Death of Superman (Dc Comic Graphic Novel))

Rating:
Summary: What Does It Take To Kill The Man Of Steel?
Review: "The Death of Superman" was one of those times when a comicbook storyline became a media event. In the uncertain and cynical early 1990s, it really looked like the poster-boy for idealistic, traditional morals and the voice of paternal authority may really be headed towards oblivion. Image Comics was booming with their anti-heroes and kids were really digging the songs of Kurt Cobain. Does Superman still have any relevance in the 1990s? In fact, that was one of the underlying (yet often ignored) subtle themes in this storyline. Teenagers in school were supposed to tune in to a Superman interview on TV but many of them were uninterested in listening to a "washed-out has-been", preferring instead the obnoxious and cynical Guy Gardner. In fact, Superman's only "fan" in the story seems to be this little black orphan called Keith.

Then, Doomsday happened! A monster fights Superman for dozens of pages and Superman dies defending his beloved city, Metropolis, against said monster. That's all there really was to the plot.

But suddenly we sat up and took notice. Suddenly we realized just what we have lost. A symbol. A hero. An icon. And we see it most starkly through the teary eyes of "Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane" and "Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen".

DC Comics returned to iconic heroism in comics in the mid-1990s. But in the early 1990s, they had to shock the readers into realizing their folly for ignoring the "originals" - thus, Superman got killed, Batman got crippled, Wonder Woman was replaced, Aquaman lost a hand, Green Arrow died and Green Lantern went nuts. But don't blame DC. It was what the disloyal, Image-buying fans deserved... and it was what they ultimately got. This story, "The Death of Superman" is the clearest example of DC's "shock-treatment" event. It is a product of its times.

Rating:
Summary: What Does It Take To Kill The Man Of Steel?
Review: "The Death of Superman" was one of those times when a comicbook storyline became a media event. In the uncertain and cynical early 1990s, it really looked like the poster-boy for idealistic, traditional morals and the voice of paternal authority may really be headed towards oblivion. Image Comics was booming with their anti-heroes and kids were really digging the songs of Kurt Cobain. Does Superman still have any relevance in the 1990s? In fact, that was one of the underlying (yet often ignored) subtle themes in this storyline. Teenagers in school were supposed to tune in to a Superman interview on TV but many of them were uninterested in listening to a "washed-out has-been", preferring instead the obnoxious and cynical Guy Gardner. In fact, Superman's only "fan" in the story seems to be this little black orphan called Keith.

Then, Doomsday happened! A monster fights Superman for dozens of pages and Superman dies defending his beloved city, Metropolis, against said monster. That's all there really was to the plot.

But suddenly we sat up and took notice. Suddenly we realized just what we have lost. A symbol. A hero. An icon. And we see it most starkly through the teary eyes of "Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane" and "Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen".

DC Comics returned to iconic heroism in comics in the mid-1990s. But in the early 1990s, they had to shock the readers into realizing their folly for ignoring the "originals" - thus, Superman got killed, Batman got crippled, Wonder Woman was replaced, Aquaman lost a hand, Green Arrow died and Green Lantern went nuts. But don't blame DC. It was what the disloyal, Image-buying fans deserved... and it was what they ultimately got. This story, "The Death of Superman" is the clearest example of DC's "shock-treatment" event. It is a product of its times.

Rating:
Summary: Same old, same old...
Review:

I like comics... I like Superman...

When people said that this was a great comic, one of the best etc..., of course I bought it, and I liked it, it was ok, just like most other comics that I buy.

The best ever? Not likely. This was just Doomsday, a big, bad guy with no mind, just rage and destructiveness wandering around beating up super heroes and breaking things. No heroes can handle it, so Superman comes in to save the day. No imagination or inventiveness from the writers, just smack, bang, crash... fight scene after fight scene and that's about all.

It's a bit of a joke to call it the best comic ever, or even the best Superman comic ever, or even all that good a comic really. The only big deal is in the title, and DC could let Superman stay dead... of course not.

Rating:
Summary: How The Mighty Have Fallen
Review: At one time, in the 80's, I had a comic book collection numbering in the 1,000's. Thanks to the first Superman film, his exploits were among my "must buys" every month. However, for economic reasons and due to the rigors of college, I stopped collecting comics on a regular basis by the time this storyline first saw print in single issue format in the 90's. Special events in my favorite heroes "lives" may briing me out of retirement for a brief time-if I was intrigued enough. Even though, I knew this was an event, that was in part, created to boost sales-The Death Of Superman story qualifies as too cool to pass. When I was out looking in the bargain bin in a comics shop, I came across all three parts of the story as trade paperbacks, at a good price, I just couldn't pass it up

The Death Of Superman has the "man of steel" squaring off against a single minded monster called Doomsday. The creature leaves a trail of total dustruction, once he escapes from an unknown fortress, his mission is fight all foes. As the Justice League tries to detemine where Doomsday is headed next, Superman fears he's going to his city Metropolis...he promises to make a stand there...alone A battle to the death begins, with the last son of Krypton, paying the ultimate price.

