The Death of Superman

Death and Return of Superman 2016 Edition #1

by Dan Jurgens, Dennis Janke (Illustrator), Denis Rodier (Illustrator)

The story that drew national media attention when DC Comics killed their greatest hero is collected here. When a hulking monster emerges from an underground resting place and begins a mindless rampage, the Justice League is quickly called in to stop the colossal force of nature. But it soon becomes apparent that only Superman can stand against the monstrosity that has been nicknamed Doomsday. Battling their way throughout America, the two fight to a standstill as they reach the heart of Metropolis. Going punch for punch, Superman finally ends the threat of Doomsday as he throws one last punch and collapses forever.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Superman, Dc Comics, Comic Book, Fiction, Superheroes

168 pages, Comic

First published December 1, 1992

About the author

Dan Jurgens is an American comic book writer and artist. He is known for his work on the DC comic book storyline "The Death of Superman" and for creating characters such as Doomsday, Hank Henshaw, and Booster Gold. Jurgens had a lengthy run on the Superman comic books including The Adventures of Superman, Superman vol. 2 and Action Comics. At Marvel, Jurgens worked on series such as Captain America, The Sensational Spider-Man and was the writer on Thor for six years. He also had a brief run as writer and artist on Solar for Valiant Comics in 1995.

Reviews

[Donovan · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a load of horseshit. This is the most preposterous, shallow, unexplained, pointless story arc ever told. You want to kill Superman? You first need to think about everything that hasn't killed him yet. Every villain like Luthor, Brainiac, Mongul, Batman in his crazy mech suit, Anti-Monitor, all the crazy shit of Crisis, going through planet cores and stars and dimensions. I'm envisioning something incalculably huge and powerful, something I've never seen before. But no. Knowing this book will live in comic book history forever, the writers came up with a brainless, wordless fuckhead that punches Superman to death. Punches! The only reason this was "the best selling graphic novel of all time" is because they killed off, for little purpose other than because they could, comics' greatest hero ever.

SPOILERS

This starts off just great. Doomsday punches a wall and we get no less than three pages and twelve panels showing his break out. Of where? I think the Cadmus Project, but I'm not sure and it makes no difference. Then an inner city black orphan goes into the sewers to rescue his missing mother from monsters. Lois Lane finds a note (seemingly from this kid, but somehow from a homeless man that Lois happens to serve at the soup kitchen) that indicates something is happening in the sewers that threatens Metropolis. Naturally Lois is captured, Superman rescues her, and that's the end of that first issue. What the hell does that have to do with Doomsday?

Then Doomsday starts his warpath in Ohio, and the 90s Justice League International is called in, including Booster Gold, Maxima, Bloodwynd, Fire, Ice, Blue Beetle, and Guy Gardner. I have only heard of Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, and Guy Gardner, but it makes no difference because this is not the A Team. Where's the DC Trinity when you need it? Switch gears and Superman is being interviewed on a talk show that's being piped in to high schools in the Midwest. Again, not sure how this is relevant. Meanwhile Doomsday crashes the Beetle airship with a big stick. Riveting so far.

But wait, who is Doomsday? Clearly a capitalist, destroying the environment and killing animals with his bare hands. We learn from Maxima's telepathy that Doomsday is "hate, death and blood lust personified! Nothing more." And here Doomsday requires of the reader a suspension of logic. Super strength and invulnerability are his only powers, and these heroes like Guy and Blue Beetle who have faced a 1000 foes are suddenly no match for him. I'm unconvinced so far. For some reason, perhaps for literal sake, Doomsday's arm is tied behind his back until the entire JLI is energy blasting him simultaneously. Then it gets real, because he's got both arms free. Look out! It's when Booster Gold says "he's...faster than...Flash!" that I rolled my motherfucking eyes. Excuse me? The Cadmus scientists confirm that Doomsday moves at half the speed of sound, or 382 mph. That's fast, but I'm pretty sure Flash has him beat by running, you know, the god damn speed of light, through time, through fucking dimensions. So you might wanna fact check that shit. Superman later says "we've never quite faced anything like this before." Really, not in forty years? Doomsday, the idiotic monster, is barely literate. He speaks worse than stupid Hulk does. "Me angry" is too complicated. He says "MHH-TRR-PLSS!" instead of Metropolis, a four syllable word. And nothing stops this asshole. Not the entire JLI. Not Supergirl, who seriously gets one good shot in, not Superman, who I might remind you wasn't even killed during the whole god damn Crisis On Infinite Earths. Doomsday is a mindfucked professional wrestler. He isn't even one dimensional. He's a physical being who lacks even the most basic forethought. Even, I don't know, a puddle of hot maple syrup would possess more tactical knowledge than Doomsday. And based upon all that, this monster who is dumber than even Frankenstein's monster, who is technically braindead, this thing beats Superman. Wow. Utterly flabbergasting. And 112 pages into the fight Superman says "got to...change my tactics. Maybe if I...hit him with something..." What the fuck else have you been doing? The worst thing about this book is that Jurgens is actually a great writer, and Return of Superman for instance is absolutely epic. I don't know if this was forced on him, quickly plotted and only there for follow up books, I'm guessing so, but this is fucking terrible.

