{"id":35607,"date":"2026-05-28T17:24:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T17:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=35607"},"modified":"2026-05-28T17:24:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T17:24:09","slug":"dc-finest-superman-time-and-time-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2026\/05\/28\/dc-finest-superman-time-and-time-again\/","title":{"rendered":"DC Finest: Superman – Time and Time Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nBy Dan Jurgens<\/strong>, Jerry Ordway<\/strong>, Roger Stern<\/strong>, James D. Hudnall<\/strong>, Dave Hoover<\/strong>, Curt Swan<\/strong>, Bob McLeod<\/strong>, Kerry Gammill<\/strong>, Tom Grummett<\/strong>, Ed Hannigan<\/strong>, John Byrne<\/strong>, Brett Breeding<\/strong>, Dennis Janke<\/strong>, Art Thibert<\/strong>, Scott Hanna<\/strong>, Jos\u00e9 Marzan<\/strong>, Willie Blyberg<\/strong> & various (DC Comics)
\nISBN: 978-1-79950-810-6 (TPB)<\/p>\n

This book includes Discriminatory Content<\/strong> produced in less enlightened times.<\/em><\/p>\n

In 1986, after almost 50 years, Superman <\/strong>was re-imagined after Crisis on Infinite Earths<\/strong>. Although controversial at the start, John Byrne\u2019s reboot of the world\u2019s first superhero was rapidly acknowledged as a solid hit and the collaborative teams who complemented and followed him maintained the high quality, ensuring continued success. Over following years a vast, interlocking saga unfolded across a spread of titles which has only sporadically – and far too infrequently – been collected into graphic compilations.<\/p>\n

As part of the refit, many of his more miraculous abilities were discarded. Just like his earliest days, Superman was a far from omnipotent hero, more in touch with humanity because he wasn\u2019t so very far above it. One thing that was abandoned was his casual ability to travel through time, and that was spectacularly addressed in a sequence of tales inside the greater unfolding story contained in this collection re-presenting the \u201cNever-Ending Battle\u201d. This time-twisting selection collectively transpires via cover-dates November 1990 through June 1991, gathering key intra-title storylines plus a couple of choice stand-alone solo stories from Action Comics<\/strong> #659-666, Adventures of Superman<\/strong> #472-479 and Superman<\/strong> #49-56, and a crossover component from Starman<\/strong> (volume 1 #28).<\/p>\n

No sooner had the Byrne restart stripped away most of the accreted mythology and iconography that had grown around the Strange Visitor from Another World over five glorious decades, than successive teams employed a great deal of time and ingenuity putting much of it back, albeit in terms more accessible and agreeable to a cynical, well-informed audience far more sophisticated than their grandparents ever were.<\/p>\n

One such was a notional tip of the hat to so many memorably madcap tales revolving around both an irritating 5th<\/sup> Dimensional Imp and the bizarrely mutagenic mineral from Krypton which peppered and perplexed the Silver Age Superman\u2019s life. However, the story arc here also advanced two overarching plot threads that grew from the soap opera styled stories: the imminent demise of Lex Luthor<\/em> due to self-inflicted Green K poisoning and a blossoming romance between Clark Kent<\/em> and dynamic fellow journalist and friendly rival Lois Lane<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The compartmented saga opened in Superman<\/strong> volume 2, #49 with \u2018Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite: Part One\u2019<\/em> by Jerry Ordway & Dennis Janke, wherein Luthor, following the death of his only \u201c blood heir\u201d (Perry White Jr.<\/em>), ponders mortality in a cemetery until a talking red rock bops him on the back of his big, bald head. The incensed billionaire quickly stifles his outrage as the scarlet stone resolves into cruelly devious trickster-sprite Mr. Mxyzptlk<\/em>. Despite being currently preoccupied with another realm, the malign mischief-maker sees a chance to manufacture more mayhem in Metropolis with the \u201cRed Kryptonite\u201d he has magicked up, and promises Lex it will make Man of Steel and mortal multi-billionaire \u201cphysical equals\u201d…<\/p>\n

