Rating:  -
The Greatest superhero ever finally meets his match. As a kid we love Superman, but as we get older we turn to more realistic heroes like Batman or Spiderman. We all deep down want a hero that can swoop in, save us from danger without any real trouble. In reality, this could never happen. With the DEATH OF SUPERMAN however Superman became a little more beleiveable, more human. With his popularity waining at the start of the 90's, it was about time that Superman died.
This story has a great premise but lacks any real plot development. First off, where did Doomsday come from? The whole "Death and Rebirth" Saga don't give any reason behind the monster. Also DC showcases like everyone in the DC world and in the real world (Bill and Hillary Clinton were in the World Without Superman). The enjoyment of this story was pulled down a lot by the weight of all Supergirl purple matrix [...] (just to mention one) that was jam packed into it. DC seemed to get distracted on what they were actually trying to accomplish. If you are reading a Superman story, you more than likely don't want to see a bunch of 3rd rate DC superheroes (AKA the Justice League). Other than those major problems (typicial comic book coninuity), the story is one of the best comics in years.
Rating:  -
It is said that people generally prefer familliarity over change, but this is not the very case for this revision of a classic hero created way back in the 1930's which pioneered the comic book superhero genre, but rather this only show that there is indeed a fine line between principle and bastardation.
Driven with the vital need for boosting up their matters of economy, DC Comics with its ever competitive spirit against its archnemesis/rival major comic book company MARVEL Comics- pitted to kill the primary major Comic Book hero of comicdom to help themselves recover from the sagging sales of their titles, only to resurrect their hero afterwards - in yet another somewhat parallel equivalent to Christ, which inevitably did manifest for the SUPERMAN mythos, coming on as perhaps quite unexpectedly for its creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, about the recurring incarnations through the years that have suceeded for the creation they made.
I do fondly remember the great quality-infested peak of DC Comics back in the seventies as a kid, which somehow did still continued around in the eighties somewhat, giving their own brand of a distinct mark which perhaps are not found in the more commercial appeal apparent with their major rival comicbook company MARVEL. However in the interest to refine the cheesy ones from their ComicBook Universe, DC Comics decided upon their 50th anniversary (which is also countered by MARVEL's 25th anniversary at the same time- with their own mini-series SECRET WARS, and its sequel - SECRET WARS 2, that also followed the continuity format (and good marketing gimmick) of having its cross-over storylines succeeded with through the other titles) to revise their entire Universe with CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS, which have in its lenght to comprise of involving all of their characters from the past Golden Age era to the present, plus with other characters from the parallel universes composed of in the DC Universe, along its several connected titles, mini-series', and the cross-over issues continued with just about every title that DC have around in those days (a great reference for these are found in the installments of the WHO's WHO titles that DC came up with in the eighties (and also the summarized depictions about called HISTORY OF THE DC UNIVERSE Vol.s 1 &2))
I tried to tolerate it personally as a comic book fan back then in spite of all the changes, and try to accept them as a very clever and valid means to revise the characters - thus in particular to the SUPES conundrum, Lois Lane's not as doty-dumbness anymore, and Supes is no longer a virgin (as depicted on one of the cross-over issues to the said mini-series called CRISIS...), furthermore it goes down to the point that Supes' identity is not only known to Clark's parents from Smallville (who were never killed by the way) but to Lois as well, who then became Supes' wife (uh-huh, the Superwife!), and so on that one can only see how far would DC go with the characters, that they even changed the image of Supes' archnemesis Lex Luthor's good-ol' baldy appearance to some red haired grunge-boy-Alice-In-Chains-Eddie-Vedder-look-alike-poser-whatever-wannabe rich dork who's girlfriend is Supes' cousin herself- Supergirl!
Much worse than the myths perpetuated by Dan Brown with his now infamous allegedly factual-based novel DA VINCI CODE did for the profanity of creating myths behind the myths alleged to Christ and Mary of Magdala -- DC Comics did with their primary Legendary comic book charachter by all of these damned revisions that they made in the debacle of their period for having the desperate crud to gain sales - all in the spirit of the American way for the Almighty Dollar.
What's next? Superman happen to be Gay?! And Jimmy Olsen is Clark Kent's boyfriend! Might as well revise Supes into SUPERGAY then. Sheeez --!
Hearken did we hear the Canadian group Our Lady Of Peace singing "Superman's Dead" that they can't believe it, welp- there's no use in wasting saliva about it brothers, it's all just a flash in the pan.
