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Superman in the #80s
Superman in the Eighties
Offers a selection of the Man of Steel's greatest adventures published during the 1980s.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
1 person is currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
Jerry Ordway
912 books47 followersJeremiah "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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 24, 2025
Along the lines of They Saved Luthor’s Brain, another entry into the category of Why-The-Hell-Does-This-Exist trade paperbacks. Besides the weird and seemingly random stories on display, this trade also contains numerous “essays” on the creative lineup of Superman in the 80’s, which will appeal to fans of baseball stats but will bore to tears anyone else.
Among the stories therein:
-Superman meets his dead foster-dad, returned to Earth for one last meeting by some mustachioed aliens, and battles a lazy hippie who can make anything happen when he whines the magic word “Please!”
-In a particularly fucked-up and heavy-handed story, Superman and all other heroes, warriors, etc., do not exist, and thus the passive, farming people of Earth are unprepared for an attack by an alien menace. Cuddly kids Joe and Jerry (the names of Superman’s real creators) believe in Superman so much that he comes to life, kicks ass, and sets the world right again. The moral of the story: if the Heroic (I.e. violent) Ideal didn’t exist, we’d become “docile and unimaginative,” and easy prey for alien races from beyond the stars to conquer and exploit. I’ll just let the stupidity of that statement sink in for a minute.
-Superman has recurring dreams where the Reds blow up America, leaving him the last man standing in a post-apocalypse Earth. He thinks about destroying all the nukes on the planet (see Superman IV: The Quest for Peace) but, after witnessing some reverse discrimination involving two native american kids and a white boy getting bit by a snake, he decides to let mankind grow up on its own.
-The Spectre kicks Superman’s ass and tells him to stop being such a macho douche bag and say please every once in a while. Also, Superman meets God, who writes in cursive.
-Superman fights the Fearsome Five, who, despite being a really sorry-ass group of super villains, he has trouble defeating because he’s anxious about missing his parent’s wedding anniversary.
-Superman fakes his own death to defeat the Silver Banshee, a really scary-ass villain who causes people to grown old and die by the sound of her voice.
-A real filler story about Lois Lane being anxious over gossip that Superman is porking Wonder Woman, in some lame Superman continuity where Clark Kent somehow convinced Lois Lane he was Superman’s step-brother.
-Another filler story where Lex Luthor threatens to make forgettable cardboard character Maggie Sawyer simultaneously both more cliché and more interesting by revealing to the world she’s a lesbian.
-Matrix (Supergirl from another dimension-long story) thinks he/she’s Superman and fights Superman until he/she realizes he/she’s not Superman and goes off to find him/her self.
All in all, the best and the worst of these stories deal with the meta-ness of Superman, focus less on action and more on what it means to have and be a Superman, how to handle all the pressure, blah blah blah. Pretty boring stuff when it’s handled poorly, as it is here. The least of these stories are utterly forgettable and I haven’t the remotest idea why they were saved for posterity in this collection.
In my spare time, I like to imagine an alternate universe where I actually spent 20 bucks for this crap, instead of the world I live in currently where I borrowed it from the library and still feel like I got ripped off.
Among the stories therein:
-Superman meets his dead foster-dad, returned to Earth for one last meeting by some mustachioed aliens, and battles a lazy hippie who can make anything happen when he whines the magic word “Please!”
-In a particularly fucked-up and heavy-handed story, Superman and all other heroes, warriors, etc., do not exist, and thus the passive, farming people of Earth are unprepared for an attack by an alien menace. Cuddly kids Joe and Jerry (the names of Superman’s real creators) believe in Superman so much that he comes to life, kicks ass, and sets the world right again. The moral of the story: if the Heroic (I.e. violent) Ideal didn’t exist, we’d become “docile and unimaginative,” and easy prey for alien races from beyond the stars to conquer and exploit. I’ll just let the stupidity of that statement sink in for a minute.
-Superman has recurring dreams where the Reds blow up America, leaving him the last man standing in a post-apocalypse Earth. He thinks about destroying all the nukes on the planet (see Superman IV: The Quest for Peace) but, after witnessing some reverse discrimination involving two native american kids and a white boy getting bit by a snake, he decides to let mankind grow up on its own.
-The Spectre kicks Superman’s ass and tells him to stop being such a macho douche bag and say please every once in a while. Also, Superman meets God, who writes in cursive.
-Superman fights the Fearsome Five, who, despite being a really sorry-ass group of super villains, he has trouble defeating because he’s anxious about missing his parent’s wedding anniversary.
