WIZARD: SUPERMAN TRIBUTE EDITION - April 1993

1993 Wizard special, hyping the upcoming “Reign of the Supermen” storyline.  Notice how earnestly the creators sell the idea that these four characters are the new stars of their respective title.  Amazing to think these guys only received two issues in the spotlight before the “Return” storyline began. For more on the special, and lots of material on “Reign of the Supermen” merchandise, check out the excellent Fortress of Baileytude.

Mike Carlin Sells "Reign of the Supermen" to Entertainment Tonight

SUPERMAN #82 - October 1993

Back for Good

Credits:  Dan Jurgens (story and art), Brett Breeding (finishes), John Costanza (letterer), Glenn Whitmore (colorist)

Summary:  Superboy meets Eradicator outside of Engine City.  Inside, the heroes regroup and face another attack from Cyborg Superman.  Eradicator locates Superman and convinces him that he also wants to defeat the cyborg.  Cyborg Superman tricks Superman and Eradicator inside the chamber that houses Engine City’s kryptonite power source.  Eradicator sacrifices his life, transferring the radiation into a form that won’t harm Superman.  The cyborg is weakened by the kryptonite, which enables Superman to smash him into pieces.  After he’s reunited with the other heroes, Supergirl uses her telekinetic powers to recreate Superman’s original costume.  Revitalized, he flies to Metropolis.

Irrelevant Continuity:  

• The design of Green Lantern’s emerald armor doesn’t match the previous chapter.
• Eradicator reveals that he saved Superman’s life following his battle with Doomsday:  “The death of the last Kryptonian awakened me…your termination actually compelled me to visit your body.  My powers and the technology at your fortress were able to do the impossible.”

I Love the ‘90s:  Green Lantern’s battered appearance makes Superboy want to "hurl."

Gimmicks:  Apparently there are foil variants and chromium variants for this issue.

Production Note:  The title and credits for this issue are missing in the Return of Superman trade.  Also, two pages clearly by Tom Grummett (featuring Superman's reunion with Lois) are added at the end of this issue.  I’m assuming they’re from Adventures #505, which the inside front cover claims to reprint but is otherwise missing.

Review:  And we’re still in Engine City.  As is the case for most chapters in this arc, as an individual issue it’s decent, but when read in succession with the rest of the storyline, you’re left with the sense that you’re trapped in the third act of a movie that will not end.  What Superman has going for it, as usual, is lovely art from Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding, who go the extra mile and truly sell the scope of Engine City.  Since Jurgens seems to enjoy Cyborg Superman more than the other creators, he comes across as a more tolerable villain this chapter.  Jurgens throws in a few clever bits during the excessive fight scenes, such as the cyborg possessing Steel’s armor, but there’s only so much that can be done to maintain the reader’s interest in a fight that’s dragged on for several issues.  The non-fighting pages seem to be going down a checklist of things that need to be addressed before the story finally ends.  Everyone’s brought together, the Eradicator’s heroic arc is completed, and there’s finally some explanation for how exactly Superman’s alive.  It’s not a great one, however.  The resurrection boils down to Eradicator using Kryptonian technology to make Superman better, then warning him that it was a unique circumstance that could never be repeated.  That’s a pretty feeble way of getting around a clear problem with this storyline -- once Superman is killed and resurrected, you’re confirming to the audience that he is immortal.  While DC gained all the publicity it could’ve ever wanted out of killing Superman, the resurrection is never going to match the drama that surrounds the death.  And once the readers know that DC has no real commitment to killing the character (something any fan older than ten should’ve known anyway), it’s even more difficult to sell the concept of Superman ever being in a life or death situation again.  Throwing in a line or two about these circumstances being unique isn’t really going to address these problems.  

