Episode #153: Superman: The Triangle Years!

(Top L to R:) Superman 51, The Adventures Of Superman 474 & Action Comics 661, all cover dated January 1991!
(Bottom L to R:) Superman 176, The Adventures Of Superman 598, Superman: The Man Of Steel 120 & Action Comics 785, all cover dated January 2002! 

Download Episode 153!

Beginning this month in 1990, the Superman titles with the cover date of January 1991 carried an additional number under the masthead. Somewhere on the cover was a small triangle containing the year and another number. This was an aid to comic book readers in an era when the individual Superman titles were part of one overall storyline. A plot begun in SUPERMAN one month would continue in the other Superman titles with the same cover date. The triangle number assisted Superman fans in reading the issues in the correct order. With January of 1992, and each subsequent year, the triangle number would begin with a new number one.

The Superman books cover dated January 1991, with the triangle number of 1991 numbers 1 - 3 were, SUPERMAN 51, THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN 474 and ACTION COMICS 661. The triangle numbering continued through the Superman issues cover dated January 2002, SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL 120, SUPERMAN 176, THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN 598 and ACTION COMICS 785. The Superman titles cover dated February 2002 and afterward would not carry the triangle numbering. They would not return until the recently concluded NEW KRYPTON storyline which involved all of the Superman related titles, with the exception of SUPERMAN / BATMAN, which were published 2009 - 2010.

This episode also highlights some, but not all, of the major Superman storylines which were published during the triangle era. Most of them have been collected in trade paperbacks or other collected editions. Click on the GRAPHIC NOVEL link at DC Comics. You can also find these issues and their collected editions at used book stores, internet vendors such as http://www.instocktrades.com, http://www.mycomicshop.com, or the back issue bins of your local comic book shop.

Next Issue: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KEITH GIFFEN!

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