I know some folks have said that the story might have worked better, had the writers given us more on Doomsday's backstory. I disagree. Having a foe without a conscience works much better. His actions are senseless and not everything in the world makes sense. Therefore, Doomsday is a great metaphor life itself and the challenges we face in our everyday existence Superman's writing team at the time knew this was a risky way to go...it worked in spades Of course knowing the death was only temporary-and that this was just part one-muted things a bit. But seeing the ultimate superhero get his b[ehind] kicked, and not get back up, was still pretty strange Sure the the story is all a set up for his return-but that is half the fun of the whole arc.

As for the art, the scenes of the battle at the end are the best. Every artist who worked on the story is good. But I think the work of Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding stands out the best. It just so happens they handled the art during the final battle of the book The battle had large panels throughout. The pencils and inks made the art frame-able

This book is well recomended with a 5 star rating If you like Superman at all, this trade paperback, should be on your bookshelf, if it's not already

Rating:
Summary: Tastes great but could be better
Review: 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. :)

Rating:
Summary: I liked this story
Review: Death of Superman was a great comic series. I was glad the day I found all the comics combined in one book. It sure did save me a lot of money. It was split into like 6 different comics.

Death of Superman puts Superman up against a killing machine called Doomsday. Not much is known about the killer except for his love of destruction. He is destroying everything in his way and he's heading towards Metropolis.

The Justice League of America goes into action to stop Doomsday. They fail in the process. He beats the mess out of most them. Some hold there own better than others, but Superman comes to the rescue of some of them.

Once Superman starts fighting Doomsday it really picks up. It's some great drawing. Most of the shots are done in bigger squares and sometimes full pages of the comic. Mad props to all the artists and drawers who worked on this project.

The final showdown in Metropolis is great. I love it when there punching each other so hard the shock is shattering all the windows. It's sad to see the big guy go down when he finally takes Doomsday out, but it was kind of nice to see him get beat. However, his death is short lived which is a great thing because Superman is the best ever.

This book is definetly a must for all Superman fans.

Rating:
Summary: I prefer LOBO
Review: Death of Superman was ok. It basically has Doomsday, this weopon of mass destruction, slaughtering any hero that gets in his way. Doomsday doesn't speak, doesn't think he just kills. He is kind of like Massacre except without the thought control. Doomsday has all of these spikes made out of bones on his body including back,shoulders,knees,knuckles,forearms and head, which makes it almost impossible to get a direct hit. He is the deadliest but cheapest S-Villain out there. He doesn't even have a motivation for killing superman. In the Hunter/Prey Superman vs. Doomsday two-pack, Supes gets this armor suit from the Gennisis device called Motherbox and he beats Dooms day in a matter of minutes.
FYI. Genesis is whare the New Gods reside. They are at war with Apokalyps and it's ruler Darkseid. Even he(Darkseid) sustains some damage in his fight with Superman. I prefer Lobo as an S-Villain. He is a bounty hunter,he has a space Harly he rides on and he has some great one liners. Plus he at least has an attitude.

Rating:
Summary: BIG, CROSS-OVER BATTLE ROYAL
Review: Every few years, at least back in the late 80's and into the 90's, DC Comics decided to do something to garner national attention. They killed Robin, although the vast majority of non-comic reading people never knew it wasn't the Dick Grayson robin they were all familiar with. They Married Superman to Lois Lane and of course they killed Superman. Well of course those of us who were comic fans and collectors at the time knew this was nothing but a cheap publicity stunt. We knew that Superman, even if he really died would not be dead for long. You don't kill off the greatest superhero in the history of comics. But the national media ate it up and it sold like hot cakes.

Plot? Not much to speak of. We simply get a gargantuan, rocky monster, kind of a cross between the Hulk and a mutated Thing, that escapes imprisonment and comes to earth. It's been a number of years since I read the story but as I recall Dan Jurgens gave us little if any background on Doomsday. What was he? Where did he come from? What's the reason for his rage? Nope. Plot gives way to all-out battle royal as Doomsday cuts a path through the Justice League on his way to Metropolis, destroying everything in his path.