[Baba · Rating 2 out of 5]

Recounting the coming of Doomsday, Doomsday's totally destructive and visually formidable time on Earth and the death of, and burying of Superman as told across the four main Superman books. As ever in stories like this, it's the eulogies and aftermath that carry the sway. A mere 5 out of 12, Three Star read, too much filler.

2012 read

[Alejandro · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Earth's Greatest Hero has fallen...


WHICH IS THE MONSTER THAT EVERY COMIC BOOK TITLE FEARS???

There is a monster even more terrifying and powerful than Doomsday that inflicts fear into the heart of any comic book title...

The Low Sales' Monster!

The four Superman titles selling at that time were suffering low sales, and the editorial team thought that if "nobody" was reading them, then it was better to kill off the character.

This is something hardly new in the business.

The Batman titles, back in the 60's, were suffering low sales too and believe it or not, the campy TV show of Batman saved of the cancellation to the comic book titles. (Just have that in mind, the next time that you may have the unfair need to critizice that TV show. No one can't deny the campiness of the project but without it, you wouldn't have all those cool graphic novels, films, animated series and even characters like Batgirl(Barbara Gordon)).

With Wonder Woman, the Low Sales' Monster was even more unmerciless, since the title was cancelled on the 70s. One of the only three surviving characters of DC Comics after the WWII and witch hunts from the censorship, was just cancelled. Yes, it got back later but that never-ending long run was broken. For a few time but broken nevertheless. A shame doing that to the greatest female super-hero character ever created.

SUPERMAN WILL BE KILL BY WHO???

Obviously many people argue of why creating this "Doomsday" to be the one with the "honor" of killing the Earth's Greatest Hero. To be fair, I think that if the creative teams would choose Lex Luthor, Brainiac or Darkseid, the people would argue just the same, since always there would be fans of the villains not chosen for this "honor" in comic books' history.

I think that "Doomsday" personified, at that moment, the unpredictability of life, the embodiment of the chaos theory. While stories in comic books, novels and films usually have the advantage of a script, where the "coolest" villain with tons of history on his/her shoulders is the one with the "honor" of the "final killing", in life, you can't control who or how you will die, and then, Doomsday showed how any day can be the last day of any character, even Superman.

WHERE THE HECK WERE THE REST OF HEROES???

It's a fair question where the heck were the rest of heroes while Superman was fighting alone against this unstoppable force known as "Doomsday". True, the Justice League of America faced the monster before, but at that moment, that team was harldy seen as the most powerful super-hero team on the planet, but at least they didn't hesitate to battle that monster. But, where was Batman, Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel (Shazam) and the others?

Well, obviously it was an editorial decision, but thinking inside of the logic of the wonderful world of comic books, well, it just wasn't their battle. Easily can be said that all of them were busy attending their own crisis, but at the end, Doomsday was a job for Superman, simple as that, not matter the deadly consequences of that. Help is always grateful but there are moments in life that a person should face his/her monsters all alone.

[Nicolo · Rating 4 out of 5]

At one time, this was the biggest event in comics. DC Comics killed the world’s first and greatest superhero in a crossover event that drove a record number of units out of newsstands and comic shops and probably made the biggest bubble among those who speculated in comics at that time... That bubble busted eventually, driving the entire comic industry to its knees.

Superman returned in another crossover event, but it proved that DC Comics was willing to gamble on such a risky gambit. At that time, Superman and other DC titles, also Marvel Comics; was losing ground to the upstart Image Comics which emphasized style over substance with their big guns, T & A and chromium covers. It was thought that Superman was becoming stale and losing relevance. Looking back, such a stunt was necessary to jumpstart interest in the character.

As for these collected comics, they were pretty standard, featuring bland DC art of the art, as the best artists were on Image or Marvel. The last issue though was pretty interesting, as it was a series of splash pages that culminated in a three page spread featuring the broken and battered body of Superman being cradled by Lois Lane in a Pieta like pose.

I got this copy as it was available at an affordable price, and I just wanted to reminisce when truth, justice and hope died in an effort to boost sales.

[Sr3yas · Rating 3 out of 5]

You may have saved citizens in distress, prevented nuclear holocaust or stood your ground while fighting a war against forces of evil. But does that make you a great superhero? No, comrade, it does not! If you want to be a great superhero, you'll have to ask yourself this question:



Seriously, You gotta die and get resurrected at least once if you want to be the greatest superhero (or supervillain) ever. I'm pretty sure it was Jesus who did it first successfully.

Anyways, now It's Superman's turn to fly through the cycle of death and resurrection, and it all begins here. Never have been a death so spectacular and so ... uh... hollow?

DOOMSDAY IS COMING!

Ladies and gentlemen, gather around to witness a monster like no other. A mad alien with unlimited power, unlimited rage, no morality, no history and NO PERSONALITY. Why is he here? Sorry, we have no clue. What is going to do? He is going to kill Superman to boost sales. going destroy everything that stands in his way. He is the sort of final boss in a video game everyone hates because it's simply too frustrating.


*The most conveniently monstrous monster award goes to... DOOMSDAY!*

Well, now it's time for a good news/bad news situation. The good news is that Justice League is here to stop the Doomsday. The bad news is that Justice League's current roster is a bunch of losers.

When all hopes seem to be lost... Enter Superman.



We witness an astonished Superman as he falls and fails to stop the monster in his first attempt. But fear not, the rest of the story is filled with Superman's attempts to stop Doomsday... Over and over and over again!



