The Golden Age Superman reunites with his cousin, Power Girl, and tells her the story of the beginning and end of the Multiverse from Crisis on Infinite Earths. This history lesson isn't news to longtime DC readers, but it is the first time that it's been acknowledged in-story since the end of the original Crisis. Reflecting on dark events in DC history since Crisis, this Superman believes the post-Crisis Earth is corrupted and needs to be replaced with a better one.
Crisis on Infinite Earths had tried to clean house of the variant versions of DC heroes that existed on different Earths. Infinite Crisis was a housecleaning of sorts, that killed off a lot of characters which hadn't been used much in years. Though some of the deaths didn't occur in Infinite Crisis or tie-in issues, deaths during this period were considered by many to be a product of the crossover.
The background of Jim Lee's Infinite Crisis #2 cover, showing the Golden Age Superman & Lois Lane, Earth Prime Superboy, and Earth 3 Alexander Luthor, wasn't shown in previews, so readers literally didn't see the whole image until the day it was on the stands.
Superman #223
Supergirl goes to see her cousin at his jungle Fortress of Solitude to announce that she's joining the newly resurrected Donna Troy and her team in space for the upcoming Crisis. Talia al Ghul, working for Luthor's Secret Society, goes to a prison nearby in Peru to meet with a revolutionary named Lucia and offer her a gift. Talia gives her the black rock, which Bizarro had retrieved from the sun last month, transforming Lucia into a new Blackrock. Superman and Supergirl defeat Blackrock, and the fight gives Kal El confidence that his cousin is ready to go with Donna.
Supergirl was one of the biggest casualties of the last major Crisis, and fans were understandably worried that her poignant goodbye in this issue was foreshadowing a repeat of her death.
Action Comics #833
The Queen of Fables, a villain seen once before in an arc of JLA, believes Lois Lane is Snow White and Superman is Prince Charming. As the embodiment of every fairy tale villain, she alters reality around Superman so that he is actually a knight riding a steed named Bullet with a sword named Vision. When she is defeated, she assumes she picked the wrong stories to use against Superman, and she starts to look into Kryptonian mythology.
Jimmy Olsen introduces Superman to his new Jewish co-worker, Josef Schuman, who strangely invites the Man of Steel to Shabbat dinner at his house. Even stranger, Superman agrees to go.
Meanwhile, Congressman Shephard's hit man takes Lois for a ride, but when the limo arrives at the county waste disposal site she guesses that she's not really going to get an interview and they're planning to dispose of her.
Adventures of Superman #646
Mr. Mxyzptlk interrupts the story for the last time to speak to Superman in black and white scenes straight of an Edward Hopper painting. Mxyzptlk wants to go home but can't remember his own name. He helps Superman deduce that the identity of Ruin was really Professor Emil Hamilton all along, not his friend Pete Ross. Literally leading Superman to Ruin, Mxyzptlk warns Superman too late about a booby trap. Mxyzptlk jumps in front of the Man of Steel but is stabbed in the chest by a Kryptonite pole. Mxyzptlk says his name backwards and fades like a ghost. He isn't seen again in post-Infinite Crisis continuity.
Lois goes to the Hague where Wonder Woman is detained by the International Criminal Court for the death of Max Lord. Lois understands that Max Lord was the Black King of Checkmate, and she's certain that somebody from Checkmate tried to kill her. The trail eventually leads her to Checkmate's headquarters where she discovers Sasha Bordeaux, Bruce Wayne's former bodyguard now transformed into a cyborg by Brother Eye, was the one who shot her on Max Lord's orders. Discovering that Sasha is stuck in this former, Lois simply says "Good." and leaves.
Superman/Batman #24
Superman grudgingly frees Darkseid from where he had imprisoned him on the Source Wall. Separated from the Man of Steel, Batman finds himself in a genderbent world where Helena Wayne is Batwoman and Laurel Kent is Superwoman. There's also a Miss Miracle and Big Bard who arrive to help them get Batman where he needs to go via Boom Tube.
Bizarro seeks out Supergirl on Paradise Island, and he brings along several other versions of Supergirl, including Linda Danvers, Cir-El, the Silver Age Kara, and oddly, Power Girl, who had just this same month been restored to a member of the house of El in Infinite Crisis.
The Maximums discover it's been Mr. Mxyzptlk and the Joker who have been manipulating them all along, just as a Boom Tube opens and Batman and his allies pass through. In the ensuing conflict, Batzarro is killed by the Joker.
Superman/Shazam: First Thunder #3
Dr. Sivana's henchmen get closer to finding the secret identity of Captain Marvel. Superman fights Eclipso, while Captain Marvel fights Sabbac. Captain Marvel tricks Sabbac into revealing his name, which like the magic word "Shazam", transforms Sabbac back into a mortal. He takes the powerless host back to the Rock of Eternity for safe keeping. Superman doesn't quite understand, but trusts the Captain as magic is more his domain. Later, Billy Batson recounts his adventures with Superman to one of his friends, when Dr. Sivana's mercenaries find him.
Not only is this a revisionist first meeting of Big Blue and the Big Cheese, but it's also a retcon of the first meeting of Shazam and Sabbac. Writer Judd Winick had recently used Sabbac as a villain in his ongoing Outsiders series, and Sabbac would also feature in the Infinite Crisis tie-in issues of that series.
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