Lex activates the rock expecting to gain the powers of a god – and just possibly a new lease on his rapidly expiring life – and is furious to realise he is still just human. However, across town Superman, having defeated bionic bandit Barrage<\/em>, is transporting the supervillain to metahuman penitentiary Stryker\u2019s Island<\/em> when his powers vanish and he plunges into vilely polluted Hobs Bay<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Luthor cries foul and is again visited by Mxyzptlk who pettishly teleports the drowning Action Ace to Lex\u2019s penthouse office where the evil industrialist can see what the spell has actually wrought. After a brutal and strictly human-scaled tussle, a badly beaten, powerless Superman is ejected from Luthor\u2019s HQ and staggers back to Kent\u2019s home where he finds Lois waiting. The normally resolute reporter is badly shaken: Lois\u2019 mother is dying from an apparently fatal illness and Luthor is somehow responsible…<\/p>\n

In Adventures of Superman<\/strong> #472, Dan Jurgens & Art Thibert\u2019s \u2018Clark Kent\u2026 Man of Steel!\u2019<\/em> picks up the pace with our simply human hero about to be slaughtered by lethal lummox Mammoth<\/em>. Kal-El<\/em> is undergoing tests into the cause of his malady conducted by scientific advisor\/confidante Emil Hamilton<\/em>, but when news of the giant thief\u2019s robbery spree reaches him Superman dashes off to assist, equipped only with a hastily configured force field belt. It\u2019s not nearly enough. In the end wits, raw nerve and a simple bluff save the day, but with no solution in sight the Metropolis Marvel must admit he needs superhuman assistance if he is to survive, but at least on the domestic front his new fragility brings him closer to Lois…<\/p>\n

With Roger Stern, Dave Hoover & Scott Hanna in creative mode, the scene switches to Arizona where a recent acquaintance gets a phone call before \u2018Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite: Part Two\/A: The End of a Legend?\u2019 <\/em>(Starman<\/strong> vol. 1 #28) sees Stellar Sentinel Will Payton <\/em>flying to Metropolis for a top secret rendezvous. A sun in human form, Payton had re-energised the Kryptonian\u2019s cells with solar power once before when Superman\u2019s powers were drained, but this time the sun-bath has no effect and almost fries desperate Kal-El during the process. With crime spiking, Starman sticks around to keep the peace, using his shapeshifting powers to perfectly mimic the Man of Steel. He fools Luthor who, confronted by the somehow resurgent \u201cSuperman\u201d, furiously throws the useless Red K at him…<\/p>\n

With the mineral in Hamilton\u2019s hands, stringent testing proves it is only red rock with no radioactive properties and Superman must think outside the box if he is to protect his city.<\/p>\n

… And on Stryker\u2019s Island, another old enemy is laying lethal plans to finally end the Man of Tomorrow…<\/p>\n

Tension mounts in \u2018Breakout!\u2019<\/em> (Action Comics<\/strong> #659, Stern, Bob McLeod & Brett Breeding) as Superman resorts to high-tech battle armour when murderous science-maniac Thaddeus Killgrave<\/em> frees the inmates and seizes control of Stryker\u2019s, luring Starman-as-Superman into a deadly trap the neophyte hero cannot escape from. Meanwhile, in the highest corridors of financial power, Mxyzptlk personally briefs bewildered Luthor on what\u2019s going on…<\/p>\n

Brave but not stupid, Superman calls in back-up for his raid on the penitentiary. Whilst cloned champion Golden Guardian<\/em> and street vigilante Crimebuster<\/em> handle rank-&-file felons, the armoured Action Ace heads straight for Killgrave and a blistering confrontation which is only prelude to climactic concluding chapter \u2018The Human Factor\u2019<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Superman<\/strong> vol. 2, #50 was a giant special by Ordway & Janke with celebratory anniversary contributions from Byrne, Curt Swan, Kerry Gammill, Breeding & Jurgens, and opens with Clark unceremoniously ejected from Lexcorp Tower, only to stumble upon the billionaire\u2019s personal physician Dr. Gretchen Kelly<\/em> acting oddly\u2026<\/p>\n

Heading home, the powerless hero is saved from a mutant rat by Guardian and, after seeing Crimebuster thrashing street thugs, comes to a painful conclusion. Maybe Superman isn\u2019t necessary any more. Maybe now he can have his own life and even ask Lois to marry him…<\/p>\n