Here is the deal, the story is okay-ish and a good portion of art is iconic. To be honest, art is the only reason I'm not giving this a lower rating. Doomsday, while brutal, is not a good villain. If you replace Doomsday with a giant asteroid or something, the story will still be same. It's that easy to replace Doomsday because he is just a placeholder for destruction.


*The saving grace: Iconic panels*

The writing and dialogues are passable. Some of the characters like the random kid who hates Superman is a drag. Justice league is far from impressive and Superman does what Superman always does.

To be honest, I found the history and public reaction to this story arc in the real world more intriguing than this comic book. The phenomenal sales, the news coverage, the return of Superman, the pissed off readers, the decline of readership, and the backlash. I'm telling you, there is enough content in that story to turn Death of Superman into a documentary!

[Mario the lone bookwolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ingenious or a publicity stunt?

I´m by far not competent enough to objectively decide
But subjectively this whole thing feels constructed and kind of not fitting into the world. I´ve now read some Superman graphic novels/ comics and must say that they were all far better, especially because they included more and better worldbuilding, some deeper messages, and better artwork. Here it seems as if the

Creators didn´t care that much about the in universe place
And just wanted to be provocative, scandalous, and thereby boost sales. As pathetic as it sounds, other Superman stories had a heart or one could see that the writers worked hard and did their research to get much of the whole DC world into the story. Here, one not only just doesn´t get surprised by the story, but one also

Doesn´t really know what to think of it after reading
Even as a graphic novel rookie, I can feel the difference between the mindboggling and fascinating aspects the great works offer and the empty, dull, feeling after having consumed something average. It´s not bad, but just a totally overhyped, predictable story.

Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...

[Sam Quixote · Rating 1 out of 5]

Now that you’ve read the title you can say you’ve read the book because that’s all this comic is: the title. Superman dies. The end.

If you do decide to read this you’ll be introduced to the most one-dimensional and worst villain of all time, Doomsday. Forget that post-Death of Superman we learn more about his “character”; in this book we know nothing about him besides the fact that he’s a monster who’s been imprisoned beneath the Earth for some reason, is now free for some reason and causing havoc because that’s what he does.

Doomsday is just a terrible “character”. His name is idiotic - I mean why not Evil Villain or Mister Bad Guy? - but then Dan Jurgens’ awful creation Booster Gold christened him that so that’s unsurprising. We’re introduced to him as this guy with one hand tied behind his back who smashes stuff with his free hand and laughs. He destroys a forest of trees by punching, laughing. He punches a giant truck and laughs, etc.

Who is he? Why was he imprisoned? How is he so powerful? Why is he so angry and full of hate? Why is he headed directly to Metropolis? None of these questions are even acknowledged in the book. He’s as bland as possible, a character there for one reason: to kill Superman.

After fighting the JLA (and if you thought the JLA of today is bad, back in 1992 they had characters like Maxima, Bloodwynd, Fire and Ice, who were so terrible even they don’t have New 52 titles!), Doomsday fights Superman. This is how every encounter between Superman and Doomsday goes: they punch each other, really hard. That’s it. Punch, punch, punch, punch, punch, etc. until the final punch when they kill each other. I’m not sure Jurgens could’ve written a more tedious “storyline” if he’d tried.

That said, Superman and Doomsday smash their way through a lot of buildings and property so if you enjoyed the final third of Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, this might be the book for you as it’s nothing but smashy smashy all the way through!

I’ll give the “creative” team this: in the last four issues, they structured it so that the fourth issue from last had four panels per page, the third issue from last had three panels, and so forth until the final issue was just giant single panels per page. The idea being that the action and tension were increasing the closer it got to the finale, which is a great idea actually and would’ve been inspired if there was any narrative tension, but there wasn’t because this “story” was so repetitive and flat.

And that’s the real problem with Death of Superman, is the lack of feeling when Superman does die. You know it going in, you’re expecting it as you read, and yet when the moment finally comes, there’s no emotion to it - it just happens and then Lois is bawling. And I guess we’re supposed to as well? I certainly wasn’t and I LOVE Superman! I was relieved I didn’t have to read any more of Jurgens’ awful writing more than anything! Lazy non-writing that did nothing to make the story stand out doesn’t make for an emotional read; instead this whole enterprise came off as completely contrived and cynical more than anything.

Death of Superman stands out not because it’s a great Superman book or a classic Event comic - it’s neither - but because it sold a ton of comics and put DC in the news. That’s the real legacy of this comic: Marvel and DC learned that to make headlines and money they had to kill off their characters. They’d bring them back in a year or two but the act itself would be worth it for them, financially.

It’s a legacy we’re feeling to this day where big name characters get the chop (this year’s death was Wolverine, last year’s was Damian Wayne, year before that was Professor X, and so on), only for Marvel/DC to bring them back shortly after. It’s hardly a noble legacy to have but that’s Death of Superman for you: a cold cash grab.

As I said, if you already know Doomsday kills Superman in Death of Superman, you really don’t need to read the actual book itself as doing so doesn’t add anything further to that knowledge. Seeing him die is unimpressive and reading it is a complete bore. Superman deserved better than Dan Jurgens and co.

