5 Great Superman Moments That Defined The ‘90s

Superman was long one of the most popular characters in comics, but as the years went on and the comic industry changed, the Man of Steel would be replaced at the top of the superhero heap. The mid ’80s saw the character regain a lot of popularity because of John Byrne’s post-Crisis reboot, modernizing the character and making him more palatable to fans. However, as the decade of excess ended, sales started to go down again and DC needed to do something to stop the bleeding. The ’90s would go on to become one of the most tumultuous decades in the character’s history. They threw huge change after huge change at the Man of Tomorrow, and it was a quite a time for fans of Superman.

As a whole, the ’90s isn’t always considered to be the best decade for the hero. There are a lot of reasons for that, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t any great moments for the Last Son of Krypton in the decade of extreme. These five Superman moments defined the ’90s, changing the character in a variety of ways.

5) Electric Blue Superman

Superman has exhibited many powers over the years, and we all understood how it worked and what they were, but all of that changed with Superman (Vol. 2) #123. The ’90s were a time of great change for the Man of Steel, starting with his death, and DC seemed to think the only way to make a splash with the character was to do something completely unexpected with him. Changing his powers to being based on energy was a big change and while an argument can be made that the decision wasn’t the best, it led to some interesting stories where writers figured out new ways to use Superman’s powers. The whole thing fizzled out, but it definitely had its potential. Plus, let’s be real — that new costume was pretty cool.

4) The Return of Superman

“Death of Superman” was a major moment in comic history, but we knew he was never going to stay dead forever. The Superman creators did their best to build a great story about how Superman’s death would affect the DC Universe and it was a cool time. “Reign of the Supermen” introduced his “replacements”, but as that story went on, they started teasing that the real Superman was going to return. He showed up after Cyborg Superman attacked Coast City, in a black costume meant to give him his powers back. He helped Superboy, Steel, and the Eradicator battle against Mongul and Cyborg Superman through Engine City in an exciting action sequence. He was able to regain his powers from the Eradicator talking a blast of Kryptonite energy for him, changing the nature of the energy to give Kal-El back his powers, leading to the defeat of the Cyborg Superman. It was an awesome moment, with Superman (Vol. 2) #82 giving readers what they had been waiting months for.

3) “Reign of the Supermen”

“Reign of the Supermen” was the the penultimate chapter of the “Death of Superman” saga, after “Funeral for a Friend” and “World Without a Superman”. It introduced four replacements for Superman — Superboy, Steel, the Eradicator, and Cyborg Superman — and led to the final phase of the saga, “Return of Superman”. These four characters and their introductions were awesome, and created four new important characters in the Superman mythos. Action Comics #687, Superman: Man of Steel #22, Superman (Vol. 2) #78, and Adventures of Superman #501 were all awesome comics, and one of the best parts of the saga.

2) The Wedding of Clark Kent and Lois Lane

Superman has an amazing supporting cast, but the best of them have always been Lois Lane. Their will-they, won’t-they relationship drove decades of stories and she became an iconic character in comics. However, Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman wanted to marry the two stars of the show and DC Comics decided to go all on it. Superman: The Wedding Album was the big moment, a comic that had work from every classic Superman creator still alive (they even drew them into the wedding scene). It’s one of the best weddings in comics, if not the best, and has led to so many great stories, changing the relationship of Lois and Clark forever and leading to one of the most famous Superman characters of the last decade and a half: Jon Kent.

1) “Death of Superman”

“Death of Superman” is a stone cold classic and it was easily the best Superman moment in the ’90s. The battle between Superman and Doomsday has gone down as one of the greatest in comics, and led to the amazing Superman (Vol. 2) #75, which ended the battle between the two with one fatal blow. It wasn’t just a massive moment in the history of comics, but a wonderfully emotional end to the life of the greatest hero in comics. It was a moment that most fans thought they’d ever see and led to some of the best moments of the decade.

What’s your favorite ’90s Superman moment? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!

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