In 1987, after a dispute with editor Mark Gruenwald over upcoming storylines, Stern was fired from "The Avengers". He began freelancing for DC Comics, where he was one of the core Superman writers for almost a decade, working on "Superman (vol. 2)", "Action Comics", and '. He contributed to such storylines as "Panic in the Sky" and "The Death of Superman" which revived interest in the character in the early 1990s. He created the Eradicator in "Action Comics Annual" #2 and later incorporated the character into the "Reign of the Supermen" story arc beginning in "The Adventures of Superman" #500. Stern wrote the 1991 story wherein Clark Kent finally revealed his identity as Superman to Lois Lane. In Summer 1995, Stern and artist Tom Grummett created a new quarterly series, '. Additionally, Stern was one of the many creators who worked on the "" one-shot in 1996 which featured the title character's marriage to Lois Lane. Besides his work on Superman, Stern (with co-plotter Tom McCraw) wrote "Legionnaires" from 1996 to 1999. Other work for DC included a relaunched "Atom" series, drawn by Dwayne Turner and the co-creation of the Will Payton version of "Starman" with artist Tom Lyle.