I almost want to call this and other similar installments here at the Fortress From The Files of Alan Leach, Jr. as this is another bit of business that was in the massive box ‘o stuff that Alan sent me oh those many years ago. This time out I have something from around the time The Reign of Tomorrow (for lack of a better term) was launching. After Superman came back from the dead DC decided to capitalize on the success of the characters that were introduced during Reign of the Supermen and they did this in late 1993 by spinning those characters off in a variety of ways. Superboy and Steel both received their own ongoing series, Supergirl got a four issue mini-series that tied closely into what was going on in the main Superman titles and the Eradicator joined the Outsiders. To promote this and also play into the popularity of non-sports trading cards someone (presumably from DC’s Marketing Department) stuck clippable trading cards into an edition of Previews.
I love the fact that is says to, “Collect them all!” when all of them are on the page.
For grins and to make them easier to see I did some cutting and pasting and cropping and resizing in Photoshop and broke the cards up as if I had cut them out with scissors.
The artwork on these cards are not original but with the exception of the Supergirl image I think they are quintessential shots of the various characters. The Supergirl image isn’t bad but I would have preferred the one Kerry Gammill drew for the cover to the first issue of the Supergirl mini-series.
Speaking of that…it has always irked me that Superboy and Steel both got their own series while Supergirl only had a mini-series. I understand the reasons for it. Superboy and Steel both had solid set-ups for an ongoing. Superboy moved to Hawaii to follow the woman he loved and had a wacky “uncle” in the form of Dubbilex. Steel was returning home to face his past and move on with his life. Supergirl was a tougher nut to crack. She was a great supporting hero but on a purely objective level I don’t think there was enough meat on the bone for her own series. It took a little over two years and a complete overhaul of the character for Supergirl to get her own series and I think that it was worth the wait.
In any case this is a fun artifact from when I was hip deep in the continuity and soap opera of the Superman comics and having such a great time reading the books. These were great characters (yes, even the Eradicator) at the dawn of their lives filled with so much potential and for a good ten or so years they were part of the extended Superman family.
I miss those days. I know that all things must come to an end but I miss them just the same.
Oh well…I have the back issues so I can relive them whenever I want.