In 2004, the U.S. was still just beginning to be entangled a long, unpopular war in Iraq. War in the Middle East was a prevalent theme in comics at the time, and although Superman stayed away from the politics of Bush's invasion, it hit him close to home like it did to so many families in the U.S. at this time. It's a tragedy that as I read these comics in the past week, a similar situation repeated itself in Ukraine.
Superman #208
Father Leone is diagnosed with terminal cancer at the doctor's office. A nurse comes in to draw some blood, but it's really Mr. Orr who's come to ask Father Leone why Superman has been coming to visit him. In a sort of refreshing change, Mr. Orr narrates the flashback in this issue. A year ago, Superman had found Mr. Orr in the desert looking for his missing asset Equus after the villain had disappeared along with General Nox. Superman refuses to give Mr. Orr the device which had twice caused the vanishing. Later at the JLA Watchtower, Superman is shocked that his teammates don't support his recent intervention into world affairs. He later tries to reconcile with Aquaman, who he realizes took his actions more personally because he's also a head of a sovereign state. Back in the desert, a mysterious tattooed woman in a burka spits on the "S" that Mr. Orr had burned into the ground to signal Superman, and in Metropolis a giant monster made of water rises out of the bay.
This was Jim Lee's first attempt to redesign the JLA costumes. On the cover, Wonder Woman wears the Greco-Roman pteruges which would become her standard costume after the Wonder Woman movie and DC Rebirth; on the inside, however, she wears her traditional swimsuit-style briefs. Aquaman's costume has a more regal collar, which Jim Lee would put on all the JLA members in the New 52.
Action Comics #818
The Weapon's Master had just shot the Kyrptonite-weakened Superman in the chest with a machine gun, but Superman uncharacteristically crushes his hand and throws them both into the water of the nearby bay. After a mostly silent underwater fight, they both pass out. On the surface, Wonder Woman, Steel, and Superboy fight off the other villains who came to try to kill Superman in his vulnerable condition. Superman regains consciousness and ends the fight once and for all, by warning them he may not have the physical control required to not break their fragile human bodies. Once again, Chuck Austen's writing is unusually violent for Superman, even if only implied.
Superman passes out again from exhaustion, and Wonder Woman and Superboy take him home to his apartment. Superboy asks Wonder Woman if she loves Superman, and she tells him that a man and a woman can just be friends. Because Lois is out of the country, they decide they should take shifts watching him while he recovers. Wonder Woman questions who else could keep Superman's secret identity and also be willing to spend unlimited time caring for him, then suddenly Lana Lang walks in and volunteers.
Adventures of Superman #631
Superman fights Ruin and his unwilling drone, Xlim, but as they fight Ruin is draining Superman's powers. Ruin explains that his battery stores Superman's solar power, but Xlim's gun negates it, so each time he hits Superman he loses more of it. Superman hides in another room in S.T.A.R. Labs to try to buy time to recover, but he blasts the controls on Ruin's gloves with his heat vision, freeing Xlim from its control. Xlim wants to kill Ruin to get revenge for killing his father and sister, but Superman talks him out of it.
Meanwhile, the other half of the story follows Lois Lane in Umec as her military unit is under fire. Lois was trying to pull a wounded soldier to safety and asks him if he heard something, not realizing that she's just been shot in the chest. After just ending the hostage situation in Metropolis, Superman hears a gunshot from the other side of the world. Superman arrives on the scene to catch Lois in his arms before her bleeding body hits the ground.
Superman/Batman #13
After Darkseid apparently killed Kara last issue, Superman fights him outside the destroyed Kent farm. Wonder Woman and Batman arrive to help him, but it's the Man of Steel by himself who takes Darkseid through a Boom Tube and leaves him trapped on the Source Wall at the edge of the universe. Back on Earth, it turns out this had all been a trap carefully laid by Superman and the JLA. Kara had been teleported by the JLA to safety so Darkseid would think she was dead. After Darkseid's threat has been eliminated, the JLA help rebuild the Kent farmhouse, and then Kara is publicly introduced to the entire superhero community.
Despite last issue's misdirection, Kara is in fact back for good, but the seeds are already being planted for another Crisis. This issue had another variant cover by Michael Turner. He would be seen again the following year drawing covers when Supergirl starred in her own series, but he wouldn't return to draw any more interior artwork before his death in 2008.
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