[Andy · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's no wonder that this is the best selling comic book of all time. "The Death of Superman" combines everything I love about WWF pro wrestling with the tight plotting of a Michael Bay film. Forget all the psychological nuance of Frank Miller's "Dark Knight" comics, Superman is GOOD and that's all you need to know. And who is Doomsday? Where does he come from? Why does he want to kill Superman? Does it really matter? You might as well ask why Hulk Hogan needs to body slam his opponents or why Godzilla is awesome. And finally, a DC comic that ignores the so called "favorite" characters (like Batman and the Green Lantern) in favor of the second stringers we all really love. Now Maxima, Booster Gold and the Blue Beetle all have their moments to shine! And I can't believe it took them over 50 years to draw a comic book without panels. Those fragmented pages have been confusing me since day one. Now every page is like a giant poster, and only the text is there to distract me from the violence. Here's a spoiler, what do you think kills Superman? Is it betrayal? An arrow with a Kryptonite tip? A nuclear blast? Nope! It's getting punched a whole bunch of times really hard by the strongest super villain ever!!! If you read one comic book in your entire life, make it this one!

[✨Bean's Books✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Purely classic...
Superman and Doomsday go head-to-head in this epic battle which ends in one of them walking away... only one of them.
This comic book series is jam-packed with epic battles, cheesy one-liners, and pure comic book gold. This is one for the ages!
If you have not read this one yet then you need to remedy that! 😉

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Superman may have met his match as some indestructible being (simply named “Doomsday”) filled with hate marches to Metropolis and obviously creates a path of destruction in its wake. Other JLA superheroes try to stop it but even as a group they are no match. Then Superman joins one JLA group and after they are defeated he's the only one left standing.

See Lois Lane with red hair. Watch Superman give his all against an impossible foe. See other JLA member get “pwned” even if they're third tiered superheroes. See the regular people use missiles and other armaments against this impossible foe. At the end it looks like Superman bites it and I'm not giving anything away per the title of this piece.

The particular tale came out in 1992 and did incredibly well in sales. The follow ups to this graphic novel are: “Funeral for a Friend” and “Reign of Superman”.

ARTWORK PRESENTATION: B plus; ACTION SCENES: B plus to A minus; CHARACTERS/DIALOGUE: A minus; STORY/PLOTTING: B plus; WHEN READ: end of June 2012; OVERALL GRADE: B plus to A minus.

I'm sure this was probably big back in the early 90s but killing superheroes is never taken seriously these days because they always bring them back. How many times have some of our favorite superheroes died and returned? I am trying to grade it on a level of fresh but if it were today my grade would be lower.

[Subham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty fun and long read for sure.

We see how Doomsday comes in and takes down the JL (the International version) and well Clark is giving an interview but he has to help his friends and fight this unstoppable monstrosity and well he has to do it all and save people and take the blows of this monster and we follow the path of destruction and many people's POV and how they survive him, but when the monster comes close to home and his GF and best friend, he will have to step up and put an end to this monster even if it means putting his life on the line.

Its an epic book and does not hold back at all and just shows the savage-ness of this villain and the threat that Doomsday represents, he is a killing machine and a real threat to Superman and the only one which can knock him down and its fun to see but sad to read and the ending with the articles and eulogies just makes you cry for people in that moment in the story, the greatest hero dead and what followed changed everything. The art restorations were good and the coloring too!

[Lashaan Balasingam · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the most iconic moments in the DC Universe and the title says it all.

This story arc introduces us to a threat that the world has never seen before and who is rightfully named Doomsday. He is completely unidimensional and is simply a killing machine. His powers? Pure brutal and unmatched strength. Not even the Justice League (although a very, very lame ensemble of heroes in this case) could stop him. Everything relies on Superman.

The writing is nothing special, and it has the tell-rather-than-show thing going on. It can get annoying for modern readers who aren’t used to it since you don’t want everything to be written for you. Let the artwork do its job, right?

Besides that, the artwork is pretty decent to be honest. Of course it has the style of its era, but it’s still pretty cool, especially Superman.

You’d think that the death of Superman might have a clever and complex plot attached to it, but it’s honestly just a boxing brawl that goes all the way to the 12th round.

Yours truly,

Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cover says that this is "the best-selling graphic novel of all-time".

What they don't tell you is that collectors bought it thinking it was worth big money due to being the last Superman comic ever published, only for DC to bring back Supe, leaving fans everywhere infuriated.

I first became familiar with Doomsday via the direct-to-video movie Superman: Doomsday; soon after, I read the print novel The Death and Life of Superman. These comics are good for what they are; "fun" isn't exactly the right word, because some of the fights are brutal, even bloody at times.

Still, this is only part of the story; after this volume, in typical fashion, Superman does not stay dead.

[Greta is Erikasbuddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cult Classic Graphic Novel READ!



But am I impressed?



Not really because I know Superman is not really dead.



I think I was in 10th grade when Superman died. Then I think it was the very next year that they brought him back.....



I've never been INTO Superman until recently when I started watching Smallville. I've always liked the idea of Superman but never have been too thrilled with him.



The Death of Superman was just that. It was ok but I wasn't thrilled.



I was shocked to see that Lex Luthor had been killed off a while ago (I have no clue how) and his son was now in charge of LexCorp or LuthorCorp (they have both in Smallville lolz) and had a massive mane of red locks (I thought maybe Lex stumbled upon Rogaine at first. I had no clue that was Junior till it was mentioned). OH! And Lex jr. was shacking up with Supergirl!! Waaaaa?!!!



