 Byrne's Superman felt that his deepest roots were on Earth, and that his home planet of "Krypton is anathema to him".The origin and early career of Byrne's version of Superman debuted in the six-issue miniseries "The Man of Steel" (July–Sept.1986), the first issue of which was marketed with two different covers illustrated by Byrne, the first use of variant covers by the American comics industry.<ref></ref>

Byrne penciled the six-issue DC Universe crossover miniseries "Legends" (Nov. 1986 – May 1987) during this time.<ref>Manning, "1980s", in Dolan, p. 221.