Superman Forever Vol 1 1

"Superman Forever": Following the closure of the Millennium Giants storyline, Superman is seen falling back to Earth toward Smallville (as a sort of echo of how he first came to Earth), where the Kents find him naked but back to his original appearance. Not only that, but Superman's original

"Superman Forever"
Cover
Superman Forever
June, 1998
Executive Editor	Mike Carlin
Cover Artists	Alex Ross
Superman Forever
Writers	Karl Kesel Louise Simonson
Pencilers	Anthony Williams Dan Jurgens John Byrne Jon Bogdanove Kieron Dwyer Klaus Janson Norm Breyfogle Paul Ryan Scot Eaton Steve Yeowell Stuart Immonen Tom Grummett Val Semeiks
Inkers	Brett Breeding Denis Rodier Dennis Janke Dick Giordano Hilary Barta Joe Rubinstein José Marzan, Jr.
Letterers	Albert DeGuzman
Editors	Joey Cavalieri Maureen McTigue

It's just like riding a bicycle... That's strapped to a military transport about to crash! But not while I'm here!

— Superman

Superman Forever #1 is a one-shot with a cover date of June, 1998.

Synopsis for "Superman Forever"

Following the closure of the Millennium Giants storyline, Superman is seen falling back to Earth toward Smallville (as a sort of echo of how he first came to Earth), where the Kents find him naked but back to his original appearance. Not only that, but Superman's original Kryptonian powers and abilities have also returned, which only makes him wonder at that point how he ever became "the Man of Energy" or how his two selves have fused back into one. Nevertheless, Superman is glad to be back to his original self, and as he rescues his wife Lois Lane from a falling airplane with the assistance of Superboy, Supergirl, and Steel, she also is glad to have the original Superman back.

Soon, though, Lex Luthor finds that his newborn baby daughter Lena is missing, and Superman is back in action to help find Luthor's daughter. He eventually finds her in the newly-constructed Hypersector, inside a crudely-designed rocket, surrounded by tons of explosives ready to detonate. This was the work of a Bizarro created by Dabney Donovan under the employ of Contessa, Lex's ex-wife and Lena's mother, who is trying to gain leverage over Luthor for her child. Bizarro intends to "launch" Lena away to another world much like Superman's father Jor-El launched Kal-El away from Krypton before it exploded. As Donovan activates a self-destruct mechanism within Bizarro, he goes to activate the explosives, and Superman uses himself as a shield to protect Lena and hand her safely over to her father, warning Luthor to take good care of her.

As Superman does a fly-by over Metropolis following the rescue, he instantly finds himself in four different realities at once (which are followed up in each of the four Superman books which are Polyester aka Bronze Age, Golden Age, Silver Age, and 40th century)...

• ...he hears Jimmy Olsen testing out his new wireless microphone, telling him "Elvis doesn't need the competition," before flying off to the WGBS building to take on his role as a "mild-mannered TV news anchor". Jimmy then realizes that Elvis is dead. (leads to Action Comics #745)
• ...he sees a saboteur underneath a train bridge and stop him from blowing it up, then goes across town with the criminal to stop a train from derailing before he goes to work at the Daily Star. (leads to Superman: Man of Steel #80)
• ...he hears Jimmy's signal watch, hoping to get a ride to deliver Professor Hamilton's alien isotopes to S.T.A.R. Labs, but instead tells Jimmy that he needs the exercise before he goes to the Daily Planet building, talking about his dog Krypto, his Superman robots, and the Phantom Zone criminals. (leads to Adventures of Superman #558)
• ...he stops a gang of thieves called the Night Raiders from toasting Lyra 3916 with a concussion grenade and then ties the villains up for the authorities to take away. (leads to Superman (Volume 2) #136
  

Appearing in "Superman Forever"

Featured Characters:

• Template:Apn

Supporting Characters:

• Ashbury Armstrong
• Bibbo Bibbowski
• Cat Grant
• Dan Turpin
• Dirk Armstrong
• Dubbilex
• Guardian
• Jimmy Olsen
• Kismet
• Lois Lane
• Lucy Lane
• Maggie Sawyer
• Martha Kent
• Misa
• Jonathan Kent
• Prof. Emil Hamilton
• Perry White
• Ron Troupe
• Scorn
• Simone DeNiege
• Steel
• Superboy
• Supergirl (Matrix)

Villains:

• Bizarro
• Contessa Portenza
• Dabney Donovan
• Intergang

• "Machine" Gunn
• Moxie
• Noose
• Rough House
• Torcher

• Template:Apn
• Toyman

Other Characters:

• Lena Luthor
• Emily Cordova

Locations:

• Earth

• Metropolis

• Daily Planet
• Hypersector
• Project Cadmus

• Smallville

Items:

• 
  

Vehicles:

• 
  
  

Notes

• This one-shot story begins the Dominus Effect storyline and serves as the coda to the Millennium Giants storyline.

Trivia

• The story interestingly uses the motif of Superman's coming to Earth from Krypton in two distinct ways: first, in the manner of Superman's return to Earth in his original Kryptonian form following his disappearance at the conclusion of the Millennium Giants storyline; and secondly, in Bizarro's twisted fantasy plot of "launching" Lex Luthor's newborn daughter Lena into space in a crudely-fashioned rocked surrounded by explosives.

See Also

• Images from Superman Forever Vol 1 1

Links and References

Previous Superman (Volume 2) #135: 1998/20

Superman 1998 Navigation

Next Adventures of Superman #558: 1998/22