The Death of Superman

Product Information

In the " Standing Guard" story, the Guardian mentions Superman being controlled by Sleez which was shown in Superman Annual (Volume 2) #2. Although Ordway's suggestion to kill Superman started as a joke, it became a real idea thanks to Louise "Weezy" Simonson, who'd joined the Superman team at DC after several years working on the X-Men line at Marvel Comics. The story has the same name as one found in Action Comics #225, Superman #149, and an episode of Super Friends.

Above and Beyond” by Jerry Ordway (W), Tom Grummett (P), Doug Hazlewood (I), Glenn Whitmore (C), and Rob Leigh (L) - A powerful story of Ma and Pa Kent watching their son fight Doomsday live on television and going through Clark’s photo albums with the feeling that their son always prevails. The creature comes across an overpass and destroys it along with another semi that was passing over on the overpass. It then grabs a car and throws it hundreds of feet into the air, with Superman catching it. At this point, the creature wanders into a department store, where he hears a TV commercial in which he hears the word "Metropolis" as Superman once again engages the creature in combat. I couldn’t believe it. There will never be another time in comics like that, and it was very special. And not just for us as creators, but it was special for the readers and the store owners as well. If this ignites some of the passion that existed at that time and the warm feelings, then so much the better. I never ever do a convention where someone doesn't come up to me and say, this is the thing that got me into comics. I think that's worth commemorating.It was a day that no one ever dreamed would arrive: the day an unstoppable force met an immovable object. In Doomsday, Superman met his ultimate match—and his death! Relive the monumental event in this 30th-anniversary deluxe edition of the Death of Superman saga, featuring a new introduction by Dan Jurgens and other extras. This volume collects Superman #73-75, Adventures of Superman #496-497, Justice League America #69, Action Comics #683-684, Superman: The Man of Steel #17-19, and Newstime: The Life and Death of Superman #1—plus Superman: Day of Doom #1-4 as a bonus tale! A young Jon Kent finds out in school that his dad had died years earlier, as his parents never told him about that fateful day. In the midst of dealing with this emotional news, Jon and Clark need to team up to fight a new villain connected to Doomsday called DOOMBREAKER. I hope that they walk away and say those really were fun days. And I hope it also reignites talk about what really happened at that time. What I remember is, as the story broke out, it was covered by every form of media that was out there at the time. It was on a national level, it was on local levels. It was in print, it was on TV and it was on radio. All of us were doing signings and store appearances at the time. Even now, 30 years after the 'Death of Superman' first came out, every single convention or store appearance I do has at least one person who comes up to me with Superman #75 or the first 'Death of Superman' collected edition and says, 'This is the book that got me into comics. And I’m still here, reading, all these years later,'" Jurgens says in DC's announcement. "Most times, it's more than one. Sometimes, multiple people arrive at my table at the same time and share their memories, which is always fun to experience. As a nineties kid I just love looking at a solicitation and seeing names like Dan Jurgens, Roger Stern and Tom Grummett.

Thematically, I had this thing about being a superhero that I had explored with Superman where you're always aware of all the other things that you have to get done. This was a John Henry version of that where he needs to get to Superman, he needs to save him, but then he also keeps running into other people he needs to help and needs to save," Simonson says. As mentioned above, Superman's death in 1992 hugely impacted the DCU, and continues to do so today. Although it wasn't the character's final death – Superman is currently in a resurrection cycle in the ongoing Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths event – the storytellers needed readers to feel like it was. And now, they're exploring perspectives that didn't get the spotlight 30 years ago. Time”by Louise Simonson (W), Jon Bogdanove (A), Glenn Whitmore (C), and Rob Leigh (L) - The story of how the death of Superman looked from John Henry Irons’s perspective.Only three of the stories in The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special #1 focus on varying character perspectives during the original event. Jurgens and Breeding's story, 'The Life of Superman,' takes place in a version of the present day, which was very intentional – not just for introducing Doombreaker, but for bringing a variety of readers into the event and making it feel impactful. A powerful story of Ma and Pa Kent watching their son fight Doomsday live on television and going through Clark’s photo albums with the feeling that their son always prevails. Jamal Campbell, Lee Weeks, Clay Mann, Fabio Moon, Walter Simonson, Bill Sienkiewicz (seen above and below), Gabriel Rodriguez, and more will illustrate the pin-ups.

I’m not alone in that experience. It’s common for the entire team of writers and artists who worked on Superman at the time. It was a singularly unique moment in comics, when a particular story was covered by every form of national and local media alike. The fight is now being broadcast nationwide and even Lois and Jimmy are following in the Daily Planet helicopter covering the fight for the paper. Each of the original creative teams from The Death of Superman has reunited to tell a story that shows how some of Superman’s biggest allies reacted during and after his fateful battle with Doomsday: The " Life of Superman" story takes place some time before the events of The Man of Steel (Volume 2).Now, Ordway, Simonson, Bogdanove, and Breeding are continuing The Death of Superman story in the four new stories for the 30th anniversary one-shot anthology, alongside fellow veterans Tom Grummett, Dan Jurgens, Roger Stern, and Butch Guice. And returning to this particular era brought up a lot of feelings for these creators, not just about the work or the story, but also about each other. And Superman – whatever you think of him – relates something positive to everybody. Some people take that positivity and think it's a hokey thing; other people take that and think, 'Geez, why aren't more of us like that?' I think that's probably the camp that I'm in. The character resonates with me doing the right thing. The level of integrity that Superman has in doing the right thing because he can. There's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing to be ashamed of. We should all aspire to it," he continues. The fight is now at a burger joint 60 miles from Metropolis and Superman realizes that as fast as the creature moves, 60 miles is not very far away at all. So Superman grabs the creature and tosses him miles away into a nearby mountain, which turns out to be where the Cadmus Project is located. The fight shakes the project below as the tree city is destroyed in the fight. During the fight, the tree city collapses on the two of them just as Guardian arrives on the scene. The creature frees itself, toppling the trees onto Superman and Guardian. The creature leaps off again and lands on a road sign indicating that Metropolis is now 50 miles from where it takes its next leap. In Metropolis, Lex is telling Supergirl that with Superman away she is needed to protect Metropolis.

Roger Stern and Butch Guice do a nice story about Guardian. He was so important to Metropolis at the time. How does he react in the moment to Superman, and does he try to render first aid and things like that? We get to see Louise and John do a very nice story with John Henry Irons, who later become Steel, who was there in the moment as Superman died. Screen Rant: With the Death of Superman, there's an interesting tension going on between death and legacy. When a character dies in comics, there's always the saying that no character stays dead, except for Uncle Ben. And so Superman's story on one hand stopped when he died, but it continued on through the rest of the event through the different perspectives of these characters. And that's now being explored in the 30th Anniversary Special. How does the idea of legacy and death, or the end of one's story, play out against each other? Screen Rant: Just as a creative, how has the meaning of this event changed for you over time? And what does it mean to you now?Funeral for a Friend Variant Cover by IVAN REIS and DANNY MIKI (L), 1:25 Doomsday Variant Cover by FRANCESCO MATTINA (C), Premium Polybag Variant Cover w/armband (R) To celebrate the special anniversary of this genre-defining moment, DC has reunited the original creative teams of Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding; Roger Stern and Butch Guice; Louise Simonson and Jon Bogdanove; and Jerry Ordway and Tom Grummett for The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special #1. Available at comic shops on November 8, The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special #1 features four all-new stories that explore the lasting impact that Clark’s death had on his family and friends as well as nine pinups and variant covers by some of the top names in comics. The Life of Superman” by Dan Jurgens (W & A), Brett Breeding (A), Brad Anderson (C), and John Workman (L): Standing Guard,' by Stern, Guice, Glenn Whitmore, and Rob Leigh, retells the battle between Doomsday and Superman from the POV of the Guardians; 'Time,' by Simonson, Bogdanove, Whitemore, and Leigh, retells the story from the perspective of John Henry Irons; 'Above and Beyond,' by Ordway, Grummett, Doug Hazelwood, Whitmore, and Leigh, shows Ma and Pa Kent as they watch the battle on television news; and 'The Life of Superman,' by Jurgens, Breeding, Brad Anderson, and John Workman, follows young Jon Kent as he learns about his father's death and subsequent resurrection during a school presentation, then has to help Superman fight the new villain Doombreaker, who is somehow connected to Doomsday. At the Galaxy Building, Lois, with the help of Cat Grant, is trying to get Jimmy to come with her to cover the fight between Superman and the creature.