The dialogue was pretty simple and Superman let loose one cuss word. (gasp) But maybe that's because the people behind Superman figured the kids were going to read it.



The beating up Superman in my opinion was pretty tame. It didn't make me cringe like my husband said it would. He pretty much died of exhaustion not because Doomsday pummeled him. It wasn't like Superman was pounded to hamburger meat. Although there is a part where a bird is crushed and a deer is choked. I got excited over that. Before you call PETA they were cartoon animals and I'm sure they are back to happily frolicking on the piece of paper they were drawn on. I just liked it that they pushed the envelope. (I'm odd)



After reading the comic I started to wonder how they would have done Superman's death today. My husband rolled his eyes at me and told me it wasn't that long ago. Uhhh... yeah it was! Like almost 20 years. Look how far we have come. We're not afraid to show hamburger pounded beefcakes.



While the Superman of yesterday didn't wow me..... I would read it again if it was ever redone... just out of curiousity.. and shock value ;)

[James DeSantis · Rating 2 out of 5]

One major advancement for comics after the 90's is writers decided to write characters like actual people. Before that we had a lot of "My Golly G we gotta stop the bad guys!" and "Holy Molley geez what we gonna do?" Instead of them actually SPEAKING like NORMAL people. This "Death of Superman" arc is known as one of the biggest things DC ever done. This wasn't the first time they killed off a main character, they just knew killing off SUPERMAN would bring in headlines.

So what's it about? Well you got Doomsday landing on earth and hitting trees and trucks. Then the JLA comes over and is like "Hey, buddy, we gonna stop you!" not actual dialog, but pretty close. Then they each get beat to a pulp while Superman is doing a interview on TV. So you got Superman just chilling, talking about how he'll always protect us, while his friends are getting their shit wrecked. It's kind of funny. THEN Superman hears of the events and goes charging over. The brawl begins and Superman vs Doomsday come down to a fight of their lives!!!

What I liked: Doomsday slapping around the JLA is pretty fun actually. Just watching all the heroes getting beat to the ground while trying their best is kind of terrifying and fun to watch. Kind of fucked up for me to say huh? Owell.

What I didn't like: So yeah. Pretty much everything in this feels rushed along. Doomsday comes down to earth, beats people up, kills superman. The end. That's the whole plot. Over 150 pages and that's the best they came up with. Also the dialog is HORRIBLE. No fucking joke it's some of the worst I've ever read. Also Superman is kind of a dick in this and his ideas and mindset aren't what I'd consider superman worthy.

Overall this is a big old meh. I read this when I was young and remembered not enjoying it. Figured maybe when I'm older and read more Superman I'd enjoy it more. Nope. THis was pretttttty bad. Worth reading through to get his death but nothing worth mentioning.

[Tom Ewing · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the fun things about reading old event comics is being reminded of the weird status quo shifts titles were trying at the time. What does Lex Luthor have to say about the death of his arch-foe? Surprisingly little, as he's pretending to be a young Aussie bloke with a big red beard. Who fights side-by-side with Superman against the rampaging menace? Why, it's... Bloodwynd, who if memory serves is about to be revealed as the Martian Manhunter blacking up.

It's a handy reminder that there are no such things as "timeless" superhero comics. Nonsense about Superman, Batman et al being a "modern mythology" gets their value arse-over-tit - this junk is fun to revisit because of the mirror it holds up to the mores and concerns of its time, and diminishes in value the more it circles the wagons to cut itself off from the outside world and speak only to nerds.

"The Death Of Superman" is trying its best to speak to people beyond nerds - and it succeeded thanks to a media which happily played along. The actual story is a case of getting Superman from A to B (or in this case A to D) with minimal interest - it's six issues of fighting against a monster who is entirely unstoppable until such point as the plot calls for him not to be. At the time, this was a huge disappointment - especially since the Superman titles were the most reliable chicken-soup comfort comics on the stands. They were a gentle weekly soap opera in which the never-ending battle generally took second billing to, say, Jimmy Olsen's disastrous career moves - a vibe which never quite recovered from the success of this story.

A weekly schedule did mean the creative teams could co-ordinate well on a story, and like most long Superman stories of the time this reads seamlessly. But it was also the case that nobody got the 90s Superman gig for being a brilliant action artist - the most interesting art by far here comes from Jon Bogdanove, and his penultimate issue is the only time the Doomsday story is close to exciting as a piece of comics-making. Superman 75, which ends the story, is by contrast a right mess: big action scenes just aren't Dan Jurgens' strong point and the decision to tell the story all in splash pages robs all his images of momentum. In a meta sense it sells the comic as An Important Event but as a piece of storytelling it's weak.

Most of the enjoyment is in the build up, and that's where the distinctive early-90s flavour of "The Death Of Superman" comes over. This is a story told through and saturated in broadcast media - news choppers, Lois lane reportage, garbled cable TV reports, Superman hearing about Doomsday in the middle of an interview. It's setting up the overall theme of the Death and Return (inasmuch as there is one) - this is going to be a story about how people view Superman more than a "Superman story". It's appropriate that the final issue in the collection isn't Superman 75, but the fake issue of 'Newstime' DC put out as a cash-in to the storyline, full of nods to the fans (as the magazine was at this point being edited by a disguised demon) and weird bits (two pages of LP reviews!) which had nothing to do with the story but are oddly fascinating as a piece of in-universe ephemera. More interesting, for sure, than most of the self-conscious mythmaking in the story itself.

