The first solicitations for DC Comics' Superman: The Triangle Era Omnibus Vol. 2 have appeared online. Preliminary contents are listed as Superman #64–77, Adventures of Superman #487–499, Action Comics #674–686, Superman: The Man of Steel #9–21; Justice League America #69, Superman: Legacy of Superman #1, Supergirl/Team Luthor Special #1, and Newstime: The Life and Death of Superman#1.
That’s basically “Panic in the Sky” through “Death of Superman” and “Funeral for a Friend” (aka “World Without a Superman”), stopping just before Adventures of Superman #500 and “Reign of the Supermen.” It’s about 13–14 issues of each of the four series.
Among highlights in this book:
- Superman #64 - Dan Jurgens' first “Metropolis Mailbag” issue.
- The aforementioned “Panic in the Sky,” a big DC team-up that would nowadays have tie-ins and specials and bloat out of control, but here is a great cosmic epic told just within the Superman titles.
- A bunch about Lex Luthor Jr., including his relationship with the Matrix Supergirl.
- Issues with Deathstroke, Agent Liberty, and the Forever People.
- Superman: The Man of Steel #14 and Superman #70, in which Superman and Jimmy Olsen team up with Robin Tim Drake against vampires.
- “The Blaze-Satanus War,” which would really benefit from “Soul Search” that didn’t get included in the previous volume.
- Superman: The Man of Steel #16 and Superman #72, “Crisis at Hand,” where Clark and Lois try to help their abused neighbor.
- And then, of course, the death of Superman and its aftermath.
Indeed, Vol. 2 collects great Superman comics, and if you’re reading them all for the first time, like I once was, this is a thrill ride and a half. You start when the Superman comics were great — “Panic in the Sky” — and continue to when they were historic — “Death of Superman.” You ought not be disappointed.
But I’m skeptical there will be many reading the beginning of this book who haven’t already previously read the end, and that’s just too bad. With the recent-ish Batman: Caped Crusader/Dark Knight Detective books, we have seen DC skip well-collected stories, focusing the books on issues that had never been collected before and, perhaps, getting farther into uncollected material faster. I hoped that was an indication DC might do the same with “Death/Return” here, but that’s not the case.
I do recognize the high risk on a series of this type — the not-insignificant cost of printing these omnibuses and then hoping they’ll sell — and that there must be production savings given that of the 57 issues listed, 33 of them have been reprinted before. Not spectacular for us, but maybe a little easier for DC, and that could be the sacrifice that makes these books possible.
For me, if Triangle Era Vol. 1 had started right where Superman: Exile and Other Stories ended, I’d find re-collecting “Death/Return” less problematic; if we’re going to be complete, then OK, let’s be complete. Dropping some of the tongue-in-cheek from my previous open letter on the Triangle Era Vol. 1 omnibus, it really is that first volume starting in medias res (and, again, skipping “Soul Search” for instance, which is relevant in Vol. 2) that makes me salty about the whole thing and less forgiving of the double-dipping.
Looking at about 14–16 issues per title per book, and a third volume almost inevitable given where this one stops, I’m guessing next time we’re headed to, or close to, Action Comics #700. That’s the “Battle for Metropolis/Fall of Metropolis” storyline — ahead of that, there’s “Reign of the Supermen,” the rather startling death of Cat Grant’s son Adam, and the surprisingly moving “Bizarro’s World.” As I’ve said before, I wouldn’t mind if that’s about where these books stopped; the Zero Hour tie-ins are classics, but from there we get into “Dead Again” and “Death of Clark Kent,” and the quality is not nearly what you’re going to find in Vol. 2.
And then Mope. And Scorn. And Tolos. Please, stop before Tolos.
For those keeping track, we first got word of Superman: The Triangle Era Omnibus Vol. 1 in March 2024 and Superman: The Triangle Era Omnibus Vol. 2 in March 2025.
I'm of two minds about this announcement, maybe three?
ReplyDeleteFirst and foremost, I'm happy that we're seeing general momentum from DC in continuing this line for at least one more volume. That is not to say I'm not even more acutely aware of the gap between Exile and Triangle v1 (as one imagines the next Superman omnibus will be Triangle v3 and not v0), but forward momentum is highly preferable to stagnation or the drips and dribbles we've seen in the past. I do hope all 4 (or more?) Super-omnis coming out in 2025 sell well to encourage this continued push - it'd be a shame if they loaded up for the movie year and then 2026 has relatively meager offerings. I will kindly point out to DC how rapidly they moved through the three Knightfall saga omnis a few years ago and suggest that the die hard Superman fans will probably show up as often at least for Triangle volumes 2, 3, and 0.
Second, as we've seen recently w/Marvel and their X-Men Blue and Gold omnibus, I have a certain amount of sympathy for the general concept of "the old mapping made sense when it was released, but we're doing a new thing now and we're all just going to have to deal with it." Seeing Superman Triangle v1, 2, and 3 all sitting next to each other on my shelf will look quite pleasant w/o the interruption of the Death/Return in between. The most maddening part for me, personally, is I have the 5 Doomsday tpbs that have art across the spines and now I'll just need the last one, and that'll look weird. Hmm.
