The Death of Superman (1992/93)

[Darknight]

I was a comic book dealer back then and I was doing a comic book show when it released and I had just gotten my shipment in. It was a crazy day because it was so in demand and I literally watched the price climb up every minute as I went around checking out what other dealers were selling it for. It would eventually peak around $20 for the standard and $50 for the black bagged one if I recall correctly. That had to be one of the most profitable shows I ever did. I cleared over $5k on just those two issues alone and I could have made more that day if I didn't decide to hold part of my stock back rather than sell everything that day.

 

[deimosmasque]

I was a Marvel guy at the time. Spider-Man, Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor, New Mutants, and Sensational She-Hulk.

My best friend was the one who took interest and even had the Black Polybag version hanging on his wall. Unwilling to open it because speculator boom.

I read the story many years later when the trade came out. And I will admit, I still cry everytime.

Superman does his all and dies saving everyone. It's a great story.

Better than Knight Fall, I still have Azrael's first issue as Batman, and it was stupid then.

 

[Deleted member 25606]

Maybe.. but there are posters in this very thread that believed it was at the very least semi-permanent (lol), which could be blamed on the writers' statements about the dire sales and relevancy of Superman in the 90s. As if he needed to be offed in order to ever have a chance at returning.

I was only 11, mind you.

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Age and Place, but I didn't know an adult that believed it, and though I was 15 then I was the age you were ( 11) when as I said they killed Jason Todd with a gimmick, so yeah not exactly trusting DC beyond trying to revive flagging sales.

 

[Slayven]

I was a Marvel guy at the time. Spider-Man, Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor, New Mutants, and Sensational She-Hulk.

My best friend was the one who took interest and even had the Black Polybag version hanging on his wall. Unwilling to open it because speculator boom.

I read the story many years later when the trade came out. And I will admit, I still cry everytime.

Superman does his all and dies saving everyone. It's a great story.

Better than Knight Fall, I still have Azrael's first issue as Batman, and it was stupid then.

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Did you make a black armband for avengers disassembled

 

[BFIB]

Why did Supergirl get punched and turned to mush? That panel always stood out to me.

 

[deimosmasque]

Did you make a black armband for avengers disassembled

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I was out of comics when that happened.

Unfortunately.

Came back a few years later and got caught up. If I had sewing skills and was reading comics at the time I totally would have.

I got back into comics to show my partner Hellblazer in 2005.

When I did read Avengers Disassembled I was shocked that Marvel tore down thst team so soon after Heroes Return. Then I got caught up with X-Men... And left until I read the trades of Grant Morrison's New X-Men.

Then I was back... Reading every comic I could get my hands on.

Then New 52 happened.

I promise I gave it a chance. But yeah.

 

[FaceHugger]

None of us, my friends and I, actually thought he was going to remain dead. The adults that didn't read comics seemed to think so- it was all over thew news and everything. Us kids were just trying to get our hands on the most rare bagged editions - all of which years later turned out to be practically worthless since millions of the things were sold all over the world.

I had two copies, one that remained in the bag it came in and the other we passed around to read. I recall not really caring for it all that much. Not like when Jason Todd died, anyway.

 

[deimosmasque]

Why did Supergirl get punched and turned to mush? That panel always stood out to me.

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She wasn't a Kryptonian like Clark. She was a shape-shifting entity who decided to be Super Girl.

In that time DC was going with that Clark was the Last Son of Krypton. Thus any other Kryptonians were fakes.

 

[Wingfan19]

Why did Supergirl get punched and turned to mush? That panel always stood out to me.

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Cause that Supergirl was a shape shifting alien, not the real Kara Zor-El

 

[deimosmasque]

Cause that Supergirl was a shape shifting alien, not the real Kara Zor-El

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She died and was erased from existence in Crisis on Infinite Earths. Her death cover is so Iconic that it gets redone a lot.

Power Girl (her older self from Earth-2) stayed part of the DC continuity for a long while. And much like Donna Troy, they could never figure out how to include her.

It's complicated after that.

 

[FaceHugger]

She died and was erased from existence in Crisis on Infinite Earths. Her death cover is so Iconic that it gets redone a lot.

