TITLE: Superman vol. 2, issue #80
YEAR: August 1993
COMPANY: DC Comics
WRITER: Dan Jurgens
PENCILLER: Dan Jurgens
INKER: Brett Breeding
LETTERER: John Costanza
COLORIST: Glenn Whitmore
ASST. EDITOR: Jennifer Frank
EDITOR: Mike Carlin
Remember how Green Lantern/Hal Jordan became evil and was known as Parallax after the events which lead to Coast City being destroyed?
Prior to that, Green Lantern issue #46 featured the battle between Green Lantern and Mogul, Cyborg Superman vs. Eradicator Superman.
And this issue #80 is the issue that kicks everything off into motion.
A huge spaceship is traveling outside of Earth, while Lex Luthor’s satellite was able to pick it up, Luthor knew immediately trouble was coming and is heading to Coast City.
Fortunately, Eradicator Superman happens to be there for live-saving missions.
Meanwhile, White House Security contacts Cyborg Superman to head to Coast City and letting him know that another Superman is in the city right now.
We then see the giant space ship unload thousand of globe canisters, as Eradicator goes to check it out, he is attacked by Cyborg Superman who tries to accuse Eradicator Superman of bringing the spaceship to Earth.
Eradicator Superman tries to reason and tell him he’s not involved but immediately Cyborg Superman blasts him.
Next thing you know all 77,000 globe canisters detonate and Coast City is destroyed.
As Cyborg Superman blasts Eradicator Superman pointblank in the head again, the ship drops globe seeds around the destroyed Coast City which then grows a metal city.
When the government tries to contact Cyborg Superman of what he sees and if the spaceship is around, Cyborg Superman tells them that Coast City is destroyed and the ship is gone. What we see inside is Mongul and eventually learn that Mongul was not the orchestrator of the destruction of Coast City, but it was the Cyborg Superman all along. And he plans to destroy Metropolis next and become the ruler of Earth.
This issue will be the first issue to let readers know that Cyborg Superman was evil. But it’s the first issue that shows us how Green Lantern’s city was obliterated.
In some ways, one can see this issue as a passing of the torch to the next major DC milestone and would begin the fall of Hal Jordan who became Parallax and would be evil for many years to come, while ushering a new, young Green Lantern for Earth.