So much for all of these prattle, however in every case there's a propagator about it all - and for this instance, i do recall that the main man responsible behind all of these revisions is a second-rater comic book writer/artist whom DC Comics hired to come up with the knack of the initial tweakings for them comic book characters and the stories about for starters, which for some of those characters are even originally created by such legendary gods in the comic book field by the likes of Jack Kirby... and for this matter thus, the one who's responsible to stand as the culprit for all of these mess, is a mac whom for this instance I would only go so far as to give the initials-- J. B. !
~comic guru crutchead -speaks.
Rating:  -
Back in the early 90s, when sales of Superman comic books were lagging behind, DC decided to kill off their main flagship character, saying the Man of Steel didn't sell anymore. Whether it was a publicity stunt-since DC somehow resurrected him-- or a simple streak of genius on the creative team's part, The Death of Superman saga became one of the greatest, highest selling series of all time, and rightly so. The plot read like a tragic, balls-to-the-wall action movie that reveals the Superman we haven't seen before: the noble hero facing insurmountable odds and his own mortality without the slightest hesitation. The last few pages showing an anguished Lois Lane saying goodbye to Superman who now faced his own death is a very memorable moment.
It would have helped though, if the plot included a little explanation on why Doomsday was able to kill Superman. For those who have limited knowledge on why and how Superman acquired his powers, it won't make sense why a virtually unknown and obviously dumb monster was able to do what the brilliant Luthor never accomplished. If you know how Superman's powers work, then fine. I also feel the original and veteran Justice Leaguers could have played an active role, instead of the young second-stringers. Not that Flash or Aquaman could have done anything anyway. But having those reporters say the Justice League was downed by Doomsday when Batman and Wonder Woman haven't done anything yet wasn't fair.
In all, a must read for any fan and worth every penny.
Rating:  -
Well, about 10 years after this storyline's debut, I finally get around to taking a serious look at it. When DC announced Superman's impending "death" in the early `90s, I went through some serious denial. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that I was insulted. For one, this was the Man of Steel... sure, kryptonite could harm him, and some characters could give him a serious challenge, but no one could truly kill Superman. But even if I had to accept this "inevitable" death, what made it even worse was that it came at the hands of a brand-new villain, that came from out of nowhere, with no backstory. I was furious with DC for not putting forth the effort of developing a logical story by which one of Superman's long-time foes, such as Lex Luthor or Mr. Mxyzptlk would send him to the great beyond. Sure, it could be argued that, if those heroes hadn't killed Superman by that point, they would never be the ones to do it, but honestly: work with what you have! In any case, DC achieved what they set out to do. The story drew national media attention, sales went through the roof, and the subsequent storylines had major impacts on the Superman mythos - so much so that I felt I could no longer avoid this book.
After reading the affordable DEATH OF SUPERMAN trade, I can say that I'm not very impressed with it. The story, from Dan Jurgens, Louise Simonson, and others, is a simple affair: an unknown threat emerges from an unknown location with an unknown agenda, smacks the Justice League around, and fights Superman to both of their deaths. It certainly is not very involved, to the point that when Supes finally kicks the bucket, I simply shrugged. The art isn't that great either - while the pencillers, such as Jon Bogdanove, Jackson Guice, and Dan Jurgens are okay, their work is pretty flat as a whole, and the layouts slide from multi-panel pages to repeated splash pages, which results in very little story for such a big event. In fact, my biggest complaint is that, for such a supposedly major event, DC didn't go out of their way to get some major artists and writers on board. I mean, this is the DEATH of FREAKIN' SUPERMAN (!!!!!!), yet we're stuck with the regular series creators putting out an apparent rush-job. Though I have to admit, if I were a creator who could pick and choose assignments, there's no way I'd have let myself get wrapped up in this hypefest. This was not some storyline that delivered drama or emotion... it was done purely to boost sales, and the simple, boring product shows it.
The only good that came out of this storyline was the excellent follow-up trade collection THE RETURN OF SUPERMAN, which provides more story and higher-quality art for your dollar.
Rating:  -
Superman has become one of the most beloved comic book characters of all time. In his words, he has come to stand for "truth, justice, and the American way." When faced with an obstacle, he would always overcome. That is, until he came face-to-face with his deadliest adversary: Doomsday.
"The Death of Superman" is an exciting, action-packed and emotionally-exhilirating graphic novel that depicts the Man of Steel in the most destructive fight of his life. No adversary before or since has been able to go toe-to-toe with the Man of Steel for so long and so hard. Hell-bent on death, Doomsday will stop at nothing until everone and everything in it's path is destroyed.
In the seven comics collected from the various "Superman" and "Justice League" comic books, we see the greatest of the superheroes meet his untimely demise in a duel to the death that takes everything he has, and sacrifice himself to save the people of Metropolis.
If you're a fan of Superman, or of comic books and graphic novels in general, "The Death of Superman" is one of the finest ever created. Fans will not be disappointed.
Grade: A+
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