A recent discussion of the Superman Sale reminded me of Superman: The Exile and Other Stories Omnibus Collection. It brings together a significant portion of the period just after John Byrne’s reboot, following the crisis on the endless Earth, following the Age of the Triangle, but it could be argued that perhaps the creative push at that time began here. The majority of the creative team defining the Triangle era combined here with the work of Jerry Ordway, Dan Jurges, Kerry Gammill, Dennis Janke and Brett Breeding.
Like the writers I see here when he rode the Superman Family (though he’s already contributed to the Action Comic Weekly experiment, but was actually part of it) Roger Stern. And the unusual guest appearance during Mike Mignora’s early career came between the world of Crypton in Cosmic Odyssey and the collaboration with John Byrne in Jim Stalin.
“There’s definitely something supernatural about this.”
Roger Stern is Mignora, P. He took over the writing duties from Byrne along with Superman #23 along with Craig Russell, Petra Scoze and John Costanza. It took up the recently introduced Silver Banshee story. There were almost all standalone stories of Superman traveling to Ireland and investigating the strange books Batman had found.
As the story of Silver Banshee’s origins unfolds, it is a very fitting story for Mike Mignora, pushing for his own foray into Hellboy’s myth and folklore. It utilizes the history of the McDougal clan and ancient rituals that occur for the firstborn at the depths of the castle’s Broen. Part of it speaks through the stylized art of a book on Clan history, which magically adds the events that are born. When you add Superman, even the lead and Life Square Yau’s good do-gooder will grow. For a proper measure, Stern also magically strengthens Superman’s weakness and fills the classic Superman narrative element by including Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen.
The artwork is gorgeous. P. Clay Grassel is one of the best artists who inked Mignola’s work, combining Mignola’s inky black shadows and the ability to refine the character into icons with attention to detail in shading. Petra Scoze’s limited color palette for the main characters’ main colors is very effective. The creepy blues add an unforgettable vibe to the story. On top of that, there was always an impressive lettering from John Costanza.
“Don’t give it to me! I’m a Cryptonian by my ancestors, but I was born and raised on Earth… this is my world!”
Superman #23 of Stern, Mignola, Russell, Scotese and Costanza might seem like an interesting story about the origins of folk-immersed villains, but it’s more than that. It was the beginning of the legendary era of Superman storytelling, as Roger Stern regularly wrote for Line and began writing about moments at the fork of Mike Mignola’s career.
Superman #23 – “The Curse of the Banshee”
Author: Roger Stern
Pensiler: Mike Mignora
Inker: P. Craigles
Colorist: Petra Squate
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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