Monday, November 20, 2017

The Death of Superman: 25 Years Later and beyond


As Justice League finally plays in theaters - comic book fans will remember this particular time of November about 25 years ago as a sad and unprecedented moment in comic book history - DC Comics killing off one of their flagship characters in the Man of Steel himself - Superman. As the final issue of the eponymous storyline of the same name that ran through the four Superman titles at the time - Action Comics, Adventures of Superman, Superman: The Man of Steel, and Superman - "Superman #75" saw the Justice League of America dealing with an unstoppable monstrous beast named "Doomsday" who all but crushed every single member of the superhero team. It was left up to Superman himself to try and stop the alien creature once and for all - culminating in a showdown that saw both combatants deliver death blows to one another and the Last Son of Krypton dying in the arms of the love of his life, Lois Lane.


As a storyline, The Death of Superman sent shockwaves across the comic industry - particularly to fans of the Man of Steel over how one of the world's greatest heroes could perish and what the fallout would be in the DC Universe following his death. The Superman titles would continue and show this aftermath with "Funeral for a Friend", followed by four mysterious Supermen appearing and claiming to be the hero in "Reign of the Supermen". Finally, the one true Clark Kent/ Kal-El/ Superman did return at the end of the latter storyline - and the entire saga was collected years later and titled as "The Death and Return of Superman".



As an iconic yet sad moment in DC history, The Death of Superman was adapted into a DC Animated Movie feature and was eventually used as the final act in 2016's "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" - where Henry Cavill's Man of Steel ultimately gave his life to stop Lex Luthor's Doomsday creation. This act would inspire Ben Affleck's Batman and Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman to go and find other metahumans to form the "Justice League". How does Superman come back in the DC Extended Universe? That's for you to find out in cinemas!


Also, there's Doomsday Clock happening this week, coinciding with the 25th anniversary of Supes' death and it just so happens that the Man of Steel figures in this "Watchmen" themed event and it has the word of his killer in the title. How that plays out? We shall see when the story begins on November 22nd.

Justice League is now playing in theaters.

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