The Supergirl from Krypton

Ever since the post-Crisis era began, the powers that be at DC have adamantly enforced the rule that Superman could be the only surviving Kryptonian.  After having gone through three non-Kryptonian versions of Supergirl in almost 20 years, DC finally gave in and reintroduced Superman's cousin, Kara Zor-El.

Superman/Batman #8

Superman quarantines in the Batcave while Batman cleans up the pieces of the Kryptonite meteor that have crashed all over Earth.  While retrieving a piece from the bottom of Gotham Harbor.  Batman discovers a spaceship that had been embedded in the meteor.  A naked alien girl escapes from the ship and makes her way to Gotham City.  The girl doesn't speak any English and starts to cause trouble when she discovers she suddenly has super powers.  Batman uses a piece of Krytonite to weaken the girl and takes her back to the Batcave.  When she wakes up, she tries to escape again but Superman speaks to her in Kryptonese and finds out that she is his cousin, Kara Zor-El.

Michael Turner, fresh off the covers of the Godfall story line wrapping up this same month, draws the entire story written by Jeph Loeb.  Just like the debut arc of this series, this story line would also be adapted into an animated feature, Superman/Batman: Apocalypse.  This retelling would Kara's origin would prove to be even more popular than the first issue of the series, resulting in a number of variant covers, which weren't yet that common at the time.

Action Comics #813

Godfall part 4

After Lyla leaves the Bottle City of Kandor, Kal El realizes he's been in Kandor all along.  Under her mind control, he would hear "Krypton" whenever anybody had previously said "Kandor."  He discovers that in his neglect, Kandor has aged 100 years since the last time he was there.  He tells the aliens he had been fighting that he is Superman and convinces them to help him get out of the Bottle City.  When Lyla gets to Metropolis, she realizes it's not the heaven she imagined it would be.  When Lois asks her where Superman is, Lyla declares "God is dead." 

The back-up story by Chuck Austen and Ivan Reis takes us back to the child Superman had saved in Topeka, Kansas during Our Worlds at War.  After the boy finds out Superman failed to save his parents, he is woken up in the hospital by the villain Gog.  Gog was a time-traveler from the Kingdom Come universe who would continue his mission to try to kill Superman in the coming months.

Adventures of Superman #626

Godfall part 5

Out of the Bottle City at regular size and in his regular costume, Superman leads his alien allies to Metropolis where he finds Lyla has been trying to prove herself in this world by defeating Superman's villains.  Lyla tries to control Superman's mind again, but he no longer believes her illusions and her projection of Doomsday shatters when it tries to punch the Man of Steel.  Superman's friends start to die of exposure and he needs to get them back to Kandor, but suddenly they're attacked by Preus who has followed them from Kandor.

In the story "small hours, long days" by Greg Rucka and Matthew Clark, we see Lois trying to get through her day during Clark's absence.  The only line of dialogue is her saying "I miss you" on the last page as she looks over the city from the top of the Daily Planet.

Superman #203

Godfall part 6

Superman, Preus, and Lyla engage in a dialogue-heavy fight where they debate free will and faith, and Preus reveals how he and the C.P.C. had eliminated the rest of Lyla's race years ago.  In the end, Lyla concludes that some things cannot be made right, meaning herself, and she says goodbye in a flash of light.  Clark returns to his normal life on Earth, while Lois wonders if they'll ever see Lyla and Preus again.  Preus retreats to his own private hell infuriated that he can't remove Superman's symbol from his chest.  He will return the following year in Chuck Austen's Action Comics, but Lyla will never be seen again after this.

Jim Lee doesn't draw a backup story for either of these issues, the most we get here is just a preview of his upcoming work next month.