Return of Superman 30th-Anniversary Special Announced by DC

On the heels of last year’s 30th anniversary celebration for The Death of Superman, DC has announced that they will give Reign of the Supermen!, the story arc in which the Man of Steel returned from the dead, a bit of 30th anniversary love this fall. For those who might not remember, Superman died at the hands of Doomsday in 1992’s Superman #75, but a few months later, four Supermen rose up to replace him. For a while, the publisher played with readers a bit, raising the question of which was the real Superman, before reviving a fifth, who actually turned out to be Superman.

Creators behind three of the four Supermen are returning for DC’s The Return of Superman 30th Anniversary Special, including former Superman creative team Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding; Superman: The Man of Steel writer Louise Simonson and artist Jon Bogdanove; and The Adventures of Superman‘s Karl Kesel, Jerry Ordway, Tom Grummett and Doug Hazlewood. They will be joined by Travis Moore on art, with variant covers by Brad Walker, Jon Bogdanove, John Giang, Dave Wilkins, Francis Manapul, and Ben Oliver. Both the standard cover and a foil variant will come from Dan Jurgens, the writer and artist behind The Death of Superman. 

The “Return of Superman”/Reign of the Supermen! arc launched with 1993’s The Adventures of Superman #500, which revealed Superman’s grave was empty. In the issue, each of the four creative teams behind the monthly Superman comics had a couple of pages to introduce their candidate to be the new Superman. Action Comics writer Roger Stern introduced “The Last Son of Krypton,” a violent Superman wearing a visor, who later turned out to be the Eradicator, in a story drawn by Butch Guice. Louise Simonson and Jon Bogdanove introduced John  Henry Irons, the “Man of Steel,” which would later be shortened to Steel. “The Metropolis Kid,” who would later go by Superboy, first lashed out against that name in a story by Karl Kesel, Tom Grummett, and Doug Hazlewood. Dan Jurgens, the Superman writer and artist, introduced “The Man of Tomorrow,” colloquially and later offically known as the Cyborg Superman, in a story with Hazlewood on inks. Interestingly, that was the only time Hazlewood, the regular inker on The Adventures of Superman, had to step in to pinch hit, since inkers Dennis Janke (Man of Steel) and Denis Rodier (Action Comics) worked on those teams’ stories.

Jurgens and Bogdanove were on the Superman comics for so many years, they became the artists who most clearly defined the Man of Steel in the 1990s. Grummett and Hazelwood were there for nearly as long, but left to launch a Superboy series, after the “Superman” they introduced in The Adventures of Superman #500 spun out on his own. Ordway, who had been a kay part of the Superman creative team as a writer and artist since the mid-1980s, often doesn’t get as much credit as he deserves for helping to shape the books during this era. The Adventures of Superman #500 would actually be his final issue as a regular monthly writer, with Kesel taking over the job after that.

Here’s the official solicitation text for Return of Superman 30th Anniversary Special #1, due from DC in October:

RETURN OF SUPERMAN 30TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL #1

Written by DAN JURGENS, LOUISE SIMONSON, JERRY ORDWAY, and KARL KESEL
Art by TRAVIS MOORE, DAN JURGENS, BRETT BREEDING, JON BOGDANOVE, BUTCH GUICE, TOM GRUMMETT, and DOUG HAZLEWOOD
Cover by DAN JURGENS
Variant covers by JOHN GIANG, DAVE WILKINS, FRANCIS MANAPUL, and BEN OLIVER
1:25 variant cover by BRAD WALKER
1:50 variant cover by JON BOGDANOVE
Foil variant cover by DAN JURGENS ($10.99 US)
$9.99 US | 80 pages | Prestige | (all covers card stock)
ON SALE 10/31/23

Superman returns! After the tragic events of more than 30 years ago, when Superman met his end at the hands of Doomsday, Metropolis mourned the loss of their greatest hero and soon turned their attention to the search for his successor. Four Supermen rose to the challenge: Superboy, Steel, Eradicator, and Cyborg Superman. Each with their own strengths and weaknesses, they fought in honor of the original Man of Steel. Little did they know, his return was just around the corner!

To celebrate the Reign of the Supermen and Return of Superman, DC has brought back the original creative teams for new stories set in the wake of Superman’s death. It all begins with new Daily Planet editor-in-chief Lois Lane discovering Perry White’s journals from the time and the secrets he kept as he searched for who could be the next Superman. What could this discovery mean for our present? Find out in this special that’s sure to be a classic in the future!