Cover: Mike Mignola & P. Craig Russell

Superman #23

Nov 1988 · DC · 0.75 USD; 1.00 CAD; 0.50 GBP

📊 ~42,155 copies sold its debut month

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“Curse of the Banshee”

About this Issue

Superman #23 ("Curse of the Banshee!") delivers the full origin of Silver Banshee — the Celtic supernatural villain created by John Byrne in Action Comics #595 — giving Siobhan McDougal's transformation, her family betrayal at Castle Broen, and her demonic bargain with the Crone their definitive backstory in the post-Crisis Superman universe. It simultaneously marks the first issue written by Roger Stern on the Superman vol. 2 title, inaugurating a long run that would eventually encompass the "Death of Superman" era and cement Stern as one of the defining voices of the character through the 1990s. The issue also anticipates the darker folkloric aesthetic that penciller Mike Mignola would go on to build an entire career around with Hellboy, making it a fascinating early convergence of two creative trajectories.

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writer Roger Stern · artist Mike Mignola · inker P. Craig Russell · colorist Petra Scotese · letterer John Costanza · cover Mike Mignola, P. Craig Russell

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History

Roger Stern transitioned to the Superman family title in mid-1988, immediately after a dispute with Marvel led him to DC, where editor Mike Carlin assembled him alongside penciller Mike Mignola — then still a relatively young guest talent coming off collaborations with John Byrne on World of Krypton and Jim Starlin on Cosmic Odyssey — and the celebrated ink stylist P. Craig Russell. The issue picks up narrative threads Byrne had planted in Action Comics #595 and Superman vol. 2 #17, weaving them into a complete mythological arc grounded in Celtic folklore, with colorist Petra Scotese and letterer John Costanza rounding out the production. The issue received a second printing, and assistant editor Renée Witterstaetter handled the letters column, where fan mail from Mignola's prior Superman #18 appearance was still arriving.

Trivia · 8 facts

Title: "Curse of the Banshee!" — writer Roger Stern's first issue on Superman vol. 2, taking over from John Byrne.
Full origin of Silver Banshee (Siobhan McDougal) revealed: her family ritual, betrayal by brother Bevan, dragging into a netherworld, and supernatural pact with the Crone — all depicted here for the first time.
First appearances of supporting/villain characters: Captain O'Conner, Seamus McDougal (Bevan's uncle), and the Crone all debut in this issue per the Grand Comics Database.
Art team: pencils and cover by Mike Mignola, inks by P. Craig Russell, colors by Petra Scotese, letters by John Costanza; edited by Mike Carlin with Renée Witterstaetter as assistant editor.
Batman (Bruce Wayne) appears as a guest, bringing Superman a key piece of information about a recovered occult book found among stolen goods in Gotham City.
Cover date: November 1988; the issue exists in three editions — Direct, Newsstand, and a Second Printing.
Reprinted in Superman: The Exile and Other Stories Omnibus (DC, 2018), Superman in the Eighties (DC, 2006), and both editions of The DC Universe by Mike Mignola (DC, 2017 and 2018).
The issue is the opening chapter of a story arc continued in Adventures of Superman #447, marking early coordination of the Superman line's interconnected storytelling that would fully flower in the Triangle Era.