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The Return of Superman 30th Anniversary Special (2023) #1
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 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!
87 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 31, 2023
About the author
Dan Jurgens
2,275 books294 followersDan Jurgens is an American comic book writer and artist. He is known for his work on the DC comic book storyline "The Death of Superman" and for creating characters such as Doomsday, Hank Henshaw, and Booster Gold. Jurgens had a lengthy run on the Superman comic books including The Adventures of Superman, Superman vol. 2 and Action Comics. At Marvel, Jurgens worked on series such as Captain America, The Sensational Spider-Man and was the writer on Thor for six years. He also had a brief run as writer and artist on Solar for Valiant Comics in 1995.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 7, 2023
The Return of Superman 30th Anniversary Special #1 is a one-shot anthology comic published by DC Comics. The book has stories written by Dan Jurgens, Louise Simonson, Jerry Ordway, and Karl Kesel with art by Travis Moore, Jon Bogdanove, Jerry Ordway, Tom Grummet, and Brett Breeding.
This 30th Anniversary Special sees Cyborg Superman return to Metropolis to attack S.T.A.R. Labs. With Superman off planet, the trio of Superboy, Steel, and the Eradicator team-up to save the day. As the heroes battles, Lois Lane and reporter Ron Troupe discover Perry White’s journal from years back containing untold stories from the Reign of the Supermen after Superman had died battling Doomsday.
This was a pretty fun read with many of the original authors and artists getting the chance to return to tell more stories from characters they created 30 years ago. My favorite was the story of Superboy but I am highly biased as he was one of my first favorite superheroes. One thing I found really weird is that the comic is billed as 30th anniversary but in universe, they were treating it as only ”several years ago” and mixing modern technology such as smartphones and social media with the tech of the early 90s such as Nintendo Gameboys and analog radios.
If you were a fan of the Reign of the Supermen story from decades past (that just made me feel extremely old), this is a definite need to read.
This 30th Anniversary Special sees Cyborg Superman return to Metropolis to attack S.T.A.R. Labs. With Superman off planet, the trio of Superboy, Steel, and the Eradicator team-up to save the day. As the heroes battles, Lois Lane and reporter Ron Troupe discover Perry White’s journal from years back containing untold stories from the Reign of the Supermen after Superman had died battling Doomsday.
This was a pretty fun read with many of the original authors and artists getting the chance to return to tell more stories from characters they created 30 years ago. My favorite was the story of Superboy but I am highly biased as he was one of my first favorite superheroes. One thing I found really weird is that the comic is billed as 30th anniversary but in universe, they were treating it as only ”several years ago” and mixing modern technology such as smartphones and social media with the tech of the early 90s such as Nintendo Gameboys and analog radios.
If you were a fan of the Reign of the Supermen story from decades past (that just made me feel extremely old), this is a definite need to read.
November 25, 2023
It's a treat seeing these particular characters again. I love seeing a more heroic Eradicator, who I've always thought was a cool character design.
November 26, 2023
4½⭐
Fun read. Great artwork throughout. I do find it jarring to have smart phones and Social Media platforms in the flashback scenes for the original Death/Reign/Return story, that's a little weird. Especially when kids are still playing with OG Gameboys.
Fun read. Great artwork throughout. I do find it jarring to have smart phones and Social Media platforms in the flashback scenes for the original Death/Reign/Return story, that's a little weird. Especially when kids are still playing with OG Gameboys.
December 4, 2023
Superman is the greatest super hero ever created. Not only did he really begin the popularity and love of the genre, but he's become the most iconic and recognisable super hero in the world. He may even be one of the most recognisable characters in fiction full stop, as you can go most places in the world and show people his crest, and they know who it is. He's a modern day myth, an icon, and a legend. But, the 90's was tough on everyone, and Superman was no exception, especially when it came to his death.
Following the killing of Superman at the hands of the monstrous Doomsday, there was a vacancy for a hero in Metropolis, and four people stepped up to fill that void. As the world mourned the loss of its saviour Metropolis became home to Steel, Superboy, Cyborg Superman, and the Eradicator; and the world wondered which of them could be the real Superman returned. Over the course of that story we'd learn that none of them were, and that not all of them were even truly good. But eventually the real Superman returned, and things were better.
