Fond Memories: Death of Superman

I remember when I found out that Superman died. I was shocked.

So I bought the trade paperback of the death and return of Superman. Up to this day I also take a look at it from timt to time.

In Houston, we actually got mailed a free copy with our newspaper and funny enough, I happened to stumble across it the other day.
 
 Ah, good times.. 

" damn, 17 years? Really???? well, if hanging out here didn't do it already, I sure a sh!t feel old now  such a great story though I remember them introducing Steel, Superboy, Cyborg Superman and Eradicator on this great 4 panel page and I thought......"wow, new SuperMEN!" we see how long that lasted great post though good times "

I remeber my cousin bying it for me, really before I even started collecting comics. I never liked D.C. But I remember that it came in some plastic wrap with his symbol on it bleeding. It also had some band you could wear around your arm, a poster. I gave it away to my cousin when I was 13. That's when I really started collecting hard core, and also when I realized I was strictly a Marvel sort of man.

I was about 5 when this came out., so I don't remember anyone talking about it, I don't even know if they talked about it here. I haven't read it yet but I would like to.

Wow has it really been 17 years...you're making me feel really old now too. :-p Death of Superman was also the storyline that pulled me in too. I have a lot of fond memories of it myself. I  loved the Reign of the Supermen story arc as well and remember thinking how cool it was that there with 4 Supermen each looking really unique. At the time kids in my school were really speculating hard about each of the 4 Supermen and which was the real one only to discover that none of them were the actual one. I remember looking at the Steel artwork and thinking there was a robot Superman out there. ^_^; The story hooked me all the way up to Superman's return and I even  the Steel and Superboy solo series for a long time afterwards. Definitely one of the most enjoyable period of comics for me. ^_^ 

" @Shadowdoggy: Eradicator is in the Outsiders now and I think Steel appeared recently where he fought Atlas. "

" @ComicMan24: wow, thanks! you're so knowledgeable "

" @ComicMan24 said:

" @Shadowdoggy: Eradicator is in the Outsiders now and I think Steel appeared recently where he fought Atlas. "

I completely forgot about that! but I don't remember seeing him in the book since issue 30 (two issues ago). He's used very sparingly it seems. "

" @inferiorego said:

" @ComicMan24 said:

" @Shadowdoggy: Eradicator is in the Outsiders now and I think Steel appeared recently where he fought Atlas. "

I completely forgot about that! but I don't remember seeing him in the book since issue 30 (two issues ago). He's used very sparingly it seems. "

Most probably. Hasn't the team split? Maybe that is a reason. "

I remember that.  My brother had the large book, collecting it all.  Then they had this major event of bringing in the 4 Supermen.  I had two, Eradicator and Superboy, and my brother had the other two, Steel and Cyborg Superman.  We even got this big poster too with them all on it.  I remember worrying that they would sell out or something, like I might miss this whole thing.

" @ComicMan24 said:

" @inferiorego said:

" @ComicMan24 said:

" @Shadowdoggy: Eradicator is in the Outsiders now and I think Steel appeared recently where he fought Atlas. "

I completely forgot about that! but I don't remember seeing him in the book since issue 30 (two issues ago). He's used very sparingly it seems. "

Most probably. Hasn't the team split? Maybe that is a reason. "

I'm so in and out of that book. It's hard to keep track. Not one of my favorites, even though I really like Didio and Tan "

I really like Didio and Tan "

I never thought for a second he would stay dead, even then. I still bought the trade.  It was a well done story, still one of my favorites.
 
When Batman "died" I thought back to this story and realized how poorly the "death" of Batman was done. It wasn't an event like Superman's "death". It was a footnote at the end of a mini-series. The death of Batman and Superman needs to be as big a deal as this book was, focused only on that character. Not some 3 page ending in something that isn't even a book about that character.

I was 1 years old when this happened..... I was still staring at shining things at the time. It wasn't until a couple years ago I actually heard about this story.

"

I never thought for a second he would stay dead, even then. I still bought the trade.  It was a well done story, still one of my favorites.
 
When Batman "died" I thought back to this story and realized how poorly the "death" of Batman was done. It wasn't an event like Superman's "death". It was a footnote at the end of a mini-series. The death of Batman and Superman needs to be as big a deal as this book was, focused only on that character. Not some 3 page ending in something that isn't even a book about that character.

"

" @Brickabrack said:

"

I never thought for a second he would stay dead, even then. I still bought the trade.  It was a well done story, still one of my favorites.
 
When Batman "died" I thought back to this story and realized how poorly the "death" of Batman was done. It wasn't an event like Superman's "death". It was a footnote at the end of a mini-series. The death of Batman and Superman needs to be as big a deal as this book was, focused only on that character. Not some 3 page ending in something that isn't even a book about that character.