GREEN LANTERN #46 - October 1993

Death City

Credits:  Gerard Jones (writer), M. D. Bright (penciler), Romeo Tanghal (inker), Albert de Guzman (letterer), Anthony Tollin (colorist)

Summary:  Green Lantern, enraged at the destruction of Coast City, fights his way into Engine City.  He faces Mongul in battle, but is unable to destroy the engine room when he discovers its kryptonite power source, knowing that Superman is nearby.  Mongul takes advantage of Green Lantern’s inability to affect yellow and breaks his arm and knee.  Green Lantern finds Steel’s hammer and uses his ring to build armor around his body.  With the hammer, he beats Mongul into unconsciousness.

Irrelevant Continuity:

• Steel left his hammer behind after he flew Cyborg Superman’s metal form into the engine room’s gears in the previous chapter.  Where he is now is not revealed.
• Mongul is still referring to Cyborg Superman as “the leader” even though Mongul’s turned against him by this point.
• Green Lantern’s title was going through an awkward stage during this crossover.  This is the gray-at-the-temples, drunk driving, renegade Hal Jordan from what I’ve been able to glean from online articles.

Total N00B:  Green Lantern’s ring is still powerless against yellow at this point in continuity.  I was surprised to see that bizarre old rule was still in place in 1993, but then I remembered Ron Marz stating in Wizard that Hal’s replacement wouldn’t have that absurd restriction, so this must be one of the final stories to feature it.  

Production Note:  The Return of Superman trade only reprints sixteen pages of this issue.  Presumably, the rest of the issue deals with storylines that don’t directly relate to the GL/Mongul fight.

Review:  Green Lantern was thrown a bone and allowed to participate in the “Return of Superman” event, although it’s debatable if this really helped the title in the long run.  Within a few issues, the destruction of Coast City will become the basis for Hal Jordan turning rogue, an idiotic decision that DC stubbornly stuck to for a surprising number of years.  (Never tear down the existing hero in order to build up your replacement hero.) This issue is mostly dedicated to Green Lantern screaming at Mongul and futilely punching him.  Gerard Jones does exploit the basic flaw in the fight’s premise -- Mongul is yellow -- and gets a few entertaining pages out of it.  Green Lantern knows he can’t directly hurt Mongul, so he has to use his ring to destroy everything around Mongul, using Engine City as a weapon against him.  The action’s staged rather well, and M. D. Bright keeps the fight energetic, but it’s hard to ignore that almost every other page is either a splash page or double-page spread.  It’s a quick read, and what passes for “depth” are some melodramatic narrative captions from Green Lantern about his hate fueling his power.  It’s not pleasant.  

SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL #26 - October 1993

Blast Off!

Credits:  Louise Simonson (writer), Jon Bogdanove (penciler), Dennis Janke (inker), Albert de Guzman (letterer), Glenn Whitmore (colorist)

Summary:  Superman faces Mongul while Steel attempts to stop the blast that will send Earth out of orbit.  Inside the engine room, Steel is attacked by mechanical objects that have been possessed by Cyborg Superman.  The Cyborg’s boasts enable Steel to realize that he needs to stop the transformer engine that creates the magnetic fields within the fusion reactor.  He destroys the engine, but the kryptonite power source remains.  Meanwhile, Mongul discovers Supergirl’s presence and knocks her unconscious.  He soon gains the upper hand against Superman.

Irrelevant Continuity:  

• Green Lantern makes a one-panel cameo, as he flies towards Earth and realizes that Coast City is gone.  Eradicator also arrives in a one-panel scene.
• The designs of Superman’s guns and his gun belt don’t match the previous chapters.
• Mongul wants to destroy the Earth, now that Superboy’s actions have prevented Earth from properly going into orbit and becoming the new War World.
• Steel unmasks and reveals his secret identity to Superman, who remembers rescuing him months earlier.
• Steel’s thoughts reveal his mother named him after the folk hero John Henry.
• Louise Simonson apparently didn’t know that “Man of Steel” has already been renamed Steel at this point, since there’s another scene that has Superman coming up with the name.

