The Death and Return of Superman Omnibus

by Dan Jurgens, Jerry Ordway (Illustrator)

The unthinkable has happened. The Man of Steel is dead. Sacrificing his life to against an unstoppable global threat, the people of Earth must now accept that the world they live in is a world without Superman. Legendary writer Dan Jurgens (Superman: Action Comics) brings to you the epic saga in its entirety that that bubbled to the forefront of popular culture in this oversize omnibus edition!

A maniacal beast has risen from the Earth, a creature called Doomsday! Only one man can stop Doomsday's rampage--Superman. But the only way to stop him is by sacrificing his own life! As the planet mourns the man who symbolized the best humanity had to offer, four mysterious beings appear--all with the powers and abilities of the Man of Steel! When the Earth continues to be threatened by beings of immeasurable power, Metropolis' one true hero will rise and return hope to those who need it most.

This new edition of one of the most memorable DC storylines of all time is back in The Death and Return of Superman Omnibus!Collects Action Comics #684-692, Adventures of Superman #497-505, Superman #75-83, Superman: The Man of Steel #18-26, Justice League of America #69-70, Action Comics Annual #5, Adventures of Superman Annual #5, Green Lantern #46, Legacy of Superman #1, Supergirl and Team Luthor #1, Superman Annual #5, Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #2, plus excerpts from Action Comics #683, Adventures of Superman #496, Superman #73 and Superman: The Man of Steel #17.

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

1408 pages, Hardcover

First published April 19, 2019

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

[Dan Schwent · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Death and Return of Superman Omnibus is a massive tome that collects Action Comics #684-692, Adventures of Superman #497-505, Superman #75-83, Superman: The Man of Steel #18-26, Justice League of America #69-70, Action Comics Annual #5, Adventures of Superman Annual #5, Green Lantern #46, Legacy of Superman #1, Supergirl and Team Luthor #1, Superman Annual #5, Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #2, plus excerpts from Action Comics #683, Adventures of Superman #496, Superman #73 and Superman: The Man of Steel #17. 1400+ pages.

Eons ago, DC launched the story of all stories, a media event that temporarily saw normies flocking to comic shops in record numbers. That event was, of course, the Death of Superman. I was 14 or 15 and already cynical. I knew they'd bring him back but I still bought into it. It was a huge event and at the time, I loved it. Thirty years and several million miles later, I decided to reread it. Was I an idiot when I was 14? Of course I was but it was still pretty good.

According to the bonus materials, the events leading up to Superman #500 were supposed to culminate in the wedding of Superman and Lois Lane. DC management wanted to time the wedding of Superman and Lois in the comics with the events on the fledgling TV show, Lois and Clark, so they were stuck without a big story for Superman. Jerry Ordway yelled out "Let's kill him!" at a Superman staff meeting and they all took him seriously for a change.

This is an event comic that spawned hundreds of event comics but this one has teeth and is actually very well done, well planned. The first act sees the unstoppable Doomsday going on a rampage toward Metropolis, culminating in the deaths of Doomsday and Superman. The second act revolves around the aftermath of Superman's death, and the third act, the longest, sees four men claim the Superman mantle and one is not whom he seems to be.

Most people reading comics at the time knew Superman would be back eventually but it was still a captivating read. Reading it again after thirty years gave me some newfound respect for the planning and skill that went into the later chapters.

The Death of Superman storyline is pretty much an extended battle. Doomsday must be stopped and he mows down the Justice League before finally getting to Metropolis. Like I said on Twitter, sure, Superman dies but the most memorable part of it for me was Doomsday throwing Blue Beetle way the hell up in the air, only to have no one catch him before he lands. Poor Ted! By the end of the storyline, the Justice League is in a shambles and Superman is dead.

Funeral for a Friend dragged a bit but had some great moments. Basically, the world adjusts to life without Superman, there are some hassles around what happens to Superman's body after he dies, and the Man of Steel is finally entombed. Pa Kent has a heart attack and is at death's door. I have to admit I shed a tear when Pa came out of his coma and said he brought Clark back from the afterlife with him.

The Reign of Superman and Return of Superman segment were the real meat of the book. Four men take the Superman mantle for various reasons. Superboy is a clone of Superman. John Henry Irons is an armored avenger honoring Superman. The Last Son of Krypton is a Kryptonian bad ass who very well seems like he could be a resurrected Superman with a chip on his shoulder. The Cyborg could be Superman too, couldn't he, with his body repaired where it was injured by Doomsday?

