#triangle era

(Superboy #84, Superman #117 (1987))

Like look at this!! He’s reaching up though not only the floor boards but the entire underneath of the building, just cause he can!

Omg Clark 😭

(Adventures of superman #449)

(and Brett Breeding)

ANOTHER TRIANGLE ERA OMNIBUS ANNOUNCED! MOSTLY CONTAINING STUFF YOU ALREADY HAVE, PROBABLY! BUT STILL!

And this time, it didn't take me 7 months to see it! (Shout out to Cori McCreery on BlueSky.) Despite the focus on "Reign of the Supermen" in the blurb above, this does contain material that has never been reprinted before. Here's everything in this big boy:

The entire "Reign of the Supermen" saga, including that one Green Lantern issue and the often neglected Bloodlines annuals starring each of the four Supermen.

The "Spilled Blood" storyline, which is book-ended by the issue where little Adam Morgan gets Toyman'd and the one where Toyman almost gets Cat Grant'd.

Superman's biggest (Bog-est?) showdown with Lobo and the subsequent "lost in space" storyline, which I always hoped would get a TPB collection, if only so it'd get a damn official name already.

"Bizarro's World," which did get a TPB, but it's long out of print (I'm hoping the extras end up here).

And the fantastic Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey mini, which would be a highlight in any omnibus.

Here's what this doesn't contain:

The Supergirl miniseries, but I'm guessing we'll see it in the next volume, since it ties heavily into Lex Luthor Jr.'s downfall and all.

The completely unnecessary L.E.G.I.O.N. '94 issue tying into the "lost in space" storyline. Unforgivable.

The fine Legends of the World's Finest miniseries, which isn't surprising since the original World's Finest mini isn't in these books either, and their connection to the ongoing continuity is loose. Still, those are some good-ass comics and I would have liked seeing them here so readers could follow the full evolution of the Post-Crisis Superman/Batman love/hate relationship.

The Under a Yellow Sun graphic novel, but that's okay because they threw it into the upcoming pre-Triangle Era omni, which makes more sense narratively.

And the two Elseworlds projects published in this period: the Kamandi: At Earth's End mini and the Speeding Bullets Superman/Batman mashup. I don't think anyone expected those... unlike the Elseworlds annuals, which should be in the next book, for the sake of annual completionism (call me annual retentive if you wish).

Overall, I still think it's a shame that they didn't make these fit with the "Death and Return" omnibus 80% of people reading this likely own, but I'm grateful of this series' continued existence and will definitely get even this one. At some point. (DC, I'm still open to being bribed with these books.)

maelex zine is done :3 i dont think i rlly got across what i wanted here when it comes to the emotional abuse & general creepiness factor but. i need a starter zine that prints well when small and this'll work for now.

To really give an honest appraisal of Byrne as some have asked me to, I think I need to reread his run. But the Triangle Era is a different story because it's not the product of one person, and therefore I think speaking in generalities actually suits the era.

Short rundown for those not familiar with the "Triangle Era" is that it's the name for the Superman time period from 1991-2001. This was after Byrne left the books, and after the Exile Saga which explored the ramifications of Superman killing Zod and the Pocket Dimension Kryptonians. After Exile there were 4-5 monthly Superman books, all with different creative teams, but all telling one continuous story that went from book to book. The titular "triangle" had a number which showed the reading order for the books that month, so a new story would start in Superman, then the second part would be in The Adventures of Superman, etc, etc.

Should not come as a surprise that overall the era can be described as a mixed bag, when you've got so many writers working together and they all have to coordinate, it doesn't really leave much room for creators to establish their own "take" or voice for the character. The main writers for this era were Jerry Ordway, Dan Jurgens, Roger Stern, Karl Kesel and Louise Simonson, names you probably recognize given their long history in the comics industry and with the Big 2. All of them have left an impact on Superman that is felt to this day, particularly those who participated in the Death/Reign/Return epic. Jurgens is often considered the main architect of the era, and while I think that gives his collaborators too little credit - also it ignores how central editor Mike Carlin was to the whole operation - I do think Jurgens is the writer and artist who most embodies that time period.

Byrne was given the task of "Marvelizing" Superman, something he did by wiping out the old Super-Mythos and creating a new foundation. The creators of the Triangle Era built upon the foundation Byrne left them, and continued Byrne's trend of bringing back old Superman concepts in a way that didn't conflict with the foundation Byrne set or the editorial edicts of the era. So we get a Bottled City of Kandor that isn't Kryptonian, a Supergirl who isn't Kryptonian or Clark's cousin, a Superboy who isn't Clark, and so forth. This was also an era where they tried new things, Superman died, got replaced, and came back, he revealed his identity to Lois and the two got married in canon, his powers changed as did his costume, he sported a mullet, if there's one thing you can give the era it's that they weren't afraid to take risks. Personally I prefer the way later creators tried to "modernize" concepts like Kara, Kandor, or Brainiac over the approach the Triangle Era took (Conner rules though, I'd take him over Pre-Crisis Superboy any day).

More than Superman himself I think the real legacy of the Triangle Era is the focus it gave to Superman's supporting characters. During this era there was a lot of focus on soap opera theatrics which was typically explored via supporting cast members in the Daily Planet, the Metropolis Special Crime Unit, or various citizens of Metropolis. Cat Grant's son murdered at the hands of the Toyman, Maggie Sawyer coming to terms with her sexuality, Lucy Lane's relationship with Ron Troupe, John Henry Irons seeking redemption by becoming Steel, and more. Granted I think a lot of the focus on the supporting cast happened because Byrne's established characterization of Superman didn't leave him much in the way of room for growth, making the supporting cast more dynamic characters and more interesting to write, but the Triangle Era still brought a period of development for the wider mythos that we haven't seen since. That much I do miss from this age.