New Krypton

Every character faced major changes this month.  The Atlas and Brainiac stories both concluded and led into a crossover that would have major ramifications for the next couple of years.  Unfortunately, Superman would be absent from his own books for most of that period.  While New Krypton started out with a lot of promise, it was sadly the beginning of a low point that would last through the end of the post-Crisis era in 2011.

Superman #680

The Coming of Atlas part 4 of 4

Krypto comes to help his master fight the mysterious new villain Atlas.  While Superman was weakened by Atlas, Krypto is surprisingly able to hold his own.  The mystery man in the shadows watching the fight even tries to hurt Krypto with multiple blasts from a satellite, but nothing slows the mutt down.  Superman goes to a theater where Zatanna is performing to try to get her help, but her cousin Zachary Zatara is standing in for her.  Zatara's magical powers are limited to inanimate objects, but he's able to give Superman enough power for a minute to be able to stop Atlas.  After driving Atlas into a hole in the ground, he formally introduces his dog to the people of Metropolis as another one of the city's protectors.

Krypto had disappeared after Infinite Crisis.  The story detailing where he had gone after the Crisis had been solicited but was still unpublished at this point in time.  But writers didn't really need a reason to write Krypto out of the books if they didn't want to use him, they usually just ignored him.

Action Comics #870

Brainiac part 5 of 5

Brainiac bottles the city of Metropolis, and Lois Lane calls out to Superman to tell him how much she loves him if this is the end.  Superman breaks out of his restraints and subdues Brainiac.  He frees Supergirl and tells her to stop Brainiac's missile that's headed towards Earth's sun.  While carrying both Kandor and Metropolis, Superman knocks Brainiac out of his sterile ship and into Earth's ecosystem full of microscopic life.  Brainiac learns where Superman's home really is, and fires another weapon at Smallville.  Simultaneously, Supergirl stops the weapon from destroying the sun, but another one hits the Kent farm in Smallville, killing Jonathan Kent.  Superman takes the Bottle City of Kandor to the Arctic Fortress of Solitude where it enlarges to full size, but hearing his mother scream he rushes to Smallville to find his father dead.

In pre-Crisis continuity, Superman's foster parents had both died before he became Superman.  1978's Superman: The Motion Picture, however, deviated from then-current comics continuity by having Jonathan Kent die and keeping Martha Kent alive.  One of the biggest post-Crisis changes was that both the Kents were still alive to see Clark become Superman.  After director Richard Donner's influence on the comics post-Infinite Crisis, the comics were now starting to resemble his cinematic universe.  Artist Gary Frank even perfectly draws Christopher Reeve's face in them.

Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen Special #1

Jimmy Olsen takes leave from the Daily Planet to follow a lead on the mysterious man who was watching the fight with Atlas from the rooftops.  Jimmy's investigation leads him to discover that somebody is killing the remaining clones of the Newsboy Legion.  The somebody is revealed to be Jonathan Drew, now known as Codename: Assassin.  Jimmy Olsen finds what's left of Project Cadmus where Dubbilex tells him the original clone of the Guardian is still alive, before Dubbilex dies from wounds already inflicted by the Assassin.  On the run from the Assassin, Jimmy's search takes him to a border town called Warpath, where the Vigilante is also the local sheriff.  There he finds the Guardian's first clone living in a trailer with his daughter.  The Guardian, Jim Harper, gives Jimmy information that he needs to get back to Metropolis to warn Superman.

Like Atlas, Codename: Assassin appeared once in an issue of 1st Issue Special in the 70's but hadn't appeared again until now.

Superman: New Krypton #1

Clark Kent and his family mourn Jonathan Kent at his funeral.  After the funeral, Superman has to go back to the Fortress of Solitude where the the City of Kandor has been enlarged back to normal size.  Supergirl is reunited with her parents in a touching scene.  The Kryptonians of Kandor are starting to develop powers under Earth's yellow sun, but Superman doesn't have any way to control them before they go out to explore Earth on their own.

Codename: Assassin returns to a secret military base where the government is keeping Brainiac but is so far unsuccessful at getting information from him.  Lois meets her sister Lucy at the grave of their father in Washington, D.C., but they're still unable to reconcile their differences.  In Metropolis, Jimmy tells Lois about his recent adventure, and that he needs to warn Superman that the government is developing weapons that can kill Kryptonians.  Jimmy wasn't able to learn the name of the person in charge, but at Stryker's Island prison Lex Luthor gets an expected visitor from that mysterious leader: General Sam Lane, Lois Lane's father who had been presumed dead.

This special brought back the triangle numbering which had been discontinued in 2002.  Rather than add one or two Superman titles to the lineup, however, the books would cross over with Supergirl for the next year and a half.

Superman/Batman #53

Super/Bat part 1 of 4

Batman and Superman take turns protecting each other's cities.  Superman comments how much more crime there is in Gotham, and how a visit to Metropolis must seem like a welcome break to Batman.  Later, Clark Kent covers an auction of Bruce Wayne's armor collection, where Bruce pretends not to remember to Clark.  A woman possessed by the Silver Banshee tries to steal an artifact from the auction, but when Superman and Batman try to stop her, Batman is wounded.  Superman takes Batman back to the Bat Cave, but on his way home Superman loses his ability to fly and crashes into his apartment.   Batman recovers and goes out on patrol with Robin, but he starts to develop super hearing and x-ray vision.  Batman is overwhelmed by the noise around him.  When Superman emerges from the rubble of his home, Batman is in flight above him and says they need to talk.