New Costume

Superman gets a new costume to go with his new powers, which he will wear for the next year in the comics.  This controversial period was not viewed favorably at the time, and it hasn't aged any better since then.  Perhaps I was in the minority, but in the 90's I found this to be a perfect jumping on point.  Until then, I had only been able to follow the Superman books off and on, but at this time in my life I now had my own job so this was the first time I had the means to follow a weekly series.  I only stuck with it for about 6 months.

Pulling out the glow-in-the-dark variant cover for Superman #123 to do this week's reading made me feel like a kid again.  This wasn't a period of Superman stories that I was anxious to re-read, nevertheless it does bring back a lot of memories from this time.  I guess I'll see how these books stand up after re-reading them years later.

Superman: The Man of Steel #67

Ceritak arrives in Metropolis and due to a language barrier engages in a fight with Superman, who's still struggling to learn how to use his new powers.  Superman's powers black out the entire city, and Dirk Armstrong takes advantage of the absence of both Perry White and managing editor Clark Kent to publish an anti-Superman editorial in the Daily Planet. 

At GBS, Cat Grant is angry that Jimmy Olsen lost a story to help an old lady into a shelter and orders him to cover the Superman fight without trying to be a hero or getting involved.

Superman doesn't wear his cape in this issue, and wouldn't be wearing his traditional costume again after this.

Superman #123

Reporting on the scene, Jimmy Olsen mistakenly gives Ceritak the name Scorn.  Literally trying to hold himself together after the fight, Superman seeks help from Professor Hamilton and Doctor Faulkner to save him from dematerializing.  Even with Kryptonian robots now in his lab, the Professor lacks the technology to save the Man of Steel.  Fortunately, the Contessa unexpectedly delivers an advanced polymer fabric that he can use to construct a containment suit for Superman.  Lois and the Professor don't trust the Contessa, but she leaves the fabric and they have no choice but to use it.

Superman transfers his energy into the finished suit and then disappears.  He reappears outside in the sky, finally with control over his new energy powers.  Before even letting his wife know that he's alright, he teleports to Smallville to visit his parents and show them his new costume.

JLA #5

Because Superman's weekly adventures set the pace for the whole DC universe at this time, his next appearance would be in the next issue of Grant Morrison's JLA.  After only one arc with the iconic seven core members, the new team has a recruitment drive.  Though most of the characters featured on the cover (Green Arrow, Steel, Plastic Man) would later join the team, at this time the JLA admits a completely unknown newcomer who calls herself Tomorrow Woman.  Unfortunately, Tomorrow Woman turns out to be an android sent to infiltrate the Justice League by Professor Ivo and T.O. Morrow.  Rather than destroy the League as her creators programmed her to do, she ends up sacrificing herself to save the world.  Only Superman attends her funeral; the cleric is insecure because he's never officiated a funeral for a robot before, but Superman tells him they didn't bury a robot today either.

While not directly connected to the Superman books, Grant Morrison's JLA would be the highlight of this period.  Some of the most memorable depictions of Superman's new powers and costume would occur in this series rather than in Superman's own books.

Adventures of Superman #546

Superman returns home to show Lois his new suit and explain how his new powers work.  He can now instantly transform into a fully human and powerless Clark Kent, although it's not really clear why he couldn't just change back to his regular Kryptonian body.

In the Bottle City of Kandor, the rebels learn Tolos is no longer around to strike them dead for trying to overthrow the city's government.

Perry White is furious that the paper printed the anti-Superman editorial, but publisher Franklin Stern, Dirk Armstrong and Simone DeNiege have taken over the operation now.  Superman goes to the Daily Planet to confront Dirk about his opinion piece, but he's interrupted when Dirk finds out his daughter has been kidnapped.  Perry then gets a call that his doctor doesn't want to discuss over the phone.

Scorn ends up rescuing Dirk's daughter, Ashbury, who it turns out is blind so she doesn't see him as a monster like everyone else does.

Metallo seeks a fight with the new Superman, absorbing a ship from the harbor to make a gigantic body and trapping Superman inside it as a power source.  However, Superman changes to Clark Kent and Metallo's giant body comes crashing down.

Action Comics #733

Lois finds her injured husband at the docks.  Clark thinks he can stop the bleeding by changing back to Superman, but discovers he's still bleeding energy out of his containment suit.  Still unsure how his powers work, he calls on the Ray, another energy-based hero, for advice.  The Ray talks to Superman for a few pages, but they don't actually see any action together even though Metallo is still at large.

The Special Crimes Unit finds Metallo, but he takes control of some of their battle suits.  While watching Superman fight Metallo again, Jimmy Olsen spots Professor Hamilton and wants to get an exclusive interview with him.

Meanwhile, the Bottle City of Kandor descends into a chaotic civil war now that its people know Tolos is no longer in control.