General Information

Title: The Death of Superman
Credited to: Dan Jurgens, Jerry Ordway, Louise Simonson, Roger Stern, Jon Bogdanove, Tom Grummett, Jackson Guice, Brett Breeding, Rick Burchett, Doug Hazlewood, Dennis Janke, Denis Rodier
Original Publication Date: 1993 reprint of 1992 material
ISBN: 1-56389-097-6
Cover Price: $9.95 US, $15.50 Can
Buy from: Amazon.com or Amazon.ca

Premise

An incredibly powerful beast, who just happened to be buried on Earth, breaks free and heads to Metropolis destroying everything in its path. Various heroes try to stop it, but only Superman stands a chance against it.

High Point

The splash pages in the final issue.

Low Point

The villain, Doomsday, couldn't be more shallow. Superman has a long history of enemies who deserved the right to do Superman in. Instead, we get a new, boring villain. This did not feel like it should have been the end of Superman.

The Scores

The idea of killing Superman is fairly original. The way they did it was original only in the fact that it was so blase. I can't think of a less poignant death of a superhero in any comic. I give it 3 out of 6.

The artwork is of varying quality, which is to be expected when all seven issues in here have different creative teams. It ranged from good to excellent though, so I'll give it a 5 out of 6.

The story is practically nonexistant. Strong bad guy show up, Superman spends six issues trading blows with it, and they both fall down. That's it. 2 out of 6.

The characterization was as complex as the story. Superman is determined to save as many lives as possible, and only uses violence to acheive that end. Lois loves Superman, and Guy Gardner doesn't get along with people. This is about the extent of the characterization. This is really a big, big battle. (As uninspired as his manner of death was, they at least had enough sense to choose not to make it a quick death.) I give it 3 out of 6.

The emotional response was crippled by the fact that they put the ending in the title. The fact that it's a ten year old story also means the reader knows he's coming back, especially since it's generally shelved next to The World Without Superman (which I'll review soon) and The Return of Superman, which makes sense since they're really a trilogy. There were no surprises, and the impact of the ending was ruined by the foreknowledge. I give it 3 out of 6.

The flow was actually very smooth, considering it's one huge battle. The panels didn't seem to be overrun with dialogue, as the conversations usually happened during brief pauses in the action. I give it 5 out of 6.

Overall, this is best viewed as a preface to the larger story. On its own, it doesn't really stand up very well. I give it 3 out of 6.

In total, The Death of Superman receives 24 out of 42.