Team Superman #1 is a one-shot with a cover date of July, 1999.
Synopsis for "They Died with Their Capes On"
In deep space, a superhero goes to the aid of a stricken spaceship, only to fall into the clutches of the vile killer known as "The Anti-Hero".
On Earth, at Metropolis airport to be exact, a group of terrorists have taken over an aircraft with intentions of taking the Madame Secretary and then parachute out. Suddenly Superman appears outside. One of the terrorists puts a gun to the woman's head and threatens Superman. The hero responds by ripping open the aircraft's door and causing all the terrorists—with exception of the passengers still strapped to their seats—to suck out. As the terrorists fall, their leader presses a button, detonating an explosive device on board the aircraft. The ship is ripped in two and begins to plunge down to wards the ground with 427 passengers dying.
Later Superman holds a conference where he publicly declares his sorrow at the unfortunate events, and that he will be leaving Earth, now and forever. Supergirl and Superboy offer to become the new guardians of Metropolis, but Steel has yet to come forward. At the JLA Watchtower, Steel sits alone.
Superman walks through a spaceship and quotes to himself his script, until he comes face to face with himself, strapped down to a table. The standing Superman morphs into his true form—The Anti-Hero. The villain introduces himself to Superman and explains how he gets his powers, how he likes to capture, torture and kill heroes.
Back on Earth, Lois Lane knows that something isn't right and tells Supergirl. She knows because Superman behaved as if they were just friends. Whoever is impersonating Superman doesn't know their secret. Lois decides she must tell the world the truth, but gives Supergirl 24 hours to track down her husband.
Steel, Supergirl and Superboy meet together in Centennial Park. The whole JLA is out looking for Superman, these three are just "Team Superman". The team head off to the Arctic Circle.
They find nothing, until Superboy flies into a force field. When the rest of the team arrives, Steel sees that it is a cloaked ship that Superboy flew into. The team get inside the ship, and Steels psychic link with J'onn. Then Supergirl's headset stops responding after she flies off on her own. Superboy charges to the rescue, only to find out that her batteries had run out. However, Superboy didn't find the real Supergirl. The Anti-Hero attacks, and Steel rushes to the rescue, throwing his hammer at the villain. The Anti-Hero catches the hammer and throws it back at Steel, knocking him to the floor. As Anti-Hero closes in, Steel blasts him with his rocket boots. A blast of short-circuit vision stops Steel.
The Anti-Hero looks at the new members of his collection of defeated Superheros. After his bragging little speech, the Anti-Hero leaves.
The team work together, and with a little effort manage to free themselves and then, Superman. The team engages the Anti-Hero again, but the villain is able to hold out on his against the heroes. During the battle, the Anti-Hero hits Steel, which suddenly rips his head off, revealing Steel to be a machine. The real Steel, John Henry Irons, is secretly in the Anti-Hero's mainframe computer room, where all of the villain's powers are controlled from here. Irons manages to strip the Anti-Hero of all his powers via the computer, allowing Superman to tear the Anti-Hero's helmet off and revealing him to be a little alien.
The tiny foe is taken to S.T.A.R. Labs by the members of Team Superman while the Man of Steel returns home to kiss his wife.
Appearing in "They Died with Their Capes On"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Lois Lane
- Jimmy Olsen
- Justice League of America
- Batman (Mentioned only)
- The Flash
- Green Lantern (Mentioned only)
- Martian Manhunter
Antagonists:
- Anti-Hero
- Terrorist group:
- Renoir
- Monet
- Degas
- Tolouse-Latrec
Other Characters:
- Ontor
Locations:
- New Earth
- Moon
- Valeron
- Alpha Centauri (Mentioned only)
Items:
- Steel's Third Armor
- Kinetic Hammer
- Gravity Rod (Mentioned only)
- Helmet of Nabu (Mentioned only)
- Green Lantern Ring (Mentioned only)
Vehicles:
- Anti-Hero's ship