Power Girl (her older self from Earth-2) stayed part of the DC continuity for a long while. And much like Donna Troy, they could never figure out how to include her.

It's complicated after that.

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I remember when I first ventured outside of the Bat family into the wider DC universe in a meaningful way and being so completely confused on who was who and what was what. I can still hear the LCS owner sighing when I got to the counter with that "I'm about to ask you another DC question" look on my face. That poor guy could have charged me consultation fees I asked him so many questions.

 

[deimosmasque]

I remember when I first ventured outside of the Bat family into the wider DC universe in a meaningful way and being so completely confused on who was who and what was what. I can still hear the LCS owner sighing when I got to the counter with that "I'm about to ask you another DC question" look on my face. That poor guy could have charged me consultation fees I asked him so many questions.

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You lucked out. My first comic came from a silly school thing where an upper classman sent me an X-Men comic.

After that I had do buy comics from the local pizza place, and a drug store.

When I first got to a 40 minute drive to a comic store I was ignored because I was just a kid.

So my dad bought me the TSR Role-playing Game (FASERIP 2D10 version) and two X-Men comics unattached to what I was reading.

 

[halcali]

Cause that Supergirl was a shape shifting alien, not the real Kara Zor-El

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She was bubblicious!!!

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Here's the point where Superman convinced me that he wasn't really gonna lose, let alone DIE, to this non-magical green thing

 

[thebigword]

The one thing that stands out to me to this day is only being able to obtain the 4th print of Superman 75 at my local comic shop because the owner didn't bother to put a limit on copies sold to an individual. I was always one to to visit every week on release day, yet I still missed out on the 1st print copy. I know it's not really worth much nowadays, but I still get pissed off thinking about it, lol.

 

[No Depth]

Still have my singles from the intro of Doomsday all the way through the Reign of Supermen.

Wasnt a big comic reader at the time, but this event was so embedded in pop culture. News, friends, radio, everyone wouldn't stop discussing it before the death occurred, that I jumped in blind and bought new issues each week to prep and experience it with friends. Kept reading long after those around me fell off after the death issue, but eventually I too fell off once things normalized after Reign of Supermen ended.

By that time another big event got started at DC. One that pulled me in just as hard to buy new issues each week. Knightfall.

 

[InfiniteKing]

Honestly the story of a non-stop walking disaster like Doomsday is awesome but the action could've been so much better. At least we got the awesomely done new animated two part movie that does it justice. I really love Superman too.

I believe the story happening around the same time which is Emerald Twilight is a far more impactful event that had changed the whole status quo of the Green Lantern storyline. Hal Jordan just snapped and killed the entire Corps and Sinestro and becomes the biggest super villain around, holy crap how wasn't this a bigger deal?

 

[halcali]

Emerald Twilight is a far more impactful event

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Good god that was shocking and cool, especially for GL/Jordan fans.

(me!!!!)

 

[halcali]

Why did Supergirl get punched and turned to mush? That panel always stood out to me.

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Here's your girl:

 

[Alpheus]

I am dying at Azeral, Waverider, and Black Condor being there

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I can't believe Darkseid is there

 

[PhoenixAKG]

Honestly the story of a non-stop walking disaster like Doomsday is awesome but the action could've been so much better. At least we got the awesomely done new animated two part movie that does it justice. I really love Superman too.

I believe the story happening around the same time which is Emerald Twilight is a far more impactful event that had changed the whole status quo of the Green Lantern storyline. Hal Jordan just snapped and killed the entire Corps and Sinestro and becomes the biggest super villain around, holy crap how wasn't this a bigger deal?

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How do you feel about the Parallax retcon?

 

[SOBOSLDR]

Was one of my favs I think it's still at my moms house. I was gifted a giant comic collection of from a family friend when I was 7 read a lot of them but decided to sell them when I was a 14 got 500 bucks for the lot but regret it now, I'm sure the collection would be worth 3-5 times that now. This was one of the ones I kept.

 

[Pop-O-Matic]

So was this the storyline that started the "comic speculation" boom that almost killed the industry? Or was it just a small part of that whole mess?

