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The Death of Superman: Difference between revisions
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[[File:capeflag.jpg|frame]]
For some reason, killing off [[Superman]] is a popular idea. It may be because, being the [[The Cape (trope)|Ultimate Hero]], it is [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|awesome]] to see him make the [[Heroic Sacrifice|ultimate sacrifice]]. Maybe it's because he's normally [[Invincible Hero|invulnerable to nearly everything]] and so his death comes as a shock. Maybe it's a [[Messianic Archetype|Christ]] [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic|allegory]]. Or maybe it's because some people can't stand the character and want to see him offed [[Status Quo Is God|even if only for a short while]]. Whatever the case, this has been done several times in various media over the decades.
The first occasions were as "imaginary stories" (that is, set outside of the official [[Continuity]]) published during the [[Silver Age]] of comics.
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However, the most famous instance was the "Death of Superman" [[Story Arc]] in the Superman comics during the 1990s, and the animated movie (based on that story) titled ''[[Superman: Doomsday]]'' that came out in 2007.
''[[The Death of Superman]]'' is split into three parts:
* ''Doomsday!'' (November, 1992-January, 1993)
* ''Funeral for a Friend'' (January-June,1993)
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* '''The Man of Steel ([[Steel]]):''' A [[Race Lift|black]] hero wearing a suit of [[Powered Armor]]. He was the only one to both admit he was NOT Superman from the start ''and'' not actively claim the name for himself. [[Meaningful Name|John Henry Irons]] merely wanted to keep the spirit of Superman alive (although there were hints that he may have been literally serving as an anchor for Superman's soul).
Each of these characters was allowed to star in one of Superman's then current titles for a few months. It was eventually revealed that the real Superman was {{spoiler|none of them, he wasn't even dead but rather in [[Suspended Animation]]}} and in fact the {{spoiler|Cyborg Superman}} was a ''villain'', with {{spoiler|Mongul}} as his [[The Dragon|Dragon]]. whom the others had to team up to stop. Superman was soon [[Back
The storyline also had a huge impact on [[Green Lantern]]. {{spoiler|The Cyborg Superman}} turned out to be a villain collaborating with {{spoiler|Mongul}} to prepare Earth to be converted into a [[War World]] (basically like a Death Star). He started by annihilating [[Green Lantern|Hal Jordan's]] home town of Coast City, while Jordan was in space. When Jordan returned, his grief drove him into his controversial turn as [[Face Heel Turn|Parallax]].
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Doomsday also showed up in this series, in the episodes "A Better World" and "The Doomsday Sanction", but was revealed to be an {{spoiler|altered clone of Superman}} and doesn't get to kill Superman.
''Probably'' not related to the [[Crash Test Dummies]]' first hit single, "[[wikipedia:Superman's Song|Superman's Song]]", but considering the story arc began a year after the song was released, who knows?
{{tropelist}}
* [[Affirmative Action Legacy]]: Sort of with the African American Steel. He didn't outright want to replace Superman, but just wanted to keep his spirit alive.
* [[Back
* [[Badass Long Hair]]: Supes came back with [[Fan Nickname|The Super-Mullet]] that he wore for a good portion of the nineties. He cut it back to his traditional spitcurl when he got married to Lois.
* [[Cash Cow Franchise]]: The compiled first part of the arc, called "The Death of Superman", is the best-selling graphic novel of all time.
* [[The Dark Age of Comic Books]]
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* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: How Supes goes out.
* [[I Am Not Left-Handed]]: Superman kills Doomsday by not holding back against him.
* [[Legacy Hero]]: Superman gets four of them.
* [[Mutual Kill]]: Supes and Doomsday
* [[Nineties Anti-Hero]]: Both Cyborg Superman and the Eradicator are pastiches of this 90's trend. {{spoiler|Only the Eradicator plays this straight. Cyborg Superman (aka Hank Henshaw) is a villain.}}
* [[Red Skies Crossover]]: The arc affected everyone on The [[DC Universe]]'s Earth, seeing as how their [[Big Good]] had just been killed. It got a nod in the lead-up to the [[Batman]] arc ''[[Knightfall]]''.
* [[Wham! Shot]]: Lois is shown holding a dying Superman in her arms after he faces Doomsday, and Matrix failed to provide backup support. She begs him to hold on until the paramedics come, as he murmurs if Doomsday is defeated. Jimmy Olsen stands in the background, hesitating on photographing this moment.
* [[Younger and Hipper]]: [[Superboy]] is a pastiche of this type of trend.
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* This ''[[Wonderella]]'' [http://nonadventures.com/2007/06/16/the-death-of-wonderella/ comic]
* ''[[FoxTrot]]'': Jason and Paige [[Take That|draw mean comic strips about each other]], including strips saying the other caused Superman's death.
{{quote|
'''Jason in Paige's strip:''' I told him we were related. }}
* "Superman's Song", by the Crash Test Dummies, is essentially a eulogy to the fallen hero.
{{quote|
For savin' the world from Solomon Grundy
And sometimes I despair
The world will never see another man like him. }}
** [[Older Than They Think|Although the song was released a full year before the Death of Superman storyline even took place.]] Perhaps the story arc is a reference to the song, maybe?
** So this is literally a [[Too Soon]] moment!
* Parodied in a ''[[Deadpool]]'' storyline called "Funeral for a Freak", some ten years after the event.
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[[Category:The Nineties]]
[[Category:Superman (Franchise)]]▼
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