Superman: The Death of Superman

Death and Return of Superman 2016 Edition #1

by Dan Jurgens, Jerry Ordway, Louise Simonson

Autor: Simonson • Jurgens • Bogdanove • Grummet • Otros

¡El evento épico que conmovió al mundo y cambió a superman para siempre! Doomsday, una criatura cuyo único propósito es la destrucción, ha aterrizado en la Tierra. La Liga de la Justicia hizo un valiente y desesperado intento por detenerlo, pero cuando la bestia se acercó a Metrópolis fue Superman quien respondió a la llamada para enfrentarlo. Y entonces sucedió lo impensable. El Hombre de Acero… ¡murió!
Corresponde a Action Comics #683-684, Adven-tures of Superman #496-497, Justice League America #69, Superman #73-75, Superman: The Man of Steel # 17-19 y Newstime: The Life and Death of the Man of Steel.

Formato: Libro | 17 x 24 cm
Peso 600 grs

24 págs.

ISBN: 978-987-724-820-3

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

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 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

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first of many "deaths" of DC characters to boost sales. Doomsday is just this boring unstoppable force that destroys everything in its path. He pummels the Justice League before taking on Superman. They punch each other at the same time and kill each other. The end.

[Теодор Панов · Rating 3 out of 5]

От всички супергерои на DC Comics (а и от другите на Marvel) Супермен е героят, който ми харесва най-много.

И сега покрай новата (близо 4-часова) режисьорска версия на Зак Снайдър на „Лигата на справедливостта“ си припомних да прегледам специално и този комикс, който си бях набелязал за четене преди време.

Та накратко за комикса „Смъртта на Супермен“. Ами не успя да ми се понрави достатъчно. Самата история тук не ми беше вълнуващо представена. Попада в категорията „става“, но не е и нещо изключително. Илюстрациите биват, но и те не ми бяха особено открояващи се. Във филмите например смъртта на Супермен е представена много по-въздействащо. Там наистина това е грандиозен и епичен момент. Тук не го усетих такъв (но за 1992, когато историята е била публикувана, може и да си е било ок).

3.35 ⭐

[Práxedes Rivera · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good but could have been amazing. This subject deserved a treatment such as Marvel's Civil War, with multiple story arcs converging into a plot laden with surprises. Instead all we got was two or three intertwined stories that added up to something "alright". This is astounding considering Superman is the bedrock of DC comics!

It is still entertaining to read. But this is clearly a case of 'should've, could've, would've'.

[Ernez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one really tore me. As I was reading it, I was really into it and even felt sad for Superman. However now that it's been a day after I read it and writing this, I guess I can say it felt random and rushed. No backstory or nothing, just random Doomsday popped out and Superman and him fist fights until both ends up dead. The end.

Eh...could be better BUT as a Superman fan, I have to give this 4 stars for the way it made me feel reading it.

[Arthur Marchetto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eu não sei bem o que esperava, mas foi curioso conhecer o 4º gibi mais vendido do mundo que faz parte dessa coleção.

Acho que, com tantas repaginações e tantas "mortes" de heróis, esperava outra coisa, mas achei importante conhecer esse marco. Passa no teste do tempo? Não sei.

No mais, é um gibi simples: o Apocalipse chegou, é uma força avassaladora e sai atropelando e matando tudo que encontra no meio do caminho; até que ele e o Superman se dão um supersoco ao mesmo tempo e morrem.

A diagramação do último volume é interessante, são todas páginas cheias, sem nenhum quadro.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't imagine how big this must have been in the comic world back in the early 90's. I can slightly remember it being a huge deal but back then I wasn't reading comics. I am a Doomsday fanboy. I loved him in the Smallville TV show, in the new Rebirth Action Comics, and now in the original story. Anyway, I loved this, and definitely need this for my collection. Some great art and really solid writing at times.

[Hugo Emanuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most people are familiar with the importance of "The Death of Superman" - how it became a best-seller that made the news all over the world; how it began the trend of killing off super-heroes to boost sales and attention towards comics; so I wont bother to elaborate on it, as many reviwers have done so already. So I won't dwell on that, but give my opinion on the story, and adress some of the negative criticism it often gets.

I rather enjoyed it. It feels as important as intended, and its a riveting read. The artwork is good for the period it was produced in (early 90's). The sense of danger gradually escalates, and it does have the necessary tension to make it a worthwhile read. There are also some heartfelt moments, and it properly conveys the feeling of despair and exhaustion that Superman feels throughout. It also adresses the public's reaction to what is happenning in a slight, but effective manner.

