Prelude to War

The regular writers return to the books this month to set up the pieces for the huge 3-month crossover starting next month, Our Worlds at War.  Every book this month either introduces or brings back a character who will play a major in the upcoming battle against Imperiex.

Superman #170

Shortly after Superman disclosed his secret identity to the JLA, Lois and Clark walk their dog Krypto in the park when suddenly the son of the alien warlord Mongul returns to Earth.  Krypto instinctively attacks the villain, but his never-before-seen sister, Mongal, appears to assist her brother.  Krypto nearly kills Mongul and Mongal flees in a Boom Tube.  More than just a bad pun, Mongal would become a warlord in her own right after the war, before eventually being killed by her own brother a few years later.

Superman decides that Krypto is too dangerous to be a pet, and takes him to the Fortress of Solitude where his robots can care for him in his absence.  This issue served not only to introduce a new villain for the next big event, but also to take Krypto out of play.  A typical device of the period, this issue has narration about Superman's dog Krypto written by Clark Kent that explains the story in the form of a parallel children's book.  Guest artist Dale Keown fills in this issue, but Ed McGuinness will return next month.

Adventures of Superman #592

An electrical storm in Metropolis turns out to be the return of Strange Visitor, the new hero and host to Kismet who has been wearing Superman's electric blue costume.  Strange Visitor strikes the LexCorp towers and the outburst from that impact somehow puts Jimmy Olsen inside the "Final Destiny" video game he was playing.

Though Strange Visitor hasn't been seen much in the last year since she set out on her own crime-fighting career, she's brought back to the Superman books to play a major role in Our Worlds at War before she's killed off.

The late Mike Wieringo takes over as the regular artist on this series, although his run would be short-lived compared to the artists on the other books at this time.

Superman: The Man of Steel #114

At the Steelworks, Superman, Professor Hamilton, Steel's niece Natasha, and Stargirl's father Pat Dugan dig through the files for a way they can help Steel, who's been detained by the government for weeks now.  

At this moment the Eradicator, still possessing the mass of the former Fortress of Solitude, returns to Earth in anticipation of a confrontation with a destroyer god.  The Eradicator exhorts the people of Metropolis like a doomsday prophet predicting the end of the world.  As the Eradicator towers over the city, Superman fights him using the Kryptonian art of Torqasm Vo, appearing to him as a gigantic mecha robot.  Superman shares with the Eradicator a vision of the alternate world of Krypton he and Lois had recently visited, and the Eradicator doesn't know how to process this conflicting information.  While he is stunned, Superman and his friends trap the Eradicator in Steel's absolute zero chamber.  Though the Eradicator has become a fanatical religious zealot, Superman wonders if he's also right.

Action Comics #779

Superman follows the trail of the mysterious villain who nearly killed him with Kryptonite poisoning to the nation of Pokolistan, where he has a rematch with the villains Kancer and Ignition, and also meets the new Faora.  Lois gets Steel, Superboy, and Supergirl to help the Man of Steel as "Strikeforce Superman", although it turns out to be the Kryptonian robot Kelex in Steel's armor.  

Before Kelex can even finish a word of warning, the ruler of Pokolistan makes his appearance at super speed and breaks Superman's jaw with a single punch, pausing only long enough to exchange awkward glances.  This terrifying new villain encased in armor sends the overwhelmed heroes fleeing out of the country, and as Superman recovers from his injury he admits to Lois that he was genuinely afraid.  

This issue shocked me like nothing else before it.  We would find out next month that this was the introduction of a horrific new General Zod, but this version would rule an entire country similar to Dr. Doom.  It was rare to see the heroes so wounded and defeated.  Like his fight with Doomsday, Superman and his friends barely survived this encounter, and that made the upcoming War of the Worlds seem even more serious now.

Duncan Rouleau returns as a guest artist to the series he would frequent the most in his career, even though he would never draw more than 2 consecutive issues.