The Reign of Superman lasts just long enough for people to get invested in the characters as heroes before the rug is yanked out from under everyone. I have to applaud Roger Stern for all the misdirection he did in the stories focusing on The Last Son of Krypton. Figure placement and some carefully worded panels let readers draw their own conclusion about what was actually happening, wrong as those conclusions wound up being.

The Return of Superman is the segment everything has been building toward and it pays off big. One of the Supermen is revealed to be a shitbag, Coast City is wiped off the map, and the real Superman returns to settle some shit.

For a book with so many different artists and writers, this gargantuan tome flows pretty well. There was material in this that wasn't in previous collections of the story. The Bloodlines annuals were interesting but I thought they interrupted the flow of the story. I understand why they were included, though. The Green Lantern book also felt a little unnecessary. While some pages added new insight to what was going on, it felt more like a summary of events for people who were reading Green Lantern at the time than an integral part of the story.

I think this story catches a lot of heat because it spawned hundreds of other stunt storylines but it's an engaging read with a lot of thought behind it. Just as when I read it as a kid, I was much more interested in Superman leaving the book than I was going in. The Death and Return of Superman aged a lot better than most 1990s super hero comics. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

[Caleb Sandoval · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story holds up surprisingly well after 30 years. Much better than most of its contemporaries. I'd happily give it 5 stars if it weren't for the four annual issues that were part of the Bloodlines event (possibly the worst crossover event in history). They grind the story to a halt and are almost completely irrelevant to the Death and Return story. The "Funeral for a Friend" arc probably didn't need to be 8 issues long, but it was still pretty enjoyable. Besides those qualms, I just couldn't put the book down. It's gripping, intriguing, and emotional, and it kept me hooked as I tore through 1400 pages just needing to know what happened next. Definitely recommend this omnibus as the best way to enjoy this historic saga.

[Shazne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished reading this Omnibus for the first time and mann that's whatchu call an EPIC! I've read "The Death Of Superman" part of the story when I was a kid many times but I never got around to read the rest of the stories nor his return. I finally decided to get this under my belt as a Superman fan and It was an epic experience. It is brilliantly executed for a story that covers multitude of ideas. What comes after the death is the real greatness behind this era. They fully explored every angle possible with this. I am genuinely surprised how dope this was. They had different writing/artist teams switching up for different parts, yet it all felt cohesive. It shows the care & unity in which they told the story. It lived up to the hype! A staple of the medium for sure. Can't believe it took me this long to get to it but looking through a 2024 lens, it still stands tall. Impressive time capsule.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oof, this is a tough collection to get through. Maybe the biggest gimmick in comic book history that hasn’t aged well with its average art, lame characters and very shallow story. The highlight of the whole book is the fight between Superman and doomsday which really throws you into right off the bat. No origins of doomsday or any kind of motive rather than kill and destroy…which is fine because his story develops later. And it’s a good fight, perhaps the best in comics. But overall, I would not recommend this whole collection. The trade paperback of the death of Superman will do then after that, google what happened.

[Morten Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Larger than life.

[Michael D Jedlowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much has been said about this series. It's a cash grab, it's too cynical, it's too 90's etc. For better or worse this story line changed comics forever. Dan Jurgens, also had the heavy burden of following a fantastic run of Superman by John Byrne, et al.

I enjoyed this beast of a story arc. The writing was quite good, and the art was fantastic as well. Many of the new supermen get their own story arc as well. Both Man of Steel, or Steel as he is now known gets as a nice arc, as does the new Superboy, and even The Eradicator.

The main villain looks great but his origin was not the best, it's also a bit obvious he will be the villain of the story. This is a huge book as well. I would recommend buying it on sale and not the $150 dollar suggested price. However it is a very nice edition and is more complete than previous printings.

To think this story happened because of that corny 90's show Lois and Clark... wild.

[Matthew Kennett-ny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this book was simply phenomenal. It may have had a spoiler in the title, although that just made it a big mystery of how he died and how, when, or if it was actually him that returned from the dead.

So much emotion to the point I cried multiple times, epic action scenes, twists and turns you'd never see coming that will boggle your mind, and fantastically written characters new and old.

The way the writers were able to weave the story in and out of all the different titles featured in this behemoth of a book from the time they were originally being published was brilliant, never felt lost on what was going on.