[Ed Erwin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Punch punch punch. Kick kick kick. Fight fight fight.

That is all there is. One fight scene after another. If you like action scenes, there's plenty here for you, and they seem well done. I just don't care.

Well, at least he's finally dead now and we won't have to read any more stories about Superman!

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Re-read ....Review - https://youtu.be/QFDPBlfLoG4

[Jake · Rating 3 out of 5]

It may be grossly unfair, on a literary level, to grade The Death of Superman as a graphic novel. More than any previous compilation-turned graphic novel, the serial nature of this publication seems explicit. That being said, DC Comics ultimately packaged and sold this multi-part story as a single work, which is how I encountered it this weekend. Special thanks to the group of local public libraries that diligently engage in inter-library loan, making it possible for me to read this work at no charge in one of its delightfully color-saturated 1993 editions.

The title of The Death of Superman is also a good summation of the plot. From the first chilling ram of super villain Doomsday’s fist against his subterranean prison wall, this entire story is all setup and execution (pun intended) of Superman’s demise. I am not cynical about this, sincerely. Comic books are forever reinventing and re-adapting their icons. Superman the icon was never in jeopardy, just this particular incarnation of him in the comic book realm. And I think periodically killing off our superheroes is a perfectly worthwhile narrative experiment.

There are a handful of highly suspenseful moments, in the context of a story whose title is a wanton spoiler. At one point, Superman has to choose between rescuing a victim trapped in a fire or completing the more tactically important task of keeping Doomsday busy. Another gripping moment, late in the story, involves Lois Lane trying to convince Superman not to kill Doomsday--because killing is not what Superman does. What a shame the authors wait until the final pages to hastily address what could have been the paramount moral question of the novel.

The creators of The Death of Superman do not spend significant time, or emphasis, on character study. If this had been a graphic novel in genesis, perhaps they would have. But this is actually a high action, multi-part story originally told in monthly comic book form. With token exceptions like those mentioned above, it is a single relentless action sequence. In this respect, I found it grandly successful. Yet, it hits with all of the intellectual nuance of the last 30 minutes of any given superhero flick. Exciting? Yes. Thought-provoking? Not especially.

The creators can’t even be bothered to supply an aftermath. Superman dies. The end. They may have supplied a proper aftermath in the monthly single magazine format, but not in the graphic novel form in which this story now exists.

Like I indicated earlier, The Death of Superman is all setup and execution of a single story beat. And the setup is lots and lots of fighting and chasing. There is a TV interview sequence spliced into the battle. It plays as overt exposition, with all of the charm of a just-the-facts inverted pyramid style. Nothing subtle or gray here.

Still I am glad I read this work. I was entertained. Superman has always been a messiah story, rightfully so. Messiahs usually die. Their mission seemingly demands it. Yet there is a risk for authors of getting lost in the spectacle of the hero’s demise. When this happens, something that could have been thoughtful winds up feeling merely sensational. In the context of a proper sendoff, that seems a missed opportunity to say the least

[✔️ JAVI ®️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

6/10 ⭐⭐⭐
Un título con morbo donde encontramos una batalla épica entre Superman y una bestia llamada "Juicio final", en la que Superman contará con la ayuda de la liga de la justicia. ¡Y eso es todo! El enfrentamiento abarca prácticamente todo el cómic sin explicar de donde sale "Juicio final" o que intenciones tiene. Un guión muy pobre y poco trabajado dejando todo el interés en si finalmente Superman deja huérfana a Metrópolis.
Con un dibujo correcto que gusta y te mete en el cómic. Con cierto aire retro (estilo de los 90) al leerlo en la actualidad.
Recomendable exclusivamente para coleccionistas que quieren tener todo lo de Superman (aunque estos irán a por una edición superior).
Desconozco si junto con otro arco argumental cobra algo más de interés, pero por si solo no aporta mucho más que el morbo final, ¿muere o no muere Superman? 🤔🤫

[John Yelverton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me cry for days after I read it. Heroes are not supposed to die!

[Ms.Manzarek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lo he devorado.
“Pero la mayoría recordará este triste día... como el día en que el hombre más noble y orgulloso que conocían finalmente cayó. Para quienes lo amaban, la que lo habría llamado esposo, el que era su amigo, o aquellos que lo llamaban hijo... es el peor día que podían imaginar. Lo educaron para que fuera un héroe y conociera el valor del sacrificio. El valor de la vida. A aquellos que protegieron toda vida al lado de Superman los asalta el impacto del fracaso. El pesar de haber llegado tarde para ayudarlo. Para que viva una ciudad, hay un hombre que lo ha dado todo."

