So another omnibus finished. This is one I bought years ago around the same time I bought the Death and Return of Superman Omnibus. At this point Supes is the Trinity member I’ve read the least of. I don’t find him as interesting as Diana or Bruce but he does have a broad supporting cast. Despite this, I got through these stories pretty quick as they are well written in the sense that they continuously keep the reader engaged with well orchestrated subplots over three titles. I love an omnibus for this reason more than any. I’d hate to have to collect the individual comics for this reading order.
This collection picks up right after John Byrne’s departure from being Superman’s core writer when he revamped the character for a modern audience, that divided some Superman fans. As someone who isn’t fanatically connected to Supes or knowledgeable about his pre-Crisis history, a fresh continuity is a bit of a luxury, I’ll admit. Reading Death of Superman cold with no context to the continuity was confusing as hell, but this was more accessible. Byrne left the title on a controversial note that is constantly referred to and the catalyst to the Exile story arc, so I was never constantly questioning what was happening or who people were.
What Exile allowed was Superman to have a huge crisis of confidence, question his morality, and see himself as some humans perceive him; as dangerous. The Exile is a little anticlimactic and not existentially thoughtful as Moore’s iconic Swamp Thing who does essentially the same thing, but much better. In fact, a lot of it revolves around the new history of Krypton and the “eradicator” artefact.
The best thing to come out of The Exile, for me, is the “Hostile Takeover” subplot involving Lex Luthor. Without Superman, Luthor has a small ego crisis himself and finds distraction in a small economic war with STAR Labs. The resolution was a satisfying victory for Luthor in several ways, revealing his true need behind the financial media chaos.
As I mentioned, there are a lot of subplots—a LOT—but they are spread out quite masterfully. Unfortunately, with a series spanning a magnitude as big as Superman, Adventures, and Action Comics, many of these are still ongoing by the end of the omnibus. There is Jose Delgado recovering from his injuries sustained as Gangbuster and his attempted romance with Lois Lane. Morgan Edge juggling his relationship with Cat Grant and Intergang. Luthor trying to harness the power and knowledge of the disturbingly powerful Brainiac. Ma and Pa Kent trying to care for the childlike Matrix. Jimmy Olsen trying to bang Cat Grant before being infected by the eradicator and having teenage-like saltiness towards Supes. There’s even a subplot raised at the end of the omnibus where Perry White’s son has a black girlfriend.
For the most part, it was a good sample of Superman’s world. There are some classic villains reintroduced, such as Brainiac and Mongul, as well as some new ones, like Maxima. Project Cadmus makes an appearance implying the original Kirby stories with Jimmy and the Newsboy clones never happened, and it’s revealed that every tine Edge was talking to Darkseid it was really DeSaad in disguise orchestrating Intergang on Earth. Kind of a nice touch seeing as unlikely it seemed for Darkseid to handle that kind of thing personally.
In short, The Exile storyline wasn’t that impressive itself, but a necessary progression from how Byrne left the series. It’s the world building provided by the subplots that make it diverse and engaging, helping Metropolis feel like a busy, bustling city, not just another generic location for aliens to break stuff. 7/10.