcerer believed to be the only one on the planet who can heal him. Entering Tolos' laboratory, Superman notices a miniaturized city in a bottle. The elderly Tolos appears from behind and agrees to heal Mope, his services will require payment but he ominously says he will worry about that later. Tolos does indeed save Mope's life, but then he reveals his true form is a being who possesses bodies as hosts, and he wants the Man of Steel's body as payment. Superman bluffs that he will destroy Tolos' precious bottle city, and Tolos leaves with the bottle, not knowing Superman never would have done such a thing anyway.
The Trial of Superman part 7
In an Underworld Unleashed tie-in Maggie Sawyer and the S.C.U. hunt down the Hellgrammite, who like many of the villains in the DC universe has recently been given an upgrade in power by selling his soul to Neron.
Superboy finds himself sharing a cell with the Alpha Centurion in the Tribunal's dungeon. Convinced that the Centurion is really the Cyborg in disguise, Superboy breaks out of his restraints and starts to fight until the guards remove the Centurion from the cell. On the next page, the Cyborg appears in front of the Tribunal and convinces them to keep Team Superman under maximum security.
Superman takes Mope back to the planet where he was accused of his crime, thinking if he can clear Mope's name the Tribunal will re-evaluate him too. Only after they arrive does Mope tell Superman the planet is magic-based, and Superman is shot down by a blast from an impenetrable fog. He lands in a swamp, with Mope nowhere to be found, and an invisible figure creeping up behind him.
The Trial of Superman part 8
Lois Lane goes to Lexcorp to see if the Contessa knows where Alpha Centurion is now, but all she learns are rumors that the Centurion is involved with Lois too.
On a place called Sorcerer's World, Superman is attacked from behind by an invisible figure, but when Superman accidentally pulls off the attacker's cloak his enemy becomes visible and runs away. Wearing the invisible cloak, Superman follows the stalker to the sorcerer's lair, where the sorcerer already has Mope tied up. Not wanting trouble with the Tribunal, the sorcerer opens a portal off world to help them continue their mission to clear Mope's name.
Trapped in Neron's snow globe with the Joker, Lex Luthor reflects on the bargain he made with the devil to be restored to a healthy body. Coinciding with the climax of Underworld Unleashed, the glass shatters and the two villains are separated in a swirling vortex. Lex Luthor finds himself back on Earth 30 miles outside of Las Vegas, unconcerned that his soul may still belong to a devil he doesn't believe in.
Oddly unconcerned by the Cyborg's atrocities, the Tribinual grants him the authority to capture the last Son of Krypton.
Underworld Unleashed was DC's first big crossover since Zero Hour, and it set the template for all subsequent crossovers for the rest of the 90's. Without fail every 12 months, virtually every series in the DC universe would be interrupted for one month with a weekly story that promised to re-shape the universe. Even long-form sagas like the Trial of Superman were not except from participating in these crossovers. Much of the time, as we saw here, the weekly Superman books complimented the parallel weekly crossover, directly tying into what was also happening that same week in ways that monthly books simply couldn't do.
Action Comics #716
The pillbug-like alien Smitty (whose actual name is unpronounceable) leads the fugitive Superman and rest of the chain gang to a safe haven and betrays them by having his alien race invade it. Superman and the fugitive Leeya stop the invasion and the grateful planet gives them transportation off their world, while condemning Smitty to live their among "inferiors" as his punishment.
Elsewhere, the Tribunal enlists a one-eyed bounty hunter to bring Superman back alive, if possible.
Searching for the Man of Steel with Alpha Centurion in his ship (the Pax Romana), Superboy, Steel, and Supergirl are reunited with the Eradicator. Alpha Centurion says something that reminds Superboy of the Cyborg, and he starts to suspect the Centurion is not who he appears to be.
Superman: The Man of Steel #51
Of all things, Superman and the other fugitives encounter a pirate ship in outer space, captained by Freelance, the pirate-themed bounty hunter hired by the Tribunal. Freelance forces Superman to a sword fight on the plank (just as depicted on the cover), but Superman realizes Freelance isn't going to let a valuable reward fall into a black hole, and he makes them both fall onto the ship's invisible "safety net." Freelance concedes that Superman outsmarted him and helps the Man of Steel and his friends escape from the Tribunal's forces.