"

The difference between the two "deaths" is that although everyone in the comic universe thought Batman died, the reader knew right from when it happened that Batman didn't die. He was misplaced in time. When Superman died, everyone, including the reader, thought he was dead. "

I hope he dies and never comes back.

I picked up Death of Superman, Rebirth of Superman, Knightfall, and Knightsend trades all at the same time back then. These were the reason I liked comics when I was younger. It's been some time since then an only recently have I started reading comics again. lol

" @inferiorego said:

" @Brickabrack said:

"

I never thought for a second he would stay dead, even then. I still bought the trade.  It was a well done story, still one of my favorites.
 
When Batman "died" I thought back to this story and realized how poorly the "death" of Batman was done. It wasn't an event like Superman's "death". It was a footnote at the end of a mini-series. The death of Batman and Superman needs to be as big a deal as this book was, focused only on that character. Not some 3 page ending in something that isn't even a book about that character.

"

The difference between the two "deaths" is that although everyone in the comic universe thought Batman died, the reader knew right from when it happened that Batman didn't die. He was misplaced in time. When Superman died, everyone, including the reader, thought he was dead. "

Yeah good point, and I get that. But it was still a huge deal, they were taking a major character out of play for an undisclosed amount of time (at the time) and the impact of it was lessened because of how they chose to handle it. The action was Batman took out a god and sacrificed himself for it, but the delivery was he jumped in out of nowhere and was dead inside of the last portion of the mini-series.   Compare that to Superman's action, which was to sacrifice himself defeating a world-wide threat. it was a big story and it was delivered well in his own comic, so he was the focus. Which is exactly how they should have handled what happened to Batman, with a lot more fanfair, irregardless of wether or not the reader picked up the hint at the end that Batman was stranded and not dead.   I don't know, I guess I'm jut saying I admire how they handled Superman's "death" and it made me see how much better Batman's "death" could have been. "

I constantly think back to the time that Death of Superman happened.  Unfortunately, I was busy spending my money on the arcade and baseball cards, so I rarely had dough for comics...let alone REAL comics at a REAL comic book store.  Most of my comics were purchased in three packs at Wal-Mart or at the local dollar stores.  Therefore, I never got my hands on any of the real issues of Death of Superman.  My cousin, however, was hardcore into Superman and this was a HUGE deal for him.   
 
We'd go down to the comic store (Bankston's), and there was a huge line before they opened waiting for the next issue.  It was such a big deal that Supes was going to be killed.  He bought all the issues, and I remember that my brother and I would walk down the street to his house.  He would read them aloud to us (he and I were the same age, but our brothers were two years younger than us), and we were just huddled around reading this big event.  It was something we looked forward to each week. 
 
About two years ago, I bought the trade paperback and revisited that story arc.  It was a little different than I remembered it, but it was still an outstanding story that Dan Jurgens told.  The art was phenomenal, and that iconic panel of Lois holding Clark's limp body is still heartbreaking. 
 
Yeah...I miss events like that.  Hell, this makes me think back on Fatal Attractions and the shock that event gave me.  I need to go back and re-read that again.

That was also my first trade (suprisingly since I barely buy anything from DC except maybe Batman). 
But it was a good read, especially the scenes with Lois.

I just read The Death of Superman trade. Its an entertaining read but Doomsday is a walking plot device if I've seen one.

Just started college.. My friend/room mate had been collecting and I went back to a comic book store for the first time in about 6 years...  Great times.

Yes. This was a very good story. One of the few DC storylines I really liked. It would have had more affect on me if it'd lasted for awhile longer, though, as with all comic deaths.

I'll be revisting another comic from my childhood later this week... prepare for cringing!

Superman...

I'm really sorry Death of Superman was your introduction to so many DC heroes.  It was history making, no question, but it has got to be one of the worst stories ever written.  Death sold purely on the hype.  I waited for the trade (I was in my early twenties then), to read the entire story, and back-to-back, those issues were shockingly bad.  I mean, the dialogue on one of the splash pages of #75 was "Watch for falling glass!"  Really?  World Without a Superman and Reign of the Supermen were much better stories. 
 
Yes, I bought my copies of #75 - three of them.  I kept one for my collection, and traded the other two back to the store a week later, for twice what I paid for 'em - my plan to begin with.  The death issue will never be a big ticket collectable.  I'm glad it's a fond memory for so many of you, but it was really bad.