"The Death of Superman" is often negatively appraised by alot of comic book fans.
One frequent criticism is that it consists of mainly one long fight. While there is some truth to that, it does escalate gradually, and several characters are involved, so I did not find it dull, repetitive or lifeless. Oddly, I've heard such criticism from people who love Sinestro Corp Wars, or Blackest Nigth, and those books also consist of one big fight. At least, in "Death of Superman", that fight feels like it has alot of stakes, and its well paced.

Another frequent criticism is the claim that, considering what Superman has faced before, a mindless brute whose only thougth and motive is destruction shoudn't be able to defeat Superman, a very powerfull, but above all, intelligent individual. I say it makes perfect sense. There is no reasoning with Doomsday, or time to plan much of anything, as he continuously goes through a destrutive senseless rampage, giving no quarter or chance to allow for planning. How can you plan for someone who doesn't have any objective, and relentlessly destructs and takes lives uncessantly, which requires a complete focus and presence on the battle? He has nothing to lose or gain, just destroys for pleasure.

The story is also critisized for being a cash-grab. Yes, it intended to garner attention and boost sales, and it did. But there is a clear effort on recounting that event in an engaging manner, and from multiple prespectives, despite the storytelling limitations enabled by what essentially one long battle. Visually, there is also some creative techniques employed (for example, the last three issues gradually decrease the number of panels per page -from three, then to two, and in the final issue, to one panel per page). So, you can see some though went into this, when it could have been half-assed.

And as for the complaint that it started a trend of killing off heroes? While that may be true, that's hardly on the book - it was the first of its kind, and made bank. So its expected that others of the same type would come about. But since I find the story very enjoyable, and it did break new ground, whatever it may have spawned doesnt strip away the value it had at the time of his release, or that it remains a good read.

I'd say its definetly worth a read, not only because of its importance, but also due to it being an engaging and well-written book. While some readers loathe it, its mostly a celebrated book, so its likely most people will enjoy it, should they give it a try.

[S.E. Martens · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a beautiful deluxe edition. Does the story really deserve it? I dunno. I have mixed thoughts on it.

The storyline is iconic mostly for the impact it had in the early 90s when it came out and the mainstream got hold of it - various news broadcasters reported on it and it garnered more attention than anyone involved was expecting. For anyone familiar with the tropes of the comics medium it's not unexpected for a superhero to "die" and then come back in a few months. All the big ones have done it at one time or another. Superman himself had been killed off previously in "imaginary stories" over the years.

Was it done better here?

I hate to say this because so many people were involved in this project - but no.

This was at a time when there were multiple Superman titles being published, with a new book out every week. Reading the introduction to this edition, it is interesting to see how the various creative teams came together, with significant input from the artists. I admire the work that went into it, even if the end result is somewhat lackluster.

So, the summary is: a big ugly monster guy breaks out of somewhere for some reason and starts destroying stuff. He doesn't talk or have a name so one of the heroes (Booster Gold) calls him 'Doomsday' and it sticks.

Unlike previous "imaginary" tales of Superman being defeated by arch enemies like Lex Luthor, who had to trick and outsmart him through intricate plots to get around his powers, this big monster guy just punches him really hard again and again. OH. Oh-kay then.

And I get what they were going for - they wanted this to come across like a big summer blockbuster action movie and it sort of does . . .

The panel size and layout moving from four-to-a-page, to three-to-a-page, to two, until the ultimate issue is rendered entirely in full splash pages was intentionally done. While an interesting concept, I didn't find it worked well in practice. The form got in the way of the storytelling as there was not much room for dialogue or exposition or character moments, and we're left with just a big brawl.

Also, this is the era of shapeshifting alien-goo Supergirl which is sure to confuse some casual readers. There's a scene where she gets hit so hard she reverts to what I guess is her original form and it's so goofy looking I snorted.

Oh and sexy red-headed clone Lex Luthor is masquerading as his own Australian son. Also, Lex owned a chain of Wal-Mart type superstores at this point! And people say the Silver Age is silly!

As for the deluxe edition, I don't really understand the choice to include the miniseries from 2003 looking back on the story. It's just a summation of what we've already read and feels very self-congratulatory. It also gets oddly pretentious, which is really weird because the original story is about as far from "pretentious" as you can possibly be. Big dudes punching each other - it's not that deep.

There were some other extras that I appreciated more, like photographs of different merchandise, which is fun. And a very detailed fake "Newsweek" with plenty of in-universe advertisements, celebrity interviews and the like.

This was okay. I do plan on reading Funeral for a Friend, because I'm hoping there will be some actual character stuff in that. We'll see, I guess.

[Mauro Barea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un cómic que tiene su historia personal.