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story opens with a new villain Doomsday smashing himself from underground to the Earth’s surface. He is established as a bad guy when he kills a bird in his hand and laughs about it- gasp! There is a convoluted storyline about Lois Lane and a random boy getting into trouble in the basement of a power station in which Superman needs to save them. I was amused that Lois left Clark a message on a computer of where to find her- and he mentioned that it was so high-tech of her to do that, instead of on a note (as this was published in 1992). Superman dispatches all these underground baddies, not knowing the worst is yet to come. Then we are introduced to the B-level Justice League heroes such as Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, Bloodwynd and Maxima who first meet Doomsday and can’t defeat him at all. Having just read Heroes in Crisis, I knew who a few of these lesser-known heroes were, but the entire time I was wondering why in the world Batman, Wonder Woman and other more powerful Justice Leaguers never came to help. While Supergirl briefly plays a part, I had to look up why in the world she was in a romance with a red-bearded Lex Luthor, and why she failed to be of any use. So Superman and Doomsday meet and they punch each other…over and over…and over and over again…until Superman dies. The end.

We all know Superman does not stay dead, and that very fact sucks the gravitas out of the whole story. As if DC would truly kill this icon, thus this storyline was just a publicity stunt when they had run out of other ideas. Sequels Funeral for a Friend and Reign of the Supermen just negated the whole story. Plus, Doomsday is the villain that kills him? All he does is punch- that’s it.

I’ve noticed in older Marvel and DC comics, that there are often several artists listed, but the art remains consistent. I’m guessing they were required to, as I am thinking of the book How To Draw Comics the Marvel Way, and they were given a blueprint for them to follow. I have mixed feelings about this- I become very annoyed when illustration styles change within a graphic novel, yet following a required design boxes artists in and they remain anonymous as their personal style does not shine through. And on a further aside, although this novel came out in the early 90’s the art retains the look of the golden/silver age of comics although the storyline was in the “modern age of comics”. The excesses of art that Image Comics was known for had not affected DC, at least in this graphic novel. But I truly loved the “countdown” of panels- the book opens with varied panel configurations, but as the story progresses the panels reduce to four a page, then three, then two with the final battle consisting of one-page splash pages.

All in all, this was a fun, somewhat campy read. While the storyline didn’t work, this was a turning point for comics and established a legacy of crossover events, so I am glad I picked it up to further my comic knowledge. (Actual review 3.5/5)

This review can also be found on my blog: https://graphicnovelty2.com/2019/12/0...

[Kirk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most comic book fans know the story. DC was scheduled to do a Superman wedding run, but Louis & Clark was already going in that direction on television, so they figured killing Superman would be the next best way to boost sales.

So they set out to kill Superman (boost sales). But hey, DC had a bunch of titles that were selling like shit cakes dredged from a city gutter, so they decided to have the story arc cut across every shitty title they had in a desperate attempt to boost sales.

And it worked.

Most of us are here to appreciate books for the plot, characters, stylistic rendering, etc., but I still respect the sales model used to push this book (in some respects). I think the tactics were cheap, but effective. And if you think this is the low of comic book marketing, remember Marvel recently offered comic book retailers limited edition comics if they agreed to destroy DC's universe reboot comics. THAT is low.

As for the story, I didn't care that the authors failed to elaborate on where our antagonist came from. Someone was out to destroy everything. That was enough for me. If someone breaks into my home and threatens to take me out, I'm probably not going to be too concerned about their origin story. Leaving the details out added to the character's mystery and his appeal.

There were some abysmal moments in this story, true. But the final showdown is one of the greatest in comic book history. Everyone was always pissed about how invincible Superman was, and finally we got a glimpse at his vulnerability. Superman became three dimensional for a split second, and right as we were about to savor that, he fucking died.

My timeline might be a bit off, but I remember reading this right around the time Spawn was starting to take off. And yeah, Superman came back a few issues later, which was ludicrous, but the comic industry was never the same. The traditional hero had been replaced by heroes darker and more sinister. "Egads" was replaced by "shit!" This comic wasn't just the death of Superman, it was the death of mainstream comic books as we knew it. DC didn't intend it to be that way. The timing just happened to be right. And after this run, I never picked up another issue of Superman again until Red Son, which I read about a year ago.

For all of these reasons, and despite the bad, I loved this book.

[Danger]

Whoa spoiler alert, right there in the title. But seriously, this might be one of the most famous comic book storylines of all time. Certainly was a big deal when I was 10 when it was new. Never got to read the whole thing back then, but now I have, with seven issues of the Death of Superman saga collected in this trade paperback. This was an action packed comic to be sure. Especially the final issue, with a series of splash pages, detailed and colorful. There really isn't much going on under the surface of this tale, as far as I can tell, but Doomsday is presented as a formidable foe for the Man of Steel and when Supes is finally felled, it is believable the unbeatable hero was beaten. Not bad.

[Scarlet Cameo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Este cómic tiene muchas cosas que no me gustaron, pero creo que el principal es el papel de Supergirl ¿En serio? Le pides permiso a Lex Luthor (hijo) para poder ir a combatir y hasta que él dice ya puede ir te vas (aun cuando ves que media liga de la justicia esta más muerta que viva). ¡¡¡NO MANCHES!!! retrocediste como 50 años en la libertad de la mujeres (ok unos 30 sí consideramos que el libro es de 1998), además ¡¡¡¡sólo resististe un golpe y adiós!!! Máxima combatió hasta que casi la matan.