First though, there\u2019s a unfinished business and a simple phone call to Luthor gets that ball rolling. Offering to trade the Red K for a story, Clark inadvertently causes Lex to break the terms of his pact with Mxyzptlk, thereby negating the whole power-sapping deal.<\/p>\n

Ticked off, petulant and impatient to get back to mischief-making in another universe, the imp makes a personal appearance in monstrous form, but loads the battle in the fully restored Action Ace\u2019s favour just to get out of his self-imposed arcane contract quickly… but not without an astounding amount of collateral damage to Metropolis…<\/p>\n

With the crisis over, however, Superman has made a life changing decision. Following the red-tinged resumption of his super status, the Action Ace is joined by a brace of green guest stars in \u2018Rings of Fire\u2019<\/em> (Jurgens & Thibert in AoS<\/strong> #473). Even as Clark & Lois announce their engagement, Superman is fretting. Unable to tell his intended of his secret life, he is quickly distracted and drawn away when unconventional Green Lantern<\/strong> Guy Gardner<\/em> hits town looking for missing mentor Hal Jordan<\/em>. Earth\u2019s \u201creal GL\u201d has been captured by a monolithic alien who has stolen his emerald energies to power a long-delayed return to the distant stars. Of course, implementing that departure will eradicate half of Wyoming…<\/p>\n

Thwarting the scheme, freeing a mesmerised Army General and defeating the alien\u2019s thralls Psi-phon<\/em> & Dreadnaught<\/em>, Superman and the GLs then craft a far less destructive solution for all parties involved…<\/p>\n

In Action<\/strong> Comics<\/strong> #660, Stern, McLeod & Breeding detail the \u2018Certain Death\u2019<\/em> that ushers in the end of an era. For years Luthor has masqueraded as a billionaire philanthropist whilst dominating Metropolis, the world and the criminal Underworld. Few knew the unsavoury truth and the cunning villain kept Superman literally at arms-length by wearing a ring made from Green Kryptonite.<\/p>\n

Previous and subsequent stories revealed Green K radiation had gradually poisoned Luthor, initially causing the loss of his hand and eventually fatally irradiating his entire body. Now as his power and vitality wane, Luthor – knowing that his pitiful condition must inevitably become public knowledge – puts a final desperate plan into operation. During a high profile publicity stunt attempting to set a new air-speed record, the manipulative mogul apparently commits suicide in a spectacular manner: an act of defiance which only marks the beginning of a stupendous 7-year long extended plotline to be seen and resolved elsewhere…<\/p>\n

Here a measured preamble to the titular time-bending saga begins innocuously with Ordway & Dennis Janke\u2019s introduction of \u2018Mister Z!\u2019<\/em> in Superman<\/strong> #51. When an apparent immortal arrives in town and dramatically adds the hero\u2019s mind to his library of historical souls the magical marauder severely underestimates the champion\u2019s strength of will. After dying in combat, he swears to return… Jurgens & Art Thibert then use Adventures of Superman<\/strong> #474 to reveal a life-changing moment in the life of highschooler Clark; an instant of irresponsibility once ended the life of a friend and saddled the hero-in-waiting with decades of crushing guilt. Now everything changes when he comes \u2018Face to Face With Yesterday\u2019<\/em>…<\/p>\n

Laughs and thrills in equal measure follow the arrival of Plastic Man<\/strong> & Woozy Winks<\/em> in Action<\/strong> #661, as Stern, McLeod & Breeding reveal how those valiant but nauseating nitwits enlist Jimmy Olsen<\/em>, punch-drunk recent lottery millionaire Bibbo<\/em> Bibbowski<\/em> and even Superman to save the city from techno mobsters Intergang<\/em> by \u2018Stretching a Point!\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

