Up, Up and Away

A year after the events of Infinite Crisis, Superman is finally starting to get his powers back.  His powers come back just in time as Lex Luthor is on the verge of world domination.

Superman #652

Up, Up, and Away part 5

Superman's powers are slowly coming back to him, but he's at the level of power that he was when he first debuted in the 30's.  He can leap tall buildings but he can't fly yet.  At first, he doesn't know how to tell Lois, who's enjoyed having him be a normal human for a change.  But when she finds out, she encourages him to put on his suit again and gives her full support in a moving monologue that he can still hear after he leaves.

Intergang sends the Puzzler to the Daily Planet to assassinate Clark Kent, but when they find out Superman is back, they send even more villains after him.  Hearing that the Man of Steel is back, Lex Luthor rushes his plans with his newly recovered Kryptonian artifact.

Action Comics #839

Up, Up, and Away part 6

Superman flashes back to how he lost his powers in the climax of Infinite Crisis, the only acknowledgment of those events outside of that series.  Superman easily defeats Bloodsport, Livewire, Riot, and Silver Banshee, but then a new threat emerges.  Now instead of diminished powers, Superman is struggling with powers at a level he's never experienced before.  Clark Kent goes from being a dependable reporter in the last year to his usual unexplained absences that Lois reluctantly has to cover for.

Kryptonian crystals start to break through the streets of Metropolis, similar to the formation of the Fortress of Solitude.  The scene is similar to the movie Superman Returns, which had just opened around this time.  As a crystal structure forms in the sky over the city, Superman deduces that his arch-nemesis Lex Luthor is somehow behind it all.

Superman/Batman #27

In a story set on Earth Two, Superman and Batman find their consciousness transferred into the bodies of Power Girl and Huntress.  They have to defeat the Ultra-Humanite and find their own bodies before the Huntress and Power Girl awake and retake control of their own bodies, which will basically kill Superman and Batman.  During this adventure, the Golden Age Batman learns that the Huntress was actually his daughter, Helena Wayne, although he forgets this information when he's returned to his own body.  Power Girl wakes up from a dream one year later, where she and Supergirl are the Bottle City of Kandor's new protectors, Nightwing and Flamebird, as seen in the recent issues of Supergirl's series.

Post-Infinite Crisis, it seemed like there was going to be a newfound acknowledgement of Earth Two and the Golden Age, but unfortunately there weren't going to be many more stories like this one.