Superman: The Triangle Era omnibus ships next week. It comprises Superman #49-64, Adventures of Superman #472-486, Action Comics #659-673 and Superman: The Man of Steel #1-8. It is named for the sequential numbering of the four regular series which appeared inside a little triangle on the covers at the time, making "Superman" essentially a weekly series. That's all well and good, but it seems an arbitrary method for delineating the beginning of a collection, especially considering that the so-called "triangle era" didn't actually begin until Superman #51, seven issues in to the collection. What's more, it leaves a gap of 34 issues of Superman continuity (Action Comics #647-658, Superman #38-48 and Adventures of Superman #461-471) from the point at which the Superman: The Exile & Other Stories omnibus ended. that gap had some good stories in it, too: "The Brainic Trilogy," "The Day of the Krypton Man" and "Dark Knight Over Metropolis" to name a few. That's enough for another omnibus in the future, but why not release them in order?
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It's been a while, but I've read a chunk more of this omnibus. The lion's share is the "Return of the Krypton Man" storyline, a series of double-size issues that led off with Superman: The Man of Steel #1. Four issues divided among all the art teams, as the Eradicator comes back in humanoid form, causing dangerous sunspot activity and weather emergencies all over the world. He's eventually trapped into Mr. Z's diamond, which Professor Hamilton was studying at the Fortress of Solitude.
Perry & Alice are on a cruise with Jonathan and Martha. They've gotten through a big storm, and now Perry has seen that Jim Gordon has had a heart attack; he gives up cigars immediately, feeling the need to be healthier. Jimmy has lost his job at the Planet and is looking all over for new employment; last I've seen him, he's been reduced to writing anonymous stories for the Tattler.
Some Cadmus heavies attack, and Dubbelex scan's Superman's brain, but he and the Guardian are on Superman's side. The Parasite kills a subway train full of people and hides out at a homeless shelter. Superman is getting annoyed that people don't believe Lex Luthor is dead (and worse, respect him as a great man of Metropolis!)... even as his heir gets closer to being revealed.
I remember reading an interview with Mike Grell back in the '80s in which he advised never to go up to an artist and tell him, "I liked your old stuff better" (a criticism I gather Grell was on the receiving end of frequently in those days). Although I probably wouldn't tell him directly, Jon Bogdanove is an artist I feel similarly about... not at this point, but later. Bogdanove rose through Power Pack, IIRC (which I did not read), and Man of Steel was his breakout assignment. I was very pleased and happy when he became one of the stable of "Superman" artists, but his style became looser and looser over the years so that I eventually could hardly stand to look at it. (Another artist's work from the same timeframe I felt similar about was Bart Sears'.)
...he's been reduced to writing anonymous stories for the Tattler.
You may be thinking of the tabloid from Thomas Harris's Red Dragon; the DC/Superman equivalent of the National Enquirer was the National Whisper.
Maybe it was an editorial error; the National Whisper is definitely a part of these stories (it appears in the next issue), but when Jimmy's writing his "I Escaped a Ride on the Death Train" article, his thought balloon indicates he's sold it to the Tattler.
As for Bogdanove, I can understand that sentiment. I like his looser style too (which might also be attributed to a change in inkers), but yeah... these early issues of Man of Steel are GORGEOUS.
...when Jimmy's writing his "I Escaped a Ride on the Death Train" article, his thought balloon indicates he's sold it to the Tattler.
Sorry... I haven't actually re-read the stories yet; I just remembered the National Whisper.
EDIT: Check out page 760.
2nd EDIT: Okay, I'm up to page 830 now (cover of of Δ25, too).
As a freelancer myself, I figure Jimmy's writing for whichever rag will pay him. There's certainly enough room for two.
Okay, I'm caught up now.
I haven't re-read these issues since they were first released (34 years ago... yikes!) and you know what? I don't feel one bit of nostalgia for them. I generally enjoy reading comics in a "satisfying chunk," but I found "Return of the Kryptonite Man" to be something of a slog, mostly due to the inconsistant art throughout, plus the story's excessive length. (I found the four 48-page issues to be hopelessly padded.)
There are two ways to approach the composition of a comic book page (actually, there are many, many more than that, but for the purposes of today's post let's say two). First, there's the school of thought that says each scene should begin on the first panel of a page and end on the last panel of a page; then there is the idea that each scene should begin on the last panel of a page and/or end on the first panel of the next page. That way, so the theory goes, the reader's interest is carried over from one page to the next. Editor Mike Carlin seems to subscribe to both schools of thought, by having a new scene's dialogue begin on a pages last panel, or an old scenes dialogue carry over to the next page. (This is a trick movie directors often use to bridge scenes.) Usually the dialogue provides some kind of wry comment on the action. But Carlin employs this gimmick every frikkin' time the scene changes and it comes off really forced, especially reading several issues at a time.
