The Death of Superman is easily one of the most iconic and memorable comic book stories of the past 40 years. It made headlines at the time, and earned plenty of criticism from comic fans. The storyline sparked a slew of similar events with other heroes, such as Batman being replaced in Knightfall, and Wonder Woman and Hal Jordan being replaced by younger versions like Artemis and Kyle Rayner. Even rival Marvel published their own stories with similar changes, including Wolverine losing his adamantium, Spider-Man’s Clone Saga, and Heroes Reborn. It saturated the market and is still felt in each event that either company releases.
But despite the landmark feeling around the event and the media coverage upon its initial release, it’s not the only time Superman or any hero has died in comics. More characters have died and returned from the dead in comics in the decades before the landmark The Death of Superman. It’s not even the first story titled “The Death of Superman,” though it may just be the best.
11) The Silver Age Original
We’re going to begin with a blanket option given the long career the hero has attained to this point. The original “The Death of Superman” story from 1961 is now labeled an imaginary story and the property of another Earth, but it still shows Lex Luthor using his search for a cancer treatment while in prison, to lure in Superman with the notion that he might be trying rehabilitation. This turns out to be very false, as Luthor has set a trap with Kryptonite that kills Superman. It was retconned down the line, of course, but it is the first example of many stories where Superman is killed, depowered, maimed, or worse throughout the Silver Age.
10) The Final Days of Superman
Much later, in the DC New 52 era, fans were treated to a new death of Superman in the main DC Universe. The New 52 Superman was younger and had ditched his romance with Lois Lane while dealing with his malfunctioning powers. He later discovers he’s slowly dying from Kryptonite poisoning and is forced to battle a man named Denny Swan, who gains similar powers to him and claims he’s the new Superman. The real Superman uses his solar flare power to defeat the new faux version, but quickly finds that he’s out of time. As he dies, Clark says goodbye to his friends and turns into dust, leaving only his cape behind.
9) DC Universe Online Legends
The comic follow-up to the debut of DC Universe Online continues the story from its opening cinematic. Lex Luthor and the other villains have teamed to defeat the Justice League and other heroes. After using Wonder Woman as bait and Batman being used as a piñata, Luthor lures Superman back to Earth from his place in the Sun and then proceeds to kill him with a kryptonite spear to the back. From there, it’s about retelling the key moments from the game and the heroes from an alternate time trying to stop the Battle of Metropolis from happening.
8) Dark Nights
In the Dark Nights event, several one-shots were released introducing the alternate dark versions of Bruce Wayne that aimed to take over the Multiverse. Each of these stories shows Batman taking out his fellow Justice League members, with Superman taking the hit in several of the issues. The Devastator, a version of Batman infected by the Doomsday virus, outclasses Superman and ends him before the Batman Who Laughs recruits him. He is the version of the Dark Knight that uses his cunning and sadistic nature to kill the rest of the Batfamily before turning his sights on Superman and his family. After tweaking some black Kryptonite to turn Superman and his cousins into violent, rabid Kryptonians. Superman and his son rip Lois Lane apart before doing the same to themselves.
7) Whatever Happened to The Man of Tomorrow
The classic Superman tale that closes the Silver Age era and precedes John Byrne’s reboot of the Man of Steel. While Superman doesn’t die traditionally, the people he protects certainly think he’s dead. Written by Alan Moore and illustrated by longtime artist Curt Swan. It was created to honor the history of Superman and give his mythology to that point a conclusion. Bizarro attacks and becomes a villain who kills, later killing himself with Blue Kryptonite. This prompts showdowns with several other characters, and Superman takes Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane, Lana Lang, and Perry White with his wife to the Fortress of Solitude, where Krypto returns after being in deep space. The dog ends up dying, along with Jimmy and Lana, before Superman finally faces the true evil: Mr. Mxyzptlk. He tears the mischievous imp apart with his Phantom Zone projector and then walks off into the sunset, possibly stripping away his powers and maintaining the work he has completed. The story ends with the public believing that he died from exposure after losing his powers.
6) Earth 2: World’s End
This version of Superman from the New 52’s Earth 2: World’s End follows the struggle he and other heroes have against the forces of Darkseid and Apokolips, with this Earth’s heroes sacrificing themselves in battle with Darkseid’s forces. This version of Superman does live a bit longer than his Trinity counterparts, seemingly switching his support to Apokolips until he is rescued and decides to sacrifice himself to destroy the Metropolis Tower and the Parademon factories, peacefully ending his life with some last-minute heroism.
5) Superman/Batman: “Absolute Power”
When the Legion of Supervillains, Lightning Lord, Saturn Queen, and Cosmic King, eliminate the JLA, aside from the young Superman and Batman, things go awry for the World’s Finest duo. Astring of events are kicked off that eventually lead to the duo’s death time and time again. They do a lot of killing themselves, even teaming with Darkseid at one point, all before they travel to the past and defeat the Legion of Supervillains to put the timeline back in place.
4) The Kingdom – Gog Can’t Get Enough Killing Superman
Kingdom Come depicted a future DC Comics world where new heroes and villains blur the lines with hyperviolence, prompting Superman to return. In the follow-up mini-series, members of the Quintessence, including Shazam, Ganthet, Zeus, and Izaya Highfather, create Gog from a survivor of the Kansas disaster in the original mini-series. What follows is Gog losing his mind and targeting Superman, constantly rewinding the day to kill him again. And again. And again!
3) Infinite Crisis – Original Superman Killed by Superboy Prime
After surviving the first Crisis on Infinite Earths, the original Superman from Earth 2 was given a chance to fly off into the sunset to live in a paradise with the newly un-homed Superboy Prime and Alexander Luthor. But then the dark state of the DC universe forced the old school hero to return in Infinite Crisis, helping to beat their way out of the crystal Paradise and try to save things from heroes who had lost their way. But this is revealed to be nothing but a plot from Luthor and Superboy Prime, with the latter later beating him to death in a final showdown. While Superboy Prime is kept imprisoned, Superman from Earth 2 dies from his injuries and joins his late wife, Lois, once again.
2) All-Star Superman
Another moment where Superman doesn’t technically die at the end, but certainly one that broaches that idea on a grander scale comes in All-Star Superman. After rescuing a P.R.O.J.E.C.T. team from a mission to the Sun after sabotage by Lex Luthor, Superman reveals that he’s got a year left to live due to the solar overload of his cells by Luthor. What follows is one of the greatest Superman stories ever put to paper, with Superman avoiding his death by becoming a solar being that lives inside the Sun. It’s more of an end to the Superman narrative than some sort of cruel game.
1) Death of Superman
And finally, we have the death of Superman at the hands of Doomsday. The two Kryptonian natives end up duking it out on the outskirts of Metropolis, leaving the Justice League in ruins and Superman pushed to his limits. That’s the beauty of the story, by the way. It delivers a knock-down brawl across the town and into the city, while also slowly revealing just how much punishment Doomsday can both deal and take in modern times. If you haven’t read it, check it out. There are no tricks with the death either in the original crossover event, so no harm in checking it out.
Did we miss a Superman demise? Will we ever see an end to Superman for good? Let us know in the comments!
