Anyhow, there were a trio of gods in the myths of Maltus known as the Triarch, Quarra the Creator, Archor the Sustainer and Tzodar the Destroyer. The Guardians, of course, were the heads of the Green Lantern Corps, while the Controllers had their own intergalactic police force known as the Darkstars. They had been brought to Maltus to help police that planet. The Controllers and the Guardians, you see, were both from the planet Maltus, which was currently the home base of the intergalactic protection service known as L.E.G.I.O.N., run by Vril Dox, the son of Brainiac.
While that was all going down in the Superman titles, Hal and the Green Lantern Corps were out in space caught up in some drama between the Controllers and the Guardians. The young clone was sort of a clone of Superman but not really, while the Cyborg Superman was actually an old Superman villain named Hank Henshaw who teamed up with the evil alien Mongul to try to take over Earth, starting with the destruction of Coast City, Hal Jordan’s hometown. As it turned out, none of them were actually Superman, but the energy being was the Kryptonian Eradicator, who had brought Superman back to life and in the meantime, was sort of filling in for him. The other three were a cyborg who claimed to be Superman resurrected with cybernetic replacements, a grim version of Superman with new, energy powers and a young man claiming to be a clone of Superman.
In “Reign of the Supermen,” following the death of Superman, four people showed up, with three of them claiming to be Superman and a fourth (John Henry Irons) simply fighting crime with a suit of armor in honor of Superman.