-Superman fakes his own death to defeat the Silver Banshee, a really scary-ass villain who causes people to grown old and die by the sound of her voice.
-A real filler story about Lois Lane being anxious over gossip that Superman is porking Wonder Woman, in some lame Superman continuity where Clark Kent somehow convinced Lois Lane he was Superman’s step-brother.
-Another filler story where Lex Luthor threatens to make forgettable cardboard character Maggie Sawyer simultaneously both more cliché and more interesting by revealing to the world she’s a lesbian.
-Matrix (Supergirl from another dimension-long story) thinks he/she’s Superman and fights Superman until he/she realizes he/she’s not Superman and goes off to find him/her self.
All in all, the best and the worst of these stories deal with the meta-ness of Superman, focus less on action and more on what it means to have and be a Superman, how to handle all the pressure, blah blah blah. Pretty boring stuff when it’s handled poorly, as it is here. The least of these stories are utterly forgettable and I haven’t the remotest idea why they were saved for posterity in this collection.
In my spare time, I like to imagine an alternate universe where I actually spent 20 bucks for this crap, instead of the world I live in currently where I borrowed it from the library and still feel like I got ripped off.
August 22, 2022
Scoring: 0 bad; 1-3 poor; 4-6 average; 7-9 good; 10 excellent.
Overall an enjoyable set of stories. 7/10
The Miraculous Return of Johnathan Kent. For the continuity of the day, this was mind blowing and one of my go-to stories. It still holds up today. 10/10
If Superman didn't Exist.... Fascinating story of two boys who brought him to life. I can't decide if I like this story or not so 5/10.
The Day the Earth Died. Set in the background of arms talks between US and USSR, this is a humanised parable. 6/10
Where No Superman had Gone Before. 4/10
Homeward Bound. Superman fights the Fearsome Five against the backdrop of trying to get to his parents' anniversary party. Due to the human emotion exhibited, 10/10
The Ghost of Superman. Good standard story, very reminiscent of the pre-Crisis days as Superman's ghost goes against the Silver Banshee. 8/10
Lois Lane. A day in Lois's life, and the day the story breaks between Superman and Wonder Woman romance. A short story, good but ended too abruptly, leaving too many questions. 6/10
Games People Play. As above. This two-header between Luthor and Maggie Sawyer sets up future storylines, but ends too abruptly. 6/10
Doppleganger. Matrix masquerades as Superman. 0/10
Scoring: 0 bad; 1-3 poor; 4-6 average; 7-9 good; 10 excellent.
Overall an enjoyable set of stories. 7/10
The Miraculous Return of Johnathan Kent. For the continuity of the day, this was mind blowing and one of my go-to stories. It still holds up today. 10/10
If Superman didn't Exist.... Fascinating story of two boys who brought him to life. I can't decide if I like this story or not so 5/10.
The Day the Earth Died. Set in the background of arms talks between US and USSR, this is a humanised parable. 6/10
Where No Superman had Gone Before. 4/10
Homeward Bound. Superman fights the Fearsome Five against the backdrop of trying to get to his parents' anniversary party. Due to the human emotion exhibited, 10/10
The Ghost of Superman. Good standard story, very reminiscent of the pre-Crisis days as Superman's ghost goes against the Silver Banshee. 8/10
Lois Lane. A day in Lois's life, and the day the story breaks between Superman and Wonder Woman romance. A short story, good but ended too abruptly, leaving too many questions. 6/10
Games People Play. As above. This two-header between Luthor and Maggie Sawyer sets up future storylines, but ends too abruptly. 6/10
Doppleganger. Matrix masquerades as Superman. 0/10
Scoring: 0 bad; 1-3 poor; 4-6 average; 7-9 good; 10 excellent.
February 22, 2017
This was a good collection of 1980s Superman stories. I liked the one with the White Banshee and the one with the Specter. Some of them were a little cheesier. I'm not a super fan of Superman, but I liked these and think regular comic readers will enjoy the nostalgia value of them. Good art too.
January 25, 2013
Some parts of some of the stories are very well put together, but too much of it is cheese. My favorite part was the introduction (which extended into the middle, and conclusion of the volume) that really took us behind the scenes of producing Superman in the 80's. But as for the stories themselves, they have not aged well.
August 25, 2010
Superman in the Eighties is just as great as the other Superman in the Decades series although it's a bit jarring. This is only because by the 80's comics were starting to extend stories way past 1 issue.
May 9, 2014
Disappointed at what I thought were a few stories that ended somewhat abruptly. Too bad because this is the last book that the PRHS library has to offer.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews