Customer Reviews

The Death of Superman

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I was never really into Superman when I was a kid, or any DC Comics character other than Batman and Green Lantern for that matter (I was always a Marvel faithful), but when I heard that Superman was going to be killed, it was a big event in comics history. Here we see a monster named Doomsday, who escapes from his confines and begins to wreak havok across the country leading up to Metropolis. He kills and destroys everything in sight, and he totally decimates the Justice League, leaving only one thing between him and Metropolis: Superman. In quite possibly one of the best ongoing battles in comic history, they both duke it out until neither is left standing, I mean we get to see Superman bloodied, battered, beaten, and eventually dead. The heart of this collected edition is we get to see how far Superman goes to protect the innocent and preserve life, we all hear about that being a hero's vow in comics, but to see it actually illustrated is something different. All in all, if you want to read a good comic story that would lead up to one of the greatest returns in the history of comics, then this should be right up your alley.

To begin, it should be noted that 'The Death of Superman' is not a complete story. It is the first part of a story that ended many volumes and several years later in another Superman story called 'Hunter/Prey'. Technically this volume should be read first, followed by 'World Without a Superman', then 'The Return of Superman' and finally as I stated earlier, 'Hunter/Prey'.

Also of interest if you liked these stories would be the earlier Superman issues which establish the origins of Hank Henshaw, aka Cyborg Superman, who appears in 'World Without a Superman' and 'Hunter/Prey'.

Basically if you read this book alone, it will be nothing more than a very long fist fight between Doomsday and Superman with a bunch of questions left unaswered, which seems to be a complaint of many reviewers here; the story doesn't move very far and doesn't really have that much story present.

It's a valid complaint since this is all you're getting if you buy this book here, but it should be known that if you're willing to invest the money in all the books, you'll be treated to one of the most epic and interesting Superman stories ever told. For instance the villian Doomsday, who seems like little more than an evil Hulk rip-off in this story, gets established with a unique and sorrowful origin by the end of the series (I won't give away any details other than to say that he is sort of like an abused child to the hundreth power) which might actually make you feel sorry for him. And the Cyborg Superman is one of the vilest and most dangerous villians Superman has ever faced.

I do recommend this book. Just remember; if it seems incomplete when you finish it, it's because it is!

Unbeknownst to Superman and the rest of the Justice League of America (JLA), there's trouble headed their way; trouble in the form of a humanoid walking across the landscape destroying everything in its path. When the JLA swings into action, they little realize just how powerful this creature really is. When this Doomsday creature defeats the JLA and heads towards Metropolis, Superman realizes that he must stop this creature, no matter the cost.

This graphic novel is part one of a graphic novel trilogy, and should NOT be read in exclusion of the other two. That is to say, it really does not have a complete storyline, ending with a lot of unanswered questions, and the Man of Steel assuming room temperature (no spoiler here, you could get that from the title).

But, that said, my eleven-year-old son and I found this to be a great and exciting story. Overall, if you want a good Superman story, then we recommend that you get these books!

Collects the Doomsday storyline that ran in the Superman comics. One of the hardest hitting comic stories of the 90s. This one reminded us why we Superman is still the premier superhero of them all. Not in many occasions has Superman fought harder in his whole life than in this story. Because of his superpowers we never could see the one moment when he is ready to sacrifice his life to save others. Here we find out. There were so many moments in this book: the fall of the Justice League, the efforts made to stop Doomsday, and the death of the Man of Steel. There were a few things that disappointed me and that's because for most of the story, it's just Superman and Doomsday slugging it out. I had wanted to see Superman save more people, see him pushed even more to his limits than he ever realized and a better "deal the final blow" to stop his enemy. But this is all a prelude to some of the best Superman stories ever told. :)

I finished this comic book in 15 days and it was an exciting story about superman's death.Although you might want to buy this book because it's a really good story and tells about how superman died.It was kind of a sad story at the end part because it says:''For This Is The Day--That A Superman Died.''and it's kind of sad and even a superman fan won't appreciate that.I was going to get World Without A Superman after reading Death of Superman,but the one of the most superman comic books I wanted to read was The Return of Superman because I want to know how he came back.Anyways,this comic shows a lot of action,which I became interested in buying this book because a lot of people say that this was the biggest event that happened to superman and it became known as the best-selling graphic novel of all time!It really was a great story either superman fan or not,you should really read this book,it is such a good story and as you read this book,you'll become interested in reading more in this comic book like I did.It's worth the buy.

This is still one of the biggest stories in comics publishing. I remember the media event this storyline was in 1992, with regular newspapers announcing that DC was going to kill the Man of Steel. I anticipated it months before the comics came out. As it was, I scrounged around half a dozen newsstands trying to get all the issues (no comics shops where I grew up). I missed a few parts, but I got the final part of the battle where Superman dies. It moved me like few comics stories do. I really cared for Superman since John Byrne revamped the character in 1986. He was a more vulnerable, human character with more interesting stories.
At this time in his career, Superman had just joined and become leader of a new Justice League, post DeMatteis and Giffen. His colleagues in the JLA; Bloodwynde (Martian Manhunter), Guy Gardner, Booster Gold and Blue Beetle among others all join Superman to stop this immensely powerful Doomsday character who is wreaking destruction all the way to Metropolis after breaking out of some secret prison. Doomsday's origins and motives are not revealed in this story (see Hunter/Prey), but the mystery of this character works here. After Doomsday swats aside the rest of the JLA like they were nothing, he and Superman fight to a bloody stalemate. This is the most punishment Superman has ever taken in his life and it shows. Of course, you know he dies. But he manages to take out Doomsday first.
This trade paperback was valuable in filling in the gaps in my single issue collection. It's worth buying.
The online debates about Doomsday just being a copy of the pre- Peter David Hulk raged for years after this story, as well as who was stronger in either comics universe. Let me just remind all the Marvelites out there: Doomsday would rip Hulk a new one. ;)

I would have hoped they would have put more thought into how to kill the greatest superhero ever but they didnt. Its pretty much 168 pages of Superman punching Doomsday. No plot twists nothing clever no surprises. Superman meets a monster as tough as him and they punch each other a lot.

This book is solely the result of economic concerns. In the early 1990s, the comic book market was doing very well financially, but not artistically. Comics somehow became linked in the minds of most people with card collecting, and comics became a commodity mostly collected for potential future revenue instead of artistic merit. Meanwhile, a bunch of talentless hacks led by such "artists" as Rob Liefeld and Todd McFarlane, left Marvel Comics in droves to create Image comics so they could have more creative control. Did the comic industry use this opportunity to get out of the artistic ghetto? NO. At Image, the general formula became having large, brainless characters violently pound the crap out of each other for little apparent reason and adolescent boys, trying to seem mature, bought them by the barrel-full for their violent content. "Investors", seeing this trend, bought up these comics to seal in vaults to sell later (they hoped) at inflated prices. And sales of such titles as Superman without as much blood and guts dropped.

Did D.C. counter by hiring better writers and artists? NO. They decided: let's kill off Superman, get tons of free publicity, cater to the lowest common denominator, and prey upon the greed of market speculators. Ironically, the storyline attempts to make the occassional "relevant message" about the evils of violence while capitalizing upon it in a brainless story with mediocre art of two characters trading punches for dozens of pages while wrecking vehicles and homes.

Now the comic market has largely collapsed back to normal, most speculators wound up losing money on their investments once they stopped artificially creating demand and scarcity, McFarlane is now making tons of money off of other people's work while doing none himself(which was his complaint about Marvel), and nobody seems to know where Liefeld is anymore. And, surprise!, Superman is alive again. Was this an act of daring storytelling and dramatic risktaking? NO. They got the increased sales they were looking for (at least temporarily) and brought Superman back to life making the whole exercise artistically pointless. They are still pulling the occassional gimmick, like (temporarily) changing his costume and powers and people still eat it up. Avoid this baby like the plague.

DC has done a lot of "Death Of Superman" stories. Stories in which Superman dies for long-term exposure to Kryptonite, even one where he dies from Kryptonian Leprosy. This one tops them all! The Man Of Steel battles a rampaging monster, who has left a huge trail of death & destruction in his wake, across the country. The JLA makes a valiant effort to stop the creature but is brutally taken out. Only Superman is left to stop this monster's rampage. In this story, Superman dies in battle. I remember when I first heard in the news that DC was going to kill Superman and my reaction was, "WHAT!? NO WAY! THEY CAN'T KILL HIM OFF!" When I bought the comic and read it, I was amazed. The story was terrific, the action was non-stop and when I got to the end, I cried. It was that powerful! I highly recommend this comic. If you're not really into Superman because he seems too immortal, you should definitely check this out. It'll change your view of the Man Of Steel. My best friend couldn't stand Superman for a long time, but after hearing about this comic, he became curious about it and asked me if he could read my copy. I let him and, now, he likes Superman and views him differently than he did before.

In the 90s, this was definitely one of the 100 most shocking moments, the death of Superman. In America, he is a hero for sure when it comes to fictional characters. The story starts off slow, like most stories do, but it does serve to build a giant explosion of action that will keep you fliping the pages to see what happens next.

Doomsday, the villain of the story, is definitely portrayed as an unstoppable force. He is pure destruction, killing many people while leaving rubble and the JLA destroyed in the wake, a real challenge for Superman. There will never be a moment in the history of comics that will ever top this story. Since then, we know what happens after the story and Superman's return, but that doesn't stop this from being any less of a good read.