En 1992 tenía la impresionable edad de doce años, salía de la primaria, y resultó que Superman había muerto. En esas épocas fue un acontecimiento que impresionó, pues yo seguía los números tanto de Batman (que estaba más de moda por las películas de Burton) y Superman, que hacía un superhéroe inmortal. Si bien todo al final fue una jugada financiera de DC para revitalizar sus arcas, la muerte del máximo superhéroe no dejó indiferente a casi nadie (A Akira Toriyama lo inspiró para su Dragon Ball Z). Y vamos, aunque se diga que solo es una pelea a puñetazos, las viñetas finales son obras de arte del cómic noventero, y siguen inspirando hasta la fecha (El anime My Hero Academia es prueba clara).

Como premio por acabar la primaria, mi madre me compró ese cómic, una edición de la extinta editorial Vid mexicana. Ella también lo admiraba y no podía creer que Superman había muerto. En fin, para mí es uno de los cómics más importantes de la historia moderna, aunque no soy conocedor y seguramente habrá quien lo desdeñe por la cuestión financiera, sigue impactándome hasta la fecha y conserva un lugar destacado a la hora de pensar en cómics.

Ahora conseguí esta pieza deluxe definitiva y tanto la calidad del papel, los extras y la cubierta que trae los hacen merecedores de un destacado lugar en mi biblioteca. A años luz de esa edición de Vid que conservo hasta la fecha, al fin me hice con esta historia, y quizá me haga con las continuaciones. Es verdad que la calidad del dibujo es irregular por los artistas malillos que se incluyen (ojalá toda La Muerte la hubiesen hecho Jurgens y Grummet). Pero bueno, no se puede todo.

Clásico entre clásicos.

[Trish · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read the entire trade but couldn't find one one here to mark.

I am not the hugest Superman fan and this didn't really make me a fan. The story itself introduced a powerful villain but the battles were so one-sided and boring really. The JLA members were boring. You knew how the story would end with the title, but I felt nothing. Nothing.

Superman kind of came off as pretentious with the interview. Why didn't your super hearing work?

[Alejandro Montero · Rating 5 out of 5]

A true classic. Every now and then, a reread has to happen.

[Steven "Steve" · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this for being a member of DCUI Ultra. It has the original Death of Superman as well as some extras. Required reading for any DC or Superman fan.

[James W. Ware · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read 1 of Comic Book Club 2025 (my pick).

4 Stars

I was always aware of Superman's death at the hands of Doomsday but had never sat down and read the event in which Superman met his end. What I dod not expect was for it to be so emotional and poignant. The last four issues, especially, were well written and brilliantly illustrated. I think this arc benefitted by having one person (Dan Jurgens) write and layout the art.

In places, the story lags a bit and has some endearingly 1990's artifacts. Lex Luthor is in an Australian clone body and Supergirl is a shape-shifting goo monster at the time of the event, two facts that amused me to no end. The comic book silliness, however, does not detract from the emotional gut-punch of the final issue. The last few thundering full-page spreads are especially poignant. I only wish Jurgens had had the foresight to leave off the narrating boxes and allow the full-page spreads to speak for themselves. The art alone tells the story better than his text.

Before reading this comic, I think I expected Doomsday to issue some ultimate challenge to the Man of Steel. I expected Superman to go into his final fight knowing from the very beginning that he might meet his maker. No, Superman's fight with Doomsday begins as a tragically as a perfectly ordinary fight. Doomsday is just one more monster for the Boy Scout in Blue to take down. It is only as the fight wears down, Superman tires, and ally after ally is sidelined that he realizes the tragic truth: he will make his last stand in Metropolis.

This choice resonated deeply with me. Death comes for us all and, like Superman, it will more than likely be without warning on a perfectly ordinary day. I did not expect to be confronted by my own mortality by a 1993 comic book event.

How the comic handles death felt surprisingly real. For the reason alone, The Death of Superman is worth the read. The comic stops just shy of memento mori, but leaves one with a beautiful feeling of melancholy. Like Superman, cannot hope to choose the day of our death. All we can hope for is to live each day as if it is our last fighting for truth and justice and standing up for the more vulnerable.

When death comes, may it find us at our station standing side by side with those we love standing up for what we believe in.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

I understand its impact…kinda paving the way for showing how now superheroes can die, but it all felt a bit rushed (not sure if having read the concurrent storylines would help). I’ve always been intrigued by Doomsday and this sadly didn’t really help me explore that, but the art and final few pages are very cool. I’m giving it an extra half star bc of how funny it is that no one pre-21st century could properly draw a baby’s face

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Along side Dark Knight, this is one of the foundations of modern comics (or what comics have went on to be) - it’s a huge event, with an impact that lasts about as long as the time between one issue to another, but it still feels important.

