It was a big month in comics. The year-long For Tomorrow story arc comes to a conclusion in an extra-sized issue, and Action Comics celebrates its 825th issue with an extra-sized story too.
Also released this month was an 80-page special for $1 that was originally solicited as DC Countdown, but when the book actually hit the stands the full title was revealed as Countdown to Infinite Crisis. This was one of the last times a surprise like this would ever happen without being spoiled by the internet. House ads called it the catalyst for events that would resonate in the DC Universe for years to come, and that was no exaggeration. Countdown featured a cover by Jim Lee and Alex Ross, collaborating for the first and only time. The book shockingly ended with Max Lord shooting the Blue Beetle, Ted Kord, and setting into motion events that would spin off into four concurrent 6-issue miniseries all leading into the Infinite Crisis series: The OMAC Project, Villains United, Day of Vengeance, and the Rann-Thanagar War.
Superman/Batman #19
Like in the Silver Age, Supergirl was kept a secret when she first came to Earth, but now she's starting to go out on her own. Superman and Batman try to keep an eye on her while also trying to give her some space. She can tell they're spying on her and she reveals she's not happy about it, but she detects somebody else is watching her too. The fugitive Lex Luthor has the Calculator trying to lure Supergirl into the open, and they have Clayface pose as the original Batgirl to try to trap her. Luthor learns that his synthetic Kryptonite doesn't have an effect on the Girl of Steel, but real Kryptonite does. Though their plan fails, when we finally see Lex on the last page he's wearing his green battle suit with a gauntlet of multi-colored Kryptonite that looks like Marvel's Infinity Gauntlet.
This issue was a lead-in to the Supergirl ongoing series that Jeph Loeb, Ian Churchill, and Norm Rapmund would kick off a few months later. Lex Luthor and the Calculator would both play a role in that series as well as in Villains United.
Superman #215
Zod and Equus invade Metropia, and while Superman battles Zod, Lois manages to hold her own against Equus. Superman uses the Vanishing machine to send the people of Metropia back to Earth before the fight with Zod tears that paradise apart. Mr. Orr brings Father Leone online and calls him Pilate, but his new creation rebels and finds his way to Metropia instead. Father Leone asks Superman to kill him, but of course Superman refuses. Equus, on the other hand, hurls them both into the void as Metropia deteriorates around them. Superman extends his hand to Zod to try to save him from oblivion, but Zod closes his fist and refuses his help. With almost everything returned to normal on Earth, Superman constructs a new Mayan pyramid-themed Fortress of Solitude in Honduras, which would be one of the only lasting effects of this story.
The conclusion to Batman featured multiple variant covers, including a pair of "heroes" and "villains" gatefold covers. The covers for the conclusion of For Tomorrow were equally as unexciting as the story itself. There are two variant covers which almost form an interlocking image, but there seems to be a missing third piece in the middle, which I've never seen. Together, however, these three images could have formed a gatefold like Lee's Batman covers.
Adventures of Superman #638
After Lois drops the bombshell that she thinks they should have a baby, Mr. Mxyzptlk interrupts the story once again. He magically creates a baby and shows Lois and Clark several alternate realities for their daughter Lara, ranging in art styles from Sin City to Calvin & Hobbes. Before he leaves, Mxyzptlk warns the couple that dark times are ahead and they'll get through it by having faith in the future. He adds, "everything that happens, it happens because of the two of you, y'know that?" He tells them see them again in 90 days, which seems to be very literal lately as he's been appearing about every 4 issues. His next appearance, however, won't be until after Infinite Crisis has started, which he won't survive.
Action Comics #825
Gog assembles an army of his selves from other points in time so he can finally kill the Man of Steel. The Justice League stands by outside Metropolis ready to beam the empty city into the Phantom Zone should Superman fall at the hands of Doomsday again. Bitter that Superman hadn't been able to save his parents when Topeka, KS was destroyed in Our Worlds at War, Gog grew up and invented time travel. Unable to go back in time further than his conception of time travel, however, Gog eventually shifted his plan from trying to save his family to trying to murder Superman. With time on his side, Gog was able to kill Superman's family in Smallville and also make the world think Superman had died in Metropolis while he secretly kept him prisoner for two centuries. Despite all that time, Gog was never able to persuade Superman to take an innocent life, not even to save his family. In that same time, the villain Doomsday had turned into a hero and, after decades, breaches through miles of granite to rescue Superman. Gog finally sees the error of his ways and takes Doomsday back to save Lois and the Kents from himself. As Gog and Doomsday teleport away, Gog warns Superman that a great Crisis remains.
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