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In discussion of a recent Superman sale, I was reminded of the Superman: The Exile and Other Stories omnibus collection. It collects a good chunk of the period just after John Byrne’s relaunch following Crisis on Infinite Earths and shortly before the Triangle Era, although you could probably argue that the creative push for that time did start here. A large portion of the creative teams that would go on to define the Triangle Era coalesced here with work from Jerry Ordway, Dan Jurgens, Kerry Gammill, Dennis Janke, and Brett Breeding.
As well as the writer whose work I’ll be looking at here as he came aboard the Superman family (although he really already was part of it contributing to the Action Comics Weekly experiment), Roger Stern. And a rare guest appearance during his early career of Mike Mignola, in between his collaboration with John Byrne on World of Krypton and Jim Starlin on Cosmic Odyssey.
“There is definitely something supernatural about this.”
Roger Stern took over writing duties from Byrne with Superman #23 along with Mignola, P. Craig Russell, Petra Scotese, and John Costanza. It picked up on the story of the recently introduced Silver Banshee with a mostly standalone story of Superman travelling to Ireland to investigate a strange book found by Batman.
It’s very fitting a story for Mike Mignola, presaging his own foray into myth and folklore further in Hellboy, as the tale of Silver Banshee’s origin unfolds. It taps in to the clan history of the McDougals and an ancient ritual that occurs for the firstborn in the depths of Castle Broen. Part of which told through the stylized art of a clan history book that magically adds the events that are occurring. When you throw in Superman, you get a larger than life square-jawed do-gooder in the lead too. For good measure, Stern also reinforces Superman’s weakness to magic and an inclusion of Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen to satisfy classic Superman story elements.
The artwork is gorgeous. P. Craig Russell is one of the best other artists to ink Mignola’s work, combining his own fine line and attention to detail in shading with Mignola’s inky shadows and ability to refine characters into icons. The limited colour palette against primary colours for the main characters by Petra Scotese is very effective. The eerie blues add a haunting atmosphere to the story. Added to that the always impressive lettering from John Costanza.
“Don’t give me that! I am Kryptonian by ancestry, but I was born and raised upon the Earth…this is my world!”
Superman #23 from Stern, Mignola, Russell, Scotese, and Costanza, on the surface, might just seem to be an entertaining story about the origin of a villain steeped in folklore, but it’s more than just that. It’s the start of a legendary period in Superman storytelling as Roger Stern began writing regularly for the line and a watershed moment in the career of Mike Mignola that can be seen as a dry run of his own superheroics meets mythology format for which he’s become known.
Superman #23 – “Curse of the Banshee”
Writer: Roger Stern
Penciller: Mike Mignola
Inker: P. Craig Russell
Colourist: Petra Scotese
Letterer: John Costanza
Publisher: DC Comics
Release Date: July 21 1988
Available collected in The DC Universe by Mike Mignola and Superman: The Exile & Other Stories Omnibus
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