Fortress of Baileytude Showcase Presents: The Death and Return of Superman 25 Years Later
Welcome to another episode of Fortress of Baileytude Showcase Presents, an irregular show here at the Fortress where I talk about something that either doesn’t fit with my other shows or is about something that I feel deserves its own dedicated special.
This time out I am celebrating the 25th anniversary of the release of Superman (Vol. 2) #82. While there was a month and a half of wrap up stories Superman #82 was the final chapter of the Reign of the Supermen storyline and saw Superman return to his original costume after a month or so of running around in a black suit with a silver S. It was also the end of a saga that had been going on since October of the previous year, so this felt like a thing to celebrate. More than anything, The Death and Return of Superman is not only one of the most important stories in the history of the character but it is also an important time in my own collecting life.
So, this time out I am not talking about the what happened in the pages of the comic (because I already did that with Jeffrey Taylor over on From Crisis to Crisis) but what was happening in the real world and I am not alone. Joining me to discuss the real world history of The Death and Return of Superman is the co-founder of The Fire and Water Podcast Network, as well as being one of my best friends in the world, The Irredeemable Shag. As some of you may know Shag managed a comic shop in the early nineties so he was there when both the Death and Return happened. He was also a reader of the Superman books at the time, so through the course of the special we talk about the behind the scenes history of the story, where we were when we learned that the death was coming, what it was like the day the comic hit stores, our own experiences reading the saga and the legacy this story left on us and the comic book world.
You will also learn how the theater kept distracting me throughout the time The Death and Return issues were being published.