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IIRC the speculator boom had been in full swing for a few years at that point. I think X-Men vol. 2 #1 a year or two earlier was the first real attempt to cash in on that from a big publisher (new #1 for a popular series, tons of variant covers), though I assume some of the bigger comics geeks around here can correct me if I'm wrong. Still, Death & Return was certainly a landmark moment in all that madness for obvious reasons (it's the death of SUPERMAN!!! For real! We promise!), and stuff like the black polybagged issue were certainly done to appeal to all the speculators buying it thinking it'd be worth big money in the future.

 

[SageShinigami]

I am dying at Azeral, Waverider, and Black Condor being there

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Occasionally you get images that are mostly a bunch of characters who aren't relevant even 4-5 years later.

 

[Spring-Loaded]

I am dying at Azeral, Waverider, and Black Condor being there

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[Gaming_Groove]

deleted

 

[Lazymanschair]

Loved this series when it came out, I had only gotten into reading comics, and wasn't that familiar with DC, I particularly liked the various replacement supermen that were introduced, Cyborg Superman and Kon-El are still favorites, particularly the take on Mr. Fantastic as Henshaws origin and being a huge FF fan at the time😁

 

[PhoncipleBone]

I remember picking up the various post-death of Superman comics after this happened. I was I think around 8 years old, so I don't remember much about whether or not they were good. Basing it entirely on Superboy's costume here, I'm guessing mostly mediocre at best lol

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Reign of the Supermen is cool. And also directly sets up Emerald Twilight with Green Lantern.
And to be fair, Steel and Superboy never claimed they were the legit real Superman during that. At least Steel didnt.

 

[Michael F. Assbender]

It was a huge deal at the time. Every news station talked about it because, like I said before, EVERYONE believed this to be the end.

What was really cool about the whole thing is that people started talking about Superman again. He just wasn't relevant in 1992.

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Are they all too busy mourning to notice fucking Darkseid standing there?

There's no way a planet destroying monster is actually sad about the death of his greatest enemy, so the only logical thing is that, moments after this image, all those other people were brutally slaughtered and their caskets laid to rest next to Superman's. So that's my head canon.

 

[Kaji AF16]

I was ten years old. It was gargantuan on the popular culture of the time; even non-comic book readers knew about the event.
I was very much into Marvel back then, but this allowed me to explore the state of the DC universe, which I had largely ignored until that point.

The story itself was decent; there was a sense of urgency, of the JL being unprepared, of Superman losing control of the situation.
I do remember that I considered the art quality to be surprisingly below some manga I had already seen (Slam Dunk in particulary, I believe). Ultimately, between the comic and the Mega Drive game, it became part of my zeitgeist of the early nineties.

Eventually I gifted my Death and Return collection to a younger cousin of mine, and I somewhat regret that.

 

[Slayven]

I was out of comics when that happened.

Unfortunately.

Came back a few years later and got caught up. If I had sewing skills and was reading comics at the time I totally would have.

I got back into comics to show my partner Hellblazer in 2005.

When I did read Avengers Disassembled I was shocked that Marvel tore down thst team so soon after Heroes Return. Then I got caught up with X-Men... And left until I read the trades of Grant Morrison's New X-Men.

Then I was back... Reading every comic I could get my hands on.

Then New 52 happened.

I promise I gave it a chance. But yeah.

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They did my boy Jack of Hearts so dirty

 

[halcali]

Are they all too busy mourning to notice fucking Darkseid standing there?

There's no way a planet destroying monster is actually sad about the death of his greatest enemy, so the only logical thing is that, moments after this image, all those other people were brutally slaughtered and their caskets laid to rest next to Superman's. So that's my head canon.

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A hero can't emerge without a villain. Maybe it also works the other way round? =p

 

[shenden]

Still have that issue. 90's was a good time for a comicbook kid for sure

 

[Voytek]

I remember bringing Superman #18 to class for show and tell and explaining to my fellow students how important this issue was. What a nerd.

 

[RoninChaos]

She was bubblicious!!!

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Here's the point where Superman convinced me that he wasn't really gonna lose, let alone DIE, to this non-magical green thing

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That kid calling him a spud always made me laugh. So try hard.

