"The End" Week: Superman: the Man of Steel #134!

The reading-order "Triangle" was long gone from the covers, but was this the end of the era of weekly Superman titles? It was the end of a twelve year run, anyway. From 2003, Superman: the Man of Steel #134, "Every Little Thing" Written by Mark Schultz, pencils by Brandon Badeaux and Jon Bogdanove, inks by Mark Morales and Jon Bogdanove.

There were two plot threads here, neither of which gets wrapped up, although luckily we have seen where one ended. Clark Kent has been discredited and fired from the Daily Planet, but in fact Perry White has him deep undercover, working on "the trail of Luthor's corrupt dealings." This had even been kept secret from Lois, who was miserable for him and wanted to help, but he couldn't let her, which was making him miserable. Clark leaves in the morning to look for a new job, which Lois knows he would never be able to get; but he was really going to his secret abandoned warehouse office. Lois trails him, wearing a pacemaker in her coat to mask her own heartbeat!

Telling the story to Perry, Clark glosses over the next part: he got called away to help a friend, John Henry Irons! Or, whatever was left of him after Our Worlds At War, as he puts back on the Aegis armor. That might be to try and repair the damage done to his nervous system by Manchester Black, or he might be under the control of Imperiex. Supes is astounded John would take a shot at his niece Natasha, but he seemingly forces himself to stop, then disappears, called "home" by his master. Which would be resolved in the Superman versus Darkseid: Apokolips Now! one-shot.

I'm not sure where the other plotline ends, though: Lois goes through Clark's notes, which seem like a conspiracy-nut's, not a journalist's. Clark tells Perry, that had been intentional: his notes were set up so they would look like a jumble to anyone else; all a ploy to keep Lois in the dark and safe. Even more concerned now, Lois reaches out to Martha Kent, worried Superman was losing Clark Kent...The tailend of the issue features the return of Jon Bogdanove, who had drawn over half of this series! Superman is concerned that John had died in OWaW and not really come back, but they remember how great he was, and know what to do going forward.