Clark Kent No More
Clark Kent continues to have precognitive dreams that are starting to cause him to have erratic behavior when he's awake. To cope with always being "on call" as Superman, he makes a drastic decision to discontinue his civilian identity altogether. This story was the last event in the 90's I recalled hearing about in the media at the time. Of course, just as previous headlines like the Death of Superman, the Death of Clark Kent, or the break-up didn't last, this one would prove to be short-lived.
Adventures of Superman #564
Clark wakes up from a dream about a meltdown at a nuclear power plant. Shaken by his dreams, he wants to spend his day saving the world as Superman, but Lois makes Clark focus on writing his book instead. After she leaves, however, he stares at a blank screen with no inspiration and decides to get some fresh air as Superman.
Superman stops a construction crane from falling on Odetts, the owner of the last farmhouse that won't sell out to the new Hypersector. Superman realizes how alone Odetts is now without the Daily Planet to champion his underdog story, and decides to base his next novel on that.
Clark takes Lois out to lunch, away from LexCom's hidden cameras, to the fast food chain Big Belly Burger where they discover that their former Daily Planet co-worker Allie is now working as a cashier. In an uncanny coincidence, Perry White, Ron Troupe, and Lucy Lane all happen to be eating there at the same time. Lois starts to talk about Lucy's baby and Perry mistakenly assumes Lucy and Ron are married.
Back at the office, Lois and Clark learn there's been a nuclear accident in Markovia. Superman immediately flies there to help, but Markovia's superhero Geo-Force isn't very welcoming.
Action Comics #751
After their skirmish last issue, Geo-Force and Superman put aside their differences to clean up Markovia after the nuclear disaster. Superman goes to the Fortress to decontaminate; while thinking of how he can be everywhere at once, he tells his robot servant Kelex he has a project for him.
Lois gets a mysterious package delivered to her desk, which contains a salacious photograph of Superman kissing an unknown woman in the air. She tells her boss Simone they shouldn't publish it, but Simone passes it by her boss Lex Luthor, who threatens to fire her if she ever asks him that again. Lois wonders why it was sent to her, fearing that somebody may know Clark's secret identity. Lois gets a call from somebody wanting to sell her the negatives for $10,000. Superman shows up to question the photographer, but their meeting is interrupted by a strange helicopter that fires synthetic Kryptonite bullets and shoots Superman out of the sky. Recovering from the bullet wound at home, Clark watches the news and tells himself he needs to do more.
Ashbury goes to LexCom to talk to her father about why her boyfriend Scorn is gone, leaving only a note written in an alien language. Lucy Lane has an interview with her old airline and gets the job. Ron Troupe runs into former Daily Planet publisher Franklin Stern, who it turns out lost an eye in the train crash last month.
Superman: The Man of Steel #86
In writer Louise Simonson's final issue in the series, Clark dreams of several disasters around the world and then spends the day as Superman trying to avert them. As Outburst, Mitch tries to help him in Metropolis but the Man of Steel doesn't even notice his aspiring side-kick.
Lois starts to wonder if the Kryptonite bullet could have had an effect on Superman's powers, even though his precognitive dreams started before that.
After catching a crashing jetliner, stopping a bomb, preventing a biological attack, and saving a village from an earthquake, Superman goes back to the Fortress to plan. He sets up satellites to monitor the Earth so he can see everything around the world without having to be everywhere at the same time.
Superman #142
Mitch goes home to his mother's apartment in Metropolis, where we find out that his father died of cancer sometime after his parents got back together. We see Mitch using his new magnetic powers and changing into his Outburst costume, although we still don't get any explanation for how he suddenly has this new superhero identity. Outburst tries to save Lex Luthor and Cat Grant from a helicopter crash. Although he fails and Superman ends up saving them, Cat Grant promises Outburst that she'll make him a star.
When Lois gets home, she finds Superman there sitting in a chair in his costume. Acting less human now, he tells Lois to pack her things so they can start a new life at the Fortress without his Clark Kent identity. Discovering that all of Clark's things are already gone, Lois decides to drive to Gotham City to find the one person who may be able to reason with her husband.
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