 

[Nakenorm]

In Sweden we barely had any dc comics at all in the 90's, was mostly just Spider-Man and X-Men that you could find in shops. So I didn't read the story until I was much older, it was ok. Like the old animated film better.

 

[Megadragon15]

Why did Supergirl get punched and turned to mush? That panel always stood out to me.

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This is the reason why: https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Lana_Lang_(Pocket_Universe) .

 

[DrForester]

How are the Death of Superman and Rise of the Supermen animated films? Might check them out on HBO Max.

 

[Gaming_Groove]

deleted

 

[deimosmasque]

They did my boy Jack of Hearts so dirty

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And unlike Hawkeye and Vision I don't think they ever brought him back.

 

[Deleted member 11370]

It was a huge deal at the time. Every news station talked about it because, like I said before, EVERYONE believed this to be the end.

What was really cool about the whole thing is that people started talking about Superman again. He just wasn't relevant in 1992.

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There are two pale-faced characters dressed in black I don't recognize. Who are they? Dream of the Endless and Grant Morrison from his Animal Man run?

 

[Slayven]

And unlike Hawkeye and Vision I don't think they ever brought him back.

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They brought him back during Marvel Zombies but he been MIA since then

 

[halcali]

DC should attempt to kill Superman one more time.

But which villain would (could) do the trick?

 

[Deleted member 60582]

It was huge at the time, as a huge comic fan it felt like the end of the damn world. Then Adventures of Superman #500 came out with the white bag and that was another huge deal. It was one of the first times comics went truly mainstream.

Then they went and released a sequel that explained Doomsday's origin and fucked everything up.

 

[Deleted member 25606]

I didn't imply that the characters claimed they were. DC's marketing however certainly wanted to...probably for fear of losing readership after killing off their most popular character. It's cool if they were good books...as I said, I was fairly young and didn't find what I read of them to be very exciting at the time, but I certainly wasn't an avid DC reader to begin with. =)

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Reign of Supermen or whatever it's exact title was legit, as much as I hated the death of Superman arc I forgive it for leading in to one of the only stories I really like involving my least favorite character in comics (Supes) from DC who is maybe my third favorite publisher.

On an unrelated note, supergirl not being a Kryptonian but a plastic putty shapeshifter is just the tip of the iceberg as the employee/girlfriend of Lex Luthor's son Alexander (who was really Lex in a soul exchanged clone body) who was keeping her around to manipulate and clone into an army. Seriously, everything but the death of Superman itself was interesting enough for me to read all the comics being published until the real Clark came back, something I have never done before or since, not joking (though it's not a spiteful hate thing either, he has inspired so many to the point I know at least 3 people with the symbol tattoo'd on them and I seriously respect that he touches peoples lives) I just really don't care for Superman, even as a child he never interested me.

 

[Temp_User]

I think i still have that black armband over at my parent's house. I remember my younger self opening and stealing it from my cousin's DoS black bag. He was livid as hell.

 

[Beef Supreme]

I still have the sealed black bag first printing of it. Ironically, people were offering as much as $500 back when it came out. That quickly changed when DC got cold feet and brought him back. Still think it's neat, though, and never opened it.

 

[TAJ]

They brought him back during Marvel Zombies but he been MIA since then

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That wasn't the same Jack Of Hearts. You're better than this, Slayven.

 

[Kelsdesu]

It was a huge deal at the time. Every news station talked about it because, like I said before, EVERYONE believed this to be the end.

What was really cool about the whole thing is that people started talking about Superman again. He just wasn't relevant in 1992.

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What a ridiculously colorful cast of characters 😂. The fuck is darkseid and phantom stranger doing there? Also, is that dream?

 

[halcali]

I still have the sealed black bag first printing of it. Ironically, people were offering as much as $500 back when it came out. That quickly changed when DC got cold feet and brought him back. Still think it's neat, though, and never opened it.

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I need to see these "black bag first printings" everyone's talking about...

Probably saw it before, but my memory is fuzzy.

 

[Wingfan19]

I need to see these "black bag first printings" everyone's talking about...

Probably saw it before, but my memory is fuzzy.

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