Not only was the story phenomenal, but so too was the artwork, they did an incredible job, and made the action feel huge and epic.

Such a wild ride from beginning to end

[Gerry Sacco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally finished it. One of the biggest omnibuses on the market, and certainly the biggest one I own.

Death and Return of Superman, certainly shows its age, but it's also one of the most important, historic books out there. I still remember being a little kid and seeing this on the news. Yes, the actual real news covered this event.

The art is old, but not bad at all. Also shout out to Man of Steel, because in my opinion that run is still fantastic. I absolutely LOVED it as a kid, loved it. I actually still own some of my comics from the run. The art, the story, Steel himself, is just super good.

Overall, this book has a lot of faults, but, it took a huge swing. And I'd rather see that in comics, and then they falter, compared to being boring or tired.

Well worth the read, and with how iconic this is, should be on everyone's shelf.

[curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first long story arc I ever followed in comics, collected here in a massive, beautiful omnibus. Nostalgia may be exaggerating my rating of this, but in my opinion the story really holds up, and serves as a fantastic gateway into the Superman mythos.

[ダンカン · Rating 4 out of 5]

It all began in 1992 when DC Comics became the highlight attention all around the world - The Death of Superman storyline. It was all over the news and comic & non-comic readers waited and bought every single issue of Superman related in comic book stores to read how he died. It was the biggest story ever published. 28 years later, its still one of the best collected stories (and now out-of-print... again!) omnibus edition ever published to this day, and finally... its a complete omnibus version.

I have owned before the first edition of Superman: The Death and Return of Superman Omnibus and it was not a good collected omnibus; cheap paper quality, some of the issues were taken out of print, no special bonuses and some parts of the story felt rushed. Then the 2nd edition was released in 2013 that includes many of the missing issues... until last year's 3rd edition, this edition is finally, complete. It includes what previous editions do not have and with such a cover, the experience is one that deserves attention if anyone wants a complete journey. The story is familiar but now, its better than before and worth getting it. This is one omnibus edition that any collector's should get.

[Steven "Steve" · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing omnibus of 47 issues. It is incredibly 90’s, but other than Superman’s mullet, Lex Luthor’s Lion-like mane, and Lois Lane wearing some aggressive breeches, there isn’t much else to distract from the amazing story. Well worth reading in its entirety.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

From 1993 until 2001, I could be found in a comic shop basically every Wednesday, committed to trying to understand the Byzantine chaos of the Marvel and DC Universes (and from about '96 on, I somehow tried to add just as many non-superhero titles to my budget!). Eventually, I burned out, shifted to trade paperbacks, and drifted largely away from superhero comics. However, there's always been one superhero I've kept loose tabs on - sometimes buying or (more often) borrowing from the library, and that's been Superman.

Funny enough, I didn't like Superman as a kid. Dude was a square, right? We all knew it. I didn't particularly care for SUPER FRIENDS as a kid, but I dug SPIDER-MAN AND HIS AMAZING FRIENDS. And as I got into high school, BATMAN and that X-MEN cartoon on Fox. But Superman? Sure, the Reeve movies - the first two anyway - were fun, but I just didn't care.

Then one day - a slow news day, Mike Carlin tells me (LOL) - the news reported Superman's impending death, and a few months later, when the story hit stores, I went to a comic book store. I bought the first printing of the DEATH OF SUPERMAN trade paperback that day in early 1993, and that launched eight years of dedicated superhero fandom. That's where is happened - that splash page of Superman in Lois's arms, desperate with his last breath to know that he'd saved them all. And he had, and I had (still have!) goose flesh. It clicked. I GOT Superman, and I've remained stuck ever since. I haven't enjoyed every comic book or TV show or film (nor have I watched or read them all), but I've always wanted to know what's going on in each of them.

But this big honking story here, this started it all. My favorite factoid about this monstrous book - Superman dies on page 175. He doesn't return until after page 900! That's what really makes this book go - the care given to showing what Superman means to us all through the deep (and fun!) supporting cast built up in the Superman titles. A wildly epic return saga, chock full of great twists, surprising reveals, and some dynamic would-be Supermen.