The panelling work is great - slowly reducing the number of panels per issue until you get one per page. Some of the writing is very of the time, but you can’t really blame them for that.

[Jared · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's one of those comic stories that everyone, even people who have never read a page in their lives, know about to some degree or another. While it wasn't the first kind of story that killed off it's major character, it was certainly the biggest and most influential. It's also one I've never read.

So does it hold up? ...Mostly.

The story itself is solid enough. For a story that is almost wall-to-wall one big fight scene, it actually does a fair amount of things to shake things up and not feel too formulaic. Adding stuff like the Justice League of it's time as well as Guardian and it's version of Supergirl not only makes each issue memorable, but helps set things up for later on.

The art is also mostly solid -- it's not the flashiest or strongest, but it's clean, effective, and gets the job done. One thing I really loved was, odd as it might sound, how it used the panels. Once Superman starts fighting Doomsday on his own, each book would restrict the amount of panels it used. It starts with four panels per page, until the very last issue, which is all one-page spreads. It helps make each issue feel bigger as the fight becomes more dire.

One thing I really liked was the final issue, which isn't really an "issue," but actually a magazine written within the universe called "Newstime." It feels like authentic magazine about big issues that happen in the real world, with a feature article about the death, subsequent articles about the fallout of Superman's death and events that were happening outside of Superman's side of the universe. It even has movies and music reviews as well as advertisements based on real world things but with a "DC universe" twist.

In terms of cons, I would say that while this story does exemplify Superman's drive and his willingness to sacrifice himself for others, it really doesn't show his intelligence very well. He basically punches Doomsday, and punches him, and punches him, until they literally punch each other to death. I think it would work better if Superman used his other powers and other creative methods to shut him down. Thankfully, most other interpretations of this fight, from the animated film "Superman: Doomsday" (and what I've seen of the upcoming "The Death of Superman" animated feature) and the fight in "Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice" do much better in that regard.

So as a story itself, it's...okay. It does what it needs to do, and I think/hope it sets up a bigger story, which is the consequences of Earth's biggest hero dying, and who will pick up the pieces and try to carry on that mantle, if it's even possible...

[Alena Xuan · Rating 3 out of 5]

So the first issue sucks, but it gets GOOD.

But the real question is: WHERE WERE THE REAL HEROES? Paging Wonder Woman, the Teen Titans, literally anyone except that pathetic excuse for a JLA.

[Sonny Spisak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Illustrations are peak.

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superman: The Death of Superman

While Superman is taking part in a televised interview for high school students across the United States, the Justice League of America try to stop a monstrous creature who is nothing more than a mindless killing machine. When the Blue Beetle is beaten so badly he is rendered comatose, Superman leaves his interview to assist his colleagues. But this creature is all but unstoppable and Superman must be prepared to make a heroic sacrifice to stop the monster and save Metropolis.

Possibly the most famous comic book storyline ever written, 'The Death of Superman' is cleverly written so that stories weave in and out before the layout begins to narrow down the number of panels until each page of the final issue is its own splash as the Last Son of Krypton gives his life to save his friends. A story that shook the world, 'The Death of Superman' has earned its place in DC's history.

[Artur Coelho · Rating 2 out of 5]

Isto poderia ser uma saga de apertar o coração. Pelo contrário, é um ponto muito baixo na narrativa em comics, onde já de si a fasquia não é elevada. Esta morte do super-homem é essencialmente uma longa sequência de lutas, ou melhor, porrada sem limites, quando o homem de aço defronta uma misteriosa e imparável criatura numa luta, literalmente, até à morte. E sim, é só isto, espalhado por várias das revistas do personagem na época, cada qual com o seu argumentista. Apesar de um final icónico, e do sucesso de vendas que foi na altura, este arco narrativo é demasiado pobre e não vale a pena ser lido, exceto se par referência no historial do personagem. Um ponto baixo saído do princípio dos anos 90, talvez um sintoma do afinar de uma metodologia que se tornou habitual nos comics: criar arcos narrativos chocantes para justificar um reboot às personagens icónicas.

[Paul Nuñez · Rating 5 out of 5]

No soy fan de Sups, pero éste es sin duda uno de los mejores cómics. A pesar de tener una parte media muy lenta para mí gusto ,la parte final la contraresta por completo, incrementando el tamaño de los paneles para añadir cada vez más drama y suspenso a cada página hasta que cada uno la cubre por completo, es una técnica que nunca antes había visto y me envolvió totalmente.

