Superman: The Exile & Other Stories Omnibus

Superman Post-Crisis #new 10

by Jerry Ordway, Roger Stern, Dan Jurgens

These late 1980s stories led up to "The Death of Superman" epic in an oversize omnibus hardcover!

The late 1980s stories that set the stage for the epic "The Death of Superman" storyline are collected in a new hardcover Omnibus edition for the first time. Featuring stories and art by Jerry Ordway, George Perez, Mike Mignola and others, these tales include appearances by Lex Luthor, Lois Lane, interplanetary warlord Mongul, the fifth-dimensional imp known as Mr. Mxyzptlk and more, plus the debut of the Eradicator, a key player in the post "Death of Superman" era.

Collects THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #445-460, SUPERMAN #23-37, ACTION COMICS #643-646 and ACTION COMICS ANNUAL #2.

Genres: Comics, Superman, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Superheroes, Adventure

912 pages, Hardcover

First published April 17, 2018

About the author

Jeremiah "Jerry" Ordway is an American writer, penciller, inker and painter of comic books. He is known for his inking work on a wide variety of DC Comics titles, including the continuity-redefining classic Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985–1986), his long run working on the Superman titles from 1986–1993, and for writing and painting the Captain Marvel original graphic novel The Power of Shazam! (1994), and writing the on-going monthly series from 1995-1999. He has provided inks for artists such as Curt Swan, Jack Kirby, Gil Kane, John Buscema and Steve Ditko.

Ordway was inspired in his childhood by Marvel Comics, and dreamed of drawing Daredevil, Spider-Man, and Avengers. (To date he has only worked on the latter.) He produced occasional work for Marvel between 1984 and 1988, then returned a decade later to write and illustrate a three-issue arc of Avengers (vol. 3) #16-18 (1999), as well as penciling the four-issue crossover mini-series Maximum Security (#1-3 and prologue Dangerous Planet) in 2000-2001.

In 1986, along with writer/artist John Byrne and writer Marv Wolfman, Ordway was one of the architects trusted with revamping Superman, in the wake of the Ordway-inked continuity-redefining maxiseries Crisis on Infinite Earths. Launching, with a revised origin and new continuity, in Byrne's miniseries, The Man of Steel, Superman soon returned to featuring in a number of titles. After the titular title Superman was cancelled and replaced with Man of Steel, it was swiftly relaunched as Adventures of Superman, continuing the numbering of the original Superman comic, with Wolfman as writer and Ordway as primary artist.

When Wolfman departed the title, John Byrne briefly took over scriptwriting duties before Ordway assumed the mantle of writer-artist and took over the series solely. Switching from Adventures of Superman, Ordway took over as writer-artist on the companion title Superman (vol. 2) between 1989 and 1991, before later returning to Adventures.. as writer. While writing for the Superman family of titles, he helped devise the epic "Death of Superman" storyline in 1992. After seven years working on the character, Ordway largely left the Superman titles in 1993, although he would make frequent returns to the character as writer and artist throughout his career.

In 1994, Ordway masterminded the return of the original Captain Marvel to the DC Universe with the 96-page hardcover graphic novel The Power of Shazam!, which he both wrote and painted. The story saw Ordway depict the revamped origins of the former-Fawcett Comics superhero. An early example of the one-shot Original Graphic Novel, it proved to be a success, and was followed by an on-going monthly series, also titled The Power of Shazam! (which ran between 1995 and 1999). Ordway wrote and provided painted covers for the entire run of the regular series, as well as illustrating fill-in issues between series-regular artists Peter Krause and Mike Manley. Towards the end of the series run, he again took on the dual role of writer & artist.

For Image Comics, Ordway co-created the character WildStar (with Al Gordon) in 1993, and published his creator-owned one-shot The Messenger in July 2000.

Reviews

[Gus Casals · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Superman machine oiled to perfection. This book starts a run of five or so years of great material, concept and characterization. Jerry Ordway writing and drawing, plus Jurgens getting started, Stern, Gammil and all the rest. Reading all this at a sitting let's us see the intricacies and the plain fun. Many times we complain that people don't "get" Superman, this is one of those rare, precious occasions they did.