Review:  Oh, wonderful.  More fun in Engine City.  Judged on its own merits, this isn’t necessarily a bad chapter.  Jon Bogdanove’s Steel remains an imposing presence throughout the issue, and his designs for the makeshift Cyborg Superman bodies are imaginatively weird.  Steel’s lengthy fight scene with the cyborg is also livened up by Simonson’s dialogue, which emphasizes Steel’s intelligence and gives him an opportunity to think his way through a problem.  (Something we haven’t seen the heroes do in a while during this arc.)  And then there’s…not much else.  A few subplot pages of Lois and the utterly charmless Jeb Friedman, a couple of scenes to establish other characters arriving at Engine City, and a few pages of Superman and Mongul in a fistfight.  Like the previous chapters, much of the issue is dedicated to checking in on characters or getting them into place for the finale, but very few of these scenes are interesting in their own right.  If this didn’t feel like the fiftieth story I’ve read during this Engine City battle, it wouldn’t bother me so much.  Reading it within the context of the collected edition, it’s another chapter that barely accomplishes anything and just causes the story to drag.

ACTION COMICS #691 - September 1993

Secret Weapon

Credits:  Roger Stern (writer), Jackson Guice & Denis Rodier (art), Bill Oakley (letterer), Glenn Whitmore (colorist)

Summary:  Superman and Steel continue to fight against Mongul and the Cyborg’s foot soldiers.  During a break in the fighting, Superman reveals that Supergirl has been aiding them the entire time in her invisible form.  However, she’s soon separated from the others during their search for Engine City’s power supply.  Mongul declares to his personal followers that he isn’t taking orders from Cyborg Superman any longer.  He orders them to start the kryptonite-powered engine, which will destroy the Earth.  Meanwhile, Lex Luthor discovers a semi-conscious Superboy, who’s fallen in a landfill after stopping the Engine Bomb.  He’s furious that Superboy doesn’t know where Supergirl is.  Elsewhere, Eradicator absorbs the Fortress’ energy, nearly destroying it, so that he has the power to return to the fight.

Irrelevant Continuity:  Superman says he hasn’t felt this vulnerable since Mxyzptlk cancelled out his powers.  A footnote points to Superman #49.

Mom, Apple Pie, etc…:  A series of narrative captions explains that Eradicator didn’t understand the concept of humanity, of complex ways of thinking and feeling, until taking on the form of Superman.

Review:  Apparently, we needed yet another chapter of this Engine City fight.  To his credit, Roger Stern breaks up some of the monotony by throwing in Supergirl’s surprise appearance, and he’s able to portray Superman’s use of machine guns in way that doesn’t feel like gratuitous shock value.  The action isn’t necessarily bad, it just feels redundant at this point.  There are only so many pages of Superman and Steel plowing through armies of alien goons that I’m willing to tolerate.  The only real plot advancement comes from Mongul’s decision to turn on Cyborg Superman, which has been telegraphed for what feels like six months now.  The rest of the issue consists of getting the remaining cast members in place for the big finale, which would be a welcome relief right about now; however, it’s still a few issues away.  I understand that this story was inevitably going to end with all four replacement Supermen and Superman, along with Supergirl, gathered together for a big fight...but honestly, I was expecting something a bit more creative than this.

THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #504 - September 1993

Assault on Engine City

Credits:  Karl Kesel (writer), Tom Grummett (penciler), Doug Hazelwood (inker), Albert de Guzman (letterer), Glenn Whitmore (colorist)

Summary:  Superman, Superboy, and Steel invade the newly christened “Engine City.”  They defeat an army of Mongul’s alien henchmen, but are unable to stop the Engine Bomb from being launched towards Metropolis.  Superboy grabs on to the missile and attempts to use his powers to dismantle it.  The missile is still intact when it reaches Metropolis, but Superboy is able to pull it away from the city.  Tana Moon watches in horror as the missile detonates over the horizon with Superboy still onboard.

Irrelevant Continuity:  Superman suggests “Man of Steel” simplify his name and go by “Steel,” making this the first time the name is used in an actual story.

I Love the ‘90s:  Superboy wishes Superman were referring to Michelle Pheiffer when discussing a “full frontal assault.”