In Superman<\/strong> #52, Ordway, Kerry Gammill & Janke address mounting environmental concerns by reintroducing violent eco-maverick Toby Manning<\/em> who assures us \u2018The Name, Pardners, is Terra-Man…\u2019<\/em> before ruthlessly and murderously exposing the true cause of mass toxic contamination and targeting the businesses attempting to whitewash it all…<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Jurgens & Thibert, a big guest star bust up fills AoS<\/strong> #475 with \u2018Sleaze Factor\u2019 <\/em>after Intergang\u2019s \u201cUgly\u201d Bruno Mannheim<\/em> hires Dr Killgrave and toymaker Winslow Schott<\/em> to restore and improve debauched theme park Happyland. Only after Superman investigates the increasing number of disappearing visitors does the truth of Apokolyptian terror haunting the park emerge…<\/p>\n

Over many years, Lois and Clark had grown beyond rivalry and distanced professionalism into true workplace romance, but always the hero kept his other identity from her. That all changed in Action Comics<\/strong> #662 (cover-dated February 1991 and by Stern & McLeod) as after the Man of Tomorrow narrowly defeated mystic predator Silver Banshee<\/em> he decided that there would no more \u2018Secrets in the Night\u2019<\/em> \u2018between him and his beloved…
\n\"\"
\nWith Lois still reeling from shock and sustained extended deception, Ordway & Janke used Superman<\/strong> #53 to question \u2018Truth, Justice and the American Way\u2019<\/em> as the Caped Kryptonian agrees to escort war criminal General Marlo<\/em> of Qurac to his judicial come-uppance and consequently ferret out the US military traitors who supported him but now need him silenced…<\/p>\n

Finally after months of preparation the main event opened with the modern hero lost to Earth just as Lois needed him most. Formerly he had been able to navigate the chronal corridors with ease, but this new Man of Tomorrow was trapped in a cataclysmic and volatile temporal warp, bounced around from era to era with his abilities constantly diminishing and utterly unable to regain his home and loved ones. The eponymous, epoch-rending epic launched in Adventures of Superman<\/strong> #476 as Jurgens & Breeding\u2019s \u2018The Linear Man\u2019<\/em> saw a rogue (self-appointed) protector of the Time Stream seek to forcibly return temporal refugee-turned superhero Booster Gold<\/strong> to the 25th<\/sup> century he originated from. When Superman intervenes, the battle sparks a tremendous explosion, causing Kal-El to careen through time whenever he\u2019s caught in another explosion. Initially that\u2019s forward into a disaster-triggered team-up with the teenaged Legion of Super-Heroes<\/strong>…<\/p>\n

Each \u201clanding\u201d leaves him in a significant period of Earth\u2019s history, and when a fuel storage centre detonates Superman is blasted backwards arriving in Stern & McLeod\u2019s \u2018Lost in the \u201840s Tonight\u2019<\/em> (Action <\/strong>#663). Temporarily blinded but stuck in a past he read deeply about, Superman seeks out WWII icons the Justice Society of America<\/strong>, precipitating a meeting with that era\u2019s first mystery men before almighty wraith The Spectre<\/strong> transports him not home but to \u2018The Warsaw Ghetto!\u2019<\/em> Here he becomes a temporary saviour in a soon to be mythic battle saga by Ordway & Janke in Superman<\/strong> #54. Perversely ending that issue is an unconnected Newsboy Legion<\/strong> short by Karl Kesel wherein the cloned kids, Guardian and Dubbilex<\/em> seek to save top secret Project Cadmus from the \u2018Attack of the D.N.Alien\u2019 <\/em>and imminent nuclear doom…<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in time, only gigantic explosions can launch Superman back into the time stream, and one such occurs in \u2018Death Rekindled\u2019<\/em> (AoS<\/strong> #477, Jurgens & Breeding) when a trip to the future introduces him to another, later iteration of the Legion needing help to destroy a monstrous Sun Eater. The cataclysmic detonation of that deadly duel deposits him \u2018Many Long Years Ago\u2019<\/em> (Action <\/strong>#664, Stern & McLeod) to end up a Jurassic castaway until a clash with similarly-marooned time thief Chronos<\/em> propels him via smallish jumps into the Pleistocene and a chronologically adrift encounter with primordial alien race the H\u2019v\u2019ler\u2019ni<\/em> (AKA the Host<\/em>). That tussle tosses him forward to \u2018Camelot\u2019 <\/em>as the Dark Ages begin, battling valiantly but in vain beside eventual All-Star Squadron<\/strong> paladin and Seventh Soldier of Victory<\/strong> Sir Justin<\/em> The Shining Knight<\/strong> (all-Ordway in Superman<\/strong> #55). That issue contains more Newsboy Legion antics from Kesel as \u2018Blaze of Glory!\u2019<\/em> sees the lads and \u201cKirby Kritter\u201d Angry Charlie<\/em> frustrate the plans of rogue geneticist Dabney Donovan<\/em> and defer atomic armageddon…<\/p>\n

