An open letter to DC Comics regarding the Superman: The Triangle Era Omnibus

Dear DC,

I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.

I can see how I got us into this mess. All these years I’ve been clamoring for a Triangle Titles omnibus, I was not specific enough. I realize now, in your announcement of the new Triangle Era Omnibus, you thought I actually meant an omnibus collecting only Superman titles with triangles on the covers, while I meant an omnibus picking up where Superman: Exile and Other Stories left off, around when Dan Jurgens took over from George Perez as writer on Adventures of Superman.

A simple misunderstanding, really. Some people hear “Triangle Titles” and assume, again, the titles with the numbered triangles on the covers. Other people hear “Triangle Titles” and think, y’know, when they added triangles to the covers of the Superman family of titles, that was to make it easier for readers to follow the interconnecting story that was already taking place in the Super-titles at that time.

The Triangle Titles era takes its name from the triangles on the covers, but indeed the Super-titles read as an interconnected story for a long time before. Arguably the runs of John Byrne on Superman and Action Comics and Marv Wolfman and Jerry Ordway on Adventures of Superman set the foundation for the Triangle Titles, but certainly it was in place by the time Roger Stern and Ordway were handling Superman and Adventures respectively, through to Stern moving to Action and, again, Perez taking Adventures, followed by Jurgens.

Indeed I’d venture that when fans think of the Triangle Titles era, that’s who they think of: Ordway, Jurgens, and Stern, with Louise Simonson on Superman: The Man of Steel (SMOS) later completing the quartet. Ordway, Jurgens, and Stern are the three writers on Superman, Adventures, and Action where your proposed Triangle Era Omnibus picks up with “Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite,” and they’re the team with Simonson and Karl Kesel who subsequently brought us the landmark “Death and Return of Superman” storyline.

I understand why you’d think that’s where I wanted you to start the Triangle Era omnibus. “Krisis” ends with Superman #50, a big issue, probably the biggest issue of that Superman run until Superman #75 came along after it. And in Superman #49–64, Adventures of Superman #472–486, Action Comics #659–673, and Superman: The Man of Steel #1–8, there’s some great stuff:

• The death of Lex Luthor (Action #660).
• Clark revealing his secret to Lois (Action #662).
• “Time and Time Again” (Adventures #476–478, Action #663–664, Superman #54–55).
• “The Red Glass Trilogy” (James D. Hudnall on Superman #56, Adventures #479, and Action #666).
• “Revenge of the Krypton Man” (the Eradicator, in SMOS #1, Superman #57, Adventures #480, and Action #667).
• Crossovers with War of the Gods (SMOS #3) and Armageddon 2001 (Action #670).
• Lex Luthor Jr. (also Action #670) and Agent Liberty (Superman #60).
• “Blackout” (Adventures #484–485, Action #671, SMOS #6, and Superman #62), ending right before the superlative “Panic in the Sky.”

But jumping straight from Exile’s Action #646, Superman #37, and Adventures #460 to the new Triangle’s Superman #49, Adventures #472, and Action #659 misses a lot of good stuff, too:

• The “Brainiac Trilogy” by Roger Stern, George Perez, Kerry Gammill, and Brett Breeding, Action #647–649, plus Brainiac also appears in Superman #38 and Adventures #462 during that same time, an example of how these books, too, were connected, even if there weren’t triangles on the covers.
• Mr. Mxyzptlk makes Superman race Flash Wally West (Adventures #463).
• “Day of the Krypton Man” (Superman #41–42, Adventures #464–465, Action #651–652), which includes among others Lobo, the Eradicator, Maxima, and Hank “the Cyborg Superman” Henshaw, thus serving as a lead-in to “Revenge of the Krypton Man,” “Panic in the Sky,” and “Reign of the Supermen.”
• “Dark Knight Over Metropolis” (Superman #44, Adventures of Superman #467, Action Comics #654), a defining Superman/Batman team-up of the post-Crisis era.
• Lois and Clark’s burgeoning romance (Adventures #468, Action #655, Superman #46, and Adventures #469 are a really great sequence).
• “Soul Search” (Action #656, Superman #47, Adventures #470), a supernatural story that was pretty creepy for the time and with big consequences for Superman’s supporting cast; it particularly sets up Lex Luthor’s arc for “Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite” and beyond. It also introduces Blaze, a villain who returns in the issues that ought be in the next Triangle Era omnibus.
• “The Sinbad Contract” (Superman #48, Adventures #471, and Action #658), a three-parter by William Messner-Loebs and Curt Swan(!), and a good example of Lex Luthor at his billionaire baddie best.

I know, you’ve published trades that collect many of those issues — Superman: Eradication: The Origin of the Eradicator, Dark Knight Over Metropolis, Superman: The Power Within, even the Lois & Clark, The New Adventures of Superman tie-in collection. Unfortunately, most of those are either out of print or hard to find. Maybe those are on the docket for reprints too, as with Exile and Other Stories, but that would still leave some sizable gaps ahead of the Triangle Era Omnibus.

I hate to be the fan that says, “Here’s what I’d do,” but since lack of specificity got us into this situation, permit me to pose the “Triangle Era Omnibus (CE’s Version).” We’re talking about 50-odd issues, so I’m just thinking, if you had started the new collections with Action #647, then 50-ish issues could take you to Action #665, the end of “Time and Time Again” and then another 50-ish issues for a second volume would take you to Action Comics #683, the issue just before “Doomsday/Death of Superman” starts.

And then you could stop.

I understand that what I’m about to say now might be tough to hear, but we’ve known each other long enough that I feel comfortable being honest. The Triangle Titles, which I love … they kind of peaked with “Soul Search”, “Krisis,” the death of Lex Luthor, through to the death and return of Superman, and were never as good again. I know, I know; it was not all bad after “Return of Superman”; traditionally that story ends with Action #692, but what about the epilogue in Superman #83? Superboy and Steel leaving Metropolis in Adventures #506 and SMOS #28 respectively? I agree, there was some good to come — “Bizarro’s World” and the “Fall of Metropolis” and the Zero Hour tie-ins. But in short order we’re into “Dead Again” and “The Death of Clark Kent” and “The Trial of Superman,” some art that doesn’t quite hold up, Lois and Clark’s break-up histrionics, the Super-wedding that got tangled up with Final Night such that Superman didn’t even have powers during it, and Scorn, my god, Scorn.

We both know collections series have a tough enough time as is. Probably we’re looking at one or two volumes max, right, before the whole thing peters out? My vote would be, start where Exile and Other Stories ends and go two volumes until just before the well-collected “Death of Superman.” Then take a breather, see where we’re at. We’re talking two, three years down the road? If by some miracle there was still appetite for more volumes after that, then you could pick up with SMOS #27 and go to something like Zero Hour or “Death of Clark Kent” and Superman #100. (But stop before Tolos. Please, I beg you.)

However it shakes out, I’m in your corner. Mostly I just want to say, I’m glad a Triangle Era omnibus will finally be published. These are comics that are very dear to me, still what I think are some of the best of the modern era and among the best Superman portrayals, and I’m glad at least some of them are being canonized in collection. This was a long time coming. Thank you.

You keep publishing those comics, I’ll keep reading them and writing about them. Your friend,

Collected Editions