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Superman doesn't have many Omnibus so I was a bit surprised when grabbing this that it would do the stories between the famous Man of Steel Era and Death of Superman. I hadn't heard much of the storis of that era so had very little knowledge if they were good or bad. Now after 800 pages later I can safely say this Era is really interesting, slightly flawed, but overall worth looking into for fans of the man of Steel.

The stories start off right from where the storylines ended in the Man of Steel books that came out. So that means Clark is dealing with the fact he had to kill Zod and his people to stop them from murdering thousands of more. The stories start simple enough, kind of good old campy fun with Superman saving the day. Silver Banshee makes a return for a moment. We have Gangbuster start showing back up with considers with Jose getting the ability to walk again thanks to some LexCorp products.

Then things get a bit darker when we reveal who Gangbuster is. From there Superman has some serious trouble figuring out what's wrong with him both physically and mentally. He visits his family one more time, this time thinking it's time to take a very long vacation. He exiles himself from Planet earth and goes into the stars to find the answers he's seeking.

And this is where the strongest part of the entire Omnibus is. Superman traveling around different planets, meeting different species, while helping them, and also helping himself in his own way. It's really charming, and digs deep into someone who is wounded and hurt after his actions while trying to do better. It has moments of sadness, of triumph, and eventually a fight with Mongul on Warworld. So it's all leading up to major events of Clark becoming the Man of Steel again we all know and love.

When we return to earth things settle down more into routine again and while there's some cool storylines with Matrix and eradicator is interesting enough, we do fall back into one shots that aren't as interesting. I especially felt they dropped the ball a bit on Cat's storyline as well as Jimmy's being a bit TOO goofy for me. I also had no real love for the Lex Luthor storyline in this Omnibus as the whole evil corporate mastermind felt kind of played out a bit here.

Overall though, while I don't think any of these stories are earthshattering, it was really nice to see Supes go into Space, help others, and help himself mentally. Sometimes we all need a little break to figure ourselves out, and I enjoyed that aspect of the book a ton. And while some of start and ending are a bit weaker, there's overall Omnibus is a solid one. A 3.5 out of 5.

[Shazne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent to Great collection of stories. An interesting thread that deepens Superman's mythos. The Gangbuster storyline was my favourite, 5/5 for that arc. This book mainly explores Superman's psyche. My favorite kind of Superman. Whether he was Clark or Superman, he was always cool & badass, yet kind & gentle. Writers did a wonderful job balancing it all. The art was good. This should've being a 5 star omni but that era's style of repetitive writing (too many recaps) in the middle of book hurt the pacing at times which made a grind to get through. Otherwise, I loved it. This is definitely not for new Superman readers. There's definitely stories prior to this you should somewhat be aware of. Also, it ends with a need of a follow up which we haven't gotten in this format yet. After this, chronologically we have The Death and Return Of Superman omni but there's a lot missing in between the two. I hope that'll be collected in an omnibus format soon. Along with the John Byrne run prior to this.

[Ross Warburton · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

Takes a minute to get going but the exile arc was great

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

These creators really brought out the best in each other working in this complex (almost-)weekly story method, with three writers handing off the story beats to each other like marathon runners. Part of it was just the rapid-fire, immediate gratification of always having a new installment of Superman's never-ending battle every week. Part of it is that they wrote some really, really good stories together. All those pages gave them room to develop supporting players, which gives each and every story a greater emotional impact, because you're invested in everything and there are no generic side characters who are just there to play a minor role. This particular book explores Krypton's history, showcases Superman in sci-fi vistas and gladiator arenas, and begins to develop Lois and Clark's relationship in a way that led to their long-overdue marriage. Plus, we get a strong justification for Superman's vow to never kill. The art's strong throughout, and Stern, Ordway, Perez and Jurgens deliver on each and every story. My only complaint: Now we need an Eradicator omnibus!

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably one of the more underrated parts of the Superman mythos especially in regards to how trauma can affect people. I am one of many people who believe that Superman should never kill, even the most heinous of people like General Zod. But the writers bring up how difficult it actually is to try intergalactic and interdimensional supervillains. It doesn't make what Superman did any easier on my or Clark's end though. And when it comes to the people close to him agreeing with his execution of Zod, this might just make it worse. Plus the vast universe full of life that consider him just a speck feels like a sublime experience. Hence why an encounter with the human Brainiac causes this violent side to rise makes Superman consider leaving Earth. Not to mention the other characters have lives that they try to live and go in their own directions. I especially like how Lex Luthor takes full advantage of Superman's absence to get the resources to dominate Brainiac. It shows him as that white-collared criminal mastermind who's willing to throw the economy into whack just to get what he wants.

But who better than Jimmy Olsen to be the best way to reflect everything Superman goes through? Jimmy goes through plenty of traumatic experiences throughout this story which causes his relationship with Superman to deteriorate. Plus there's plenty of setup for Jack Kirby's Fourth World Saga including the return of his creations Guardian and the Newsboy Legion.

I also really like how this part in the Ordway/Stern/Perez era sets up a lot of elements that become ingrained into Superman. There's Warworld which solidifies Superman's status as an aspirational symbol against Mongul. Although I have to admit, the Eradicator is a weird plot device, even if it sets the stage to build the Fortress of Solitude. Heck, this story actually makes its development into a substitute Superman the most natural out of the four in Rise of the Supermen. But that's also the problem, it's a MacGuffin that does anything for the sake of the plot.

Should things have been better like Superman wallowing more in his guilt rather than just go from place to place? Maybe, but that could've turned into a pity party quickly. This may not have been perfect, but this is still a good chapter.

[Artur Coelho · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sob efeito psicológico da culpa que sentiu ao tirar vidas para defender o universo, o Super-Homem descobre-se a viver uma vida dupla. Como herói, a sua eficácia diminui, e inconscientemente, assume o papel de um outro vigilante das ruas. Entretanto, enquanto Clark Kent, investiga um perigoso sindicato do crime. Inseguro das suas capacidades, escolhe exilar-se, e parte para o espaço. É por entre as estrelas que viverá estranhas aventuras, que culminam com o encontro com um ancião que esteve profundamente envolvido na história passada de Krypton. Após derrotar o ditador de um mundo artificial dedicado à guerra e esclavagismo de todas as raças com que se cruza, percebe, graças à influência do ancião, que tem de regressar onde é mais necessário, à Terra, a Metropolis e a Smallville. Leva consigo um artefacto milenar kriptoniano, cujos poderes têm perigosos efeitos secundários e, no final do arco narrativo, irá tentar transformar a Terra num novo Krypton. Entretanto, na Terra, os amigos de Kent lidam com o seu estranho desaparecimento, algo mitigado por uma sobrevivente de uma realidade paralela que é capaz de se metamorfosear numa versão muito inocente do repórter, e Lex Luthor continua com os seus habituais esquemas malévolos.

Este omnibus colige um longo arco narrativo, com várias linhas que se vão intersetando ao longo da evolução de uma história que, apesar do simplismo dos episódios, se revela bastante complexa. O estilo gráfico é puro DC dos anos 90, cores garridas, estilismos facilmente identificáveis pela época.

[Cristhian · Rating 4 out of 5]

En los 80 e inicios de los 90, mi infancia se vio marcada por 3 comics:

Spider-Man
Karmatron
Superman

Este último fue fundamental para agarrarle gusto a los cómics (incluso, acepto, llegué a robarlos de puestos de periodicos). Historias como Crisis de la Kriptonita Carmesí, De tiempo en tiempo, Los últimos días de Kripton y Exilio me atrapaban. Primero con Editorial Novaro, luego Vid y hasta en ocasiones Norma o Panini (no recuerdo bien). Fueron buenas épocas de historias para el Superman que lo tuvo todo.

4/5 porque metieron varias historias en este omnibus que realmente odio.

[Trevor Enos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superman eradication and other stories

[Darik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly? This was pretty mediocre.

I've always been a huge Superman fan, and I was vaguely aware of the general sweep of events of this story: Superman's guilt over his execution of General Zod causing a break from reality, which prompts him to exile himself to space and eventually fall into Mongul's Warworld gladitorial arena. He ultimately leads an uprising against Mongul, and then discovers a Kryptonian artifact-- the Eradicator-- which he brings home and which causes all kinds of trouble. Good. Cool. That sounds like the outline of a pretty good story!

But the thing is... the execution is just deeply boring. Because at this point, the Superman books were being written like an ongoing soap opera. There are two dozen characters running around, headlining a dozen ongoing plots and subplots, and none of them are dramatically in sync or even all that complimentary. While Superman's fighting for his life on Warworld, Lex Luthor is attempting a hostile takeover of S.T.A.R. Labs; Cat Grant is dating an increasingly vile Morgan Edge; and Jose Delgado is given a new power suit by LexCorp. None of these storylines have anything to do with each other, and their conflicting tones and emotional beats sort of cancel each other out-- leaving you with a comic where none of the dramatic highs really register.

Worse still, the big, titular story never actually explores Superman's guilt any deeper than on the surface level, and never actually lands on a clear moment of emotional catharsis. Superman just sort of flies into space, broods for several issues, has an extremely boring conversation with a space-priest that reiterates the facts of his situation (making it feel more like a story recap than a real conversation), and then... voila! He just decides he's FIXED. (Conveniently, this decision coincides with the moment he gets his classic costume back.)

It feels like this should have been some kind of a dramatic reorientation of Superman's view of the world, or a deeper reexamination of his philosophy or his personal feelings about killing, but... that isn't really in here. In fact, the closest thing we get to a cathartic reversal is when, in the gladitorial arena, Supes shouts, "I DON'T KILL!!!"... but this feels less like a personal breakthrough than a transparent assertion from the writers of a specific bit of their preferred lore.

It's honestly pretty weak.

[Paul Cocker · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an aficionado of primarily 80s comics and a huge Superman mark, I couldn't resist picking up Superman: The Exile and Other Stories Omnibus. This 900-pager collects THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #445-459, SUPERMAN #23-27, ACTION COMICS #643-646 and ACTION COMICS ANNUAL #2, which is the post-Crisis period immediately after the popular John Byrne era.

The art throughout these stories has a classic, almost 50s ad art vibe, largely thanks to Jerry Ordway and George Perez. It gives each issue a timeless feel, bridging Superman's Golden Age roots with more modern takes. The writing, handled mostly by Ordway, Dan Jurgens, and Roger Stern, balances character development and action nicely.

The collection starts with Superman dealing with some serious PTSD after executing Zod during Byrne's run, leading to a self-imposed, space-faring exile. We're talking cosmic adventures, alien worlds, and even gladiatorial combat on Mongul's Warworld. It's almost like DC decided to make Supes Silver Surfer or something!

Now, I admit, the pacing can feel a bit slow by today's standards. There are lots of exposition and text-heavy panels. But the character development and world-building are top-notch. We get great moments with Lois, Jimmy, Lex, and the whole supporting cast, really fleshing out the Superman mythos. Interestingly, reading this made me wonder if it inspired the movie Superman Returns. Both deal with Supes coming back after a long absence, though for different reasons. It can’t be a coincidence, right?

Overall, The Exile and Other Stories showcases a crucial period in Superman's history. It might not be for everyone, especially if you're used to more modern pacing. But for fans of 80s and early 90s, or those interested in the foundations of the "Death of Superman" storyline, it's definitely worth checking out. Just be prepared for a deep dive into this era of Superman comics!

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently read a list of "10 worst comic retcons", and though I agreed with several of them, I was shocked by the wrongheadedness of one: the Byrne Superman reboot was listed in the worst 10.

This volume, just past the Man of Steel HCs focused on Byrne's work, offers a first look at other authors fully picking up the reins after Byrne's departure. The star is Jerry Ordway, whose street-level Superman is a delight bother for its verisimilitude and for its uniqueness.