In AoS <\/strong>#478, Jurgens & Breeding deposit Superman with another, later Legion of Super-Heroes to confront deranged, savagely murderous Daxamite Dev-Em<\/em> (another escapee from the 20th<\/sup> century) in brutal blockbusting finale \u2018Moon Rocked\u2019 <\/em>which resets the time-shenanigans and leads to Clark\u2019s ultimate resolution and reunion with Lois in Action <\/strong>#665\u2019s \u2018Wake the Dead!\u2019 <\/em>by Stern, Tom Grummett & Jos\u00e9 Marzan, wherein that crucial catching up and calming down is ruined by voodoo villain Baron Sunday<\/em> unleashing dead felons on the city…<\/p>\n

A third and final Kesel Newsboy short ends Superman<\/strong> #56 with a poignant peek at \u2018Charlie & Company\u2019<\/em> at home, before which James Hudnall, Ed Hannigan & Willie Blyberg had begun one last continued saga. In \u2018Red Glass Part One: Breaking Up\u2019<\/em> the Action Ace encountered an eerie crystal on the Moon before returning to an Earth endangered by his increasing berserker rages. The catalogue of atrocities mounted in Adventures of Superman<\/strong> #479\u2019s \u2018Red Glass Part Two: Falling Apart\u2019<\/em> before answers and restoration of the status quo concluded the crises (for now) in Action<\/strong> #666\u2019s visually stunning but conceptually weak wrap-up \u2018Red Glass Part Three: Picking Up the Pieces\u2019<\/em>…<\/p>\n

With covers by Ordway, Jurgens, Thibert, Hoover, Gammill, Breeding, Janke, Grummett, Andy Kubert & Glenn Whitmore, this strictly print-only package comprises a hugely enjoyable saga that is highly readable and cheerfully accessible for both returning and first time fans. Thrilling, funny, action-packed and exquisitely entertaining: what more could dedicated Fights \u2018n\u2019 Tights followers want?
\n\u00a9 1990, 1991, 2026 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n

Born today in 1911, Golden Age letterer and colourist Pat Gordon<\/strong> made her husband Dick<\/strong> look even better on the page as Lora Sprang<\/strong>. She shared her natal day with For Better of For Worse<\/strong> cartoonist Lynn Johnston<\/strong> who arrived in 1947.<\/p>\n

UK mega weekly Buster<\/strong> began its 40-year run today in 1960, closing in 2000 at which moment today Bringing Up Father<\/strong> ended the run begun by George McManus <\/strong>in 1913.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Dan Jurgens, Jerry Ordway, Roger Stern, James D. Hudnall, Dave Hoover, Curt Swan, Bob McLeod, Kerry Gammill, Tom Grummett, Ed Hannigan, John Byrne, Brett Breeding, Dennis Janke, Art Thibert, Scott Hanna, Jos\u00e9 Marzan, Willie Blyberg & various (DC Comics) ISBN: 978-1-79950-810-6 (TPB) This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times. In 1986, … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “DC Finest: Superman – Time and Time Again”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[191,150,319,113,305,76,290,255,401,82,122,125,16,28,154,345,396,276,9,298,68,93,99],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure","category-booster-gold","category-captain-atom","category-comedy","category-dc-horror","category-dc-superhero","category-dinosaurs","category-environmentalism","category-firestorm","category-green-lantern","category-historical","category-humour","category-jla","category-jsa","category-legion-of-super-heroes","category-lois-lane","category-monsters","category-plastic-man","category-superman","category-the-demon","category-the-spectre","category-war-stories","category-westerns"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-9gj","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35607"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35607\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35610,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35607\/revisions\/35610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}