La muerte de Superman fue una historia que impactó todo el mundo, saliendo en noticieros y periódicos, dándonos un "último" vistazo a la personalidad intrínseca del personaje de hacer el bien y proteger a sus seres amados hasta el final.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, this story from 1992 actually does connect to DC's Rebirth nearly a quarter century later. To say why would be to spoil the surprise. The book is pretty much action from the first page to the last, with a rather different Justice League making an appearance along the way. While short on subtlety and tact, there are some stunning visuals, especially toward the end of the story arc. A pivotal episode in the DC canon (at least I think so). So much so that DC has released an animated movie of the story along with an updated comic book version to go with it.

[Kole · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible, nothing interesting is done with this premise. The only possible exception is that the art is fine and the one panel layout of the final issue would be impressive if the story actually earned it. The villain is about as one dimensional as you can get. It's incredibly repetitive and there is no real drama to it since you know what's going to happen and by the end you don't care. This is what kills Superman? Yeah, right.

Read this if you want to read a piece of terrible comic book history, a nothing-story of a braindead monster that punched Superman to death.

Overall: 1/5

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to enjoy this book but it just seemed like non-stop action without anything else of value. As a villain Doomsday has no backstory and cannot speak. Nothing about his character is revealed other than that he is evil and likes to destroy for the fun of it. The story itself had a lot of potential but it just felt like an empty exercise in action at the expense of other necessary plot devices.

[curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the story that introduced me to comic books and superheroes in a truly meaningful way, so at least one of these stars probably owes itself to sheer nostalgia as much as anything else. The story definitely shows its ages in some places, but it nevertheless really holds up well overall.

[Roderick · Rating 1 out of 5]

surprisingly un-engaging story does not really allow you to become emotionally invested (& the illustrations are uninteresting)

[kesseljunkie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A seminal event in comics history, but honestly the arc is a little bit of a letdown. Lots of battle, not a lot of emotional weight. Revisited it because I hadn’t read it in a long time.

[August · Rating 2 out of 5]

This could've been an e-mail.

[Sean Boulger · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm probably the first person to say this, but Superman can be a pretty difficult character to write!! It's a real "what do you get for the man who has everything" kind of scenario—how do you convincingly write a character who is effectively invulnerable and can do almost anything he wants? It's always been impressively tough to find proper storytelling angles for those parameters, and the best ones always fall back on either a) diving into who Superman is as a person, or b) coming up with a way to flout his nigh-invulnerability and barely mitigated power set.

The Death of Superman opts for a bit of both, and it mostly works. Mostly. That prologue section has a few weird beats in it—that "Trail of the Jackal" of scotch at 9:30 in the morning]" energy...especially because Superman just spends the entire issue mostly monologuing about how Killing Is Wrong, Mr. Jackal—but I do like the way it seeds the whole Doomsday Situation, and I can certainly appreciate the context in which it arrives. The thing that will kill Superman isn't borne of some speechifying villain's high-falutin master plan. It just is. Relentlessly and unstoppably so. It shows up without any announcement or portent, literally rising up from under the earth as Superman is busy making his rounds and saving random people from the random things that threaten them.

The decision to leave Doomsday's origin totally unexplained is chillingly effective—it doesn't matter where this thing came from; what matters is that it's here, now, and it must be dealt with. What could have been a choice that kept the story from feeling properly fleshed-out winds up being one of its most exciting hallmarks, adding a sense of true urgency to the proceedings that might honestly be missing if Superman's ultimate conflict were actually rooted in some more personal vendetta.

Those final splash panels were just so much more impactful than I expected them to be. It's hard not to get choked up as you watch The Man of Steel fall, turns out.

7/10

[Simeon Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tried to go in with an open mind, having grown up hearing such mixed things from older fans who actually lived through this period but that was just not satisfying on any level. It really does come off like a soulless marketing move. It reads like what I imagined comics were like before I actually started reading them, all stilted dialogue that sounds like the writer has only been told what people are like and narration that feels like they've only ever read classics assigned to them in school. Depending on the issue the art is either passable in a B+ sort of way or boarding on just being nothing but my least favorite 90s hallmarks. The only decision in the whole thing that feels like it had some thought behind it is how there's fewer and fewer panels as it goes on until the final splash. I mean the in universe issue of new week at the back is kinda of fun if you just really love world building, but I could honestly pick the rest of it apart on a Mr. Plinkett level if I had the time and energy. For now I'll just say Dan Jurgans is a hack fraud and I'd really rather not read anything by him again after this. Too bad I already bought all four trades in this series from an Ollie's...