But beyond that, there are so many great stories in here. The Mystery of Crimebuster. The Exile. The first Warworld saga. The introduction of the Eradicator. And it's joyful to see these reinvented characters. We get another look at the new Prankster, who'd debuted during the Byrne years. We get a new iteration of Jimmy as Elastic Lad. We get the weird new Brainiac as a continuing plot. And we get plenty of the new Cadmus. (It's too bad so much of this has gone by the wayside as DC has rebooted again and again and again.)

Overall, a delightful read.

The downer question is, what the heck is DC's collections department doing. They've always been awful about consistency, resulting in DC bookshelves being a mess. So we got the Man of Steel as normal hardcovers, and then this as an omnibus. But now they've skipped over a few years of stories to go to the Triangle Era, and it looks like their second Triangle Omnibus is double-dipping the Death of Superman, already in an omnibus. So are we going to actually get the volume between here and the first Triangle Omnibus, or is DC going to release more incompatible volumes and force us to re-buy this one? It's always hard to tell because of their decades of problematic collection creation.

[Max Solis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Realmente me encantó sumergirme en cada una de las páginas de esta serie de historietas. Este evento ha sido uno de las más interesantes que he podido leer del Hombre del Mañana. Qué grandiosa idea hacer que la propia moral de Superman no lo deje dormir después de haber tomado la vida de tres kryptonianos, cual Raskolnikov en Crimen y Castigo. Pero, a diferencia del ruso, Superman toda la decisión de dejar su TIerra e ir por el espacio exterior para expiar su culpa y alejarse de sus seres queridos para no dañar a nadie. Porque, incluso en sus delirios, pesadillas y culpas, cayó bajo un sonambulismo que lo hizo convertirse en otra persona y empezar a patear traseros en Metrópolis cual vigilante antihéroe. Eso no le gustó. No podía permitir que su delirio pusiera en peligro a su gente.

Su viaje por el espacio exterior lo lleva a toparse con el planeta Mundo Guerra, gobernado por Mongul. El alienígena lo toma de esclavo y lo mete a sus juegos de supervivencia, donde debe pelear a muerte con cada personaje que se encuentre. Pero, como es costumbre, Superman no toma la vida del vencido, rompiendo las reglas del juego. Mientras tanto, los exámenes que un carcelero, llamado 385, realiza sobre él, dan los resultados de que es un kryptoniano. Sorpresa para el carcelero, pues supuestamente estaban extintos. Le lleva la noticia al Clérigo, un ser muy antiguo que se encuentra escondido en una roca/prisión cerca de Mundo Guerra, y se sorprende porque Superman puede ser el protagonista de una profecía kryptoniana muy antigua, que tiene que ver con el Clérigo.

ES UNA HISTORIA REALMENTE FANTÁSTICA.

[Rizzie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a direct continuation of all of the plotlines from the Man of Steel books, I have no idea why it's not titled to indicate that. I guess because Byrne left? Honestly, could've fooled me, because it feels indistinguishable. Same glacial pace, same interminable uninteresting subplots, same overabundance of intrusive thought bubbles, and same lack of any vision or creativity regarding Superman, his rogues, and his supporting cast. It's the most generic 80's superhero comics you can possibly imagine. The only saving grace is the Exile story itself, which this omnibus rightfully advertises above the rest. It's actually quite an enjoyable little voyage. Unfortunately, as with all ongoing Superman comics of this era, half of that storyline is dedicated to setting up future storylines that won't pay off for another 50 issues. Ugh.

[Rahul Nadella · Rating 4 out of 5]

As for the book itself, I was a big fan. It was nice to get away from metropolis and into space and a lot of what we see here is gonna have pretty big ramifications down the line. There's a good amount of reflection about Superman's morals and humanity, which is in my opinion, the most interesting aspect of the character. A decent amount of pages is given to the supporting cast. It's not always thrilling I'll admit, but it helps fleshing out other characters, but it's very surface level. I like the side stories involving Lex the most. The hostile takeover story was entertaining. Not only are the stories amazing, and the characters fully realized, but the art is gorgeous to look at. And there is a consistency to it, that is lacking in other Omnibuses. Though the biggest tragedy of this collection is that it ends mid-story.

