Superman #420 – “And We Are the Dreamers of Dreams” – Elliot S! Maggin/Curt Swan/Dave Hunt
This one starts with superman seemingly in some kind of Paradise, surrounded by his long-gone family and other friends. Superman runs into a kid named Chris Parker Hunt, who’s a little strange, but their meeting is cut short when soldiers on winged horses swoop down to attack. Superman soon finds out the soldiers’ weapons can hurt him and his powers are acting weird, but by exerting his will power he manages to re-activate his powers. When he slams into the soldiers, everything explodes and he suddenly wakes up … yeah, it was all a dream. Clark Kent is in Smallville, staying with
an old friend named Wayne Kling, a teacher at Smallville High. Clark is supposed to speak to Wayne’s high school class, but he gets a surprise when most of the kids turn out to be unruly brats. He really gets a shock when he spots Chris Hunt in the class and figures it can’t be a coincidence. Later, Clark changes to Superman and goes to see Chris, who says he’s been able to go into other people’s dreams for years. Chris asks Superman why he doesn’t use his powers to force world peace or end hunger and Superman decides to show him something. He takes Chris to show him that Wayne has left a letter of resignation (which accidentally gets knocked into a garbage can) on the 
principal’s desk; Wayne is burnt out and doesn’t think he’s getting through to the students, even though all the kids think he’s the only good teacher they have. Superman explains that he could stop the people fighting the wars but that wouldn’t stop their reasons for fighting, just as Wayne’s letter ending up in the garbage won’t fix his reasons for wanting to quit. Chris says he can help Wayne and that night he dreams about Wayne and Superman (and Wayne’s wife) in a Western frontier town being attacked by ignorant students. Wayne realizes he can enlighten the students because he’s a teacher and wakes with a new love for his job. Superman thanks Chris (who’s Chief Parker’s grandson) for putting Wayne back on the right path.
Action #580 – “The Day Superman Couldn’t Save” – Robert Loren Fleming/Kurt Schaffenberger
This issue has three stories, all of which have that Silver Age feel that Superman was famous for around this time. The first story is Superman reminiscing about a time when he was saving victims of a bridge collapse. He had one last vehicle to save, a camper with six people (including some kids) inside the was trapped at the bottom of the river. But before he could save them, one of the bridge supports started falling toward the city. Superman was forced to let those six people die in order to save hundreds.
The public was pretty understanding, but the guilt gnawed at Superman. When he went to save a bunch of orphans from an amusement park fire, the guilt almost paralyzed him until the six dead people “appeared” to show him how best to save all the orphans … which he did. Superman reflects that there have been times since then that he’s been forced to make hard choices (and even let some people die to save others), but he no longer feels guilty as long as he knows he did his best.
“The Most Dangerous Toy on Earth” – E. Nelson Bridwell/Martin King, Paris Cullins/Greg Theakston
This is about a control module from an alien ship falling to Earth and being 
found by a kid named Christopher, who soon realizes it can do anything he thinks about. Unfortunately, that causes the side-effect of weird natural disasters around the world. The alien tries to get Christopher to give the module back, but Christopher isn’t convinced the guy really is an alien. After dealing with the disasters, Superman shows up, but Christopher (who’s apparently the most skeptical child in the history of the world) doesn’t believe he’s the real thing either. Once Superman convinces him (by referencing a fan letter), Christopher hands over the module and the alien takes off. This whole story was one of those things where a fan (Christopher Ball in this case) wins a chance to appear in an actual Superman story.
“The Mystery of the Missing Moon” – Paul Kupperberg/Kurt Scaffenberger/Dave Hunt
This is a goofy story about some aliens stealing the moon (through a space
warp) and leaving a fake in its place. Superman discovers the switch and tracks down the moon, which was taken by aliens on the planet Klatto who need the minerals on the moon. Superman points out that their planet has the same minerals, but he’s told the other aliens who live underground refuse to give up any of their resources, even though they need elements that are only found on the surface. Superman forces the two leaders to negotiate peacefully and ends up switching the moon with the fake one through another space warp.