Total N00B:  Perry White exclaims “Great shades of Elvis!” as the Engine Bomb reaches Metropolis.  I assumed Perry’s Elvis fixation was an invention of the Lois & Clark TV series, but it seems this issue saw print a few months before its debut.  Was this line added as an early tie-in to the series (like Renee Montoya’s earliest appearances in the Batman titles), or was the Elvis gimmick already in place?

Review:  It’s the big action issue that has the real Superman teaming up with the two Supermen that are only a few months away from starring in their own spinoffs.  The only real significance of the issue, aside from the debut of Steel’s official superhero name, is the image of Superman picking up gigantic ‘90s guns and blasting away at the enemy.  (They’re not quite implausible enough to be Liefeld guns, but they’re close).  Superman only uses the guns to “hold them back,” meaning there are no images of anyone actually getting hit with the weapons, but the creators are clearly using this imagery to provoke some kind of a response out of the readers.  Superman’s probably the last hero who should be picking up gigantic guns, which I get is the entire reason for doing the scene, but within the context of this story it feels utterly gratuitous.  It doesn’t come across as parody, yet the story doesn’t take itself seriously enough to justify this as a grim turning point for Superman, either.  I realize there’s a larger point behind this event, showing how Superman can still be traditional Superman and compete against the ‘90s breed of hero, but a scene like this seems to undermine what DC has been trying to prove for the past year.  It feels like an image that’s thrown out there just because it’s “so wrong,” but aside from intentionally provoking a response from the more traditional readers, there’s no obvious point behind it.

SUPERMAN #81 - September 1993

Resurrections

Credits:  Dan Jurgens (story and art), Brett Breeding (finishes), John Costanza (letterer), Glenn Whitmore (colorist)

Summary:  Superman emerges, but with weakened powers.  When no one believes he’s telling the truth, he takes Lois aside and recounts private moments only she would know.  He kisses her goodbye and asks to borrow a pair of boot-jets from one of Luthor’s men.  He flies off to Coast City with Superboy and a skeptical Steel.  Meanwhile, Cyborg Superman punishes Mongul for a perceived slight.  Two of the aliens serving Mongul discuss the cyborg’s origin.  Cyborg Superman was once Hank Henshaw, an astronaut with a grudge against Superman who could project his consciousness into metallic objects.  He discovered Mongul, who also hates Superman, on a distant planet and possessed his ship.  After torturing Mongul, the cyborg forced Mongul over to his side.

Irrelevant Continuity:  

• Hank Henshaw began life as an obvious Reed Richards parody.  The details of his origin are found, according to the footnotes, in Adventures #466 and #468.  It’s revealed that Cyborg Superman was able to duplicate Kryptonian DNA because he once grafted himself on to the birth matrix that Superman arrived on Earth in.
• Superman’s hair isn’t as long as it was in the previous chapter’s final splash page, although it’s still all the way down his neck.  The style isn’t obviously a mullet until Jurgens draws Superman from the side, then it’s clear he’s going full Uncle Jessie.
• Lois’ ridiculous pants from the previous chapter have been toned down this issue.

Total N00B:  I had no clue who Hank Henshaw was, so the extended origin recap is definitely appreciated.

Review:  Superman finally makes his real return this issue, and while it would be easy to have all of the characters obey the plot faithfully and just accept it, Jurgens adds an element of realism to the plot.  I like the fact that no one, not even Lois, is one hundred percent convinced this is the real Superman by the end of the issue.  The return of Superman also means the debut of his new look, and while I think the black and silver color scheme is kind of cool, it’s impossible to ignore the mullet.  If you want to say that Superman’s hair grew while in his rejuvenation pod, fine, but there should be some internal consistency here.  If his hair has grown, that means he should also have a scruffy beard and long fingernails.  (A more masculine, less groomed Superman isn’t necessarily a bad idea anyway.)  More importantly, his hair wouldn’t have grown into a specific style!  One that was already going out of fashion in 1993, as I recall.  Why would his hair only grow on the top and back but not the sides?  Was there a Billy Ray Cyrus setting in his regeneration matrix?