Getting the series in this omnibus (I'd stuck with my first print trade paperbacks for 30 years until this) gives it a little extra juice, although most of that juice is sidetracks that aren't necessary. The LEGACY OF SUPERMAN one-shot is decent, but forgettable, and the SUPERGIRL AND TEAM LUTHOR one-shot is respectable (too bad we're missing the SUPERGIRL mini where she finally learns the truth about him). The NEWTIME issue is clever, although a bit of a drag. The extra JUSTICE LEAGUE issue is solid and gives another angle on how the world must struggle on without Superman.

I hadn't read the four Annuals in probably 30 years. They're uneven and that New Blood or whatever angle - I mean, I STILL don't know what any of that meant. I've only read these Annuals, so there's no payoff of the alien monsters. It's nice to see a little more of each Superman in action, even if the stories are a bit uneven. Sequencing the Annuals is a bit of a mess. The ADVENTURES ANNUAL obviously fits where it goes, but the ACTION ANNUAL takes place in Metropolis despite being inserted into the saga just AFTER the Eradicator decided to hang in Coast City. I guess the other option would've been to insert the three non-ADVENTURES Annuals right in the beginning - when each book was still establishing its own hero, but that would've really dragged down the pace of the RETURN saga, so I guess they did the best they could with it.

Still, a Super-fun story, one I never seem to tire of rereading.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Death and Return of Superman" is much better than a "comics event" of this sort deserves to be. Our main villain, Doomsday, is introduced without wasting the reader's time; he punches his way out of the earth and then proceeds to decimate everything in his path, maintaining mystery and a palpable menace.

The action escalates quickly, with the JLA bashed out of action and Superman barely holding his own until he summons his last reserves to dispatch the monster, Rocky II style. But the death is just a small part of the story. It continues to grow from there, through crossovers and the core series, following D.C. heroes and average folks alike as they mourn the death of their seemingly invincible hero. The Kents come to Metropolis, where they're forced to watch the funeral from the crowd. Lois Lane breaks down. Lex Luthor fumes, furious that he wasn't the one to land the killing blow.

Superman's body becomes the center of a custody dispute, with weird scientists wanting to clone it. Then Superman's successors show up: a cyborg, a kid, a man in a metal suit, a Kryptonian executioner. We follow them as they establish themselves and squabble over the big man's legacy.

The story has a few missteps. There are some regrettable "street" scenes and dialogue, with gangs and gangsters that veer into stereotype. But there's also ample passion about telling a cohesive story (with the exception of the spine-sucking aliens in the Bloodlines annual--you can skip those).

"Death and Return" builds to one heck of a heel turn, and then we begin to shift back to the status quo. It's fun and well done and still worth reading, event after the "event" has faded.

[Rahul Nadella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely dated but still a page turner so a lot of my enjoyment was nostalgia but I did think certain parts/issues were legitimately really good. I think it’s biggest problem is being a product of its time. It doesn’t read particularly well as a stand-alone as you really need to know what was going on in various titles at the time. There are some random JL members that I didn’t recognize, Luthor has red hair and is running around with Supergirl/matrix, who Gangbuster is (especially for the funeral for a friend arc), and how Hank Henshaw came to be just to name a few. Reign of the supermen is by far the best part of it, but you can’t really read it on its own. The death part is fine too as it’s just a big fight, but funeral for a friend was a slog for me (unpopular opinion I know) and could have been cut down to one oversized issue showing how his death affected the DC universe. The return and final battle were pretty standard run of the mill 90s comic stuff. There product of their time but I guess I was in the mood for some 90's cheese and there is a real sense of connective world building running throughout the various titles that isn't as stringent as they are in more modern books (whether that's a good or bad thing I don't know). I definitely felt the age of the book when reading the Omnibus but there's so much to love in there I would definitely recommend it.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

The other big DC crossover event from the 90s, The Death and Return of Superman stands the test of time pretty well. Sure there's a few now dated references, but the basic story beats and art holds up extremely well. This was the first time I've read the whole event probably since it originally released, so it was interesting to me to see how much more of a lasting impact the story had on the Green Lantern titles than it did Superman - the destruction of Coast City set Hal on the path to become Parallax, kill the Corps, bring in Kyle, and establish Hank Henshaw as a GL rogue.
All in all this was a fun read.

[Eric Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

A massive and iconic run on multiple Superman titles that lives up to its reputation… mostly. It’s a very fun and bombastic run that is only hurt by its occasional deviations that don’t move the main forward story at all. These deviations are interesting on their own, but grind the continuing story to an unnecessary halt at times. The other minor nitpick would the the B-Level Justice League that was present at the time, they’re just not as interesting. Otherwise, this story has drama and intrigue… as well as gorgeous art that is like a time capsule to this era of comics. Greatly enjoyed reading this massive book!