[Peter Derk · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has some really solid stuff in it. And some other stuff.
I figured out the Gangbuster situation WAY before I needed to, and I'm NOT an astute reader.
I'd actually be an awesome beta reader for this kind of stuff because if I know the twist, EVERYONE is going to know the twist.

But I did enjoy Lex Luthor basically engineering the takeover of another company because Superman leaving Earth means he's bored. This era of Lex is pretty awesome. He loses his hand because he wore a Kryptonite ring.

Oh, and Luthor gets backed into a corner because he ALWAYS pays his debts, and Clark Kent saved his life. But then it appears Clark Kent was killed. So...what's he going to do? Oh, easy: put a hit out on whoever killed Clark Kent.

Now that's some funny shit.

[Joey Amorim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boy, the post-Byrne era of post-Crisis Superman is an immediate fall off, and that’s with the Byrne era falling off pretty hard on its own as it went on. The plots here aren’t even that bad, in concept, and the art is never bad, but my god, there is so much constant dialogue and exposition and unnecessary melodrama from the way too big supporting cast that it’s impossible to get into. If not for George Perez coming on board close to the end and his issues being a lot more bearable, this might legitimately be a one-star book.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gems include Mike Mignola drawing a Silver Banshee origin, Baron Sunday debut, Guardian v. Gangbuster 3parter, Supes fails to recreate Kansas on an alien world, kaiju Mxy smokes a bus, Mongul enslaves Supes, Desaad gives Edge a heart attack, Intergang crashes the Wondy Foundation, Black Racer chases Edge, “I sing the body elastic!”, ‘My lady Maxima!’, Prankster chainsaws Edge, Keith Giffen draws “Burial ground”, Jimmy & the Newsies hijack the Whiz Wagon to fight Supes, & Andy Kubert draws Eradicator creating the Fortress

[Joakim Ax · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid read and I got one favorite story out of it that reminded me of Christopher Nolans interstellar in a way. The apperance of Mongul is one that I recognized from the animated series. But in the end ut felt that there weren't any point in the run that you would call the big climax where big stakes were made. It was very safe in that manner. Probably a one and done read for me.

[Petrit Kabashi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its a surprisingly smooth read. Being late bronze age content I was afraid it would be sluggish but the omni had a fairly consistent storyline running though it. Obviously there is quite some recap of the previous issue in each story but I did not mind those. I actually found those quite helpful since I did not read Byrne's run Man of Steel. Can't wait to start on The Death and Return omni.

[Arianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Superman collection of epic proportions. It has anything you could possibly want - mental breakdowns, identity theft, mysterious illnesses, corporate takeovers, Superman being swallowed whole by a worm... The variety is great and the stories flow together seamlessly. Don't expect a big payoff, because you're not going to get one.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a bridge between the Byrne and Triangle eras, this book is pretty solid.

This has a foretaste of the interaction of the Triangle Era (he says without having read the Triangle Era minus Death/Return).

I will say the ending of this collection is abrupt especially given we are still short of the Triangle Era's inception.

Are they planning to collect the in-between?

[Craig W · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a **1/2. I found this incredibly inconsistent. My understanding is that the writers aimed for cohesiveness and working together on the different titles, but the quality of the stories varied to a great extent.

[Dean · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the era but I can't see myself reading this again or even thoroughly for this first time.
Art and colours are great. The dialogue is way too much. The world of Superman is fun.
Warworld saga is the modern version of this.

[Sadiel Giron · Rating 2 out of 5]

This omnibus picks up after John Byrne's run on Superman and honestly this run of Superman was okay, not great. It was a bit dense and felt like a chore to read. The Exile part was good and I really enjoyed the issues by George Perez.

[Eric Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75/5

There are some excellent story arcs in here, and a few issues that were quite boring. Overall, I'd say it was a good run with some interesting ideas presented. I loved the Exile, Matrix, and Eradicator arcs especially.

[Timo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit silly and childish but still somewhat entertaining.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent, epic run.