Somewhere else in space, Alpha Centurion sends Team Superman into an asteroid belt to investigate a distress signal, but they're attacked by aliens who recognize the Superman "S" from wanted posters and see an opportunity to get rich. Alpha Centurion flies away in the Pax Romana and Superboy is convinced he was really the Cyborg in disguise.
Superman #107
This issue isn't an Underworld Unleashed tie-in, although it really should have been. We see Desaad on Apokolips sitting in the throne after the apparent death of Darkseid, musing for some strange reason that Superman is about to collide with a being named Tolos. Lex Luthor and the Joker walk through Metropolis when they suddenly walk into a glass wall, and discover Neron has trapped them in a snow globe.
Stranded in space, Steel converts Superboy's space cycle into an engine to power an asteroid to transport Team Superman. They find the empty Pax Romana adrift, and then they're attacked by none other than the Cyborg.
Freelance takes the fugitives back to Haven. Feeling responsible Mope who was injured in the fight, Superman desperately seeks a mysterious sorcerer believed to be the only one on the planet who can heal him. Entering Tolos' laboratory, Superman notices a miniaturized city in a bottle. The elderly Tolos appears from behind and agrees to heal Mope, his services will require payment but he ominously says he will worry about that later. Tolos does indeed save Mope's life, but then he reveals his true form is a being who possesses bodies as hosts, and he wants the Man of Steel's body as payment. Superman bluffs that he will destroy Tolos' precious bottle city, and Tolos leaves with the bottle, not knowing Superman never would have done such a thing anyway.
Adventures of Superman #530
In an Underworld Unleashed tie-in Maggie Sawyer and the S.C.U. hunt down the Hellgrammite, who like many of the villains in the DC universe has recently been given an upgrade in power by selling his soul to Neron.
Superboy finds himself sharing a cell with the Alpha Centurion in the Tribunal's dungeon. Convinced that the Centurion is really the Cyborg in disguise, Superboy breaks out of his restraints and starts to fight until the guards remove the Centurion from the cell. On the next page, the Cyborg appears in front of the Tribunal and convinces them to keep Team Superman under maximum security.
Superman takes Mope back to the planet where he was accused of his crime, thinking if he can clear Mope's name the Tribunal will re-evaluate him too. Only after they arrive does Mope tell Superman the planet is magic-based, and Superman is shot down by a blast from an impenetrable fog. He lands in a swamp, with Mope nowhere to be found, and an invisible figure creeping up behind him.
Superman: The Man of Tomorrow #3
Lois Lane goes to Lexcorp to see if the Contessa knows where Alpha Centurion is now, but all she learns are rumors that the Centurion is involved with Lois too.
On a place called Sorcerer's World, Superman is attacked from behind by an invisible figure, but when Superman accidentally pulls off the attacker's cloak his enemy becomes visible and runs away. Wearing the invisible cloak, Superman follows the stalker to the sorcerer's lair, where the sorcerer already has Mope tied up. Not wanting trouble with the Tribunal, the sorcerer opens a portal off world to help them continue their mission to clear Mope's name.
Trapped in Neron's snow globe with the Joker, Lex Luthor reflects on the bargain he made with the devil to be restored to a healthy body. Coinciding with the climax of Underworld Unleashed, the glass shatters and the two villains are separated in a swirling vortex. Lex Luthor finds himself back on Earth 30 miles outside of Las Vegas, unconcerned that his soul may still belong to a devil he doesn't believe in.
Oddly unconcerned by the Cyborg's atrocities, the Tribinual grants him the authority to capture the last Son of Krypton.
Underworld Unleashed was DC's first big crossover since Zero Hour, and it set the template for all subsequent crossovers for the rest of the 90's. Without fail every 12 months, virtually every series in the DC universe would be interrupted for one month with a weekly story that promised to re-shape the universe. Even long-form sagas like the Trial of Superman were not except from participating in these crossovers. Much of the time, as we saw here, the weekly Superman books complimented the parallel weekly crossover, directly tying into what was also happening that same week in ways that monthly books simply couldn't do.
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