Third, I really would have preferred that they just padded out this volume with Jurgens run on Justice League or just made it a smaller book for my own sanity. It's not even that I am particularly upset about the double dip, although that is there a bit, but I do have some concern about where they're going to stop Triangle v3 based on this mapping. I will be absolutely livid if Tv3 does not include Fall of Metropolis - that's an obvious break point (Roger Stern leaving, the end of the long-running Lex story) for the Triangle era, but after seeing them split Death and Return in half, I'm less confident that we won't see the same thing with Battle of Metropolis/Fall of Metropolis in 2026 (or just cut it off before Battle even starts, which will also be weird). Perhaps I can be assuaged a bit by how Tv2 doesn't overly highlight the Death of Superman as part of its sales pitch? We'll see.
Now that you mention it, having Panic in the Sky and not Death of Superman on the cover of this one (at least preliminarily) really is an exercise in restraint for DC. Maybe we can take something from that. Given the upcoming movie though, the prominent placement of Guy Gardner was fortuitous.
DeleteYour reference to the fifth Doomsday book makes me think, I wonder if Hunter/Prey will be included in the third omnibus? Though, that's not technically a "Triangle title" and would only push us closer to the possibility of forstalling "Fall of Metropolis." I'm increasingly curious — will they go to "Death of Clark Kent," etc. To Millennium Giants? Far removed from my sensibilities, is someone at DC like, "Heck yeah, Dominius or bust?" Part of the fun now is seeing how far they'll push this.
My guess, and it's not particularly informed, is that they'll keep moving forward as long as the sales on omnibus volume N-1 are good enough to suggest the audience still exists for volume N.
DeleteYeah, Hunter/Prey would be a pretty plausible inclusion somewhere - it looks like it was released basically contemporaneous with the end of Stern's run. While I stand by what I said above, starting off v3 with both Hunter/Prey and Battle/Fall of Metropolis would be a pretty solid one-two punch (and it'd end just past Death of Clark Kent, I guess).
I really hope we get a winter-ish (Dec-Feb) release of Triangle v0 that's in the "Exile Reprint" publication slot and not part of the Triangle yearly(?) program. If that's successful, they can toss in Man of Steel for the following two years in that slot, too. Let's go!
This is maddening.
ReplyDeleteI actually like that they include the Death and Return of Superman storyline here. Although I already have the omnibus (will have to sell it, I guess) I prefer the Triangle omnis to have the full continuous story, unlike the Caped Crusader/Dark Knight Detective paperbacks where very important events (Death in the Family/A Lonely Place of Dying) are simply missing. This is irritating for new and casual readers, and it's annoying when you have to switch back and forth between books when reading everything chronologically.
ReplyDelete@Bob Schoonover
> "Seeing Superman Triangle v1, 2, and 3 all sitting next to each other on my shelf will look quite pleasant"
Except the first omnibus will have a different DC logo on the spine than Vol. 2 and 3 will have. I always hate it when that happens.
I do authentically understand that impulse, the "let's have it all in one collection" rather than having to switch between books. I wonder why what was OK for the Batman books isn't OK for the Super-titles, and my answer is possibly that's the difference between the post-Crisis Batman books in paperback vs. these omnibuses in expensive hardcover.
DeleteI was starting to lose faith in a Vol 2, and now that we have it... well, it's a mixed bag, as you say. The "missing volume zero" feels more prominent now, given the 'Soul Search' storyline you mention but also, critically, the Krypton Man/Eradicator story (which will, evidently, take up a fair chunk of Vol. 3).
ReplyDeleteLike Bob, I'm a little sore that I now have double-dips with the five-trade Death/Return series. But if that's the compromise for getting more Triangle Era collections, I can live with it. I imagine I'll go to the paperbacks for the event, but I'll have the full omnibus runs for binge-reading.
Food for thought: If we are double-dipping Death & Return in this series, and if Vol. 3 ends at Action #700 with The Fall of Metropolis... what do you do with Worlds Collide, the Milestone crossover? The full thing is in the Milestone Compendium 2, and it's not super essential if you just want the Superman chapters... but if we're being completists...
Finally, your notes about the Death of Clark Kent, Mope, and Tolos remind me -- the only true golden age of comics is the one where you started reading them religiously. I had Death & Return in (battered) trades as a kid, but I was a weekly reader by the time of Conduit, the Trial, and yes, even Tolos. If we get omnibus volumes through the Millennium Giants, I will be tickled pink (and red and blue).
"Worlds Collide" is a good question. Seeing as how (so far as we know) these omnibuses are definiing "Triangle titles" very strictly (no mention of including annuals, for instance), I would venture we won't see the whole of "Worlds Collide" here (I checked; no triangle on the Superboy issue). As it is, SMOS #35 is only lightly part of the crossover; SMOS #36 is really the one with "Worlds Collide" content, and I wholly believe DC would just plop it into the prospective Vol. 3 without the other parts.
DeleteAll right, so I gotta stop picking on Tolos in these posts and start picking on Dominus instead, I can handle that. 😆 (Though of course, I was delighted to see Domnius return not too long ago!) But I am indeed curious to see where DC eventually decides enough is enough on these — if they go all the way through Superman #150, hey, sure, that's definitely a win, but if they stop before, that tells us something about the thinking inside DC, too.