The attention is split this issue between Superman’s return and the origin of Cyborg Superman.  I’ve complained about the casual way past continuity is introduced in many of the DC titles I’ve reviewed, but Jurgens goes out of his way to make sure that any reader, regardless of his of her familiarity with specific Superman continuity, knows who the cyborg is.  Established readers might complain that the flashback drags on for too long, but actually seeing the details of previous stories, along with the new backstory, fleshed out in a deliberate, coherent way is a welcome gesture towards the casual fan.  And speaking of that origin…how crazy is it that the main villain in the “Reign of the Supermen” event turns out to be a Reed Richards parody?  It’s never played for a joke, but it is an utterly insane idea.

SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL #25 - September 1993

The Return!

Credits:  Louise Simonson (writer), Jon Bogdanove (penciler), Dennis Janke (inker), Bill Oakley (letterer), Glenn Whitmore (colorist)

Summary:  Superboy escapes the Cyborg’s custody and flies to Metropolis.  Meanwhile, Steel grows suspicious of Cyborg Superman’s claims and decides to travel to Coast City.  Lois also decides to travel there, partially to escape the romantic interest of Jeb.  They arrive at the airport simultaneously, just as the Kryptonian war-suit reaches Metropolis.  Supergirl arrives with Lex to confront it, joining Superboy and Steel in battle.  Everyone is shocked when the suit opens and Superman emerges.

Irrelevant Continuity:  

• Superboy escapes from Cyborg Superman’s device through “panicky power blasts,” another hint that his powers are telekinetic in nature.
• The stories can’t seem to decide if the giant suit of armor Superman is wearing is called a “war-suit” or a “battle-suit.”
• When Superman emerges, we see his long hair for the first time.  His hair was short when he left Antarctica in the armored suit, however.

I Love the ‘90s:  Lois is wearing…I don’t even know what to call these pants.  Those pants from the 1930s that poof out around the hips…Parachute pants?  Aviation pants?  Also, Jimmy Olsen is still wearing Spin Doctors t-shirts.

Review:  This is the issue that brings together the cast for the finale.  That requires a few coincidences, but there’s nothing here that comes across as especially forced.  The real problem with the plot involves a group of scientists working for Lex Luthor, who drop charges on the war-suit on his orders.  They’re crushed in the ensuing avalanche, which is what inspires Supergirl to fly off in the first place.  She quickly forgets about them as soon as the war-suit surfaces, and we never see Superman helping them either.  This is the kind of detail that can be easily addressed with one line of dialogue in the next chapter; but as it stands, both Superman and Supergirl look fairly awful for not doing anything to help.  Ignoring that, this is an inoffensive middle chapter that does what it needs to do to get everyone in their proper place.  “Inoffensive” if you don’t mind a distracted Lois allowing Jeb to kiss her, I suppose.  He’s yet to come across as a credible rival for Clark, and there’s no real hope for this subplot anyway now that Superman has returned.  Steel also isn't given an awful lot to do, even though this is nominally his series.  I understand that the storyline has a dozen characters to be juggling right now, but Steel is almost a background figure this issue.

ACTION COMICS #690 - August 1993

Lies & Revelations

Credits:  Roger Stern (writer), Jackson Guice & Denis Rodier (art), Bill Oakley (letterer), Glenn Whitmore (colorist)

Summary:  Cyborg Superman places Superboy in restraints so that he can be studied.  In order to get rid of the Justice League, Cyborg Superman sends them on a fraudulent mission in space.  Superboy overhears the Cyborg and Mongul’s plans to create a second “Engine City” in Metropolis and vows to escape.  Meanwhile, a weakened Eradicator reaches the Fortress of Solitude.  He discovers the regeneration matrix is empty, and the Fortress robots reveal his true identity.  The actual Superman has already been released from the matrix and is heading towards Metropolis in a Kryptonian war-suit.  In Metropolis, Lois tells the authorities that she believes Cyborg Superman is a fraud.