Getting back to Jon Bogdanove, one of his artistic quirks that will come to irritate me to no end later in the run is when superman grows his hair longer and Clark Kent starts to wear his hair in a ponytail. The problem is this: Jon Bogdanove canot draw a realistic ponytail to save his life! Even when looking at Clark straight on, Bogdanove has to draw the ponytail sticking out from the back of his head on one side or another. For that reason as much as anything else I could not wait for Superman to get a haircut. (Of course, it occurs to me that that may have been editorially madated, too. "Look, everybody! Clark Kent has a ponytail!)
I just read the third paragraph of your post and realized that I am not caught up after all. Where did you leave off?
For the record, this is what someone with a ponytail looks like when viewed straight on.
Okay, I've read up through Δ26 now; that seems to be where you left off.
Δ21 - First appearance Ron Troupe.
Δ23 - Villain named Belcher with the power of acid reflux. Easter egg: The Newstime building is the LA City Hall, used for exterior shots of the Daily Planet in The Adventures of Superman TV show.
I tend to like the scene transition style in these books, or letting dialogue bridge the scenes. It's not always illuminating -- Alan Moore used the technique to much greater effect -- but it moves things along.
Krypton Man was a bit of a slog, I admit. It's definitely a story that's better off being read weekly than all at once.
I'm a little farther along now, up to Adventures of Superman 482. Superman has fought Quetzocoatl during the War of the Gods. (What a relief there was only one crossover issue, considering this is pretty much a weekly series!) Perry, Alice, and the Kents have gotten home from their cruise, though the Kents are staying in Metropolis a little while longer, and are set to meet the Lanes next issue. Jimmy got (and lost) a job selling hotdogs in the park. The Daily Planet is on strike, and the Parasite kidnapped Jimmy & Cat Grant until Superman saved them. And a Linear Woman stops time for Lois and Clark to have a long heart to heart about how they can make their upcoming marriage work.
More than the action plots, I really love the soap opera of this era.
Also: It looks like the omnibus volume that will bridge Exile and the Triangle Era, titled "Brainiac Reborn," will be out mid-2026.
Triangle Era v2 should be out in a couple weeks. I'm going to hold off on it, and hope instead for DC Finest collections of this time. But if I don't see follow-ups to DC Finest: Superman: Time and Time Again in the next year or so, I might break down and get it.
Superman has fought Quetzocoatl during the War of the Gods.
I was already suffering from "crossover fatigue" in 1991. I bought all four issues of the tentpole War of the Gods series, but to this day I have not read them. Regarding the tie-ins, I did not buy any from series I wasn't currently reading at the time. Consequently, I did read Δ27, once, 34 years ago, but it didn't make any more of an impressionon me then that it did today. A real waste of paper.
More than the action plots, I really love the soap opera of this era.
Δ28 was my favorite of three issues currently under discussion. I must say, I really applaud Mike Carlin's repurposing of the UPC box with ad copy. This issue's says: "IN THIS ISSUE! LOIS ASKS CLARK THE BURNING QUESTION: WHY ARE YOU SUPERMAN?" Why does Lois's watch say "well past eleven thirty" yet her clock radio reads "5:11"? I must admit I skipped this issue's faux Daily Planet.
Parasite kidnapped Jimmy & Cat Grant until Superman saved them.
On page eight of Δ29, Jimmy says, "Say, you!" (the Badhnisian hex word which once gave Johnny thunder terrific power for one hour), but nothing happens. It's probably just as well, because the Parasite says, "Saaay, you're Superman's pal, Jimmy Olsen," on the very next page.
There's certainly enough room for two.
The National Whisper and The Tattler are the DCU equivalent of tabloids such as the National Enquirer ands its ilk. I neglected to mantion this last time, but "Renaldo" and Suzie Jamie Donatello are the DCU equivalents of Geraldo Rivera and Sally Jesse Raphael.
It looks like the omnibus volume that will bridge Exile and the Triangle Era, titled "Brainiac Reborn," will be out mid-2026.
Good to know.
Triangle Era v2 should be out in a couple weeks.
Next week, according to my records.
I'm going to hold off on it, and hope instead for DC Finest collections of this time.
Not a problem. I'm currently up to only 1948 in my "Superman from the Beginning" project, so you've got another "43 years" before I start to feel antsy.
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