Thoughts on The Death of Superman *spoilers*

I recently picked up the trade of Death of Superman. I had never read it before so I thought I would give gander. It's hard to find someone who isn't familiar with Superman dying at the hands of Doomsday. This story was one of the biggest parts of the 90's and had an impact. DC was going to kill off one of their most popular and best selling heroes. This stunt worked, millions of copies of Superman #75 were sold. Many stores ran out opening day because so many people bought multiple copies. I knew I had to give it a read, but was it worth it.

I finished the trade and was at odds of where to stand. Yes, there are very powerful scenes, but does that make a story great.  I thought the story was very well thought out. One of the creators of Superman praised this story, but it's not perfect. I love Doomsday, he is a classic villain.  On the other hand, I thought the fight was a huge cop out and didn't end like I wanted it to. I'm very split, but I don't feel bad at spending the time to read this story. I think the real problem was I was born too late to appreciate it. It is like reading Secret Wars, but not getting the tension of reading it week by week. Don't get me wrong though, it still has powerful moments.

Some of the stories strongest didn't involve the fighting. There is a scene where Superman is on a Q and A with high school students. A girl asked him about if he felt fear or if he liked dishing out violence to solve problems. Superman answers back saying he is always afraid of hurting people or failing everyone and how fear is a part of the job. He also explains that he doesn't like violence, but if he has to fight he will because the Earth needs protection. That is excellent dialogue and writing. Yes, I know Superman is overpowered but he isn't full of himself. The writers took the time to address Superman's emotions and see he has feelings and fears like regular people do. There is also a scene where Lois gets a brief exchange with Superman before his final moments. Lois begs him to run and find help, but he knows he can't and he knows he is the only force protecting Metropolis. Superman knows the end is near and kisses Lois telling her that no matter what he will always love her. It's the small cliched exchanges that make this story great from a structural stand point.

I liked the fight scenes with Doomsday and the Justice League. The team consisted of many "interesting" heroes who are pretty awesome in their own right, but are nowhere near strong enough to fend off Doomsday. Guy Gardner was the first to fight Doomsday and he gets the beat up so hard his eyes get swollen shot. Gardner actually needs help later to aim his ring at Doomsday because he can't see. Blue Beetle gets taken by surprise by Doomsday and gets beat up bad. He gets so mangled that he needs to be taken to the hospital otherwise he would have died. Doomsday manages to take the team out with little issue. More impressive is that he has one hand tied down, so he's doing the beating with one hand. Doomsday fighting the league showed how powerful he was, but fighting Superman he was even more so. However, the fights between him and Superman are not my favorite. It's not that it is a bad fight because it isn't, I just felt it was a cop out. The final blows between Doomsday and Superman weren't definitive and to me Doomsday should have walked away from it. If DC wanted to make Superman's death mean something, then this was the way to go. I may have thought the fight was blah, but it doesn't mean it didn't keep me interested.

One other thought I had was the strength of the actual Justice League. The members of the group were: Fire, Bloodwynd, Ice, Guy Gardener (not in the Lantern Corp anymore), Maxima, Blue Beetle, and Booster Gold. I want to be clear and say that these heroes are all really awesome, especially Ted Kord Blue Beetle and Booster Gold. However, this is not the world strongest group of heroes. I didn't do a whole lot of research as to why Wonder Woman, Hal Jordan, The Flash, and Batman (okay Batman might have had his back broken) weren't around when this was happening but they left the B team to save the world.  This would be like The Power Rangers taking a vacation and leaving Bulk, Skull, and Alpha to save the world. The League comprised of members who are great for assisting and crowd control but were not and still aren't heavy hitters. Again, this was the 90's and it was a strange era in comics but no wonder Doomsday went through the league like it was nothing.

I think when it truly comes down to it, The Death of Superman is a period piece. Superman's tattered cape blowing in the wind while Lois clutches his dead body will always be a powerful image. However, does it really matter now that he is alive again. Superman stayed dead for less than a year and fans were upset. It is in expensive to find a death of Superman comic still sealed in the bag for less that $10. This was a stunt that sold many comics, but it almost killed the industry. This book is a 90's relic best left to be brought up in arguments about who would win in a fight. I'm not saying to not read this story because it's worth the read, but only once. Read it once and put it on the shelf so non-comic readers look and say "Wait? Superman died?"

I'm still trying to forget