And now thirty years have passed. To celebrate, DC have produced the Return of Superman 30th Anniversary Special a huge new issue (almost 90 pages!) packed with brand new stories. As with the Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special, this new issue offers more insight into the original story, with a new modern day framing device, and brings back some of the talented people who created those stories.
The special begins in the current time, where Cyborg Superman is attacking Star Labs in Metropolis. As the news breaks, the team at the Daily Planet rush into action to try and find out more information. Lois, who's still acting editor whilst Perry is in hospital (clearly placing this before the current Superman arc where he's recovered and running for mayor), and she's given one of Perry's old journals by Ron Troupe. The journal is from the time when the four Supermen were present in Metropolis, and contain Perry's thoughts on each of them, along with untold stories of their exploits.
These diary entries allow us to jump back in time to focus on each of the new Supermen in turn. The first of them is 'Speed' by Louise Simonson, with art by Jon Bogdanove and Glenn Whitmore, which focuses on Steel. The story follows Ron, who's in his local neighbourhood when a gang using advanced weaponry start causing trouble. Steel comes flying in, and manages to save the day. This might be the best of the four segments, as Steel was kind of always the best of the four characters.
Thanks to Simonson, who created Steel, coming back to write this story, it feels like it could be slipped into any of the old issues and you wouldn't even notice that it's different. It's like being back in the 90's in the best way, and it showcases why Steel was one of those characters that was guaranteed to stick around. He might be the least powerful of the new heroes, but he's the one who exemplifies all of the best qualities of Superman and his kindness the most. I love Superboy, but Steel is easily the most deserving to wear the shield of the bunch.
The next story, 'He Had Me Thinking He Was Superma' by Jerry Ordway, with colours by Gelnn Whitmore, takes a look at the Eradicator Superman, as Perry gets caught up in a situation where the Eradicator is trying to get to the bottom of a criminal scheme, but is too violent in his approach. This story throws in Maggie Sawyer and Dan Turpin, as they cops try to talk Eradicator down from going too far in his handling of the suspects.
This story doesn't really give too much of an insight into the Eradicator, who isn't really much of a character thanks to what he really is. If anything, he's more of a vehicle to see how others are reacting in the fallout of Superman's death. We see how the cops are dealing with things, how the local neighbourhoods have been affected, and even how criminals are struggling to handle the new Supermen.
'The Metropolis Kid' by Karl Kessel, with art by Tom Grummet and Glenn Whitmore, focuses on Superboy, and is possibly my least favourite of the stories here. I like Conner, but I wasn't a huge fan of him when he first turned up. He was obnoxious, tried too hard, and was creepy and sexist towards women in a way that I absolutely hate. Over the years he's grown and become a better character, but this story takes us back to that early version. Yes, it's done by his creators, but I still don't like this version of him.
The story here sees Perry following Superboy, trying to get a handle on the kind of person that he is. We see him rescue a near naked woman from a fire, go skateboarding with some local kids, and fight and beat Bloodsport, the villain who almost killed Superman with a kyrptonite bullet. Whilst Perry doesn't decide if he's really Superman or not, he comes to admire his spirit and attitude, seeing a lot of Metropolis in him.
The last story, 'Betrayal' is written and drawn by Dan Jurgens, with colours by Elizabeth Breitweiser, and shows the time when Perry meets the Cyborg Superman for the first time, and how him saving a collapsing train full of people (Perry included) and the government signing off on him, makes Perry come to believe that he's the true Superman, printing a front page story that says so. The very next day, Cyborg Superman destroys Coast City and kills seven million people. From here the rest of this story basically recaps the end of the original story, but it does make a point of how that front page ended up becoming a mark of shame to Perry, and how he always regrets having printed it. Whilst the story doesn't add much to Cyborg Superman, it does add more to Perry.
But, the framing story is where we find the most from Cyborg Superman. Also written by Jurgens, it features art by Travis Moore and Ariano Lucas. The story sees Henshaw trying to break into Star Labs to try and get the recorded DNA of his team, who died horrifically, so that he can clone them and bring them back to life. Unfortunately, Superman is off planet, and so it's down to Steel, Superboy, and the Phantom Zone projection of the Eradicator, to stop him.