DC Comics Presents #94 – “The Challenge of the Volt Lord” – Barbara Randall, Robert Greenberger/Tom Mandrake/Don Heck
This story is basically just a way of letting readers know what’s happening with Harbinger, Pariah, and Lady Quark, who were all introduced in the Crisis. The story starts with Volt Lord invading STAR Labs to look for something. He takes off when Superman shows up, but Volt Lord’s power is so strong he actually hurts Superman with an energy blast. Volt Lord takes off and we see him fly into the Galaxy Building. Once he recovers, Superman heads for the Galaxy Building too, where he’s due to appear as Clark Kent. Clark meets his new producer (Eric Courtney … gee, I wonder if he’s really Volt Lord?) and the three guests he’s supposed to
interview: Harbinger, Lady Quark, and Pariah. The three super-powered beings tell Clark (and the TV audience) that they’re on a fact-finding tour, checking out various super-beings. A short blackout screws up part of the interview, but they re-shoot the last couple of questions and everything is fine. Lady Quark is drawn to Eric and invites him out to dinner, as she’s eager to check out Earth cuisine. Eric and Lady Quark have a fun date and she’s quite taken with him because he reminds her of her dead husband. Eric is rather fond of Lady Quark too, but for more selfish reasons … he craves her raw power. Later, Pariah’s 
precognitive powers draw him to the site of Volt Lord’s next heist, an electronics store. Volt Lord is too powerful even for Harbinger and Lady Quark combined and gets away with some electronic components, ranting about how he’s going to transform the world and get rid of all the superheroes. Superman talks to Jenet Klyburn at STAR Labs about what Volt Lord stole (a power converter) and wonders why he’d need something like that when he already has so much power at his disposal. Superman sees the electronics store on fire and helps Harbinger and the others. They compare notes and it turns out Volt lord stole a similar device from the store. Lady Quark goes on another date with Eric and is sufficiently charmed to tell him her real name (Tashana). The
next night, Volt Lord tries to drain all he power from Metropolis’s grid, causing a blackout. While Superman and Pariah rescue people, Harbinger and Lady Quark go to confront Volt Lord. Lady Quark recognizes him as Eric and when he asks her to rule Earth beside him, she considers it. But when Volt Lord tries to kill Superman and Harbinger, Lady Quark is reminded of her own dead family and blasts Volt Lord. She apologizes for being tempted by the chance to rule (and fall in love) again and asks her friends to start calling her Tashana.
Justice League of America #251 – “Hunters and Prey” – Gerry Conway/Luke McDonnell/Bill Wray
This one starts with Despero heading toward Earth to obliterate the JLA … and apparently he’s really excited about it. In the Secret Sanctuary, Batman is running Vibe and Vixen through a training session in the JLA’s equivalent of the Danger Room and being a total hard-ass about it. Vibe gets pissed off and leaves and Vixen tells Batman he might have to adjust his attitude to connect with the new JLA members. Elsewhere in the headquarters, J’onn J’onzz is examining the gun he found at Pamela Cross’s murder scene in issue 248, which was left there to incriminate him.
Whoever left the gun didn’t realize that Martians don’t have fingerprints. When J’onn heads back to New York to continue the investigation, Gypsy decides to follow him. In New York, Zatanna has been trussed up in a medical bed by Adam, the cult leader who captured her last issue. Zatanna’s friend Sheri apologizes for setting her up and explains that Adam is teaching his followers how to be hunters instead of prey. Adam admits that he preys on vulnerable people who are afraid they can’t succeed in the modern world. He also mentions that he has a little bit of a super-power, just enough to sway people to his will. But he wants Zatanna’s power and has decided to use science to get it, taking some of her blood to create a retrovirus that’ll give 
him her magical powers. At Biloxi Investigations (the P.I. firm that J’onn works for in his civilian identity), J’onn uses telepathy to figure out that his boss isn’t the one who set him up. Gypsy sneaks in (invisibly) and steals the file on Pamela Cross, but J’onn’s telepathy detects her. She gives him the file and says she’ll check out Pamela while J’onn talks to her parents, who might be the ones setting J’onn up. Steel takes Robin (who he met on the movie set a couple issues ago) out on a date and is forced to reveal his powers to save her from a runaway taxi. At HQ, Batman and Vixen talk and bond over both being orphans. Despero arrives at the JLA Satellite, but is disappointed to find it destroyed and empty. He figures the JLA must now be on Earth and heads down to find them.