World Without Superman

The books continue with weekly numbering, although they each have their own independent stories following different characters.  The excitement of having 4 weekly books a month again was short lived now that it was clear this was going to be the status quo for at least the next year.  The only book that Superman appears in he's not even in costume, and aside from Supergirl the other characters just weren't that interesting to deserve their own series.  The only redemption was that Lois Lane appeared in Action Comics and another Legionnaire appeared in Superman in addition to Mon El.  Even when four imposters had taken over the titles during Reign of the Supermen, however, the books still had connected threads that ran through them all.  If you didn't like a series now, you weren't really missing anything in the overall picture if you dropped it.

Superman: World of New Krypton #3

Kal El shoots himself with a red sun weapon which removes his powers for the next 30 minutes.  He convinces Zod to give him that time to negotiate the hostage situation.  Now the only person on New Krypton without powers, Superman accomplishes what none of the others could and gets the Labor Guild to release the hostages without any bloodshot.  Kal persuades Alura to give in to their demands, including a seat on the council.  Commander Gor tries to assassinate the Labor Guild's leader after the situation is defused, but Kal El has Supergirl watching and ready to stop the bullet.  After his powers are returned, Gor challenges Kal El to a duel.  Kal El beats Gor in hand-to-hand combat, but then Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps arrive on New Krypton and want to have a talk with Superman.

Action Comics #877

Ursa emerges from the rubble of the Fortress of Solitude.  The sunlight is causing her so much pain that she has to tear a sleeve off her suit to use to cover her eyes.

Dr. Light makes a house call to Lois Lane's apartment to treat Flamebird who was stabbed with a Kryptonite knife last issue.  Dr. Light bombards Flamebird with photons to replicate solar light.  This burst of light attracts the attention of Sam Lane, who's men have already been monitoring his daughter's apartment.  While Flamebird recovers from the Kryptonite wound, Lois catches up with Chris, who was six years old the last time she saw him.  Chris goes back to the Fortress of Solitude and has another confrontation with Ursa, who's killed a Kryptonian criminal they were holding there.  After leaving the Fortress, he's attacked by one of General Lane's drones.

The cover has nothing to do with anything that happens in this story.

Supergirl #41

Who is Superwoman? conclusion

Supergirl unmasked Superwoman to reveal it was Lucy Lane under the hood all along.  This still doesn't explain how Superwoman has powers and even DNA that resemble a Kryptonian, but Lucy isn't willing to give Supergirl any answers.  Supergirl has to fight both Superwoman and Reactron, who can temporarily de-power her with Gold Kryptonite.  Supergirl rips the "S" off of Superwoman's chest, and power starts to leak out of Superwoman's suit before it explodes.  General Lane watches from his headquarters as the monitor reads "Suit destroyed.  Subject deceased."  Horrified, Supergirl wonders if she just killed Lois's sister.

Lana Lang is taken to the hospital, but she is released before the fight is over.

Superman #688

Mon El's powers failed in mid-flight and he fell into the bay.  Fortunately, he was rescued by the Guardian, who takes him to S.T.A.R. Labs to find out what happened.  Dr. Light explains that Mon El's body is resisting the mysterious elixir that cured him of his lead poisoning.  She tells him he will continue to experience random power outages and gives him only a year to 18 months left to live.

That night, the Guardian and his team break into Sam Lane's secret base and free the time-lost Legionnaire, Tellus.  Assassin tries to stop the Guardian, but Tellus telepathically prevents him from using his powers.  Both Assassin and the Guardian sense they have an inevitable conflict in their future.

In his civilian disguise, Mon El gets to know his downstairs neighbor, who encourages him to see Paris and live.