It's a decent and entertaining framing narrative, which also has the best art in the book too. It's nice to see it in comparison to the other stories, which feel very much like they've been lifted from the 90's, and to see how comics have changed over the last thirty years.
Overall, this proves to be a decent, entertaining celebration of one of the most famous Superman stories ever told. The fact that original teams have returned to add to this makes it even more special, and if you're a fan of the original saga this makes for a great companion piece. Hopefully this is something that DC will continue to do over the coming years as we get closer to some other big story anniversaries.
Following the killing of Superman at the hands of the monstrous Doomsday, there was a vacancy for a hero in Metropolis, and four people stepped up to fill that void. As the world mourned the loss of its saviour Metropolis became home to Steel, Superboy, Cyborg Superman, and the Eradicator; and the world wondered which of them could be the real Superman returned. Over the course of that story we'd learn that none of them were, and that not all of them were even truly good. But eventually the real Superman returned, and things were better.
And now thirty years have passed. To celebrate, DC have produced the Return of Superman 30th Anniversary Special a huge new issue (almost 90 pages!) packed with brand new stories. As with the Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special, this new issue offers more insight into the original story, with a new modern day framing device, and brings back some of the talented people who created those stories.
The special begins in the current time, where Cyborg Superman is attacking Star Labs in Metropolis. As the news breaks, the team at the Daily Planet rush into action to try and find out more information. Lois, who's still acting editor whilst Perry is in hospital (clearly placing this before the current Superman arc where he's recovered and running for mayor), and she's given one of Perry's old journals by Ron Troupe. The journal is from the time when the four Supermen were present in Metropolis, and contain Perry's thoughts on each of them, along with untold stories of their exploits.
These diary entries allow us to jump back in time to focus on each of the new Supermen in turn. The first of them is 'Speed' by Louise Simonson, with art by Jon Bogdanove and Glenn Whitmore, which focuses on Steel. The story follows Ron, who's in his local neighbourhood when a gang using advanced weaponry start causing trouble. Steel comes flying in, and manages to save the day. This might be the best of the four segments, as Steel was kind of always the best of the four characters.
Thanks to Simonson, who created Steel, coming back to write this story, it feels like it could be slipped into any of the old issues and you wouldn't even notice that it's different. It's like being back in the 90's in the best way, and it showcases why Steel was one of those characters that was guaranteed to stick around. He might be the least powerful of the new heroes, but he's the one who exemplifies all of the best qualities of Superman and his kindness the most. I love Superboy, but Steel is easily the most deserving to wear the shield of the bunch.
The next story, 'He Had Me Thinking He Was Superma' by Jerry Ordway, with colours by Gelnn Whitmore, takes a look at the Eradicator Superman, as Perry gets caught up in a situation where the Eradicator is trying to get to the bottom of a criminal scheme, but is too violent in his approach. This story throws in Maggie Sawyer and Dan Turpin, as they cops try to talk Eradicator down from going too far in his handling of the suspects.
This story doesn't really give too much of an insight into the Eradicator, who isn't really much of a character thanks to what he really is. If anything, he's more of a vehicle to see how others are reacting in the fallout of Superman's death. We see how the cops are dealing with things, how the local neighbourhoods have been affected, and even how criminals are struggling to handle the new Supermen.
'The Metropolis Kid' by Karl Kessel, with art by Tom Grummet and Glenn Whitmore, focuses on Superboy, and is possibly my least favourite of the stories here. I like Conner, but I wasn't a huge fan of him when he first turned up. He was obnoxious, tried too hard, and was creepy and sexist towards women in a way that I absolutely hate. Over the years he's grown and become a better character, but this story takes us back to that early version. Yes, it's done by his creators, but I still don't like this version of him.
The story here sees Perry following Superboy, trying to get a handle on the kind of person that he is. We see him rescue a near naked woman from a fire, go skateboarding with some local kids, and fight and beat Bloodsport, the villain who almost killed Superman with a kyrptonite bullet. Whilst Perry doesn't decide if he's really Superman or not, he comes to admire his spirit and attitude, seeing a lot of Metropolis in him.