[Rob Marney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised how 80s this crossover feels for 1993, from the compressed storytelling to the Van Halen references. Simonson and Bogdanove are at the peak of their careers, and the tight group plotting really makes the huge event feel connected and not a core miniseries padded with tie-ins. There are some silly ideas and some wooden dialogue, and all the new Superman and bad guy designs are so early 90s it hurts, but they don't have an opportunity to wear out their welcome.

The ending is much more of a whimper than a bang, but the opening arc and the funeral are much better than I expected.

[TheMadReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember seeing these issues when I was younger but finally sat down to read everything from start to finish. Even though, I was never a Superman guy, I have to say..I enjoyed it.

Seeing Superman return with a mullet and the infatuation with cyborg-Superman was a testament to the 90’s. It seems even the writers wanted to get in on the “Terminator 2” craze and one guy came up with the brilliant idea of “Hey let’s make Supes a Cyborg.” Smh

Nevertheless, this was a quick read even though the book is massive.

Def not all hype. Would recommend.

[Jake Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story was A Ride! I have seen the movies but never read the full book. It was incredible. The battle with doomsday was bombastic. The slow unraveling of the mysteries surrounding the Superman imposters were awesome. I really didn’t care for the underground monster Man and the bloodlines annual story. I also feel like I should’ve had more introduction to whatever super girl was and Lex Luther Junior with the long flowing red hair. All that being said this comic was better than all the movies and I’m so happy I finally got to experience it.

[Marc · Rating 3 out of 5]

You know, this is better than I remembered. The Death part especially is pretty well done, no matter how cynical you may consider the whole endeavour.

The post-Death stuff is incredibly well thought out, if not always exactly thrilling. Still, it’s nice to see they were considering how Superman’s death would affect that world.

The Return part is the weakest, IMO. Still fun, but you don’t get as much out of the four supermen concept as you might think. Incredibly, it feels a bit rushed to me. But oh well, it ends on a very high note, with Superman listening to Van Halen, so it’s all good.

[Chris Weber · Rating 3 out of 5]

4 stars for the lead-up to the death and the death. 3 stars for the funeral for a friend and the return. 1 star for the bloodlines crossover garbage.

I bought and still have some of these individual issues. Crazy to think of teenage CW running around a comic shop 30+ years ago and being in awe that they would kill off Superman. Comic writing is so different now so it took a minute to get back into the 90s storytelling vibe, but I am glad I revisited this. Supes’ death hit with the same force as it did back in the day.

[Nick Pratt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great experience. The parts of this that I had read before I had read many many times. There were some issues I just never bothered to track down so reading this collection was getting to read the full story for the first time and it made me feel like a kid again. As other reviews have mentioned, the bloodlines issues are really unnecessary. Other than that, the story holds up really well and I had just as much fun with it as I ever did. 4.5/5

[Brendan Mckillip · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me over a year to read it because I chose to read one chapter (or issue) a week. But that helped with the pacing and recreating what experiencing the story as it was originally published in the early 1990s.

The book is a remarkable feat in long form storytelling. It is so big, so incredibly epic in scale. Totally fitting for Superman.

[Paganraul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Omni looks great in every way posible the stories had their ups and downs Superman is dead most of the time i like how they show us how a world without Superman would be and show us why he’s irreplaceable it was worth it!

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was expecting a more exciting story here. Doomsday was underwhelming (not in how he's drawn, but in story) and the middle really drags. The ending is fine, but there's a lot of repetition from the different comic books.

Still it was cool to have the entire story in one place.

[Brian S · Rating 2 out of 5]

OVERALL RATING: 3 stars (6 out of 10)
Art: 2 stars
Writing Style/Quality: 3 stars
Plot: 3 stars
Pacing: 2 stars
Characterization: 3 stars
World Building: 3

[Bruno · Rating 5 out of 5]

This run is a must-read for every Superman and comic lover.

[Pawel · Rating 3 out of 5]

4 if you are nostalgic, 2 normally. 90s were a weird period in comics.

[Malena · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was so long but clois reunion was insane!!

3.5/5

[Ben Wand · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent story. Why hasn't someone turned this into a movie yet?