The Millennium Giants!

Last month we got 2 interlocking covers, but this month we get an ambitious 9-cover interlocking mega cover as part of the Millennium Giants crossover.  Though the Millennium was still over a year away at this point in 1998, Millennium fever was already taking hold of popular entertainment.  The Superman books cross over with five other series in a span of two months, making this particular week one of the biggest reads of this whole blog.  This crossover would see Superman team up with the 90's versions of Aquaman, the Teen Titans, Supergirl, and others.  Rather than have the whole image completed by a single artist, each of the respective artists for each series finished their part of the image, so the covers don't all line up perfectly because of that.

The Millennium Giants was to be the finale of the entire saga of Superman's power and costume change.  After this story, Superman would return to his traditional costume in time for his 60th anniversary.  This saga already feels like it's run its course, and a big multi-part crossover at the end makes me just want to get through it and get it over with.

The Adventures of Superman #556

Before we dive into the Millennium Giants, we wrap up the last two weeks of comics that ordinarily would have come out the previous month.  These two issues clearly have throw-back looking covers and split Superman Red/Blue interior stories which indicates they were at least originally intended to come out according to the regular schedule.

Superman Red has a rematch with the Millennium Guard.  Lex Luthor gets a mysterious package containing a black rose and his wife's hospital identification bracelet, letting him know that she's definitely still alive. 

In a second story, Superman Blue and Jimmy Olsen face a gigantic monster who is not actually one of the Millennium Giants.  It turns out to be the pet of an alien who, when he removes his space helmet, actually has the head of a dog.

Action Comics #743

Superman Blue and Slam Bradley team up to catch the Inkling, a new villain who got away from Superman a few issues ago.  With nowhere else to hold him, Superman takes the Inkling to S.T.A.R. Labs, even though we find out in flashback that was actually where he was originally created.  Unfortunately, during this period Superman didn't get many chances to fight his normal rogues gallery.  Instead, we got forgettable villains like this one who presented challenges to Superman's new powers, but were rather useless once Superman's powers went back to normal.

In the second story, Jimmy Olsen finds where the Millennium Guard left Superman Red.  Jimmy takes Superman Red to Metropolis to find his Blue counterpart, even though Intergang is looking for him there.  Superman stops Intergang, and when Misa learns that they'll never stop trying to kill Jimmy, she takes out a special weapon from her bag of tricks and erases all memory of Jimmy from their minds.  Jimmy's story line is conveniently wrapped up before the start of the next big crossover.

Superman: The Man of Steel #78

The Millennium Giants part 1

Lois Lane covers a volcano eruption in Mexico as one of the Millennium Guard stands at the peak of it.  The three harbingers summon the Millennium Giants out of the Earth, from this volcano in Mexico, Stonehenge in England, and from the coast of Egypt.  Once emerged, the Giants each start to follow a path of destruction leading to one another.

Superman takes advantage of having two of himself to attack different Giants in different places.  They split up and go to Egypt and England first, but they both end up being teleported to Mexico.

This story kicks off on a cosmic scale with many of the conventions of a cosmic superhero saga.  Harbingers with intelligent motivations, reminiscent of Marvel's Silver Surfer, usher in titanic beings, similar to Galactus.  Just as Galactus only happens to threaten the entire planet simply to feed, the Millennium Giants threaten everything in their path simply by walking.  The cosmic beings are so huge that they barely notice the inhabitants of Earth any more than a man would notice an insect.

Aquaman #43

The Millennium Giants part 2

One of the Giants is dangerously close to stepping on the underwater city of Poseidonis, so Aquaman (with his 90's hook hand), Superman, and Tempest must try to save the city and also protect the surface world from tidal waves in the Giant's wake.  They're actually able to bring the Giant down, but he gets back up and continues forward on his path.

Challengers of the Unknown #15

The Millennium Giants part 3

The late 90's team of the Challengers of the Unknown takes on the same Giant that Aquaman tried to stop all by themselves.  Although the cover says Superman guest stars, his appearance is hardly even a cameo.  It's really just part of the next issue blurb on the last page.  This book was actually the hardest one to find in my entire post-Crisis collection, being the last one that completed my run. 

Superman #134

The Millennium Giants part 4

As the Giants approach the nation of Markovia, other heroes like the Teen Titans and the Challengers of the Unknown start to join in the fight.  Superman Blue stays behind in Mexico to talk to Lois, but frustrated with the multiple Superman, she tells him that he's not Clark Kent anymore, so he flies away in silence.  Superman Red attacks one of the Giants in the ocean and fails, sinking into the deep.

Teen Titans #19

The Millennium Giants part 5

Tempest, formerly Aquaman's teenage sidekick Aqualad, rescues Superman Red from the ocean and he and the mostly now forgotten 90's Teen Titans save Cairo from being trampled under one of the Giants.

Supergirl #20

The Millennium Giants part 6

The 90's earth-born angel version of Supergirl hasn't changed from her traditional costume, but she now manifests flaming wings to distinguish herself from previous versions of Supergirl.  She battles one of the Giants mostly by herself, until Superman joins her at the end of the story.  Unlike most of the other tie-ins, writer Peter David doesn't let this crossover interrupt his ongoing story lines, so we also get scenes unrelated to the Millennium Giants, such as Supergirl finding out that her mother was an alcoholic.