The last story, 'Betrayal' is written and drawn by Dan Jurgens, with colours by Elizabeth Breitweiser, and shows the time when Perry meets the Cyborg Superman for the first time, and how him saving a collapsing train full of people (Perry included) and the government signing off on him, makes Perry come to believe that he's the true Superman, printing a front page story that says so. The very next day, Cyborg Superman destroys Coast City and kills seven million people. From here the rest of this story basically recaps the end of the original story, but it does make a point of how that front page ended up becoming a mark of shame to Perry, and how he always regrets having printed it. Whilst the story doesn't add much to Cyborg Superman, it does add more to Perry.
But, the framing story is where we find the most from Cyborg Superman. Also written by Jurgens, it features art by Travis Moore and Ariano Lucas. The story sees Henshaw trying to break into Star Labs to try and get the recorded DNA of his team, who died horrifically, so that he can clone them and bring them back to life. Unfortunately, Superman is off planet, and so it's down to Steel, Superboy, and the Phantom Zone projection of the Eradicator, to stop him.
It's a decent and entertaining framing narrative, which also has the best art in the book too. It's nice to see it in comparison to the other stories, which feel very much like they've been lifted from the 90's, and to see how comics have changed over the last thirty years.
Overall, this proves to be a decent, entertaining celebration of one of the most famous Superman stories ever told. The fact that original teams have returned to add to this makes it even more special, and if you're a fan of the original saga this makes for a great companion piece. Hopefully this is something that DC will continue to do over the coming years as we get closer to some other big story anniversaries.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 10, 2023
The death of Superman grabbed all the headlines (and yeah, Dan Jurgens created a cottage industry for himself revisiting Doomsday in various projects over the years), but my favorite part of the saga was “Reign of the Supermen.” Thirty years on we get this retrospective bringing Jurgens, Louise Simonson, Jon Bogdanove, Jerry Ordway, Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett back to paraphrase the whole story and commemorate it. Good times. (Among the collectible cover variants available, I got the one celebrating Steel. Between him and Superboy, they’ve had decent legacies since then.)
July 26, 2024
30 years have passed since an epic Superman story...
Guess it's time to get the band back together and look at one of the greatest stories in comics. Told in a bit of flashback (with Perry White's journal he kept during the 'death' and 'return'), we get stories by the OG writers of these characters.
Fun, but a little weird watching them mention how Superman's death was 'a few years ago' .....when that's 30 years for us.
=====
Bonus: When did they add the cellphones?
Guess it's time to get the band back together and look at one of the greatest stories in comics. Told in a bit of flashback (with Perry White's journal he kept during the 'death' and 'return'), we get stories by the OG writers of these characters.
Fun, but a little weird watching them mention how Superman's death was 'a few years ago' .....when that's 30 years for us.
=====
Bonus: When did they add the cellphones?
November 2, 2023
It was nice to return to the 90’s and relive the four Supermen. That story was long, complicated and confusing to read, but this story brought back all the highlights and made me nostalgic for that time. Henshaw is more tragic now than he was at that time. His character is becoming more interesting, but hopefully never redeemed. He doesn’t deserve it.
December 18, 2023
«El Retorno de Superman, edición especial del 30 aniversario» hace honor a su nombre. Hará las delicias del famoso kryptoniano.
Se compone de diferentes historias y "sustitutos" de Superman.
Entre todas las historias, destacaría la de Superboy y en la que todos luchas contra un enemigo común.
Muy entretenido y bien dibujado.
Se compone de diferentes historias y "sustitutos" de Superman.
Entre todas las historias, destacaría la de Superboy y en la que todos luchas contra un enemigo común.
Muy entretenido y bien dibujado.
November 27, 2023
It was okay. The return of 4 Superman. The writing was a bit of a slog, and the art was decent. Mid.
January 19, 2024
This book is not what I expected but it turned out pretty good. It does a great job of going back to the past and then going to the present. If you are a Superman fan I would definitely recommend.
July 15, 2024
i love superman :((((( coz like why did this make me cry
3.5
3.5
February 22, 2025
Fun read
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews