Cover: Ross Andru & Dick Giordano

Action Comics #492

Feb 1979 · DC · 0.40 USD

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“Superman's Secret Afterlife!”

In "Superman's Secret Afterlife!", Superman returns from a space mission to find Lois Lane dead and a bewildering future where he’s married to Lana Lang and raising children—only to wake again in a darker, more tragic timeline. Written by Cary Bates and brought to life with Curt Swan’s iconic art, Frank Chiaramonte’s inks, and Gene D’Angelo’s colors, this mind-bending tale explores identity, loss, and the power of choice. The cover by Ross Andru and Dick Giordano captures the eerie, dreamlike tone of a story that challenges Superman’s resolve in ways he never expected.

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writer Cary Bates · artist Curt Swan · inker Frank Chiaramonte · colorist Gene D'Angelo · letterer Ben Oda · cover Ross Andru, Dick Giordano

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Cast · 1 character

Superman

Full credits

writer Cary Bates

artist Curt Swan

inker Frank Chiaramonte

colorist Gene D'Angelo

letterer Ben Oda

cover pencils Ross Andru

cover inks Dick Giordano

Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers

▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers

Superman returns from a mission in space to learn Lois and Lana have been threatened. He saves Lana, but Lois mysteriously dies. The next morning, Superman wakes to find that it is 1988 and he is married to Lana. This future has all sorts of appeals to it. He then wakes up further in the future, when he has children. But then Lana and the kids all die. It all turns out to be a plot by the Phantom Zone villains to get Superman to kill himself, but he overcomes their illusions.

Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).