Superman went through several radical changes to keep up with the times during the '90s era of DC Comics. In the late '80s, John Byrne, Marv Wolfman and Jerry Ordway had successfully revitalized the character for a new age, turning him from an overpowered god into a relatable character. Byrne's eventual departure was a sign of things to come, with the lost momentum culminating in Superman's eventual death.

Once the character had been brought back and finally married off to Lois Lane, DC tried several other changes in an effort to keep things fresh. One late '90s Superman storyline was meant to be electrifying, but it was ultimately too shocking for the die-hard fans. With the release of a similarly titled series of one-shot stories, here's a look back at the Electric Blue Superman era and how it came to a less than thunderous conclusion.

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Man of Steel, World of Lightning

The Electric Blue era began with the storyline "Power Shift," which was published in 1997. A bit beforehand, Superman had absorbed a massive amount of energy in an attack from an enemy. He survived the ordeal, but strangely enough, the robots at the Fortress of Solitude no longer recognized his DNA as Kryptonian. He was also forced to supercharge his normal abilities in the sun after the "Final Night" event. His powers finally began changing, with his invulnerability now becoming intangibility, his x-ray vision displaying the electromagnetic spectrum, and the initially uncontrollable power to emit electricity.

He was also able to supercharge his attacks with electric energy, with the added benefit of being able to magnetically lift objects replacing his former super strength. He took on a few villains, including fellow energy being Atomic Skull, to test his new abilities, but just as he started to get the hang of them, he seemingly imploded into a mass of energy. He was saved, however, by wearing an energy containment suit created by ally Emil Hamilton and his arch foe Lex Luthor. He was now able to control his vastly different powers, but he required the suit to stay intact. He could, however, become a fully human Clark Kent, though this left him susceptible to harm.

Superman began operating regularly in this costume, which was featured prominently within the universe. He even wore it during Grant Morrison's otherwise neo-classic run on JLA. Another explanation for the sudden change was given in that the Godwave that created metahumans on Earth had finally reached the end of the universe. Reflecting itself back toward its original trajectory, it manifested by changing people's powers along the way. This was only an addendum to the already questionable origins of these new powers, and it was typically glossed over.

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Superman Red and Blue

The reaction among readership was not positive, to say the least. Despite this, the storyline continued with the next chapter of the saga in the Superman Red/Blue one-shot, which was worked on by essentially the entire Superman line of creators at the time. This storyline had Cyborg Superman and Toyman trap Electric Superman in a cage, which had the unintended effect of splitting the Man of Steel into two beings. Superman Blue was calm and preferred to use his intellect to solve problems, while Superman Red was angry, quick to action and decisive. These two grew to harbor immense disdain for each other, with neither having any interest in becoming one again. This caused Lois Lane to literally kick them out of the house until the problem was resolved.

The story was a Post-Crisis update of a "classic" Silver Age tale in which Superman cloned himself. This allowed him to both be a more efficient crime fighter, as well as have the two Supermen marry both Lois Lane and Lana Lang. The inverse of this love triangle had the two Supermen lusted over by Queen Maxima and a woman named Obsession who was enamored with Superman. The meandering plot was finally brought to a close with the conclusion of the "Behold! The Millennium Giants!" crossover event. These generic villains were the culmination of the era, which was reflected in how cliche and ill-conceived they were. In a last ditch effort to take them down, the two Supermen unleashed everything they had on the Giants. This not only defeated them, but expunged the excess energy of the two, leaving them as one, normally powered Superman. The explanation for exactly how this worked wasn't given, with even Superman just hypothesizing that it was the universe shining down on him for saving the day once again.

Since then, the storyline has been left forgotten, though it has yet to be retconned. Both the New 52 and DC Rebirth continuity have maintained that some version of the storyline took place, with the Electric Blue containment suit showing up from time to time. Beyond that, however, most of its acknowledgement is done with tongue firmly placed in cheek.

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