Irrelevant Continuity:  The origin of Eradicator is revealed.  The basic idea is that he’s a Kryptonian artificial intelligence that has gained sentience.  His consciousness lived inside the Fortress and, following the “death” of Superman, sought to steal his body.  Superman’s consciousness fought against him, however, leaving Eradicator to somehow use the mass inside the coffin to form his own faux-Superman body.

Total N00B:  The cutaways to the Justice League emphasize that Jade is Alan Scott’s daughter.  I have a vague idea of who Jade is but I’ve never heard of this before.

Review:  The mysteries surrounding “The Last Son of Krypton” (or “Visor Superman”) are resolved, in what I’m just going to assume was a satisfying payoff for regular readers of the Superman titles.  I’ve never read the original Eradicator storyline, so it’s not as if I could’ve seen this coming, but it seems as if Roger Stern has put a lot of thought into this and placed a decent number of clues in Action over the past few months.  Since Eradicator was designed as a weapons system, it seems logical that his response to crime would be lethal, and adopting the moniker “Last Son of Krypton” does make sense given his origin.  The specific details of what happened “behind the scenes” in Action #687 are revealed, showing us how what we assumed was Superman retaking his body was anything but, so Stern is playing fair with the reader.  Stern’s setting up the idea that Eradicator actually wants to follow Superman’s example now, which I guess is going to lead to a dramatic redemptive moment later on.  Some of this is fairly predictable, but the execution is compelling enough to fend off any real boredom.  And the cutaway to Superman, the real one, this issue is actually the dramatic slow-reveal that I assumed was going to happen last issue. Reading it now the sequence feels odd -- why does he get a slow reveal after already returning last month? -- but now that I understand the proper context (Stern wanted the readers to think that Superman was the Eradicator last issue), this makes sense.

THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #503 - August 1993

Line of Fire

Credits:  Karl Kesel (writer), Tom Grummett (penciler), Doug Hazelwood (inker), Albert de Guzman (letterer), Glenn Whitmore (colorist)

Summary:  Cyborg Superman contacts the White House and requests they send Superboy to help him locate Eradicator.  Shortly after Superboy arrives on the West Coast, he’s shocked when Cyborg Superman destroys the GBS news copter that’s following them.  Superboy tries to stop Cyborg Superman but is unable to control his powers.  Inside Mongul’s ship, Mongul’s thoughts reveal his own plans to rule the new metallic Warworld being constructed in Coast City.  In Antarctica, an armored suit begins a trek through the bottom of the ocean.

Irrelevant Continuity:  

• This issue establishes that the real-life city of Santa Barbara was also wiped out when Coast City was destroyed, and that earthquakes have begun along the West Coast, killing thousands in cities like Portland.  I don’t believe that the damage outside of the fictitious Coastal City ever remained in DC continuity.
• The first hints of Superboy’s unique power, tactile telekinesis, appear for the first time during his fight with Cyborg Superman.
• Superman faced Mongul for the first time in Superman #321, according to a footnote.

I Love the ‘90s:  Superboy has a Spin Doctors poster in his apartment.

Review:  The casual treatment of not just one (fictional) city being destroyed, but also much of the West Coast is a clear sign we’re dealing with a storyline conceived years before 9-11.  I realize that movies and comics are now back to the routine destruction of major cities, but there does seem to be more of an effort to acknowledge the civilian toll in these situations.  This issue, people are freaked out over what’s happened, but no one’s especially sad.  Over seven million people are dead, but the cast acts as if they’re in just another superhero adventure.  Superboy never stops smiling and goofing off in the story, until he’s directly faced with a news copter that’s destroyed (that seems to happen around him quite a bit).  Now he’s upset, while the deaths of several million people couldn’t put a damper on his day, this is just too much.  It’s hard to accuse the issue of being insensitive since Americans had no real context for an event like this at the time, but looking at it today, it’s amazing to see how blasé the creators assumed the public would be regarding such a massive loss of life.  Even Tana Moon, presented as the moral center of this book, is more upset that she won’t get camera time when Superboy travels to Coast City than she is over the millions dead.

