Scorn and Superman
Superman gets to know the new strange visitor from another planet, Scorn, when they both fight the villain Saviour. Although Scorn and Superman have fought each other once before, this time they'll actually be on the same side.
The rest of this month is mostly setting up future stories: Lex Luthor prepares for his trial, the mysterious figure who assembled the Superman Revenge Squad is recruiting new villains, and Jimmy Olsen stumbles upon the biggest story of his career.
After getting away last month, Saviour seeks out a rematch with both Scorn and Superman. GBS happens to be re-broadcasting Jimmy Olsen's entire interview with Professor Hamilton about Superman's new powers, so Savior takes notes to prepare for the big fight. Saviour transforms himself into an energy being like the new Superman, and starts to destroy Times Square while Jimmy Olsen's cameras roll to draw out Saviour's opponents. In the course of the fight, Saviour drops his notes, which Bibbo Bibowski picks up and then realizes Jimmy has once again helped the villain. Bibbo loses his temper at Jimmy for helping a villain a second time and he punches Jimmy in the face. Unable to control his own imagination-based energy powers, Saviour explodes and then is apprehended.
At the Daily Planet, Simone is angry at Clark for not getting any pictures to accompany his story about Scorn.
Lex Luthor gets right-wing columnist Dirk Armstrong to write an op-ed defending him, and demanding that Superman return Lex Luthor's Kryptonite ring as evidence for the trial. Wanting to be seen as cooperating with the justice system, Superman goes to the Batcave to retrieve the ring from Batman. Exposing himself to Kryptonite for the first time since his powers changed, Superman learns it no longer has any effect on him. At first Batman advises him to withhold the evidence in case it might actually help Luthor go free, but he gives in on the condition that Superman returns it when they're done with it. Superman gives the ring to the police so they can analyze it while one of Luthor's scientists is allowed to observe. After Luthor and his team leave, it's revealed that his scientist stole the Kryptonite ring and returned a fake one to Superman.
Luthor and his wife celebrate the theft with some non-alcoholic champagne. The reason given is because of the Contessa's pregnancy, although it seems uncharacteristic that Lex would care. There seemed to be a trend in the late 90's to cut out drinking, as Professor Hamilton is seen in the previous issue drinking non-alcoholic beer at Bibbo's bar. The teetotaling would get a little preachy in the coming months, with writers going out of their way to show Superman and his supporting cast not imbibing even if everyone else around them is.
Concerned that Intergang is getting a grip on the street gangs of Suicide Slum, Superman instead finds the Newsboy Legion fighting over an abandoned movie theater with the Dingbats of Danger Street, another Jack Kirby creation. Their turf war is bizarrely settled when another forgotten teen group from the 70's, the teenage millionaires known as the Green Team, buy the theater.
Lori Lemaris stops by to see the Kents for the first time since their wedding, and she lets them know that she's taken an internship in South America. She'll appear a few more times in water-related stories, but will otherwise not be seen again.
To intimidate Lois Lane, Intergang sets the Kent's apartment building on fire. Superman saves everyone from the building, but when Jimmy Olsen wonders where Clark is, Superman has to go back in and change to Clark to pretend to get out. As a vulnerable human, however, Clark is overtaken by the smoke and nearly dies in the fire. Fortunately, he's rescued by his neighbor Collin Thornton, who as Lord Satanus, is unaffected by smoke. When he reviews the footage of Thornton saving Clark, Jimmy thinks he's deduced Superman's secret identity.
The mysterious shadowy figure responsible for the Superman Revenge Squad is now seeking out new recruits. He finds Rock already on the lam, breaks Barrage out of Stryker's Island maximum security prison, and frees the Parasite from S.T.AR. Labs.
In a throwback to one of Superman's earliest stories from the 30's, Clark Kent interviews a union leader to expose corruption in the mining industry. While the miners show Clark the unsafe conditions of the mine, the owner decides to kill the story by trapping them inside the mine with a cave-in. Unlike the original story, Clark is unable to risk changing into Superman to save the day because his transformation could cause a spark which could blow up the mine. Instead, Clark has to risk his life to help save the miners as a mere human. At the end, Clark realizes that his courage was instilled in him by his parents, and he still retains his values even if he no longer has powers like invulnerability.
The rest of this month is mostly setting up future stories: Lex Luthor prepares for his trial, the mysterious figure who assembled the Superman Revenge Squad is recruiting new villains, and Jimmy Olsen stumbles upon the biggest story of his career.
Superman: The Man of Steel #70
At the Daily Planet, Simone is angry at Clark for not getting any pictures to accompany his story about Scorn.
Superman #126
Luthor and his wife celebrate the theft with some non-alcoholic champagne. The reason given is because of the Contessa's pregnancy, although it seems uncharacteristic that Lex would care. There seemed to be a trend in the late 90's to cut out drinking, as Professor Hamilton is seen in the previous issue drinking non-alcoholic beer at Bibbo's bar. The teetotaling would get a little preachy in the coming months, with writers going out of their way to show Superman and his supporting cast not imbibing even if everyone else around them is.
Adventures of Superman #549
Lori Lemaris stops by to see the Kents for the first time since their wedding, and she lets them know that she's taken an internship in South America. She'll appear a few more times in water-related stories, but will otherwise not be seen again.
To intimidate Lois Lane, Intergang sets the Kent's apartment building on fire. Superman saves everyone from the building, but when Jimmy Olsen wonders where Clark is, Superman has to go back in and change to Clark to pretend to get out. As a vulnerable human, however, Clark is overtaken by the smoke and nearly dies in the fire. Fortunately, he's rescued by his neighbor Collin Thornton, who as Lord Satanus, is unaffected by smoke. When he reviews the footage of Thornton saving Clark, Jimmy thinks he's deduced Superman's secret identity.
Action Comics #736
In a throwback to one of Superman's earliest stories from the 30's, Clark Kent interviews a union leader to expose corruption in the mining industry. While the miners show Clark the unsafe conditions of the mine, the owner decides to kill the story by trapping them inside the mine with a cave-in. Unlike the original story, Clark is unable to risk changing into Superman to save the day because his transformation could cause a spark which could blow up the mine. Instead, Clark has to risk his life to help save the miners as a mere human. At the end, Clark realizes that his courage was instilled in him by his parents, and he still retains his values even if he no longer has powers like invulnerability.
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