La historia, aunque debería ser emotiva y deberíamos temer a Doomsday (quien, por cierto, es uno de mis villanos favoritos de DC) algo falta, los miembros de la Liga de la justicia pareciera que están de adorno y Superman, aunque de verdad se enoja MUCHO, me sigue pareciendo unidimensional y como que su personalidad es plana (no me maten), Lois está ahí sólo para que Superman la salve (o eso me pareció)...

Las últimas como 50 páginas, que es donde Superman esta cara a cara con Doomsday son las más entretenidas, especialmente por el dibujo que es realmente genial(de las pocas veces que me ha tocado ver al hijo prodigo de Kripton mostrar furia y verse realmente macabro). La escena más triste es definitivamente cuando pasan como los Kent viven la muerte de su hijo...

En fin la historia es entretenida pero no más de ello...lo cual me recuerda un poco porque inicialmente no lo terminé y también me dejo pensando si poner tres estrellas en lugar de dos, eso ya lo veré después.

Algo muy bonito (aunque sólo que tengas una edición del año en que salió) fue encontrarme con cupones de descuento para comprar el juego de Superman (exclusivo de SEGA), de verdad que eso me saco una sonrisa. Así que agradecimiento especial a quien me dio está edición.

P.D. La descripción de que Doomsday sólo quería destrucción (y no tenía otra motivación) me recordó al Joker de The Dark Night

[Scott · Rating 1 out of 5]

The story here is simple: This crazy strong evil monster who's REALLY REALLY ANGRY arises from somewhere and beats up the Justice League, beats up America, and then beats up Superman until they both die. The end.

That's it. I'm totally serious. I mean come on! This was the Man of Steel. The Man of Tomorrow! Krypton's ichiban ass-kicking muchacho!! And the best death story they can give him is "a big monster punched him really hard"?!?

And Lex Luthor's like: "Punching him! Of course! Why didn't I think of that!?"

The collected story is 170 pages, but it's essentially one long fight scene. The JLA takes on the monster Doomsday first, but they fail. Superman is next. He kinda keeps the guy in a holding pattern, but he essentially fails. Supergirl shows up for a minute but she gets punched so hard she turns into goo. (I'm not sure what was up with that.) And then Superman fights again.

The monster's origin and motivation are apparently not important because they got left out of the story. All we know is he is very strong and very mean. A big mean evil strong thing with stalagmite acne.

Yes, Superman fights with everything he has to save Metropolis. Yes, he's a big damn hero. It's all very noble, and that's precisely why a story about punching to death really doesn't cut the freaking mustard, dudes. Sorry.

(Copied from my blog: http://dustandspores.blogspot.com/200...)

[Javier Muñoz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Le doy un 3 por su importancia en la historia del cómic, en realidad mi nota sería un 2,5 o un 2.

El cómic es entretenido, pero pierde mucha potencia hoy en día, en los tiempos en que fue publicado por primera vez ya solo el concepto de la muerte de superman era increible, la gente supongo que lo leería pensando hasta el final que tenía truco, que al final se solucionaría de otra forma, que sería una portada engañosa más como tantas otras de la historia del cómic... pero como digo, hoy en día si te acercas a este cómic teniendo algo de idea de lo que pasa después no te impacta como lo hizo en su día, y te quedas con el cómic en sí, que no deja de ser una historia simplona en la que no se explica nada del villano, y que apenas tiene trama, simplemente te van preparando el final mientras se suceden mil combates en los que se va mostrando que doomsday es imparable, el último número con las páginas completas es espectacular pero nada que no se hubiera hecho antes.

El dibujo tampoco es nada del otro mundo, y aún pierde bastante en los números dibujados por Bogdanove.

En resumen, un cómic que hay que leer por su importancia histórica, que se hace entretenido por las grandes dosis de acción, pero que no deja de ser una historia mediocre con un dibujo del montón.

[Mia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I see why this was a 90s comic book.

[Daniel Sepúlveda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Puntaje: 3.5 Estrellas.

La Muerte de Superman es un cómic que causó revuelo desde su publicación. La valiente decisión de DC de matar a su personaje más icónico no podía pasar desapercibida.

En mi caso, conocía el contexto de esta historia y cómo todo condujo a la muerte de Superman, sin embargo, nunca había leído el cómic! Afortunadamente, gracias a la colección de novelas graficas de El Tiempo esto pudo cambiar.

Lo primero que me gustó (Y que no sabía que pasaba en esta historia) es que la Liga de la Justicia ocupa un rol casi principal en este comic. Aquí veremos a un par de miembros como Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Guy Gardner, Fuego, Hielo y Máxima, además de personajes externos a la liga como el Guardián y Supergirl (Cuyo papel fue totalmente innecesario, por cierto).

Me causó curiosidad ver cómo nos mostraron que los chicos y adolescentes ya no se emocionaban tanto con Superman, por el contrario, idolatraban a Guy Gardner, quien ya no contaba con su anillo de Green Lantern (Esto también me pareció muy curioso y quiero averiguar al respecto).

Ahora tengo ganas de leer los cómics que siguieron a esta historia porque quiero saber qué pasó después! Y, además, siento que debo leer un par de cómics previos para entender varias cosas que no terminaron de encajar en mí: ¿Porqué Lex Luthor tiene pelo? ¿Qué hacía Supergirl con Luthor? ¿Jimmy Olsen trabaja en un show de TV? En fin, hay muchas historias que debo leer a partir de “La muerte de Superman”.