Regarding the Cyborg/Superboy fight, it’s enjoyable enough.  Tom Grummett handles the action well and Cyborg Superman isn’t bad as an over-the-top villain.  It’s the tone that’s all wrong, however, and it’s impossible to read this issue today and not notice just how badly the creators have misjudged the mood of the story.

SUPERMAN #80 - August 1993

Deadly Alliance

Credits:  Dan Jurgens (story and art), Brett Breeding (finishes), John Costanza (letterer), Glenn Whitmore (colorist)

Summary:  Lex Luthor’s satellites detect the approach of Mongul’s ship.  He sends word to the authorities, and soon Cyborg Superman is contacted by the White House.  Cyborg Superman travels to where the ship has landed, Coast City, and immediately accuses Eradicator of being in league with the aliens.  As the two Supermen fight, Mongul drops “Carnage Globes” throughout the city.  They detonate, killing the seven million citizens of Coast City, and reverting Eradicator to his energy form.  Eradicator travels back to the Fortress of Solitude, while Mongul’s ship releases cybernetic seeds that create a new city.  Cyborg Superman enters Mongul’s ship and is greeted as Mongul’s master.

Irrelevant Continuity:  

• Carol Farris (who isn’t in Coast City during the bombing, but talking to someone on the phone as it happens) went through an unnamed “weird experience” in Green Lantern Annual #3.
• Lex Luthor’s leg is in a cast once again, although it was gone in the previous chapter.

Review:  It’s the destruction of Coast City, an event that will have ramifications on DC continuity into the next decade, although I’m not sure if the creators at the time knew it.  Destroying Green Lantern’s hometown in a Superman issue might initially seem like a strange decision, but I’m under the impression that Green Lantern was not much of a priority for DC at this time.  (If you're interested in this odd era of Green Lantern history, check out this CSBG article.) DC was looking for a way to reignite interest in the Green Lantern series, the Superman books were in the middle of a high-profile event, and something big needed to be blown up.  So, Coast City is destroyed as a part of the villain’s scheme during the Superman crossover, which sets the stage for Green Lantern to soon receive its own speculator-friendly event.  And, boy, did DC get that one wrong.  Turning Hal Jordan into a villain and then abruptly introducing a new Green Lantern was an utterly insane idea, one that anyone who’s read comics for more than a year could see wouldn’t last.  To be fair, DC showed a lot of commitment to Kyle Rayner (he even replaced Hal Jordan in Hal Jordan’s origin story on the Superman cartoon) and he did develop a fanbase, but there’s no way DC’s deconstruction of Hal Jordan’s character would stand.  DC eventually had to backtrack, and once the tide of nostalgia had firmly turned in Hal Jordan’s favor, he was reinstated as the Green Lantern.

None of this is relevant to the “Reign of Supermen” event, of course.  This specific issue is more entertaining than most of the recent chapters; the big action scenes suit Jurgens’ art, and the misdirection of which Superman is behind the attack is well played.  Destroying Coast City is almost certainly not a good idea (not only due to its damage to the Green Lantern mythos but also because the creators can’t possibly communicate the impact of losing seven million people), but that’s a problem for future chapters of the event.  As the story opens, we discover that Eradicator has taken Steel’s words to heart and is trying to be a true hero in Coast City, but it isn’t long before Cyborg Superman arrives and accuses him of being in league with the mystery spaceship.  Cyborg Superman has essentially acted like Superman, only with memory gaps, up until this point, so there’s no obvious reason to think that he’s lying.  The revelation that he’s the one behind Mongul’s arrival is perhaps a bit of cheat, since Cyborg Superman hasn’t exhibited any villainous behavior yet, but it makes for a great cliffhanger.  I’m not sure how Jurgens plans to reconcile this with Cyborg Superman’s narration during his debut in issue #78, since it contains a few first-person narrative captions that would pretty much have to be Superman’s.  Hopefully, there’s a clever solution behind this and not a total copout.