r/superman

It just feels unrealistic most people would not care as much about people they don't know and died before they could even think to someone who raised them their entire life and while he should be grateful for them saving him by sending him to earth and obviously acknowledge he's kryptonian too he shouldn't really care about more or equallty to his earth identity

I have a confession.

I love The Death of Superman. I think it is a great story.

No caveats. No “well, The Death & Return of Superman as a whole was great.”

No. I mean the original seven-issue opening act where Superman and Doomsday beat each other to death.

Even using that phrase, “beat each other to death,” still carries a lot of weight with me.

I LOVE that the final issue is basically a series of splash pages. I think Dan Jurgens knocks it out of the park. Superman #75 was the first time I ever saw Superman bleed, and it had a profound effect on me that I am still trying to put into words.

I was ten at the time, so of course it hit me hard, right? But I don't think that should discount how good, and maybe even important, I still find it.

I reread the trade often. There are just so many iconic scenes and panels peppered throughout it. One of my favorite moments is early on, when Superman thinks he can just tank Doomsday’s punch... and he does. Then Doomsday basically goes, “fuck that,” and kicks him so hard he goes flying. Like Superman tried to “you’re not that guy, pal, trust me” this new monster and immediately paid the price for it. I loved it.

I have heard and understood all the criticism of it. It is just a long fight scene. Superman would fight smarter than that. Doomsday is basically just the Hulk with spikes. But man, it builds itself so well, especially when read in the trade.

Doomsday punches his way out of a prison and starts killing indiscriminately. The Justice League gets called in, but they cannot stop him. Superman shows up, unafraid, expecting to mop this up quickly, only to learn the hard way that this is not going to be easy. The fight tears across the country as Superman repeatedly tries and fails to keep the monster away from populated areas. Eventually, the battle reaches Metropolis, where Superman vows to hold the line. And he does, at the cost of his life.

That is a fun, exciting story.

It is not something you have to slog through just because people treat Reign of the Supermen and Return of Superman as the “real” payoff. I legitimately think the battle with Doomsday is a well-told, exciting adventure in Superman’s life.

It is not perfect. All the criticisms are valid. I can absolutely see them.

That is also why I think the recent animated adaptation, especially Part 1, improves on the material in some really smart ways. For starters, adding the non-jobber Justice League sells the threat much better. One of the silliest knocks against the original story is how unimpressive it supposedly was that Doomsday beat that version of the Justice League instead of the Big Seven. The movie fixes that.

There is no real point to this, and I am getting rambly. I just think the opening act of The Death and Return of Superman is genuinely great, and anytime someone shit-talks it, I die a little inside. Probably why I labeled this a "confession" lol

Does anyone love it as much as I do?

I'm pretty excited for Man of Tommorow, and with brainiac being in it I want to know more about the character. So I'm wonder what are some good superman stories with him as the main/side villian? I know there's Superman: Brainiac but I'm not sure if there's other things I need to read before that.

Certain people have complained corenswets superman is to emotional and whiny and not stoic as superman should be. Yes he is a bit emotional but there are many moments he could be more emotional and whiny and isn't like when he first loses to The Hammer of Boravia/Ultraman he doesn't complain about it and after being healed in the fortress returns to confront him,there is also when finds out the full mesage he doesnt get over emotional and whine he still keeps his composure as well as when confronting lex yes he yells at lex but he still doesn't let his temper get the better of him. Thoughts ?