On the Plus side, I'm sure the artists who worked on the story, and their were many, had a great time drawing the destruction and mayhem, often in full page panels. In the end, Superman And Doomsday come together in one last titanic clash and basically kill each other with their last punch. Supes is left bloody, costume torn to shreds, and...well...dead. Maybe Jurgens was using Doomsday as a metaphor for mindless destruction but I kind of think that Dan wasn't quite aiming for something that deep. At least when DC killed the jason Todd Robin, they had the Joker pound him with a crow bar and blow him up.

Nothing quite as dramatic with Superman. There's no plot development, no real explanation for Doomsday, no motivation for his actions and what you get is really a hollow story filled with great action and excellent art. Not unlike many of the big budget movies of today that rely on CGI effects and neglect the script. And the mere fact that Superman was brought back not long afterwards makes this merely a brief footnote in Superman's history.

Rating:
Summary: I hate Superman, and I hate this.....
Review: First off, I didn't think the writing in this book was very good. It has a very simple, shallow story line and the whole thing is basically the JLA and Superman getting their collective ass kicked. Basically, there is some new creature named Doomsday that doesn't feel fear of death. He's basically a big bulldozer type villain hellbent on nothing but killing and destruction. Hmmm, not very compelling motivation if you ask me. Very stupid, actually. Given the title of the book, I suppose it wouldn't be a spoiler to say that Superman *gasp* DIES at the end! Newsflash, he comes back very soon after this book. This book was very obviously a marketing scheme to get sales up. I mean, did anyone actually expect Superman to stay dead? I think not.

I always like to say something positive no matter how horrific something I review is, so I will say this. I greatly enjoyed the art, especially in the last part of the book, where Supes and Doomsday go at it. It's very climatic, detailed, and you know that was going to be the final battle as you read it. Too bad the writing couldn't be as good as th art or the layout.....

So, take some good advice, and don't pick up this book. It's not worth anybody's time.

Rating:
Summary: Emotional Value Albeit With "Tech" Bloopers
Review: For someone who grew up being a Superman fan, following his adventures thru the 70's (the glory days) and the 80's, Superman's death obviously had a great impact on me. The writers truly brought out the core of what the Man of Steel has stood for all these years -- protecting the innocent and fighting evil at all costs. Yes, even at the cost of his own life.

However, I just did not think that "technically" Doomsday had the stuff to do it. I mean Supe has faced a bunch of other *really* strong super villians, but most of those storylines didn't make it past the second or the third episode. Remember Solomon Grundy? I mean that guy was shown to be stronger than Superman, and virtually unbeatable. But Superman outwitted him and pretty much settled him in one episode. What about Mongul? That guy was at least as strong, if not stronger than Doomsday. But the MOS had no problem putting him away in a couple of issues. And then there was Lobo. The list continues. My point is, Supes has handled some really tough characters in the past without too much of a hassle.

Which brings me to Doomsday. I remember when in the first panel that he takes his best punch at Superman, the MOS does not even budge! His expression is unchanged as he says something to the effect, "Oh, is this the guy you call Doomsday?" And the MOS NEVER managed to take a punch from any of the aforementioned supervillians and brush it off the way he did against Doomsday. And yet, while all the others are put away fairly easily, this guy manages to KILL Superman.

Agreed that the storyline keeps stressing the fact that Doomsday keeps getting stronger as he continues fighting. AND the MOS gets exhausted and hence weaker as the fight wears on. How so is he able to make an impact on Doomsday towards the end of the fight while not being able to do anything at his peak (during the initial stages of the fight)? The editors might say there was a last-ditch effort from Superman from sheer desparation, but still...

Finally, thru the years, we all know how the MOS has used brains over brawn to beat his enemy, usually taking advantage of one their tiny weaknesses. So how come this time he didn't take advantage of Doomsday's huge weakness of lack of flying power? I don't think this aspect got enough play in the series. Also, how come he never thinks of striking at those bony protrusions that hurt Doomsday so much towards the end of the series?

All this MAY have been plausible if somewhere along the line the writers had said that Supes was sidetracked with some issue, or that he was sick (Kryptonian "birthday"), or that he was simply not at his peak. But that wasn't the case either.

All in all, the adventure was entertaining, with a great deal of emotional impact for most fans. But in the end, I'll say that Doomsday wasn't the kind of villain who was worthy of giving Superman (at his prime) as hard a time as he managed to give him (he killed him!).

Well, that was my point of view anyway. However, if you are reading this review in order to know whether you should pick the TPB up or not, I can easily tell you to buy it. It's definitely worth it despite the issues outlined above. Historically, it's a very significant series (even it was a ploy to raise sagging sales), and if you are like me, you'll keep going back to it again and again...