" @Shadowdoggy said:

" damn, 17 years? Really???? well, if hanging out here didn't do it already, I sure a sh!t feel old now  such a great story though I remember them introducing Steel, Superboy, Cyborg Superman and Eradicator on this great 4 panel page and I thought......"wow, new SuperMEN!" we see how long that lasted great post though good times "

Superboy and Cyborg Superman are still around quite a bit though. Steel hasn't really been around since Countdown and 52, and I can't even begin to tell you what happened to Eradicator. Cyborg Superman was pretty lame, but he works out great as a Green Lantern villain for some reason. "

My story of comics is almost exactly like yours; picking up whatever had a cool cover or getting a random book from my dad on my birthday or some other special occasion.  Death of Superman was my first tpb; and they continue to be my favorite way of reading comics; you don't have to be as delicate with them, you get everything in one volume you can take anywhere instead of 7 fragile sleeves.  This story was great and I too remember worrying about the value. I actually have 2 copies of this trade, one for reading and one for the collection (not like you can't get a mint book for $4 on ebay these days, but still)!

  Saw a trade package for the Death and Return of Superman at the bookstore yesterday... Should have bought it...

Ah yes, Superman #75 pure hype by Dc.  Kill out superman, yeah right.  Anyways, that issue came out in the fall of '92 I was comic book reading since junior high, and a recent grad of UCSD and no job prospect(the Clinton days!!).  It was my first week of work at Diamond Comics Dist. here in San Diego, and I remember picking up all 20,000 copies of superman with the warehouse crew at the airport(back then comics came out Tues and Thurs.)  We get calls from people saying could they get a copy(one lady said she need one for her dying kid).  Since we were a distributor, and not a retailer, we refer them to check out the local comic book store.  However, that comic was not the problem, it was Bloodshot #1 that came out the same day, and comics come from the printers in boxes of 200, and with its chromium cover that box of Bloodshot #1 seemed to weigh twice as heavy as opposed to the other comic titles.  BTW, some comic store in San Diego, had the great idea to order 8,000 copies of that Valiant comic!!!  Looking back, I read almost every DC title and some Marvel, all the Valiants, and some indies!!!  Comics were $1.25 back then and with my employee discount I could get a weekly stash of 10 -15 books and spend about $10!!!  Worked at Diamond comics for 2 years and basically saw the industry try to copy the ball card business and saw how crappy comic book become!!!  Especially all those supermans that came out after the comic book in question!!!  Just started reading and buying comics again this year, and went to my first comic con since '92, and as an old timer now, my advice is just read and enjoy what you like, there's so much variety out there!!!!

Oh how I remember seeing this on the news and having to answer stupid questions about how could Superman die.  For like a week being a comic book geek was horrible because everyone just assumed I read Superman and was a walking lexicon of information..and I should have taken bets about him coming back sooner rather than later...I would be rich!

dun dun dunn! GUY THE YELLOW LANTERN GARDENER And the rest of the jla  were (CURSE WORD!) KICK BUTT IN  SUPES DEATH

I was 3.
 
 
Damn shame things like this have no real significance, though. And there is no point in them starting now because the damage is already irrevocably done.

"I remember standing in line and getting a copy that was not the black bagged one.  There was this kid in line also who told me had a copy being held for him at another comic shop, and since I was about 8 people in line in front of him once I got mine I went to the other comic store, said his name and got another copy of the unbagged as well as a bagged copy.  I never like the kid and he approached me about it at school and I beat him up for lying.  At least thats what I told the teacher that grabbed when I was pounding the poor kid.  I was such an asshole in school.  The kid never got his death of Superman and caught an ass whoopin.  Poor kid.  "

I never read this book don't know why, I know its famous and I know this happened
I don't think being 2 yrs. old at the time is enough reason for me to excuse myself of not reading this hehe... one I'll read it one day :D
 
can someone rate this book from 1-10, 1 is lowest , and 10 is highest
I just wanna know from your opinions how good you think it is

I love the whole Death of Superman, Reign Of Supermen, Return of Superman and Superman Doomsday arc!
I had a bunch of separate issues back then, and rebought the great trade paperbacks DC put out around the 2000s.
It was long, epic and changed a lot of the status quo. (Superboy, kryptonians aspects, Coast City, etc..)

I remember discussing this in the college bar (Kings College London), drinking pints of Newcastle Brown Ale - I was chatting with a good friend about this and how the comic would be worth a bomb. We set out the next day to find it - Surprise, surprise, had sold out as quick as the Flash. 
 
Remember my disappointment when looking at the awful TPB - The awful artwork, the dreadful story. Load of crap. Gave it to some random chap in the bar a few days later, told him to keep it. 
 
IMO Knightfall was a far better read.